“Your clothes should be tight enough to show you’re a woman but loose enough to show you’re a lady.” – Marilyn Monroe

My mother and I have done many sewing projects together, but this was the one that almost made her quit. We began referring to it as “The Green Dress.”

It was my first time ordering something from Wish. I know, why would I order clothes off a website where everything is made in China? Well it seemed like a good idea at the time, so back off.

I quickly came to realize that the little Asian models they must have created this dress for were not the same as my 5’8″ self. I ordered a large and measured it all out beforehand, should have been home free, right? Wrong. The dress finally came in about 3-4 weeks after it was ordered, and it was a small! Whether or not they called it a large, I don’t care, but it was definitely for someone more petite than myself. Unfortunately, I did not take any “before” pictures, but honestly I probably wouldn’t have posted them anyways because they were NOT FLATTERING.

So my mom and I set out to it. We decided that it fit relatively well on the top, but that the bottom was much too small and short. I came up with the idea to create panels of extra fabric on each side to give myself more room, but maybe with a little pizzaz. Instead of getting plain, green panels to match, I decided to go with a mustard yellow with cute little flowers, very fall-like. This added some much-needed color to the dress to break apart all the green, as well as add more room for me. And once we let the hem out, we were able to pull it down a bit to elongate it as well.

Sounds simple enough, but let me tell you, it was NOT. Sometimes sewing projects are just a bust and you have to admit it when they are, but I would not, even when my mom tried to tell me. We could not figure out how to get the dang panels in because of the pockets that cut clear across the seams on both sides. It took hours over the course of weeks, but we finally got them in!! The only problem was, the pockets were now much too shallow since we had to move them, but hey, we’re just glad it’s done!

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your problem solving, you don’t always need to throw something out or return it just because it doesn’t work. The solution doesn’t always need to be the most obvious thing either, sometimes adding something totally different can create something even more beautiful and personal!