The Dress Reconstruction Project

This was quite a massive undertaking, of course I didn't realise at the start!

I came across this dress on the sale rack at Recycle Boutique in Wellington, it had clearly lived a long life and had had several alterations made to it. Only $7 for this designer frock that was one size too big! I loved the fabric but was so disappointed by the condition it was in...

- All of the seams were still intact but the fabric was so fragile and had not been properly cared for and was pulling away around the seams.
- There was once a row of buttons down the center back that had all fallen off and was safety pinned together.
- The finishing around the neckline was coming away resulting in major fraying and a massive hole.
- The dress had some nice bead detail that for once wasn't tacky or over the top, unfortunately these were coming away. And I think i left a trail of beads behind me as I walked around the store.

I decided to try and restore it to its proper beauty. I would be this dresses last owner and I wanted to show it a great retirement. I could see me wearing this dress with leggings and a nice pair of boots so I adopted it and took it home.

My first step of the reconstruction was to cut out all of the unusable areas of the dress. I wasn't that scared to do this as the dress was one size too big for me so I had a bit of room. I stuck close to the original seams but as I started cutting I noticed how bad a shape this dress was in. I realised that it was no longer just a quick doer upper, this needed major structural renewal. I double sewed the side seams and the waist seam which is wear it had the most trouble with the fabric being so delicate. I then reinforced the darts on the front for shaping and the shoulder seams.

After every alteration I tried the dress on to make sure I wasn't going too far with the size reduction. But after all the work on the boddess I got stuck on the neckline. It was ruined beyond repair and gaped badly where the holes had originally tore away from the seam. I got pretty sad because I thought I might not be able to salvage this dress.

As a last ditch attempt, I used some black binding around the gaping neckline and converted the front of the dress to a v - neck structure to take away some of the extra fabric. It was a miracle that it worked and actually made the dress wearable. It did change the look of the dress but at least now I could wear it.

A success! I only pull out the dress to wear with my nice boots because I'm not sure how much longer it will last, but every time I wear it I feel happy I was able to give the dress a second go.