Alterations

Last night I sat down for an hour with the girls watching New Moon. E just kept asking, "Is he a vampire too?" Its a little violent during a couple of fight scenes with some fast movements and a couple of body slams but no blood during fights or anything that I thought would make it too scary for such a young viewer. 

Just prior to putting on movie, I pulled from my craft closet, a double breasted purple wool dress I found at a Good Will last year for $6.99. It was too big and I shoved it in with my stuff so I would see it frequently and do something about it. This tactic did not work considering I ignored the dress for a year.

The tag says XS but if an article is not made for a 5'4" tall chick then it will never fit. I put it on prior to sitting down and pinched and pulled everywhere trying to figure out the best place to start on the alteration. Seams on the side? Seams over the bust? Maybe just move the buttons over to tighten it up. I finally grabbed the shoulders and pulled up. Amazingly, the whole thing fell into place. The only alteration I needed to do was take the shoulder seam in about 2 inches. 

While I watched the terrible acting in the movie with the kids I ripped out the seam on the shoulder one at a time. I cut a half inch off of either side (front and back shoulder area). Folded both sides down inside between the wool and the lining and pinned it near the top to hold the hem in place while I completed a whip stitch bringing lining to lining and wool to wool (front and back shoulder pieces).

I was really impressed with how easy the alteration was and how such a small cut transformed the whole dress. I'm very happy with it and plan to wear it as the weather gets cooler. It may be a little while longer before the tropics experience weather cool enough for wool but its been a year since I bought the dress anyway. I'm pretty sure I can wait another month or two.