Dressforms on the Dressform

I wanted my first published refashion to be something really cool, and I've been saving the marriage of these awesome pieces for just such an occasion! I dressed up Gruella, my fabulous Avatar-coloured model, in an orange shirt and printed skirt that were both too big for me.

Doesn't she look lovely?

Let's zoom in on that skirt, shall we? 

It has mannequins on it! And purses! And it looks like a girl guide group from the eighties all signed it (Hello Kathy, Laura, and Helen!).  I fell in love with that print the instant I saw it.

I knew that these two pieces were just perfect for each other, but since I like wearing dresses more than skirts, I decided to join the two.

I'll try to be better about taking pictures of my process in the future, but here's a less-than-satisfactory description of what I did.

First, I cut off the bottom half of the shirt, and the waistband from the skirt.  Then I pinned and stitched the two together.  I tried it on, but the shirt (already a bit big on me) sagged awkwardly with the added weight of the skirt.  I took in the shirt along the tops of the shoulder seems, which made up for the sagging.  Then I gave the skirt a new hem.  Finally, I tied the extra scrap from the shirt around my waist to give the dress a little more definition.

Here's what it ended up looking like!

And that's me!

Don't those two pieces look like they were just meant to be friends?  They're perfect together, and I get to enjoy a new frock.

Have you ever made a "Frankendress" like this one?  How did it go?