I apologize for having no before picture, I am kicking myself for forgetting to take one, because the original dress had So. Much. Wrong with it. Shoulder pads, baggy shaping, gaudy gold buttons down the front, and the narrow, tight sleeves that mean you can't lift your arms above your lowest rib without risk of tearing the dress. When I saw it in the thrift store, it was a serious Ugh, but the fabric was so beautiful, and the price so good ($2.99) that I couldn't resist. Even if I didn't rescue a reasonable dress from it, I was pretty sure I'd at least get a skirt.
But I managed a dress that I'm really proud of!
First went the buttons, then the entire top section above the bust. There were darts on the bottom bust, so to make the top bust fit closely, I put in matching darts above them; when I realized the darts almost met, I extended them to make full seams, just looked better that way. I took in the sides slightly to fit me better as well, but only above the skirt.
On the back, I took off the ties that so many shapeless dresses have--like tying two strings together is going to make a waist where there wasn't one before! I replaced them with a wide section of shirring, and used the ties to make the straps!
That was all it took to make me happy with the fit, but when I was done I felt like it was very plain, and since I was making this for a relatively big family occasion (FIL's 60 birthday dinner, fancy-ish restaurant), I didn't want it to be boring. Out comes the bead box....
Twenty little beaded 'donuts', made with right-angle weave, ranging from as small as an 8-bead base ring to 20-bead. Each of these were made independently of the dress, and then sewn down when they were done. Each took me about 15-20 minutes, so maybe six hours of bead work? Not too shabby, I'd say...
