DIY Dress/Top Resizing

I bought a dress top from Forever21 over the Christmas break in clearance for $6.99.  Unfortunately it was a size too big for me, but for the price, I just couldn't let it go.  I decided I would bring it home and see what I could do to make it fit better. I usually avoid this, but a long sleeve "hijabi" friendly top could not be passed up.

Here was my attempt to improve the fit.  Apologies ahead of time, as the pictures aren't the best due to some GREAT lighting in my apartment...blaa

I didn't take great pictures of what it looked like "too big" on me.  Basically the sleeves were way to long, it bulged around my waist and bulged in the back, like a beer belly in my back (what the??).  Maybe that's why it was on sale to begin with??

Actions taken:

1. Move the buttons over to make it fit better around my waist/hips.  Doing so offset the chest pockets and belt, so I had to remove one of the pockets and move the belt opening back to even things out.

Removed the pocket.

This is before I moved the belt sash back.

After: now it's more centered.  I cut about an inch off the sash opening and folded the new length sash back to make a new opening.

A bit of ironing removes the previous seam line!

2. "Remove" the bulge from the middle of the back by taking some fabric up (actually a lot).  This was the hardest part.  I tried to make pleats, did everything I could to line it up and finally with some magic help from the hubby, I got it pinned just right and went ahead and sewed.  It lines up great and honet, it looks much better in person!

3. Shorten the sleeves.  I wanted to keep the cuffs the way they were (you know, make it look like I didn't do anything to it), so I marked the length with pins, cut the sleeves about 1 inch above the cuff seam and below the "correct" length of the sleeve I wanted.

I opened up the seam from the cuff, removed the excess material and then fed the sleeve length fabric into the seam, lined things up and closed it up.

It looks perfect (if I do say so myself!)

Yay! A maroon, hijabi friendly top :) A color, I did not have!!!