I know it’s been six months since my last update, but hear me out. You’ll notice by the title, I’m sure, that something happened the other day that I just needed to tell you about.

Allow me to set the scene: it’s after work and I’m having my normal evening nap when all of a sudden my typical four or five-hour sleep was interrupted at around the 30-minute mark by a thought that I just couldn’t shake, even after I woke up and tried to reset and go back to sleep. I had a powerful urge and just knew that it would bother me until I did something about it.

For some context, until yesterday, I had two wedding dresses. The one I wrote about in my wedding dress post and another which only my Maid of Honor, parents, and partner have seen. This might seem excessive or indecisive, but I can assure you, neither are the case.

Here’s the thing - since I was in the sixth grade, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to shop somewhat effortlessly for nearly all clothing as I’ve been the same size and measurements all my life. So, much of the time, I can purchase things without ever needing to try them on. I can simply look at them and be sure they’ll fit, both in-store and online. However, SOMETIMES my method DOES fail me, and this time it did… at literally THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME… when I purchased my first wedding dress. I don’t know if I messed up the size conversion because it was from a British designer or if I’ve just gained that infamous lockdown weight that everyone has been talking about, but it arrived in the mail and absolutely DID NOT FIT.

At this point, you might be wondering why I resorted to cutting it up. Surely there were other steps that could have been taken before getting to that point, no? There were, and I tried them. I couldn’t send it back because I waited too long after it arrived - thinking I could just shed a few pounds and make it fit. Spoiler, I couldn’t. I couldn’t exchange it for another size because every retailer online was sold out of this dress in the size up. I was up a creek. 🌊

The next option was to take it to a tailor and see if they could work their magic. So, with the help of my best friend, we found the best tailor/seamstress in my area and made an appointment. Allow me to skip to the end, here, for the sake of time - after multiple fittings and appointments, I got the dress back and she butchered it, to say the least. It looked terrible.

It couldn’t have been more unflattering and it really looked like it had been altered, which was exactly what I didn’t want.

I couldn’t get it re-altered, it had been completely dismantled - back reworked, zipper removed, sleeves removed, the works. So, I had no choice but to order another dress. This time it fit perfectly on the first go! Whew. 😅 That’s one crisis averted… but that left me with a very, very expensive dress that was just sitting in my closet completely unwearable, and that just didn’t sit right for me.

This brings me to Thursday… and Jo-Ann Fabrics. I knew that dress was unsalvageable from the waist up, but the long, flowy bottom was still perfectly wearable.

So, I endeavored to sew FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME EVER and turn my dress into a simple skirt.

I purchased a small emergency sewing kit, some extra thread, some fabric glue, and a golden elastic waistband piece and spent four hours sitting on my floor, watching TikToks and cutting and sewing to my heart’s content.

I added buttons to the back from my dress altering to make it easier to get in and out of and after a few adjustments and a lot of stabbing myself in the fingers, I finished it! And it ACTUALLY fits!

I have rarely been so proud of a project. I can’t believe how well it worked out. I know it’s not perfect. If you get close enough to it, you can definitely see the stitching errors I made, but I figure, who cares? And who is going to get that close to inspect the detailing anyway? It’s wearable! And I did it all on my own! I saved hundreds of dollars by doing it myself and I managed to make something wonderful out of something truly tragic.

Now, I just need somewhere to wear it… and I think I have a few ideas already. It might even have a place during my nuptial celebrations after all. Funny how things always seem to come full circle in the end, isn’t it?

Xoxox

Write on!