Re-doing "Ready-made Clothes" into Vintage-like Clothes

[BonnieJean]

I was just wondering if anyone "re-makes" modern clothes into vintage-like clothes? I'm a big fan of 1930s and early 1940s clothing and I'm starting to get an eye for those type of styles. I enjoy sewing, but the other day at the thrift store I spied a dress with the most wonderful vintage-looking fabric. The dress is made of rayon. I just love rayon and how it feels. (Of course, I always have a ready supply of Dryel, home dry cleaning stuff, around!)

Here's the link to a photo of the dress.

http://www.hawcreektraders.com/webphotos.html

Since I'm a petite, most dresses are pretty long on me and this one is no exception. I'm thinking I can cut a bit off the bottom and use it to make a type of waistband with a tie on the the back (this would cover up the strange middle part). The dress right now has these weird button holes where the tie is laced through the dress around the middle. I'm also thinking of adding a big bow at the bottom of the neckline and perhaps even a collar. A few more changes may come in mind later. Now, I'm scouring the thrift stores for another piece of clothing with just the right "bow" that I think would work or else I'll hit the fabric store. Kind of like recycling clothing. I often see modern dresses in thrift stores that are vintage-like but not quite, but with a few alterations, they could be. Some people may think its more work re-doing a dress than making one "from scratch", but sometimes its hard to find the right type of fabric for a particular outfit. Besides, its what people did back in the 30s--"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without".

I was just wondering if there were other non-conformists out there. (I also have a hard time following a cooking recipe exactly, it seems I'm always experimenting a bit.)

 

[Lady Day]

Oh I do that all the time!

Its fun problem solving, cause you only have a specific amount of fabric to work with, unless you add different fabric.

First, take VERY accurate measurments of the garment, length, hight, etc.
Your measurements, and add allowance as to how you want it to fit. If youre wearing foundation garments under the dress, measure yourself in those.

Then do a sketch of what you want it to look like. Remember that if you are gonna cut the dress down the middle to add a row of buttons aor zipper or something, youll need double the fabric for that area, or at least I do

If you have a dress form, this is the perfect time to use it. Just make sure when you 'edit' (as I say) the dress, that your measurments are on.


Good luck, and sorry if I rambled.

LD