A while back this dress ^ was given to us. It was a dress in my size except quite a bit to short. I decided it would be nice to make it work for Mara instead. One of the categories at the fair is altering so I decided to enter it there as well. The pictures don't really show to well what I did but I thought I would explain.The sleeves were to long, the shoulder seams to wide and it was to big around. My first step was to cut the sleeves of at the seam line. Then I cut about 3/4 inch off of the bodice to make the shoulders not so wide (also I took a 5/8 inch seam later on to make them shorter too). I also cut about 1 1/2 inches off of the top of the sleeves. Cutting it off of the top allowed me to still have the same cuffs without messing with them. Then I sewed the side seams in by about 2 inches on each side but I only did it down the length of the bodice and then I let it make a pleat in the skirt so that we could still have plenty of fullness there. After that I re-attached the sleeves and we were all done!
This is the finished product. It will make a great dress for fall and winter.
