Shorten the dress and keep the great hem.

I manifested this dress. No joke! A few weeks ago I said to my friend, Elle "I want to look for electric blue sequined fabric today. I'm going to make a hot party dress! It's going to be above the knee and have big shoulders and it's going to be FABULOUS!"

An hour later we discovered Love Story, a sensational pop-up vitage store in Surry Hills, and the 'Blue Tiger' dress was there! The fabric was incredible and the dress was in such good condition. The dress itself wasn't quite what I had imagined but this was great because it has given me the chance to Revamp it!

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As you can see, the dress was originally very rectangular and straight. It was also a bit long for me (below the knee). Now... I'm a curvy lady so I've created a solution where I've created shape in the waist, and I've shortened the dress whilst maintaining this fabulous Bam Bam hem - no cutting required!

Step 1
Mark where you would like the new waist to be. 
*Measure from the hem up, to get the correct measurement the whole way around the waist. 
Use coloured thread to tack a running stitch around the waist. This is your fold line.

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Step 2
With right sides together, fold dress on the fold line.

Step 3
Measure around your waist and cut a piece of elastic (2.5cm wide). Stitch the ends together to make an elastic band.

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Step 4
Place the elastic band in the crease of the fold line and pin folded fabric below the elastic.

Step 5
Using a zipper foot, stitch around the waist, beside the elastic, so you create a casing.

Voila! That's all it takes. This method is quick and easy and there is no cutting required. 

*It's best to avoid cutting sequined material if you can, as reinforcing freshly cut sequins can be a long process.

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