Amnesty Month

My poor, neglected By Hand London Elisalex dress has been languishing in my wardrobe since April. I got a little giddy and ahead of myself originally with this make. It was way beyond my skills level back then, so didn’t turn out too well. As usual the blogging community was kind and forgiving. I was given some sound advice, which I listened to, but couldn’t quite rouse myself into following just then. Amnesty Month, however gave me the kick I needed…

Here she is before (on the left) and after (on the right) my adjustments –

 

As as per the kind advice I was given I firstly took out the original zip, which was far too long and pretty ugly. I replaced it with a shorter, much prettier one which enabled me to chop off several unflattering inches off the bottom.

While I was inserting the new zip, I also took the advice to get rid of some excess room in the bodice too. Then I patiently (really not my favourite job) hand stitched the lining back to the bodice, but a whole lot more neatly this time around…

And lastly I couldn’t resist adding just a little lace to the waistband to hide some wonky stitching, which I think you can just about make out in the photos.

Now I not only have a wearable dress but I also have that really gratifying feeling of knowing just how far my sewing skills have come. Next time I’m struggling with a project, I simply need to pull out an old make to realise, though far from perfect, I’ve come a long way 🙂

I blog over at navybluethreads.wordpress.com if you’d like to see some more of my makes. Thank you The Monthly Stitch for spurring me into action with this!