Mending Monday - Stabilizing A Sundress

Wow - I'm making this post in just under the wire :)

I picked up this cute sundress at a local thrift store a few months ago for $3. I kept looking it over in the store wondering why someone would have donated it - it looked like it was never even worn. Seriously, this dress was brand new and that fabric is so me - it's even my favorite color of red!  The only problem I saw was that the brass colored buckle at the waist had tarnished, but I knew I could fix that (that's a post for another day), so I took it home and I've worn it several times since then. All was well until one day I noticed a teeny-tiny tear in the fabric near the bottom:

It's hard to see in the busy fabric, so I circled it. It's really nothing major - it was maybe 1/4 long and had a little fraying - but I didn't want it to get worse and ruin the dress over time. So, I got to work.

First, I cut a really small square of fusible interfacing and applied it behind the tear. The glue from the interfacing will hold the fabric together so it won't be able to rip open more.

Since it was such a small tear I didn't want to actually darn it with thread on the top because it would have made it more noticeable. So after trimming the frays down with a clothing shaver, I added a dab of Fray Check to the top of the tear to basically glue the fibers together. I was sure to let the Fray Check dry for 30 minutes so it soaked in properly.

This is how the tear looks now - still really hard to see! But now I know it won't split open on me later down the line. This was a really quick and easy fix - it actually took longer for my iron to heat up than it took to repair this. Now I can wear this dress for years to come without having to worry about it. I do have a few other fixes I'll be doing to this down the line, but it is completely wearable as it is now and I will be taking advantage of that :)