Unflattering Dress Gets A Make Over

I bought this maroon dress on sale and somehow neglected to notice how unflattering the empire bust line was on me. I'm sure that it would have worked on some people, but it just made me look pregnant. A few years ago, I would have chucked it into a bag for the op-shop, but with nothing to lose, I decided to do a bit of experimentation. Because this was pre-blog i.e. last week, I haven't recorded the process, so you're just going to have to use your imagination...

First I cut off the low-waisted bottom of the dress and took in the sides.

I added a band of Japanese fabric around the hem and then decided to cover a panel of smocking on the front with the left-over fabric.