I made jewelry this weekend! It’s been a few weeks, and it felt wonderful to create something with my hands.

I also did a little sewing this weekend. I’ve been in purging mode the last few weeks (thanks to this book – more about that here and here), so I’ve been piling clothes and sorting them for consigning, giving away, and mending.

This gray dress was in the mending pile. When I found it at the thrift store, I was short on time, so I just held it up to my body and thought, “Close enough!”

When I got home, I realized it was a little too big, and too big in a strapless dress doesn’t work, so I came up with this quick fix for a strapless dress.

Side note – while I was trying it on, figuring out how to fix it, I kept thinking of this commercial from the 80s – do you remember it?

I LOVED that dress. I was sure that this would be exactly the kind of dress I would wear to the prom.

Of course, I was 9 years old when that commercial came out, so by the time I went to my first prom, my dress was a little different:

Alas, this is not my dress. I searched high and low for a photo from my first prom but came up short. My dress was very similar to this, except it was turquoise. The style in 1994 (at least in East Tennessee) was head-to-toe (or head-to-knee) sequins and beads. (You know I love me some sequins – see another almost prom dress here.)

It’s currently prom dress season, and thanks to the glory of Facebook, I can see what my friends’ daughters are wearing this year (both in Tennessee and California). I love seeing how styles have changed – lots of beautiful dresses, elegant fabrics, and MUCH fewer sequins.

I would like to note – my senior prom dress (photo above, from my scrapbook in which I rubber cemented sequins to the page and wrote with bubble letters) didn’t have a single sequin. I was also 2 weeks post-op from an ACL replacement, and I was supposed to still be using crutches, so that it why I was not wearing heels, much to my dismay.

Okay, my project dress.

I love the color and the lace, and while it’s a relatively recent dress from H&M, it’s got a vintage feel that I love, too.

In order to keep the front of the bodice intact, I decided to add elastic to the back of the bodice to make it fit better.

My plan was to use two pieces of elastic, one on each side of the zipper, which falls is the middle of the back.

I measured the length of one of the back pieces from the side seam to the zipper (here, 8 inches). I subtracted 3 inches (it was just a guess, and it worked well) and cut two pieces of elastic, 5 inches each.

I pinned the elastic along the top of the bodice in the back, one end at the side seam and one end just before the zipper.

I then sewed the elastic along the top of the bodice, pulling the elastic as I went to make sure it stretched the length of the bodice. After it was sewn in place, it pulled the top of the bodice in, making it fit better. I repeated this on the other side.

Here’s the back of the dress with the elastic sewn into the top.

It fits so much better this way. And because this dress feels like a 50s prom dress, a pink satin ribbon seemed necessary, along with pink heels and a pink necklace.

Here’s my new necklace! I used vintage rose-shaped beads and sterling silver chain to create a pretty yet simple necklace.

I love how sweet and innocent it is.

Sewing and making jewelry – I don’t know about “Does a Body Good”, but it sure does wonders for the soul.

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Dress: thrifted (H&M)

Necklace: my Etsy shop

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 I’m off to go look for more prom photos! So, did you go to prom? What did you wear? I’d love to hear. And thanks for reading!