THE Muumuu

Well, what can I say... This photo is just not good.  The weather was pretty cold on the day this photo was taken, so I just couldn't bring myself to shed any layers (or uggboots) for the sake of displaying this dress - dubbed by my husband who was in fits of laughter as 'THE Muumuu'.

But I was sure this item could become something I could wear in public with a few tweaks.

First task, remove the shoulder pads, which were described by my 6 year old as making me look like I had 'man' shoulders :-)

This dress had no side or back zip, so I guess it could be described as a tunic.  But this meant that when I pinned it to size on my dress form I couldn't get it off again.  So I got a rough idea of sizing on the form, took it off again, then marked with chalk where I thought the new side seams would go, and then pinned along these chalk lines.  I followed this seam all the way through the arms so the sleeves would also be more snug.

Once I sewed the new side seams I trimmed off the excess fabric, and zig-zagged the raw edges.  I also shortened the dress a couple of inches while I was at it.

I made a waist sash from the spare material that was cut from the hem when I shortened the dress.

Being one of the coldest winters I've lived through in quite a few years, I didn't expect I would have the opportunity to wear this for quite a while.  But thanks to an unseasonably warm winters day, I got the chance to wear this sooner than I had expected.