As of today, I have finished the alterations on the dress that I have been upcycling! Here are some before/after photos:
To create this ‘improved’ sundress, I added a lace up feature to the front of the dress by creating hand-sewn grommets and using my hand spun wool for strings. Overall, this alteration didn’t cost me anything other than about 50 cents for the thread, but it did take about six hours to fully complete. After that main portion of the alteration was complete, I simply added lace from an old top that I cut up and trimmed the neckline. I also wanted to add a bit more ‘figure’ to the piece, so I decided to add an adjustable tie to the back in order to make the wasteline a bit more flattering. To do this, I just used an old strap of leather that I had from a show and laced it through the trim that I attached.
Overall, this piece took me about nine hours of labor to complete. I’ve decided to focus less on keeping the cost of pieces low after reading a portion of Shaping Sustainable Fashion that stated that underselling the price of clothing encourages over-consumption, which is a concept that I actually really do agree with. So, I have kind of recalibrated my ‘purpose’ of exploring the art of upcycling to simply be to elevate a piece of clothing that has been mass produced only to be worn a few times before ending up in landfill to an entirely unique, one of a kind, garment that will last seasons upon seasons of wear.