Stripes and Flowers

So. Who wants to know what I did with the top portion of the floral dress used in this project from a couple weeks ago?

Yes, I thought you might. All that was left was the bust part and its ruffle, along with a little bit I had trimmed from the skirt to even out the high-low hem. So I brought in a striped maxi skirt (already refashioned once) to create something new for my summer wardrobe.

First, I cut off the skirt's waistband and opened up the side seams a couple inches down from the top edge. Then I cut two rectangles from the floral bust and attached one to the front and one to the back of the top edge of the skirt. These will form the yoke of my new dress.

With the floral panels folded upward and the dress inside-out, I cut a scoop neckline. Then I serged the shoulder seams.

The narrow ends of the floral yoke will become little cap sleeves. From the skirt's old waistband, I cut two rectangles to create the armhole edging. Each was serged into a tube, folded in half, and pinned to the edges of the floral fabric.

Then I serged the arm bands on and folded them outward like so.

Also from the waistband came a longer rectangle for the neckband. Again, I serged it into a tube, folded it, and attached it to the dress in the same manner. I stretched the band a bit as I went so it would lie flat when folded upward.

Finally, to give my dress a little shape, I wanted to add a waistband. After trying it on to determine the positioning, I folded the bottom half up over the top half until the fold was where I wanted my waistband, with the right-side-out torso inside the inside-out skirt. Then I serged on a bit of elastic along the fold.

And that was that!

I know I seem to say this a lot, but *this* is my new favorite dress.

Admittedly, it's probably not the most flattering thing in the world, but I don't even care. It's sooooo comfy.