Making it Work: Hello Birdie Dress Revisited

I think the theme of my sewing this summer has been to make my clothing work for me.  This spring my sewing was more about exploring new techniques, different patterns, just getting the rhythm of regular sewing.  But I ended up with several garments that just didn't work well for me.  The two New England dresses, and the Hello Birdie dress.  I fixed the New England dresses (and showed them here and here), but the Hello Birdie dress sat neglected.  

I did wear it once or twice to church, and I appreciated the nursing friendliness of the zip-front, but the set-in sleeves just made me feel frumpy, no matter what I did to try and make them more workable. 

 The basic problem is that the dress was too big, especially in the bust, and I don't really have the skills to take it in, and I didn't really want to try in the summer heat, but I'd made the dress for summer, so I was sort of stuck with a closet trophy.  

At first I thought I'd try to salvage the bottom into a stand-alone skirt, but quickly realized it would go with none of my tops, so I made a quick Portrait blouse out of some of the left over fabric (of which there is *quite* a bit).  

I've worn it several times since then, and I'm pretty happy with it now.  I had to take the skirt in quite a bit with some darts, and I kept the waist ties (for now; I might just lop them off and wear this with a belt, but the fabric ties make this wearable in extreme heat, which a belt would not). 

It's not a perfect fix, but it is wearable, and I like the print, and I'm much happier with the profile, so that's what counts, right?

Outfit details:

Hello birdie top: me made, Gertie Portrait blouse

Skirt: me made, hacked New York 927

Pin: Andrei Sakharov House Museum, Nizhni Novgorod (had it for ages)

Earrings: Black Hills gold hoops from the Route 80 Museum in Kearney, NE, a gift from the husband, years ago

 Shoes: Sofspots via ebay

Hair: derp (it is summer, what can I say?)