This started as a mend before going array. The three little snaps, that held the wrap closed at the cleavage, needed to be moved just a bit. After trying on the dress and marking the desired new placement of the snaps, I settled in to carefully remove them. Not carefully enough, apparently, because I clipped a hole on the rever in a very visible spot. :-/ sigh. When I had originally made the dress, I had planned on using a blue that matched the blue in the lemon fabric. The blue fabric had been purchased, washed, ironed and finally put someplace so safe that I couldn’t locate it. The contrasts being done in white was the chosen alternative. When faced with the task of replacing one of the revers, it was a good opportunity to just swap all the white for the blue (which had been found since making the dress).
Having worn the dress, I felt the collar and the revers were too much. They made the neckline stiff and held it out in an odd way. Also, the bow at the waist was too much for me. I am not a huge fan of bows on me.
Even more carefully than the first time, the white contrasting fabric pieces were removed. Referring back to the pattern, new blue contrasting pieces were cut. The dress was reconstructed in the same order as the instructions stated. The only difference being that some of the steps were already done from the first construction (I didn’t take the dress all the way down to all flat fabric pieces. Deconstructing only what was absolutely necessary for the changes).
I didn’t take pictures of each stage of this alteration. They were pretty much the same as the original creation, with the exception of using the 1/2 inch seam allowances that the pattern called for (which made the dress fit much better). However, I did leave off the revers and made the belt on view C. I also followed the instructions on how to finish the edges with the bias tape, instead of “doing it my way”.
Oh all right… I did throw in some under-stitching to make sure that the bias binding stayed on the inside of the dress while it is being worn.
I am much happier with this version, and have worn it 3 times already! 🙂
Re-Usable Bag Repair
I do not know if I am just extra hard on re-usable bags, or they are just not made to last. At our house, the larger grocery size bags are called “yarn bags”. Years ago, DW accused me of buying the bags to take home and fill with yarn. The name stuck. (Just for the record, I do not have bags full of yarn. Not even one) I also have many smaller re-usable bags. I refer to these bags as “project bags”. They are highly portable and just the right size for whatever project I am currently working on. Even though I have multiple bags, it is still frustrating when one starts to fall apart.
Not a fancy or difficult repair. It really just took a decision to get it done. To fix the two corners that were coming apart, I used a sharp needle, strong thread, and my favorite thimble. Back stitching for strength and voila!
