Miss, Corrected

In late October, I made this dress and was very unhappy with it.  I removed the velvet and lace and still didn't like it, so folded it and put it aside in here.  I didn't plan to do anything with it but donate, but I didn't have anything else to donate, so I ignored it.

This morning, however, I decided that No!  I would try to save it!  So I carefully picked out the waist stitching, cut a wide band of ribbing, and got a spool of elastic and made it into a shirt

 

 and a skirt

 

 They're still not great, but they are significantly better.

 I cut the ribbing free-form, and ended up making it a little narrower, side-to-side, so it would draw in the waist a bit. 

This is still very short, barely reaching my waist.

I thought about taking some fabric from the skirt, or sewing together the last bits of the sweater knit, to make the bodice a little longer above the waistband, but I decided that I still didn't want to put that much work into this, so a wide band of ribbing it is.

I simply folded over the top edge of the skirt and zigzagged the edge down to make an elastic channel, which I filled with two layers of half inch soft knitted elastic.

I'm still not hugely enamored with the look of these, but I like them better as separates, and they definitely seem like they should be more versatile.  Honestly, the skirt will probably get most use as a layering pieces, especially with the unusually cold (for here) weather we're having.  Double knit should be warm!  And there should be room under the shirt for more layers, too.

 

Even if I decide they're not for me, it seems like they'll probably be more appealing to other people as these two pieces, instead of the single odd dress.  Time will tell!

 

(we'll also see if I decide that the neckband and cuffs should be made from the purple rib knit, too, or not...)