I made this shift dress a couple of years ago. It was just as these dresses were appearing in the fashion world, and they fast became the “in thing” for the plus sized woman. I found the linen at Lincraft, and was keen to make myself a dress.
I, of course, have since discovered, that these dresses are just peachy, if you aren’t big busted, and don’t have a tummy or hips. If you have any of these, it becomes an exercise in fitting closely resembling the effort involved in having a space suit fitted. Combine my possession of boobs, belly and bum …. with my lack of height … and the resulting dress is wide and frumpy. It was not only banished ….. it was banished to the sewing room cupboard. I was SERIOUSLY put out with it not looking how I wanted it to, and refused to allow it to associate with my other clothing.
So this week ….. suffering a bad case of zero-sewjo ….. I decided to tackle this dress. It was a fairly simple up cycle. Just cut off the bottom of the dress, attach a waistband, and then presto! new skirt. I used my favourite Ottobre a-line skirt pattern (Ottobre 02/2010) to make sure I got the length right. 
The piped side panels in the dress, were there because I needed additional width in the dress. I decided I wanted to preserve these, because they are an interesting feature. So limited cutting out ….. no centre back zip, instead I add a couple of inches width, and then an elastic waist.
As I was keeping the front of the skirt flat, I decided to insert a couple of darts, just to add shape. These also made sure the panels sat at the side seams area, rather than pulling around to the back. I thought of cutting the waistband from the dress fabric, but this would have required me to piece bits, and negotiate around the zip. Instead, I cut a nice long strip of silk satin … lovely heavy satin I had in my stash from some bag making. I didn’t bother interfacing, as it was sturdy enough on its own. 
A simple method … stitch to the right side, press up the seam, then stitch down on the wrong side. I left the stitching open at the side seam positions on both sides, for elastic insertion. Anchor one side, pull up the elastic, and then a couple of try ons to get the right fit, and then anchor the other side.
I am going to make myself a couple of plain tshirts in complimentary colours, and then I think this skirt will be ready to wear to work. And I might just let it into the wardrobe with my other clothes.
