Racerback Dress Refashion

I whipped up this dress last week when I was craving something quick to sew.  As I’ve mentioned before we’re in the process of selling our condo so I haven’t been able to sew as much as I’d like and all my natural dye projects have been put on hold until after we move.  I’ve never cleaned so much in my life!  Staging a home with two little kids and keeping everything tidy is no mean feat.  We’ve had a few showings and our first Open House this past weekend so my sewing time has been limited quite a bit.

This project was so refreshing to work on.  I just needed to make something so I pulled a dress out of my closet that my sister had just returned to me after borrowing it for a trip.  I love how this dress looks but it is way too low-cut in the front for my comfort.  Plus the sleeves are a little much for my taste.  I always feel self-conscious in it so I’ve rarely worn it in the last few years. It’s from the BCBG outlets.

You can see the before pics below:

All of my refashion stash is already packed away so all I had to work with was the last remnants from my Mommy and Me dresses.  I had just enough for the front bodice and pieced the back bodice together out of the remaining pieces.  I decided to go with a racer back dress for this make and loosely used the Lemon Drop Dress from SBCC (woven dress pattern) for the top bodice shape. You can see my earlier maxi version here.    I altered it to fit my remnants leaving off the front pleat and then cut to hip length using the ikat fabric.

I cut my back piece to leave the gathers from the back of the blue dress and used the tie belt to make my bound edges on the armholes and band at the neck.  I used the Coletterie’s recent binding post for my guide, super helpful!  I wanted the contrast for the neck to make the piece work better and keep this dress a bit sporty with the neckline and drop waist. I then just attached the full skirt from the blue dress that I had cut straight across at the empire waistline.

I love the silhouette of this dress.  The drop waist and neckline are really flattering.  Plus this is so comfortable to wear and quite lightweight.  Perfect for our hot weather here lately.  A usual we’ve bypassed spring and it feels like summer here already.  The water in the gulf is already in the 80’s!  I love that I can throw this on in the morning to walk Nigel to school (2 miles-to and from) and look put together AND stay cool.

Do you refashion? I love being able to reuse my clothing to make it more functional for my wardrobe.   It made me so happy to be able to have a use for my last bits of fabric remnants too.   I thought it was a bit funny that I couldn’t go more than a full week without finding something to sew.  I really need to order some fabric since I can’t dye the silk yardage I have right now :(  I’m thinking some of the beautiful new palazzo linen from Honey Be Good.  Happy Sewing!