Pretty in Pink

When Miranda told me she needed a light pink cocktail dress for her play... I started the search. I went to 5 different thrift stores looking for the perfect pink party dress (say that 10x fast)
But came up empty handed.
I really didn't want to spend too much money on something she may or may not wear again....so we decided to check at Ross since they are pretty reasonable. After much searching she tried on a couple dresses, but nothing that was perfect... just something to get her by.
As we were leaving the store we both saw this dress at the same time....
It was almost perfect....well, at least it was pink. So she tried it on.
She fell in love with how it fit so I opened my big mouth and said, "I can alter it if you like"
What... really.... did I just say that out loud?

Like I said before, the only positive thing going for it was the light pink color. It would have to be shortened to cocktail length (not too difficult)
It needed some kind of sleeves for modesty and so it didn't fall of when she danced the tango (ummmmm... ok)
and it was a size too small so it didn't zip up all the way in the back.
What was I thinking when I thought I could alter it to work?
I really haven't sewn anything except paper since Miranda was 10. But like they say, it's like riding a bike right?
Since the dress was only $20 I decided it wouldn't be a complete waste of money to at least give it a try.... Oh, and did I mention that we bought the dress on Weds night and she needed it for school the next day? ...nothing like a little motivation

Here is the dress before I started...... Like I said, sleeveless, floor length and pink.
It had a sheer sparkley overlay thing that I thought would look neat flowing like a train once I cut it shorter. Well, at least in my mind it looked cool... so we would see. After having Miranda try it on and I measured and pinned, I first cut and hemmed the skirt and slip, because that was the easy part and I needed to boost my confidence level a bit.
Then I decided to tackle the back. I just folded, pinned and secured the top part of the zipper to make a V-back style. (remember it wouldn't zip up all the way)
Then I moved on to the sleeves.... pinned one in place, had Miranda try it on... whew.. this just might work!
Ok, to make a long story short... here is the finished product
Front.....
and back... I added the bow to cover up the V-back section so Miranda's undershirt wouldn't show.
And guess what... it actually turned out how I pictured it in my head! And Miranda loved the little sheer train in the back! And it didn't fall apart at dress rehearsal!!
Miranda is even thinking of using it for a Halloween costume this year as Glinda (from Wicked)
Whew! Another motherly duty checked off the list for now!
Wonder what will be next?