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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

A new kind of halter dress from vintage striped fabric

I like thinking out of the box (or pattern envelope) and trying something new!

I love summer dresses and I'm so happy warm weather is coming up, and I love making cute and colorful things for myself to wear. But I do sometimes get bored of my same styles (McCall's M5849, my fave strapless dress pattern, and variations on fit-n-flare Simplicity 1913 and Simplicity 2444)... so when I saw this page of my InStyle (April 2014), with these bold colors and shapes (Rosie Assolin designs), I was totally drawn to the cheerful coral party dress with tiny strap and midi skirt. I thought, how cute! I've never made one like that before!


I don't have the same silk (not sure what weave) of the original $2,995 dress, and while I do love the color, I had some woven stripe (appears bright solid) vintage fabric that I thought would be a good weight.

I used McCall's M6331, but obviously modified it considerably. I used the bodice of View B but I cut the center front piece on the fold, and didn't cut the flap extension--I shaped the sweetheart neckline shape freehand while cutting. I also skipped the back straps altogether (now wish I'd cut the back down a little lower, fits kind of high) and just added a narrow bias strap, attached at the innermost points of the front strap location. I lined the bodice with self fabric.


My fabric isn't as fancy as the silk, and this isn't quite as summer wedding-ey as the original--better for my lifestyle that way! Oh, the fabric is vintage, a blue/back woven stripe, which I bought for $0.99 for the whole 4-yard piece at Goodwill on vacation in Washington. Um, amazing deal.

Here it is!

The fit is great!

Except the slightly high back, like I mentioned. I guess it's better this high for a dress with continuous straps--for a halter, it felt like it might not stay up perfectly.


So summery!

11 comments

  1. That is an adorable summer dress, the color is perfect for you and so well sewn.

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  2. Beautiful fabric! I hope the dress feels as comfortable as it looks :)

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  3. This is adorable! Love the fabric and love a good thrifting story!

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  4. That blue looks amazing in you. I admire that fit SO much. I'd love to make a bodice fit that beautifully. You'd never guess for a second that this isn't RTW.

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  5. I LOVE that color... and those shoes!

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  6. I think this may be one of my favourite dresses you've ever made. I love the colour, that neckline and the shape of your pleats. Great job!

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  7. This is why sewing is so great! To go from idea to reality like you just did. Love the result, it looks lovely on you!

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  8. this is really a cute dress on you. looks good too.

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  9. Very cute. I love that color on you.

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  10. Wow! I just stumbled upon your site looking for ideas on modifying a dress pattern and I LOVE this! I actually love yours a lot more than the original! Great job!

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