Thrifted Thursdays: Blue Velvet DIY

 Oh good Lord what am I wearing you ask?

This is a velvet dress that I found at VallueVilliage two years ago. At the time I had a friend who was good with sewing so hemming it wouldn't have been a problem. Unfortunately that never worked out and this sad dress - full of potential - sat in a drawer.

Luckily (for me) velvet is everywhere on the runways these days so I finally bit the bullet and decided that I would hem it myself. I have a whole week off school and the dress only cost me $7 so why not?

I should mention that I have absolutely no sewing skills whatsoever. Still, I am a determined, independent young lady so I would not let that stop me. I found some no-sew hemming tape and got to work. Again the dress was only $7. Even if it didn't work out I would still have had a crafty afternoon which I haven't had for a long time.

 First to go were the shoulder pads.

I cut off about a foot of fabric. The circumference of this dress was so large that the resulting scrap piece of fabric was about 7ft long. One thing I knew about altering clothes/fabrics is that before you do anything to them test it out on a small hidden piece first. I grabbed a chunk of the scrap piece and tested out my iron on it (apparently irons and velvet don't always work) as well as the hemming tape to make sure that it would stick. Both were successful!

I ironed the (inside) panels of the dress to make sure that I had a straight, flat hemline.

Next I lined the pieces of hemming tape a long my new hemline. I bought a PeelNStick version for roughly $6. Other versions of hemming tape require heat to activate the glue but my kind was sticky enough without heat. I was reminded of this fact repeatedly because while trying to place the tape carefully it would get stuck to my fingers and then I would need a new piece.

After aligning my tape along my new hemline I would pull off the paper backing and carefully fold over the excess fabric. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of this step.

This is the final product. I was very happy with the results. The only thing I regret is that it took me two years to get this done!

Dress - ValueVilliage ($7)

Pride & Prejudice Scarf - Gift from roommate

Belt - Colorblind

Tights - Walmart

Boots - Aldo

Headband - Target

LORELAI: She's a craft person now, so it's not safe to leave anything around her anymore.
RORY: Maybe that's where crafty comes from.

-Gilmore Girls, Season 4

Hehehe I couldn't resist a Gilmore Girls there! But that is me being 

Just Jacklynn