Lace has made a big comeback in the past two years, and we love it! A classy way of peek-a-boo dressing helps straddle the line between sexy and demure. Downside: its incredibly fragile (hence the delicate beauty), and therefore prone to tears.

Alaina's-torn-lace-dress-lores

This was utterly amazing, but the combination cap-sleeve/mesh underlay with a black twill ribbon stitched on to create the “lace” was decidedly dangerous. After a handful of wears, the left sleeve ripped open. After looking closely at the dress I realized that there were gaps in the black ribbon that created weak spots in the dress (see photo), and the dress was only as strong as the mesh at these points.

Alaina-before-2-lores

Alaina-weak-spots-lores

To solve the problem, I pulled off sections of the twill overlay, and redistributed the ribbon into the wavy pattern, but made sure that around the armhole, there were no gaps where the mesh could tear. Since the manufacturer had not foreseen this problem, (and likely did not test their product enough), I went through and redistributed the black ribbon around the neck and the other armhole where there were gabs, and where the dress would rip next. The result looks just like the original design, exactly what we wanted, only this time it can survive more that a couple of wears. Now this dress is ready to run around the streets of DC this Spring and Summer!

alaina-after-close-up-lores

Do you have a rockin’ dress that needs some creative repair? Give us a call to schedule an appointment at (202)567-7668 or email us at info@gingerrootdesign.com.

*Tailoring by appointment only. Closed Wednesdays and Sundays.

About the author

Kristen is one of the owners and founders of Ginger Root Design and ReVamp ReWear Design and Tailoring.

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