Summer in Waiting Dress

Hello!  I'm back!  Keeping a blog is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be--I like the writing and planning and posting, but finding time to do refashions to write about it a bit of a challenge.  I'm finally coasting off the end of a very busy bout of working two jobs, and my first priority was to get in some quiet time and reading!  Now that I've satisfied that craving (with the magnificent Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, if you're interested), I can get back to some sewing!

Today I started with this beauty.

I've seen more flattering potato sacks...

The shape of this dress is all wrong.  The waistline sits right above my hips, the length cuts me off mid-calf and makes me look even shorter than I naturally am, and its just overall too big on me.  But this dress did have a pretty floral pattern that was perfect for the sunny summery day outside, and I liked the overall idea of this dress--button-down top, gathered skirt, strapless.  It just needed a little help.

The first thing I tackled was the waistline, which also took care of the bad length.

Snippety snip! Hungry scissors.

I cut off the skirt just above where it joined the bodice, keeping the original gathering and seam.  I could have unpicked the whole thing and regathered the skirt, which would have doubtless created a more streamlined final product, but my whole point is refashioning without rules.  I don't do things the "right" way.  So sue me.

Then I took out the middle section of the bodice, shortening it by about half. 

Chop! Chop!  And goodbye awkward shape!

I wanted a sort of empire height waist on this dress.  Now I had to put these pieces back together again, sans middle section!

Hm, this picture doesn't really explain much

I turned the skirt inside-out, put the top inside (right sides together), and pinned the bodice and skirt along the cut edges, making sure to line up the side and front seams.  Then I stitched.

Chug chug chug...my sewing machine sounds like a train.

Now I had a dress again, but it was still too big.  Enter Gruella II for her part.  I put the dress inside-out on Gruella, and pinned down the sides.  I took this dress in by about three centimeters under the arms, six at the waist, and two along the length of the skirt.

Gruella does her part

Then I stitched down those side wings.  I tried the dress on, decided that it could stand to come in just a titch more, and adjusted the seams accordingly.  Then there was just one more step!

Nom! Nom! Nom!  More hungry scissors!

I took my pinking shears to the bulky extra fabric along the sides and chopped it off.  And here it is!  

Lookin' Lovely!

Now this dress has a shape I'd wear out in public, and just in time for a lovely sunny day! I think this is a vast improvement over the shapeless sacking I started with.