4th of July REDESIGN!! From mess to WHAT A DRESS!

At SHS, we're devoted to bringing you the best of vintage, thrift, and most importantly, re-design.  So, to kick off this holiday weekend we wanted to bring you our latest "how to" with a fun, 4th of July inspired number!

This little (excuse me, BIG) red, white and blue number was a score we found back in the spring. We knew it had potential, but it was SO big on Tanya that it looked a bit like a circus tent. Still, when there's cool fabric, there's a lot of possibilities!

We decided it was worthy of a "stars and stripes" reconstruction. So we started by pinning it inside-out to bring in the side seams.

Next we removed the sleeves. We've done quite a bit with cap sleeves at SHS. This dress was screaming for a summer friendly makeover, so off came the frumpy arms and a tank dress was born.

We cut the hem about 8" as well, and we turned and stitched both the arms holes and hem to finish the seams properly.

In additional to being a brilliant stylist, Tanya is also a master mixologist. (This is where the magic really happens in our "studio" time). Our new SHS cocktail: 1 part dessert wine, 1 part club soda. Muddle with white peaches, blueberries and raspberries and Voila! A perfect cocktail for a sewing date! We're going to call it... Secondhand Sexy!

Thanks "T"! And now for the finishing touches...

We ironed the hems, and added Wrights, Iron-On hem tape to secure the inside neckline fabric. This was done so that Tanya could pull the dress front zipper up and down without the collar flopping over. Cut iron-on tape and affix to inner collar. Press on high heat to seal the deal.

And here we are! From this:

To this!! 

 

Happy Holidays Loves! To see more of "How Tanya wore it" on the actual holiday, check out November Grey next week. To see more on mine, (also reconstructed) check back into SHS soon!