Online Dress Refashion

One of the most frustrating things about online shopping is the sizing. You order a 16, it's more like a 12. You order a large, it's more like a small! Generally, things seem to be smaller than they should be. It's why I order 2 sizes bigger!

My work colleague ordered these two dresses and, surprise surprise, they were too small when they arrived. Not too drastic, though, that they couldn't be re-fashioned. The right one in particular is gorgeous fabric that shouldn't go to waste!

#1 The Pink and blue dress was too tight so I needed to insert panels on the side seams to make it wider. Thankfully the zip was in the back: this would have been tricky to pick out and re-sew and I would have likely damaged the delicate fabric.
It took a while to find fabric to match, until I had a different project out and inspiration struck me. It's a match!

I cut both sides open carefully. It has lining inside and rather than having to add an insert panel into the lining as well, I just overlocked the dress and lining together on both sides of the cut that I made.
Another option would have been removing the lining altogether but that would have made the dress see-through.


I prepared strips of the fabric to be inserted, having cut them long enough (or so I thought...). There is also a wide hem band on the bottom of the dress that I wanted to line the stitching up with.

I overlocked the two insert pieces and pinned them into place in the dress. But they were too short! I couldn't believe it... there was a gap of about 7cm at the bottom...

I sewed the strips in anyway and got a bit creative on the bottom, adding a t-piece of the fabric to secure the strip and to cover up the gap that I had left. It did have the effect of making the bottom stronger, which isn't a bad thing.

The owner of the dress is happy with the result, so that's what counts!

#2 - Green Dress
This dress is a couple of things: too tight and too short. We talked about what I might do to it and decided that the green would be too hard to match. What I would do instead is add black: insert panels on both sides, and add a length to the bottom. This would match nicely!

I cut both sides open:

As above, I overlocked the dress and lining together on both sides of the cut that I made.

I prepared strips of black fabric to be inserted, having cut them long and wide enough that I would have seam allowance. I cut them longer this time, too, after the first dress!
I made a hem at the top of the strip, rather than trying to neaten it up once the side seams were sewn. This became the new under arm section.

I decided that it would be neater to put the bottom extension on and then add the side panels. It looks a bit messy on the inside, but it worked on the outside.

I sewed both side panels in and hemmed the bottom of the black.
The finished dress. Inside:

Outside:

Happy customer!