Is it a refashion? Is it an FO? It's a floral Charlotte save!

Please don't be cross!

Remember my Joan inspired Mad Men Elisalotte dress? This one.

Remember how I wasn't very happy with it? And that the fit is pretty bad on the top half? And the insides are finished terribly? Well, I decided to revisit it. I hauled it out the wardrobe and tried it on. And do you know? It wasn't that bad. For 2 mins and then I started to see all the things that annoyed me about it. I tried to look at it objectively, from the point of view of an innocent, non-sewer bystander, but all I could see was a badly fitting dress. I didn't feel comfortable, or attractive or confident in it. And no one wants to wear anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, unattractive or self concious.

So, I decided to see what I could do to fix it. Um... OK, actually I didn't. Time to be honest. For ages I've fancied a floral print pencil skirt. I Pinned a good few way back in Spring, with the intention of making a floral Charlotte.

 
When I was making my Elisalotte dress, and was fitting the skirt part, I did think "yes, I really need to make this skirt at some point, this is really nice", so being totally honest, as soon as I realised I wasn't happy with the dress, way back in April, and was vaguely thinking about how to fix it, it did occur to me that I could just remove the bodice and add a waistband....

And so I did! It took me 3 evenings. One to unpick the bodice and the zip (unpicking a zip is time consuming!), one to re-install a new, shorter zip and to properly finish the insides with my sewing machine's overlocking stitch, and finally last night to cut and attach the waistband. And I had a shiny new skirt to wear to work today! Which I LOVE!

In all honesty, it still could fit better. The waistband gapes ever so slighly, so it could probably be taken in just at the very top of the skirt, immediately below my waist. Looking at the top photo here, I do look a little straight up and down, but it's still unlikely that I'll do it. It's not hugely obvious and doesn't look daft, and it's probably comfier this way.

I attached poppers to close the waistband, but added a button for decoration. I had planned to do a proper buttonhole, but at the last minute decided poppers might be easier. It also means that if I do decide to change the waistband fit, I can do so fairly easily.

It's not my best invisible zipper ever, and there does seem to be a small gap between the top of the zipper and the bottom of the waistband (you can see it in the top picture here). Not sure why that is. But if someone is looking that closely at that part of me, I have bigger concerns!

Close up of zip closed. You can see it, but I'm not hugely bothered.

Front, flat view

Back, flat view

Better seam finishing on side seams, and hem tape, which I'd already done.

I really love this skirt. I got a few nice compliments about it today too. It is summery, so addresses my summer wardrobe issues, and it might be OK with tights and a darker top when it gets a bit more Autumnal out there. Maybe. My main issue is that the yellow top I'm wearing here, is the only thing I have that actually goes with it. So you know what that means... make more blouses!!!! :)

I did feel slightly like I was letting you all down by doing this, myself included. You really all were so supportive, helpful and complimentary about this dress, and I did feel that maybe I should have pushed myself to make this good, as a learning experience. However, the joy of having a wearable, gorgeous skirt that I love and will actually wear outweighs all of that! I hope you agree?!

Sources for Pinned images: 1. Preen 2. Oasis 3. Stella McCartney