diy: dress makeover

Hoping to a find a few ugly ducklings to feed to my sewing machine, I picked up this cotton frock at a local church thrift store:

I think the excessively crappy quality of the "before" photo really highlights the end result, no?

After taking up the hem, chopping the sleeves, and adding some fake epaulet-type straps, I ended up with a breezy minidress:

The straps on the sleeves are just pieces of the old belt, which I stitched to the inside of the sleeves and secured to the outside with a button:

The dress is still a bit loose, so I may take in the extra material around the waist for a more streamlined effect.  Overall, though, I'm liking this for bumming around the neighborhood.  In the summer, an easy cotton dress is just the perfect thing to throw on and go.