Crochet and the altered dress: step 1

I came home last night and promptly began cutting up a dress that doesn’t fit me anymore. Equal parts shrinkage and weight gain, i suspect, compounded by the original bad cut of the dress. When i actually examined the dress, i determined it wasn’t quite as shapeless in its fashioning as i recalled: there were princess seam darts and a teensy weensy dart under the arm pit. I will add a real dart. The fact that that will leave more gappage in the front is fine. My plan is to crochet some gores in the front and sides to give more ease and some flair. I haven’t decided whether i will shorten the dress. If i really wanted to make the dress fit, i’d have to adjust for my rather wide but very sloping shoulders. However, this is a practice dress compounded by the fact i’ve no idea where i would wear it. The laundry in the complex?

I did cut away the modest neckline to make an exaggerated sweetheart neckline. I did a button hole stitch around my raw edges and have half completed a single crochet base chain around the entire neckline. I imagine creating a bit of a lace infill so the neckline is a little more modest while retaining the flirty curves. That lace infill will transition to a tighter crochet stitch and continue down the front of the dress as a gently widening panel, replacing the button front.

Once i open the side seams to make the bust-line darts, i’ll create similar panels down the side. I think this essentially adding gores to the skirt part of the dress. And i think i’ll move the buttons to the side. I’ve a dress with a side zipper and i love that fit. I probably even have a long zipper in my sewing stash, but reusing the buttons and crocheting the button holes appeals to me.

So, this project should take me a small eternity, and who knows, maybe by the time i finish one of my nephews (currently aged 3, 1, and 9 months) will have a sweetheart who will like to wear it. And then there’s the small problem that i don’t know how to do any of this. Whee!

Meanwhile, i’ve posted a call for pattern help for altering some other dresses.

crochet,altered dress,red calico altered dress

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