Dress to Jumpsuit

Time to Complete: 1 h
Sewing Machine Required? Yes
Difficulty: Difficult

I've been refashioning all summer, but haven't gotten around to posting my creations!

On a sunny day back in May, I decided it was time I joined the jumpsuit frenzy currently washing through the fashion industry. Fortunately I had just the piece:

Sort of...

Obviously, this is a dress, not a jumpsuit. One could theoretically do a handstand in a jumpsuit with no undergarment-related disasters. I cannot do a handstand in a jumpsuit or out, but it doesn't change the fact that this is most definitely a dress. 

But this dress did fit me nicely up top, and since I knew creating legs out of that voluminous skirt would be a big job, I didn't want to have to alter it anywhere else, too.

I'd never done a jumpsuit refashion before, I started off by very awkwardly gathering the fabric between my legs where I imagined a crotch seam ought to exist, and pinning it with a safety(!!) pin.

I don't do this for the dignity.

Then I took the dress off, lay it on the floor, and drew a rough arch to create legs. I intentionally drew it a little lower than my pin mark, because I really didn't want to take off too much. 

Seeing the vision, fingers crossed.

Then I cut!

Past the point of no return!

I turned the whole thing inside-out and stitched up that raw edge. I knew I would probably have to make more adjustments, but I wanted to see what that would accomplish. The result? MC Hammer would have been envious. 

Like I said: not in it for the dignity.

To clarify, this is a picture of me trying to figure out how to get rid of the diaper-like bulk I'd managed to create. Hey, it was my first time doing this type of refashion, there were bound to be a few hiccups!Anyway, after cutting and re-sewing the inseam a couple of times, I had a fit I liked. They were still loose, but that was my original intention. I paired my new jumpsuit with an oversize pendant necklace.

Ta-dah!

Given the embarrassing sequence in the middle of this refashion, I was relieved to pull it off. I was never a huge fan of the jumpsuit craze, and I still don't know if this will ever become one of my favourite pieces, but it was a fun challenge! 

Criticisms: I learned one obvious lesson while making this piece, which is that my butt actually takes up space--which means I need to take in more of the front of the skirt and less of the back. This makes for an unequal raw edge, which is why I had such difficulty getting a good fit. If I were to do this again, I'd spend a lot more time pinning it to make sure I got it right the first time!