After

Before

And ....

After!

These pictures were also taken in the Piazza, on the Cruise ship.  I wore it on our second formal night, which was on Thanksgiving.

So.... how did I fix it?

Well, I ripped out everything but the upper bodice, because that was already beaded.  Then I set about remaking the midriff section.  I used a raspberry thai silk for this and the ties and ruffle.  I hand-ruched the front midriff section and just made decorative ties for the back, they don't do anything. :-P  

I darted the bodice to fit.  Those gathers that were there previously did NOT work.

Then I cut the skirt up into a skirt from Simplicity 2580, once again.  I didn't have a lot of fabric, so it was a little short.  I added a silk ruffle on the bottom and beaded above it.

note to self:  Thai silk is amazing!!!!!!!  It is a dream to work with, and though it does fray, fraying in minimal.

No zipper!  just kidding.  It has a hidden side zipper.  I gotta say, that is the most difficult zipper I have ever done.

In my hair are matching combs.  I'll edit this later with detail pictures, but for now, voila!

SO much better than the before, eh?