Thread: Can I modify a dress ? Need advice from you talented ladies

I have a Mme Abla eskaderia dress that I love.
I bought it from someone knowing it was too small for me, I now want to know if my idea is crazy.

My butt fits into the dress so it is a start.
problem is higher up, I cant close the zipper in the back and the dress is not lycra My boobs are small but my ribcage is too large for the dress.


so is it possible to transform a dress that zips up in the back to a dress with an open back style ??


you wonderful ladies from the what are you working on thread , please help,

That is just what I did with my blue cat...go look in my gallery....

thank you Anala !
By the way this costume is stunning.

now the dress might be ready in 2012 but I will attempt it : ) hoping my bottom will still fit in there by the time I finish this project.

is there more detail of the work you did in the "what are you working on" threads from previous months ?

Hi,

It sounds possible... and very pretty!

Without seeing a pic of the dress, I may be completely off-base with the examples below... so please share a pic with us!

I would think a lace-up back would be more secure for dancing, rather than a completely open back.

Like this:


Or this:

I will take a couple of pictures and post them here. the lace up would be difficult to put on I guess.

but you are right that dress with a complete open back ...it might be an accident waiting to happen.

Yes...I wore it last weekend and I am waiting for my troupie to send the pix. The trick is to decorate the back chest straps to look as good as the rest of the dress.

Here is the dress :



the manequin doesn't have a back or a butt so it doesnt look very good...
but here is the back with the zipper closed

If you wear this open back...your gonna need ruffle and palliete all the way down

Originally Posted by anala

If you wear this open back...your gonna need ruffle and palliete all the way down

Good point...
would I need ruffles to cover the bra strap in the back ?

may be a low back corset type bra? Thinkin on it.... silver sequins on a black base maybe... or sequins to match the hip applique.

Originally Posted by palmier

Here is the dress :

I take it that you'll need it open this much for it to fit you?

Hmmm...

How about putting two criss-crossess of matching blue-or black-covered ~1" thick elastic in the back, and sew matching colorful pailettes on them? Or, other than pailettes, maybe make smaller matching sequin appliques as on the side of the dress and sew them onto the covered elastic.

With the elastic you'll get a bit of stretch too.

Call it a modern twist to the dress :-)

Just throwing out ideas...

Can you make two long black Vs in a fabric that matches the ruffle and insert them between the blue fabric and the zipper?

Maybe you could detach the ruffles on the neckline, remove the gathering and rework the gathering so it is not as tight. That might give you enough fabric to reattach the exact same ruffles once you have lowered the zipper.

You could also allow the ruffle to be the back piece that covers the back bra strap. If you do not attach the ruffle to the back of the dress so it floats you could use large snaps to attach the ruffle to the back bra strap.

Following this thread with great interest: Not just 'coz I'm attempting to tailor my own costumes, but also b/c I'm a huuuuge Madame Abla Fan!!! :)..g.:

Next approach...open the side seams and insert black lycra...rebead...

I would do the black lycra inserts netxt to the zipper and then continue the beading. So you don´t have to change too much.

Dunno...might look like racer stripes. 2 wedge shape inserts under the pit might be more descreet.

Originally Posted by anala

Next approach...open the side seams and insert black lycra...rebead...

euuuuuu good idea ....but maybe not ..l;,
just being realistic ..l;,

the beading on the dress would be "easy" to reproduce but there is fringe all over the dress and I have to say Mma Abla was smart about how she put that fringe all over, gradually working more fringe around the hips. if I start opening seems, rebeading fringe starnds , I think that might equal a great big mess and making a mess of this dress.
then Ozma would make a monster fringe bag out of it to give it a new life....

I am going to play around with the ruffles idea tonight and take a few pictures.
the dress came with a boxfull of pompoms , hehe love it : )
and also a cheap black milaya. I could use that material since it is like the material used for the ruffles.

thank you for helping me with this dress, I really want to try and make it fit.

You got more material!!! You got no problem!!!!

HI Does the dress at least close a the top? If not no worries. put the dress on and zip it up to where it stops comfortably, stitch in blue where the zipper stops around and around till you get a good stopper for the zipper on both sides of the zipper. If the dress closes at the top comfortably close the top and the zipper to where it stops and cut a Keyhole (cutting the section of useless zipper as well out of the dress) or oblong eye shape in the back of the dress. make sure to cut the hole smaller than the finished hole for seaming. take the beads and sequins off the bit you just cut off, finished the seams around your new keyhole and re bead.
If the top does not close entirely simply make an extension w/ some cord elastic or bead a strap extension w/ some similar fabric sew on one end hok and eye on the other.
Good luck!