Ack!

I know what you're thinking.  "How on earth could she do anything with this monstrosity of a dress?"  Well, I was thinking the same thing when I started.  I really wasn't sure where I was going.  This dress was completely out of control.  I'm actually a little embarrassed to show you this picture as it's completely unbecoming.

I began by removing the should pads.  That was a no-brainer.

Look at the size of that thing!

Then I quickly realized the top portion of the dress had entirely too much going on.  By the time I was done removing things, I had almost completely disassembled the dress.  These are the extra parts.

I got rid of the shoulder pads, THE SHOULDERS, the sleeves, the collar, and 8 inches off the bottom.  The entire project took me a week because (a) I was busy, and (b) the dress overwhelmed me.  Today I finished the final stitching and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Hooray for pockets!

Even though I only paid $0.59 for the dress, it seems kind of fancy so I'm not sure yet where I'm going to wear it.  But I guess whenever that special occasion arrives I will be prepared :)