Wrap the ladies up: DIY your Décolletage

Every time I see a cute wrap dress I think to myself, I could wear that! And I can't. It's like basically wearing a bra in public, and I am not cool enough for that. That and there's so much cleavage I'd drop half my snacks in there. I also hate wearing a tank underneath a dress, since it looks like I couldn't afford clothes that fit me*. I did once have a tailor take some length off a dress and add it to the collar, but I bought this cute wrap dress in a fit of feeling fancy at a J. Crew sale, and it's been rattling around my trunk for 6 months so clearly I wasn't getting to that errand. This past week I decided to take matters into my own hands and sew on some lace.

1. Gather supplies:

-Several sewing kits I'd picked up at hotels

-My kitchen scissors (not a good idea, don't do this, not good for the scissors)

-Fray check you can find here, which every adult should possess. It can stop your pants from unraveling, your seams from widening, or your social life from disaster.

-Wide ribbon from amazon you can find here in multiple colors and lengths. How much you will need depends on your size, but I'm a size 12 with a DD-F bust depending on the store/whether it's raining outside, and 2 yards worked just right. If you want to sew it in one long piece from one end of the side to the other, you would need approximately 3.5x as much. I wanted to sew it from the waist tie up to the collar around to the other waist tie. Whatever lace you buy, be sure it's not itchy.

2. Put on dress and drape ribbon over. This ensures you have enough ribbon to work with, and that the cleavage is covered. This will also help you determine if the lace you bought is itchy. I cannot stress how important it is to make sure that lace is real smooth.

TMT= too much titty Daytime Comfortable

3. Sew

If I could have done this over, I would have started in one long piece from the waist all the way up, and around. Since I did not do this. I started at the back of the collar, and sewed to the waist tie, then did the same on the other side, then sewed the back of the collar pieces together. Hope no one looks at the back of my neck too closely. If you have never sewn before, watch this. I would also recommend checking the outside of the dress on each stitch to ensure you didn't go all the way through. You want to sew the lace to the inside of the lining, so there are no visible stitches when you're wearing it. This took me approximately an hour and a half between collecting supplies, cursing at my supplies, and adjusting the final product.

Stitches Outside check

4. Try it on

Ta Da! (or no Ta Ta! Depending on if you think I'm punny)

*If you want to walk out the door TMT, more power to you. Dress codes are discriminatory and sexist and I am here to support. Unfortunately, I have student loans so fighting the patriarchy has some limits for me. TMT in the workplace is one so, well, here we are.

XO, WHWA

#WHWA #DIY #cleavage #lace #DoItYourself #projects