Tuck it Good

Last weekend we drove up to Westchester County in New York to spend a few days with some friends who'd moved there last summer.  It was a lovely weekend, and I brought my turquoise gingham dress and the white florals dress, both of which were great picks for our activities.

Over the course of the weekend, however, I realized that both dresses were not as flattering or comfortable with the elastic treatment in the front.  When I got home, I decided to convert the elastic to bust tucks on both dresses.  Rather than let them languish for several weeks while dithering, I pulled out my machine first thing on Monday morning and got to it.  

It was actually a pretty quick fix--the white floral dress took a bit more time because I didn't quite get the tuck placement right on the first try, but it turned out okay in the end.

(Note to self: tucks that start too far below the bust end up making the dress look too big on top). I wish this dress photographed better--the colors really are much more saturated that it looks like in the pics.

In any case, I'm much happier with both dresses now.  I also took the bottom crochet trim off of my Buttercup dress (aka the Ascension dress) and like it a bit more now as well.  

In other summer wardrobe news, I discovered that my Pincushion dress has grown unwearably big (and never fit properly through the shoulders and sleeves to begin with) and that it feels too kitschy for me now.   I also found that my beloved thrifted rayon dress has grown slightly fragile, so I bought a couple lengths of fabric to make up into Dottie Angel frocks to replace them.  I'm going to keep the vintage rayon dress, but save it for wearing once in a while during non-hot months when it won't get as much hard wearing.  I'm hoping to work on those in the next two weeks when the kids go to camp and the days feel slightly less hectic.