Today’s edition of ‘Thrifty Thursday’ will be a cautionary tale of How Things Can Go Wrong (or Semi-Wrong) When Op-Shopping. First, note the dress: a strapless Zara Basic, with bubble skirt. It has an interesting pattern, so puts a spin on the traditional LBD.
I noticed the fraying around the top seam (see photo) on the day I bought it, but didn’t think much of it and it wasn’t until I got the dress home when I realised the zipper was utterly useless. Cue a trip to the dressmakers!
Then!
Once I got it back, I put it on and the fraying became an issue – especially when I used double-sided tape (I get paranoid in strapless dresses) caught and snagged the threads even more.
So. I’m still not sure if this purchase was a success or a failure.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hm… What’s it made of? If it’s synthetic (and you’re feeling brave!), you could try using a lighter to fuse the loose threads down.
You could also use a fray-stopping liquid like Fray Check (not sure what they’d call it in Australia). This will make the loose threads hard and scratchy, though.
Or you could get some pretty ribbon or bias tape and sew it (or use liquid stitch, a fabric glue I guess) over the edge. You could even add straps with the ribbon if it’d make you feel more secure.
But still–all together, it’s more work than I’d like to do! (I have op shop projects sitting around that are years old. Ugh, I hate to do that stuff. Learn your lesson, self!)
“Or you could get some pretty ribbon or bias tape and sew it (or use liquid stitch, a fabric glue I guess) over the edge. ”
Oh, Jordan, that is an excellent idea!!! Thank you, wise one. I can see that working.
Nothing a little creative ingenuity won’t fix. I was going to offer similar suggestions to Jordan, so go for it. It might even ‘make’ the dress!
Either that or you could sew straps into the dress to hold it up and then it won’t fray any more. Find some similar fabric or go for a chain look, or something…just a suggestion…