There’s always a sense of regret when you buy something that doesn’t fit or look quite right and ends up sitting in your wardrobe looking sad and alone. You can almost hear it questioning why it doesn’t get picked over the other pieces in the cupboard.
I bought this jumpsuit at a market in Menorca a couple of years ago, which seemed quite appropriate to wear at the time in the evening after a day on the beach, but back at home, it didn’t feel very ‘me’. I think it might have seen the light of day once in London, but even then I felt the need to do a bit of pinning here and there. Which is why I finally decided to do something about it this summer.
I knew from the outset what my two main hesitations were with the item – the billowing top half and the width of the trousers – so attempted to reimagine it in a way that I would personally find more flattering. After some thought, I just went for it and cut the top half away to put the side and work on the bottom half.
Quite quickly I decided a maxi skirt with a side split would work well, so cut the leg seams to later sew one back up and hem the either for the split. The trousers had pockets at the front, which I originally wanted to keep, but were positioned in the wrong place so sewed them up and cut away the excess material. As I have never cut out pockets before, I have to admit this went a little wrong, but no one would be any the wiser once things were sewn up!
I had in mind to sew a zip in the side of the skirt, but as the elastic waistband was now much smaller I felt I didn’t really need it and simply sewed up the side.
Now I was left with a two piece that needed to be put together to wear, but it looks just like a dress to me! It’s a shame the summer is almost over now to make good use out of it this year, but the darker tones in the material could suit well to a warmer autumn evening. Ta da!
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