The Stars and Stripes Forever Dress Reincarnated!

Good morning! I have successfully upcycled a dress!

Yesterday was my work's company picnic. I had more fun than I thought I would, even if I got stung by a wasp! Anyway, the theme of the picnic was "Proud to be an American!". We were all asked to wear red, white, and blue and other patriotic things. Translation for me: time to sew something!

You may remember my "Stars and Stripes Forever" dress I made for the 4th of July. Well, that dress really didn't fly as well as I had hoped. I don't think it was very flattering either. The print however was perfect for the picnic so I perused all my patterns but didn't find anything that I liked or that was very work function appropriate. So I clicked through BurdaStyle's patterns and found this one. I totally love it! So simple but cute and flattering.

I had a little bit extra fabric from the dress lying around, which was the perfect amount for the bodice. I took apart the dress (that shirring was a nightmare!) and cut off the shirred part to make the skirt. This is the first time I put a side zipper into a sleeved dress. It went swimmingly though and I must say I am getting much better at inserting zippers!

Here's a before pic:

And after:

Had to add the cowboy hat...what's more American than a cowboy hat?

As I was putting it together yesterday, Sir Knight (with his blunt critiques of my sewing) said it looked like hospital scrubs. That of course, was before I put in the zipper. I've learned you should never judge a project til you've put the zipper in!

The wasps were out of control!

The kid in me tooootally wanted to get in there! :P

Besides getting stung by a wasp, the afternoon was really fun. It was weird to see everyone in "civilian" clothes rather than our work shirts.

I don't think these guys will ever eat apple pie again haha.

May not look like much, but Deb's butterscotch pie is famous! Not to mention delicious!

Sir Knight unfortunately didn't attend much to my disappointment. I really wanted to introduce him to my coworkers. To make up for it he took me to The Summit, a really nice restaurant inside the Best Western hotel here. I wore my "Pomegranates of Persephone" dress, which I actually haven't posted yet! I still have some fit issues with it. The neckline gapes a little and the armholes are oddly tiny! It's so pretty so I'm going to work on it to make it fit better.

Anyway, at the restaurant I had the pecan crusted pork chops, YUM! The leftovers are in a doggy bag and they're calling my name!

A wonderful rest of the weekend to all of you!