Time for a Refresh

I had made this dress a few years ago, and while I loved the fabric and the idea of it, there were a couple of things that bothered me.  Since then, I have learned that for some reason, most necklines in patterns that are technically my size are just way too wide for my frame, so I typically adjust the neckline, but I hadn't learned that trick yet, so instead I had to make a little tuck at the center front of the neckline.  While not too terrible, it just wasn't the look I was going for.  The second thing is that it is a tad short for my everyday life.  John always likes to say I'm too modest, but I just didn't like it without tights.  It was relegated to being my bathing suit cover up for a few years, and it worked quite well, but I wanted to get it back into my everyday wardrobe, so I sliced and diced it a few weeks ago.

I've had this picture saved for quite a while now, which I think came from one of the many pictures I've torn out of magazines over the years.  I wanted to do something similar with the dress, but obviously I would only have enough fabric left for a top, once I took care of the too-wide neckline. 

So I chopped off the top, slimmed up the body, and recut the neckline, adding solid black knit bands to the neckline and armholes.  All in all, a quick fix, but I love the end result!