Stitched Up: Formal Flair

Goodwill Alterations with Chanté Gibbs

Chanté is a local thrift blogger and sustainable designer. She is our inspiration and guide to exploring what can be done with some creative alterations and updates of thrifted finds. Each month she starts with a concept, shops our stores, and reworks her thrift finds into high-fashion pieces. She takes us on a thrift journey from start to finish, and it’s a great ride every month!

DIY Formal Flair

I knew this project would depend on what kind of dress I found at Goodwill to upcycle. I made a list of the current prom trends I found before my trip and kept it as reference. At the first thrift store I went to, I could not find the right dress for me to upcycle. I looked through other sections just in case something was out of place but did not find the right one. I eventually went to another Goodwill and came across a dress with beautiful gold lace flowers on top of a nice navy blue fabric. I loved the bottom of the dress, overall color scheme, and how it reminded me of a mermaid. Luckily, the dress size was in good condition and big enough for me to alter it to my size.

How do I make it?

First, I placed the dress on my mannequin to see how it would lay on the body.

Pin: I wanted to alter the dress to fit me perfectly, so I used fabric clips to pull excess fabric and pins to hold it in place. I did this to both sides of the dress to tighten the fit along the seams evenly. Then with chalk I marked where the cutout would be under the bust area.

Cut: I cut the excess off of the original side seams first, from where I had pinned near the top down to the hip. Once I did that, I went back to the front of the dress and cut where I had drawn the cutout in chalk. In the opening I had just made, I pinned everything down to create a new seam.

Sew: Since I wanted the dress to be backless with a halter tie opening, I also cut where the straps connected in the back. I then folded and pinned the new straps of the dress to fit tightly around the neck.

Before I took it off the dress form, I made sure to mark all the areas I had pinned. I turned the dress inside out and transferred the lines for the new side seam I made on the outside. I did the same thing for the cutout. When I was satisfied with all my markings, I sewed down each of the side seams and the cutout’s seams.

Finishing Touches: After that I pinned and sewed the ribbon to the bottom of the cutout and sewed down the new straps. Finally, I tried on my new dress.