Flirty Garden Party Dress Reconstruction

While cleaning out my parents' garage, I found a box of my old childhood clothes, including this little number.

Yikes.

Hello, 90's.
Hello, evidence of my awkward phase.
Hello, potential.

Challenge: accepted!

This tutorial will show you how I modernized this train-wreck, and how you can make your own dress flirty and feminine and dare I say sexy?

Step 1: Cut, Cut, Cut

Don't be scared; Scissors are fun.

Puffy sleeves: gone.
Scalloped-gingham trim: outta here.
4 inches from the bottom of the dress: bye-bye.

This alone would have been enough to update the dress, but let's go further.

Let's bring sexy back. To my back.

Step 2: Draw, Draw, Draw

Turn the dress inside out and have the back of it face you.

Color-coding time!

Using a blue pencil, I drew my seam allowance.

Using a red pencil, I drew the part of the pack I wanted to cut out. Honestly, I just eye-balled it.
The size of this hole can be drawn smaller depending on how much skin you want or don't want to show.

Step 3: Cut, Cut, Cut... Again

Carefully cut out on the red line.

Be sure not to cut the front of the dress while you are doing so.
That's just silly.

Step 4: Pin, Pin, Pin

The cutting is done; now we fold and pin our edges to prepare for sewing.
This means the dress's bottom hem, sleeves, and back cut-out.

Fold and pin! Like a boss.

Step 5: Sew, Sew, Sew

Take the dress to the machine, and work that top-stitch! Once again, like a boss.

Step 6: Great Success!

This project was so simple, it took me less than a day to finish, and now I have a flirty dress instead of a reminder of how sad I must have looked in grade school!