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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!

Little white dress update: Longer, and... better?

Lemme tell you the inside story. Different things happen after I blog about something I've made.
  • Sometimes I wear it several times the next few weeks, and love it and Instagram it (hashtag #howtowearDIY! Join the party!)... 
  • Sometimes I hang it in the back of my closet and wait for a party or occasion to wear it... 
  • Sometimes I try it on a few times and realize I need to fix something on it before I can feel good in it. 
This is a case of the latter. Particularly.... remember the little white dress I made recently, out of cotton eyelet lace interspersed with white pique (worn here). Super cute, inspired by a pin from one of my fave bloggers, and I looooove white dresses--always have. 

But it was too short. I gave it a big hem at the last minute because I thought it was too long, but then it felt dowdy, so I turned it up again. I seriously was doing this right before packing it for our mini vacay and I wanted to pack it! So, insufficient trying-on-while-sewing was going on, and the length did not work out.

So luckily the job of letting the hem out wasn't too hard. I easily made it 2-3" longer by taking out the hem I had sewn in quickly. Voila!

It's not a very full skirt, so I guess it felt a little plain and not pretty enough with the longer length--the shortness and extra stiffness at the hem made it feel fuller. But, this is definitely still better! (If I hadn't had as much room, I could have made it a teensy bit longer by putting in a tiny hem or adding a hem facing, so only using up 1/2" or so at the bottom edge.)

Longer and more versatile, right?

Aside from adding some tall heels or wedges, how should I make it a little more girly? What are your outfit ideas for a basic, solid fit-and-flare dress?

19 comments

  1. I think I prefer the new length. Maybe you could add a pretty belt to make it more girly?

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  2. I agree with Megan, a belt would be super cute! I am so over short dresses this year. I wish most retail places would realize how flattering a knee-length skirt looks, especially for the over-25 crowd *cough*Forever21*cough.* Guess I'm lucky I can sew!

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  3. I always add a belt if my dress feels to plain. I have about 30 :D

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  4. Just needs the right accessories. I like the longer length.

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  5. I concur. The longer length is more flattering. Throw on a cute belt and some wedges and you have a winner!

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  6. Love the jacket, necklace and shoes you had on in your first picture. And the longer length. You can do a lot with this dress I bet!

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  7. Love the white dress. Think the lower hem is very flattering. Girl it up with accessories! This season I am leaning towards coral and turquoise. What a wonderful job!

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  8. A statement necklace always looks great. Or a thin brown belt could look good with some brown shoes :)

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  9. i love it longer! you can always add a belt or a cute pin to change it up. accessories go a long way with a simple dress!

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  10. i think that length looks great! and now you can easily dress it up or down however you'd like!

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  11. Agree the length looks fab, great with ballet pumps and pearls for a retro look!

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  12. I think a white pom-pom trim along the bottom edge would be a fun, summery touch. Otherwise, inserting a wider, white lace trim, say 1 1/2 inches wide, about 1 1/2 inches above the hem would be a good compromise between the shorter and longer length...it would break up the length a bit, whilst still giving you the coverage you want.

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  13. I really like it, you could add a temporary collar but I love how versatile it is. It would work so well with a large statement necklace. If you wanted to add to it you could do a detail hem in the eyelet lace or some detail around the necklince. It's gorgeous as it is and suits you so well :)

    Barnicles
    Barnicles.blogspot.com

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  14. If I don't want a restrictive belt, I use ribbons then you can add lots of different colours depending on my mood. I think it looks cute both ways but you need to feel comfortable in what your are wearing above all.

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  15. Hi, i am a regular follower of your blog and i love everything you make :). I was wondering if adding a pretty white lace to the hem appeals to you. Just an idea. I am very new to dressmaking and dont have much experience :)
    Sohini

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  16. It's a really pretty dress! I think you should wear it with a cute belt or/ and cute earrings.

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  17. That would be cute! Thanks for the idea and thanks for reading!

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  18. Oooh, a Peter Pan collar would be cute...!!!!

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  19. So true! None of the cute, cheap, skimpy dresses at F21 and Ross and such are long enough for work!

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