The striped wrap dress is refashioned from a vintage dress with big button closures. Without its original collar, lapel, and buttons, the refashioned dress has a more modern and chic spring/summer vibe.
I got this vintage linen/polyester mix dress when my friend Meileena of Sartorial Muse had a moving sale. I really like the fabric, but not necessarily the garment. The buttons were really big, and the overall look was frumpy when I put it on. Moreover, the shoulder pads were distracting.
So after some deliberations, I decided to showcase the fabric to its full potential. By removing shoulder pads, buttons, and flipping the lapels in, I refashioned the vintage dress as a closer fitting summer wrap dress.
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Materials:
- Vintage dress (pictured below)
- Nude colored lining fabric remnant (less than one yard)
- Sew-on button snap (I only used one pair)
- Hook and eye closures (I used three pairs)
- Sewing machine (mine is Brother CS6000i model)
- Universal needle (I use Schmetz Universal Needle Size 80/12)
- Off-white thread and needle for hand sewing
- Fusible bonding web and steam iron
- Fabric scissors
- Seam ripper
Process:
First thing I did was taking out the big buttons and shoulder pads with a seam ripper.
Then I flipped the collar inward and secured it with blind hem stitching. In hindsight, I probably would’ve used a taupe / beige colored thread instead of off-white one. That said, it’s still very neat-looking the way it is!
Next, I took away about 2″ wide vertical panels (on each side) from the center front. These vertical strips were where buttons and button holes are located. Then I sewed one strip to the center front line of each side starting from the neckline towards the hemline. I did this to “hide” the button holes by folding the panel inward towards the wrong side of the fabric.
While I was doing that, I realized that the skirt was a bit sheer. So I made a lining to the skirt using some beige polyester remnant. Since the skirt has an elastic on the waist, the finished lining pattern consists of a rectangle with two right trapezoids attached on either side of the rectangle. The lining was attached to the elastic using zig-zag stitch.
From neckline to waist, the vertical panels were secured using fusible bonding web and steam iron. From the waist to the hem line, I used the machine’s regular lockstitch to secure the inner edges of the flipped lapels with the lining.
Then I overlapped the front panels and noted how far they can comfortably overlap on the waist. The tip point that’s hidden from view was secured by hand sewing a pair of sew-on button snaps.
The other tip was secured using a pair of hook and eye closures. I also added two more pairs of hook and eye closures on the skirt so I don’t accidentally expose myself whenever I sit down.
And speaking about accidental exposure management, it’s a well-known fact that wrap dress often have gaping front. I had that problem in the past, and my solution then was to add more fabric strips to the neckline.
However, for this wrap dress project, I chose to sew the front shut with slip stitch. I stopped stitching when I reached a point about 2 inch away from the waist line. Now the wrap dress refashion project is done!
Result: Refashioned Wrap Dress
Below are the pictures of the refashioned striped wrap dress. I love how the striped fabric is now front and center with no distractions. The cut looks more modern, chic, and it’s perfect for summer!
Thanks for reading; until next time,
Musank
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