Well, I cut the dress off at the waist, and I like the length. I've got some ideas about how to finish off the rough edges of the old-waist/new-top, and I plan to cut up the old shirt and use it to make braided straps. The only problem is, left as it is now, it looks a little muumuu-ish, and not in any good way, so it needs some shaping, I think. I'm a big girl and don't have much of a waist, so I'm a fan of empire waists. I think they're more flattering to me. Anyway, I was trying it on to decide how to do the empire waist (inserting elastic on the inside, or attaching a ribbon to tie on the outside), when I discovered that the combination of this fabric, the gathers and flowy-ness, and an empire waist equals ridiculous bustiness. Normally I'm all about outfits that enhance and show off my boobs, but the effect this time was...clownish, is the only word that comes to mind. I think the effect might be too busty for even me to get down with, and now I'm not sure what to do with the top of the dress. I don't have a picture yet of the ridiculous boobage, so that maybe I can get some opinions on whether or not it's that over-the-top. (I'll need my husband's help to get that picture - and of course he's not really an unbiased opinion when it comes to whether or not the dress would look too busty, natch.) But I do have a picture on my dummy, although not with an empire waist; and of course the measurements match, but the actual boob size is off*; and the dress doesn't look anywhere near as muumuu-y on my dummy as it does on me. But this picture will do until I can pop back with one of the probably-excessive boobage.
*I should probably put one of my own bras on the dummy and stuff the cups, right? But would I need to adjust the dummy's bustline measurement if I added a stuffed bra to it, since right now its bustline measurement and mine are equal, just distributed differently? I bet I could put the bra on and then adjust the dummy with the bra in place until the bustline was right. Hm.
