A Piece of Good Luck!

The biggest challenge with modesty alterations is finding appropriate cloth. It has to match or coordinate. Finding matching cloth is almost impossible, so you usually have to use a matching wrap or cut the material from somewhere on the dress (I have been cutting it off the skirt bottoms for many of these alterations).

But every once in awhile, you find a dress that has an obvious solution. This was one such dress. Notice the sash down the front (it's kind of hard to see in the picture, but it's to the right). It screams to be used.


I cut the sash off from where it was attached under the folds. I discovered, to my delight, that it was bias-cut (bias-cut is great for shoulder straps because it will stretch, thus fitting and molding to the shoulder - but bias-cut takes more yardage, and you usually can't get it when you're cutting off the bottom of a dress).

I used the sash to make a wide, pleated strap for the alteration. It was already the right width, sewn and pressed and everything, and this piece of good luck made for a very easy alteration.