Patching and reinforcing a dress
Before
This red/striped woven dress had been worn by my client's mother and then by my client, who in turn was going to pass it on to her sister after I'd mended it. As one might expect from a two-generation dress, the fabric had thinned considerably, and was frayed and split in several places.
After
I made an interior patch from an old red silk shirt and used it to reinforce the rips and worn fabric in the bodice. I did some hand-stitching around the visible edges where the old fabric met the patch, as well as some machine darning over the original fabric and patch to reinforce the many small holes and rips. I did a lot of zig-zag stitching (not really visible in the pictures) to repair and shore up various seams, including the ripped side seam and various places where the woven fabric had started to unravel. I made slits at the bottom of either side of the dress (calf length) for ease of movement.