Dress With A Purpose

Hello, HoffiCoffi here.

I made a top. View A Butterick B6182 to be exact, which is a Lisette pattern.

I love its cropped, boxy style but it did present me with a bit of a problem.  As somone of a certain age and a certain size I am not a regular crop top wearer.  I like to be covered up pretty much and I wondered if I should make a high waisted skirt to wear with this short top.  Then I remembered I had this....

It was 99 pence on Ebay - I was the only bidder.  I loved the colour and I loved the pleats and if I kept it as a dress to wear under my new top I would be midriff mishap free.

I took the sleeves off the dress to make it sleeveless - but I forgot to take a photo of the original sleeves - they were short but they stuck out beneath the top.  Also the neckline was a problem.. 

I didn't want the neckline of the dress to show under the top so I reshaped it - with the help of the Butterick pattern and a french curve.

The altered neckline above.

As you can see it is now nicely hidden away.

Here is a photo of the altered dress.  Not very exciting in its own right but it has an important job to do.

It lets a middle age woman wear an untucked, cropped top without fear of showing off midriff...

...no matter how crazy she gets. :)

HoffiCoffi