My wardrobe is pretty seriously lacking in pieces that I feel are representative of me these days, so I wanted to get a dress for myself for Indy's birthday party as the beginning step in an endeavour to collect and sew some clothing to try and make my wardrobe into something that makes sense to me. Fashion isn't everything, certainly, but it's a mode of self expression that I appreciate, so I'd like to bring it in as a minor element in the blog here and there.

I grabbed this dress from Flour Clothing on etsy. It's a beautiful, handmade traditional mexican pullover dress. I fell for the gorgeous embroidery and the crisp, natural cotton. When I tried it on, I felt like the hem was a little long and I wasn't a huge fan of the flutter sleeves, so I made some minor adjustments. 

I added some ruching to the sleeves with elastic, and I took the hem up several inches. As a rule when working with vintage, I think it's worthwhile to make changes non-destructuve to the garment when possible. Both of these changes are easily undone (the hem I folded up and pressed, and then used the blind hem stitch on my machine to make nearly invisible and easily removable stitches). 

I'm definitely happy with the result, especially when worn. I'll give you a peek at Indy's dress tomorrow!