Redoing a Set

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When my sister gave me this outfit after deciding wasn’t really her color/style, I was reluctant to take it as I had severe doubts about it fitting me. She assured me it would, but just looking at it on the hanger, I was suspicious. I tried it on when I got it home, and she was right, it did fit, but it was very tight through the waist and the start of the hips, and the top was already stretched out as it was a 100% cotton knit and had no “bounce back.” I thought it was cute enough to put some energy into (I’m a sucker for anything blue!) so I started with the skirt. (I wish I had taken before/after photos, but I wasn’t sure it would actually turn out, so I didn’t…)

The skirt originally had the waistband above the zipper and fastening with a hook and eye. I pulled it off, and tried the skirt on again. Just by removing the waistband, it could move up my body and I had enough room to wear it comfortably. I decided the easiest way to finish it off would be to reattach the waistband fitting the top of the skirt fully into it, and taking out the top inch of the zipper so the waistband could go to the edge (I had enough fabric because it had overlapped with the hook and eye, and now I didn’t need that), and reattached the zipper to go all the way to the top of the skirt. (See the picture below…) 

It seemed easier to recreate the top from scratch than try and work with the existing one, so I bought a white cotton/Lycra knit and traced the tank. I finished the edges off with a navy blue knit (the original had bias tape, which I felt was too restrictive), and attached 7/8” navy ribbon into the shoulders. I measured the placements on the old shirt for the weaving, and decided to put buttonholes in for the ribbon to slide through. The original didn’t have that, but I was worried the fabric I chose would curl when I washed it (the original was already starting to do so) and buttonholes added stability. Now I have an outfit that is not only cute but comfortable!