The Hawaiian Church Dress

Hello Readers. I have had this fabulous knit dress in my refashion pile for a while. I have been saving it since the winter. It seemed like a great summer dress and I love the floral design. It reminds me of a Hawaiian shirt. The problem? It is a horrible length on me. I seem to have shrunk about 8 inches in the picture on the left. 

 I could just shorten the dress to a better length but this great dress is also a little shapeless in the middle. I need to fix that too. And if I save the bottom, it will be a fuller skirt and already hemmed.

I took out a big chunk from the middle. I am going to put the top and bottom back together again. I am hoping it will raise the waist and define it a little.

Here is a picture of actual sewing. I put the right sides together and pinned them at the back, middle and sides. I stretched the top a bit as I attached it to the bottom because it was a little smaller.

I kept the length fairly conservative because I wanted it for church and I didn't want it to be too short. I also took it in a little through the top of the dress. It was easy to do with the knit fabric. The hem is still in place, so I am already finished.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.