A Homecoming Makeover – so you can have the confidence that the once-strapless dress will not fall off or need tugged at all evening.
I will be brutally honest here – I very much dislike strapless dresses. While they can be structured and sewn to fit the wearer in the proper way so that they stay where they belong and look like they will stay put, they very seldom are. Most bridal and prom dresses are mass-produced, therefore there are very few people they really fit properly. They can be altered but it can be costly and time-consuming to do it properly.
Please know that if you wear strapless dresses or you like strapless dresses, I am not judging you! This is my opinion and you certainly are entitled to your own!!!!
This pattern is perfect to use when adding a top to a strapless dress. I had the pattern from an earlier wedding project and it came in very handy for this homecoming makeover. You could use a bodice pattern from another pattern but this works so well since you don’t have to figure out where to cut the bottom of the bodice off.
See how the shape of the pattern piece follows the shape of the top of the dress?
The first piece I cut out I could tell right away was going to be too wide. So I recut it and pulled the fold line off the fold about 1/2 inch. Being on the fold that took an inch out of the center. By taking it out of the center it keeps the neckline from being to big and floppy.
If you are using a pattern that has a whole bodice front instead of just the top, you could cut it to match the dress as shown here.
I cut two pieces out of the sheer fabric and sewed them right sides together along the neck edge. I used pinking shears to trim that seam – using pinking shears eliminates the need to clip the curves and allows the curves to lay nicely when pressed together. Most patterns do not tell you to use 2 pieces like this – they either have a facing to finish the neck seam or they have you make a small hem. I like this method better. I think it looks much more finished and professional. And I also like two layers of the sheer better than one.
For the back we wanted just a wide strap-like piece instead of a whole bodice. I cut out the back using the bodice back pattern piece…
And then just trimmed of the center and side to look like I thought it should. I know this is totally winging it, and if you don’t like to wing it this won’t help you much! But it’s how I do I cut out 2 pieces for each side and sewed them right sides together along the center angle I cut, trimmed the seam, turned and pressed.
Next I sewed the back pieces to the front at the shoulder seams and turned it all right side out and pressed it neatly.
Because I was winging it, I had to trim the edges to match after sewing the shoulder seams.
I then turned right sides together along the sides and stitched. Turn right side out by pulling the back through the front. Press.
Pin to top of dress. Try on the person to be wearing it. At this point I tucked and pinned everything where it needed to be while the lovely little lady was wearing the dress From there I was able to sew everything down tightly so it would stay put.
I started by hand sewing the sheer fabric to the dress along the edge from the front.
Then I went to the inside of the dress and stitched it down tightly from the inside, turning the raw edges under as I went.
Homecoming Makeover complete! The dress is no longer strapless. No looking or feeling like it is going to fall off, no tugging it up all night long!
I loved the color of this dress – I call it Champagne.
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