Yup, it's time for another DEMO - this one inspired by a commitment I made a month ago to not buy any new clothes for six months! I'm really wanting to embrace a consume less, create more mentality . . . but I love clothes. And I buy a lot of them. Like this stretchy knit sun dress from Target.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyubSvsYwkvpebyUOtBbtnEefiO9kM8LuyGgUrPny0KNU9TotI8Fd_Y5O3tnQ5QV-w8RjOYn9ob-NGUTKBy1xrHqL-oevUquRk_2kkswa9EHhrXXbh5IW08UJXPIH7M716ljH8T4WIjmgd/s400/Demo_sundress_1_before.jpg)
And some of them don't work out. Cute in the store, cute in the dressing room, not so much later on. A little too much arm showing, and well, hard to wear a bra under. Which I, er, need. But the fabric is pretty cool. And I liked the neckline and the dropped waist. So, I started cutting it apart.
DEMO: Sundress Reconstruction
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQPIo_k8u0abw2y-amUIFr_hzTa7RLcUgOT6uJM-Ox8rCfZX2Bct9NKQjHY4PJFchw6p7BDFIk5uLrftsHuscG3VAqSbp2NweL1vyqT8qbJrfpG2VAEjoOADoVupqG7TblzIjfvr85QUF/s400/Demo_sundress_before_after.jpg)
So, this sun dress became a shirt! Poof! New clothes without buying any new clothes.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeLxC1o0qTOnbEXic890uKDrwn63pjPBxNymhOgevFPi7chn_Uw2S9eJip_1ErYqHYtrp89pCqfDk970Ro7mBxyXz2tuqTZGPel6LxtgL7ViQxbKDKB6kzgvamBGk7P2HelwcDcpD97dm/s400/Demo_sundress_2.jpg)
First, I cut the skirt off.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinstMOemNTPO-XIbrF9ckTrkWHG_6B0sjw0tGNTTGiJ7YJ0qjw_fBj8Fk2SEQHgyMxVW-5_WMJiR-_jy_zfv9DweaNTxL1IKV0llMmlO4SMRDvM04g4T9ISXwF94H6kw45XFo57IjRWETH/s400/Demo_sundress_3.jpg)
Then I cut the skirt in half - giving me what would become the two full sleeve parts.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdX9lPUGR1gAthFTUhAPuNmD8AYHYD3GVxfl5HH5OOH7swrDAKVprzF4fEAy2trKw_52Bgs97nJ2GiZegb1Wja5MlsJrviFyldCfCt5BlH9BfVUIQjsvKi5mPH9P28K1FyG1qDNKsUZ40H/s400/Demo_sundress_4.jpg)
I took the bottom of the skirt half, and lined the hemmed end up with the armholes of the dress.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibn12uygsdRsMakwai9aqqDea19d670yrV9bvNnEkBTWTL_0pX4TYewaQjD7RezOPXgsbSOIoC8i46NqGttB8_1yFIZNS2wCgoTtycpH58XWCp11JkSelBeMWLtuX0q8JylNabGDmL1-Et/s400/demo_sundress_5.jpg)
I pinned the dress bottom/sleeves to the dress straps and the body of the dress. I didn't stitch the sleeve into a tube because I wanted to allow for the stretch in the fabric and make sure the sleeve lined up with the arm straps.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2012t84ITy07KGt22Ca0u2HKU4EVEdId3zB53vqkP_ZRrg6jwBcfQ14Su7vNbYcq33E1yYw-EaRF03RREXUjH6BRSHULkfr4etPK6hQt598Q4MKQnuIJWMwUOUeA_74D6Fohl7MChe_RW/s400/demo_sundress_6.jpg)
And I stitched the sleeve down - and then overlapped the edges so I could sew the arm up later.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPp01fwUw6TGjutYq1b2ptrNP9ZJnrKPZoCr84ioLR-OakC8x0IbGihyphenhyphenP2oZzi_B33dt3UpWSTvoNBZUfqNKzVZ_LuRPI40E2cqaZnU07i9jIrgRc_SHF0UCgfhEHn5DLF7kJXOvcba3vM/s400/demo_sundress_7.jpg)
Here, I've got both of the sleeves sewn onto the body of the garment, and the sleeves pinned into proper tubes. I did a top stitch on the right side of the garment.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwKGBwrFVGepPlnhDbdwSfPl9OKEjCsxIrjPoO5PMNhW8gvfcRcafppb9gOMLS-ibOtfXPo0h-q5XuvkPfJWqtq8qDcd7jqaGYHdPXkvdCSZCcRFe085F2hQNoaQhHkemc7jJUGDAXQFZf/s400/demo_sundress_8.jpg)
Here, you can see the seam - and the hem on the sleeves.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAhpsROdEeyWxeYeJaU1A3bCCk6YqBIgZ2zbcE5Ja8rjfRshelBXsyg4edxg4v5_I2e6ngsj3-VplKb1yphp-p6Rp6vsfXoH11qfrLFjyjF2ODNnBjhnukeeG6ArN0PFOMv0TiNT_2PPq3/s400/demo_sundress_9.jpg)
I stitched the hem on the sleeves into a tube, and left a little slot open so that . . .
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYcXHAWklWYW6R9k7NoWJdXGDrdqrFLNN4o8pzprKCvRdvQJXuBsGQMxyYJvMZvLDsUxCBf_jeSF09eSWJZBoLqDZeXtjBrPr4Lte247OM2LdgawXHyRxBCcGBs7p0VjrgZ3eNh7Z1nKK/s400/demo_sundress_10.jpg)
I could thread elastic through it! My favorite way to get elastic through a casing is to put a safety pin through the elastic and then use that to push through the casing.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKf7W84qpqClEobFuDb-7k5h0Q0gdaxmg6i_eGEEZfwKQICiOdbhRPU_8AigjcLTuGZhEFx-46SnVoKQDCgfHgo91UcexeP6XLQJwe09cYCr8ncTv9gucrwncnUgwekqzgQV7v5XfNSjP/s400/demo_sundress_11.jpg)
Then I just tied the elastic in a square knot, and sealed up the casing.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHJ1Eyue9PbFZc9ldsgJHFSM94K3BnLo3hN_wgNCgXHNtI7qRCruhzCWFwa9jnEPPYgNlszm85HyVR-X-Bgt_aNzW-JsQgbWZQzkn4KReyz4UTYLjQryFu_K6xysk-H2KXSFPKc_U-PQS/s400/Demo_sundress_12.jpg)
Then I used a stitch ripper to take out the elastic that was putting gathers in the back of the dress.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1K86qC2m8ITeGpBVPbFB-y0ubs86hZtCgBsrZri4nEidKZCfH_E4LRYIGmdxmEp9jIdsRYcS6tU2JQo6btCLyy9muvRthyBfkGOkr3uBhSt3YnksIHGlBjoBe9cAxjByERZi3jK13m3i5/s400/DEMO_sundress_final.jpg)
Poof! It's a top! With sleeves!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjSVsYb4wKvDriSUQhnxWK0Mlb9ETuJBFSq2M4JhFAH1sIZvmBEwcwld53vKj6U5eMbFQddp6Db-Gy2u08lHpxg-T4uL7Nixr8Nd1xhfCS69AZLr83RkcdZTauScToNh8EH0lKrRRkT13/s400/demo_sundress_me.jpg)
And here I am! With upper arms fully covered - Phew! And I didn't have to buy a new shirt . . . one month down, five to go.