While I loved the colour and the skirt, the top just didn't fit me. This was most noticeable across the back where it gaped a lot.
I'd decided I could take the top off and just keep the skirt, but had never gotten round to actually doing it. However my imminent house-move is spurring me into either finishing off or throwing away...
I carefully unpicked the two halves just above the gold-coloured waistband.
The original dress had a zip running right up the back, which I would need to keep for the skirt to fit. After cutting it off at the appropriate point, I oversewed the zip-teeth so that the zip puller wouldn't just come shooting off the end (similar mistake made one British Sewing Bee this year - getting it back on is nigh-on impossible).
I tucked the zip ends inside the waistband by hand, tacked down the top economic the inside and then cracked out the sewing machine. This line of stitching had to be super-straight, otherwise the waistband would pucker.
The skirt is made of a slippery chiffon-type fabric, meaning any strain on seams can tear the fabric. A way to help prevent this is to sew a double seam, so they share any strain put upon them. I did this for the top of the waist, and also used zigzag to oversew the raw edges, to stop them fraying. This is the closest match I could achieve on my basic sewing machine to match the industrially-sewn red edge.
Turning to the right side, I top-stitched the bottom of the waistband where it met the pleats, to prevent the top hem rolling over.
And there you have it! One finished skirt, which has since been worn several times already. Much better than leaving the dress to gather dust or just throwing it away.
