Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Tunic Fix 2


This dress is one of the 5 tunics I got on eBay a few months ago. It is the only one that actually qualifies as a dress—since it lacks side slits, I don't have to wear it with pants underneath.

The fit was kind of baggy around the waist, so I tightened that up with an elastic strip sewn to the inside of the back. 
[Outside view]
 
This tailors the waist a bit, while still enabling me to pull the dress on over my shoulders.

I really loved the embroidered detail up the front, but I felt that the lace panels all over the yoke and sleeves were just too much. I removed all the lace (which required me to open up a number of seams and re-sew them), and then washed the dress to get rid of the residual thread holes.
 
I think my alterations helped turn this dress from "80's lady" to "Medieval Maiden."
 

I did get a compliment on it from the bank teller the day I wore it, but sadly, even with the improvements that I made, I'm still not a big fan.

The purple has bled into the white trim, making it a mottled pink, and today I noticed a yellow stain on the embroidery. It's difficult to care for—I ironed it last week, and it got wrinkled again just hanging in my closet. Furthermore, the dress isn't a great fit. It was probably made in some Asian country for someone significantly smaller than I am, as the sleeves are a tad too short, and it tends to ride up on my big American butt. 

Now that it's gotten its requisite wear, I'll probably be donating this dress and moving onto bigger, better, and more flattering things.

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