Old 80s Dress Refashioned to a Blazer

Awhile back, the Bay Area Maker Faire had this refashioning tent, complete with piles of old clothes and sewing machines. I didn't have time to do anything there, but I did manage to pick up a great amount of free fabric!  Pro tip: Look for nicer materials which tend to be more expensive and durable; IMO it's not worth taking a worn out cotton t-shirt that came from who knows where.

Anyways, one of the gems I picked up was this dress, straight out of the 80s, complete with shoulder pads, fluffiness, and buttons in the back. That blue though is gorgeous, and the material is really nice.  The buttons in the back was screaming for me to turn the top around and make it a blazer.

To start, I used a scissor to separate the top from the skirt, cutting right above the elastic to preserve the elastic for the skirt waist.  I'm still a little unsure what to do with the skirt as it's too flouncy for  my liking, but leave comments for feedback and stay tuned for what I decide :)

Next to go was the shoulder pads. With a cut and a snip, the atrocious shoulder pads were gone.

Because I turned the top around, I had to take a seam ripper to remove the tags in the back.  The sleeves were also an awkward length and a little tight, so I took the seam ripper to that too, opening it up about six inches. I planned on rolling/hemming it to a 3/4 sleeve, but I kind of like the style of the open sleeve, and I can still roll it up if I want to.

Finally, I hemmed the bottom to hide the ugly scissor marks.

And ta-dah, a brand new fitted blazer!