When a Little Floral Print Goes a Long Way: Altering a Dress to be a Top

Last year, I ordered a fun floral dress from H&M in anticipation of summer holidays we would never end up taking. But the dress got worn at home plenty of times and each time my husband laughed.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

Finally, he explained that I reminded him of Homer Simpson. Having not watched The Simpsons myself, I didn’t know what he was talking about. Didn’t Homer wear jeans? Then he explained and showed me this photo.

Floral Dress Lookalike

I bet Homer Simpson didn’t have twirl game as good as mine.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

I laughed too, once I stopped glaring at him. It truly is an example of when a little floral print goes a long way. So, I set about altering a dress to be a top.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

The trick was that the dress gathered the skirt in at the waist and had ruffles. Multiple tiers. So, I had to rip out all the seams from the waistline down to adjust for the right fit. I didn’t want any peplum or ruffle in the top, so this was a bit of effort but worth it. A closer look at all those stitches I had to rip.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

The skirt had much more fabric than the top section, which added bulk to my hips. My hips have enough of that on their own. Here, after I ripped the seam you can see the excess skirt fabric at the waist.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

This was in the process of my pinning it back into place with the transition from top section to skirt section smooth without gathering. I would then adjust the length to be right for a top once the sewing was complete. No guesswork was allowed for that.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

Piecing it back together was exciting, fun, but also intimidating. I needed to add darts to the top to take it in a bit from its original boxy shape.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.com

The result is comfortable and flows well with jeans or a skirt.  As a top it is wearable and works harder as a separate than it ever did as a dress, PLUS I still have the skirt fabric to sew into something else.

EvinOK.com

EvinOK.com

EvinOK.com

One more look at the before and after side-by-side.

Make do and mend. EvinOK.comEvinOK.com

What do you think?

2 comments

Leave a Reply