Okay, I really have got to remember to take before photos, sorry, esp. because sometimes the changes are really dramatic.
Weekend alteration project #5: This was a salwar kameez I bought online, fairly inexpensively from India, and it went down to my ankles originally, with sleeves that went to my wrists, and at least a size too big (it’s hard to get sizing exactly right when buying online).
Changes I’ve made, turning it into a dress:
– I don’t know if you can call it hemming when you cut off two feet of fabric. But I cut off two feet of fabric, roughly, and then hemmed front and back panels (it’s the pretty fabric from the bottom of the dress, block-printed in red, so will save it to make a wide headband or some such with it — or hey, maybe a matching clutch purse? Too matchy? Hmmm…)
– shortened sleeves to just-past-elbow and hemmed (mostly because I didn’t like the print on that part of the fabric, but I also like this length better)
– took in at the torso on both sides, to somewhat skim my body shape — I’d ideally like it to be a little more fitted in the torso and waist, but to still be able to pull it on, I think I’d need to add an invisible zipper on the side or down the back, and I’m a little intimidated by that whole process. I may take a stab at it at some point (needles, stab, funny), but I like this well enough to wear it happily now, so I probably won’t bother anytime soon
– considered leaving the sides open (from roughly just below the hip down), in case I wanted to wear it as salwar kameez with leggings, perhaps, but decided I really was more likely to wear it as a dress, and if so, the sides would be a little perilous cut that high up, so I sewed them closed
Whew! Lots of alterations, this took maybe 45 minutes or so, but I actually quite like the result. This is something I’d have fun wearing to a book reading, for example.
