Sewing Project #3 – Altering an oversized dress.

So I bought this pre-loved cotton cheongsam online for less than RM20. Thought I had scored till I put it on. Check this monstrosity out:

# – Too big and too long for me.

I thought of just wearing it as pajamas but a bit wasted right? So I decided to alter it. My first time ever altering a piece of clothing. Even if I fucked it up, it’s less than RM20, not a very expensive lesson ;)

# – Firstly, I used an old short dress as a template for the length.

# – Next, I cut off the excess length according to the existing short dress. I deliberately left more length in case I screwed up the sewing, I’d still have more fabric to play with.

# – Then, I turned the cheongsam inside out and fold the edges in.

# – After that, I pin the folded fabric down so it won’t run off while going pass the sewing machine. I guess you could iron it down too but I was too lazy to do it.

# – Then I just sewed a seam. With the extra fabric that I cut off earlier, I made a simple fabric belt. Check out the final results.

# – The long & dowdy cheongsam has been transformed into a short dress. The fabric belt helps to give me some shape.

This is a simple and easy project. I finished it in less than 2 hours. That said, I’m still finding it hard to sew in a straight line, argh! Need to practise more!