- 1). Put on your vintage dress and evaluate its fit and style. Pay special attention to the fit, the length of the hem, the length of the sleeves and the neckline.
- 2). Turn a dress that is too large inside out and put it back on. Lift your arms to your sides and have a friend pin the sides from under the arms to the waist to take in the bodice or from the waist to over the hips to take in the skirt. If it's too big all over, take it in equally on both sides from under the arms to the hem of the skirt. Sew along the pinned sides and trim the extra fabric.
- 3). Cut sleeves of the dress to 1/2 inch longer than the desired length. Fold and press under a 1/4 inch hem followed by a second 1/4 inch hem. Sew around this hem. Make gathered sleeves by putting elastic thread in the bobbin of your sewing machine and sewing three or four rows around the bottom of the sleeves.
- 4). Pick out the stitches attaching the sleeves to the dress to remove them completely. Sew the hem around the arm holes back down to turn your vintage dress into a sleeveless dress.
- 5). Put your dress on and stand in front of a mirror. Use tailor's chalk to draw a new neckline on the bodice of the dress. If the dress has a collar, pick the stitches holding it on with a seam ripper. Cut the new neckline 1/4 inch smaller than the desired finished neckline using pinking sheers. Press the edges of the hem and around the neckline if you removed the collar down and sew in place.
- 6). Put on your dress again and have a friend use a yard stick to measure an even hem all the way around, in order to shorten the skirt. If the new hem is bigger than 2 inches, trim it to this length, press under 1/4 inch and then to the desired length. Hand sew the new hem in place.
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