I have hung onto a bunch of too-small dresses for a long time, waiting to see whether I would fit back into them. But, now I am ready to accept that I have grown, and I really doubt that these smaller dresses will fit me again any time soon. My bigger bust seems like it’s here to stay!
I eventually realised how silly it was to hoard a selection of too-small dresses whilst also complaining to myself that I a) don’t have anything to wear and b) don’t have money to spend on sewing supplies. So I went through the little stash and gave a few away to my sister, a couple to the charity shop and chose a few to refashion.
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| The original Emery dress (click for blog post) |
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| The new skirt |
This one was my first Emery dress (I pleated the skirt rather than gathered). I would have loved to have kept it as a dress, I do think this fabric looks much better on a dress than a skirt, but there just wasn’t enough fabric to play with across the full bust. There was also a bit of damage next to the zip on the skirt part. It was a low quality concealed zip, and with the stress of the bulk at the waist seam, the fabric next to the zip had torn a bit. To cover it and prevent any more damage, in my skirt refashion i interfaced the tear and then used an exposed zip from my stash. I’m not all that sure I like the style clash with an exposed zip and a very floral flouncy skirt, but maybe it will grow on me.
The waistband is thinner than I originally intended, through stupidity alone. I used the waistband from the Pippi Pinafore since it’s perfect, but forgot it is a lined waistband rather than a fold over one. But
I actually really like the skinny waistband, and it will probably be much more practical. The deep waistband on my Flamingo skirt always gets bunched up when I wear it, which annoys the life out of me, so I’m hoping this will prevent such problems with this skirt.
I added a popper to the waistband. I was going to put a button on, but the waistband was just too bulky to sew a neat button hole.
Thanks to Me Made May, I now love pairing a Sorbetto top with a full skirt - who knew?! I’m really happy to discover this, especially since my white Sorbetto is a bit short to wear with jeans, but it’s very soft and impeccably sewn (if I do say so myself), so I’m chuffed to bits that it will be back in regular rotation!
All we need now is some more sunshine please!
PS if you'd like to see my Me Made May outfits please see my instagram (although I am planning to do a mega round-up at the end of the month).