Crafting A Rainbow

That leopard top I just blogged? Yeah, it started life as a dress!

My first version of this Concord Dress hack was one of my Top 5 makes of 2016, so I thought another version would get lots of wear. And I did wear it a few times, but there was one issue I couldn’t get over: It was too short at the back!

Just by an inch, I swear, but that inch made a big difference. In the pictures above, see how the seam where the ruffle is attached is only barely bast the apex of my bootie? In the original version, that seam sits an inch lower and is therefore more flattering and less likely to flash the world in a gust of wind!

I think there were two issues. The pussy bow is heavy enough in this rayon jersey that it pulls the shoulders forward, when then pulls up the back. As well, the front of Cashmerette patterns have extra length to accommodate the bust, but I typically trim some of it off. I forgot on this version, so the front is actually longer than the back. That visual imbalance makes the back feel even shorter.

I considered a few solutions: take off the ruffle and replace it with a longer one; add another tier of ruffles; shorten the front ruffle so the back *looks* longer; or throw the whole thing in the corner for bad behaviour! In the end, I need tops more than dresses, so off came the ruffle and I did a curved hem instead.

I can’t be the only one who ends up with hacks that don’t work and mini-dresses that are too short – because this is definitely not the first!

This collage is making me miss summer SO HARD! 

Here’s a few other solutions that I’ve tried or would suggest: 

• Any dress can be shortened into a blouse or tunic. Here’s a blouse version of my TNT Comino Cap dress, which is just the normal skirt cut shorter!
• Got a top that has become to short in the wash? I went back and added a much deeper hem band to this Renfrew a year later,  and now it’s getting wear again.
• I’ve gone up a size since sewing this shift dress, and it has a habit of riding up now… but I wore it yesterday with a long red ponte coatigan over top all day, and for all anyone knew, the dress fit perfectly! (I very nearly cut the dress into a tunic in the morning before work, but I like it so much as a dress that I think I’ll keep it that way.)

My goal for this “Lazy Tips for Fixing Knits” series is to show that a) everyone makes mediocre projects sometimes, and b) it’s worth going back to see if you can fix them! I would have continued wearing the dress versions sometimes, and yanking it down in back all day… but the top version feels much better. Hurrah!