I finally had a chance to redo this skirt, made out of a well-worn and extremely soft linen in a light grey-brown. I didn't get a photo of the skirt before, but it was floor length, and basically a rectangle gathered at the waist with a tiny elastic band.
I also don't have any photos of the process, so I'm going to just give descriptions. (I want to be better about getting in-progress pictures, but I just get so caught up in doing things that I forget until I'm done)
First step was cutting off the elastic band and ironing the gathers out. Then I grabbed a sleeveless tunic that I mostly like the shape of (it covers my bra straps) and laid it out on top of the skirt. I cut out around it, mostly following the lines and trying to give myself some seam allowance. Pretty straight forward so far.
Then it got messy. I stitched up the tops of the straps, and the sides under the arms where I had cut away, angling that seam to meet the already existing side seam of the skirt. Through the process of repeatedly trying it on, and cutting, pinning, and sewing little bits, I finally got the dress to fit better. This included cutting armholes, hemming one armhole (poorly), cutting it out, cutting the other armhole to match, and deciding that I wouldn't be hemming them, but I also couldn't be bothered to make matching bias tape (probably didn't have enough extra fabric for it anyway). So I decided I would leave the edges raw, and sew a decorative holding stitch to keep them from fraying too much.
It was at this point that I realized the dress got wider way too fast under the arms. I wanted a loose dress, but it was bulging in a rather strange way. So I had to redo the side seams, and somehow the straps became too narrow/situated too far in. Luckily I still had a few scraps left over, so I made little cap sleeve/extensions out of them. I actually really like how they turned out!
The hem of the dress is actually the original hem of the skirt - yay for not having to hem!! Although I kind of lost that advantage by deciding to use the same decorative stitch in a border near the hem. It's not very bold, but I like the little details that it adds.
The sash is a scrap of fabric from another thrifted linen skirt, two layers sewn together with the same decorative stitch, leaving the ends to fray (I actually hand-frayed them to begin with, because otherwise it was looking a little too much like a martial arts belt). The pin is one that I got in Copenhagen, at the National Museum a few years ago. I absolutely adore it - it's a viking knotwork beast, and one of my favorite pins. I don't get many chances to wear it, so I'm glad it goes so well with this dress.
The sash helps to make the dress more fitted, and a little fancier. I can also wear it without the sash, for lounging or running to the store (though it does look a bit tent-like!) The blue skirt that the sash came from I didn't alter much. It had pockets (!!!) and the elastic waist actually fit me, so I just shortened it. I may have cut off too much, so I'll probably be adding a hem in a different color. I have another thrifted skirt that is partially a dress. The fitting is proving to be more difficult on this one, but hopefully will be done soon. I have a couple more skirts and dresses that still need to be altered or completely redone, and some of them will need dying. I'm very excited to have all this wonderful fabric to play with!
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