"Mini-moon" wardrobe starts here

With less than a month to go before we hop on the Eurostar for our so-called "mini-moon", I have, of course, started mentally packing (by which I mean packing in my head, as opposed to packing in a crazy manner). I mean, we are only going to Paris, the fashion capital of the world, and are only going to be on a "mini-moon" once in our lives... so no pressure...

Thankfully my sewing machine came to mind. What better way to start my mini-moon wardrobe than making a few items myself? I thought I'd start with a very simple project that I've been wanting to do for ages, a quick refashion. 

A year or so ago, I bought this maxi skirt in the sale (obviously.. can you see all the price reduction stickers?), which refused to stay on my hips, with the view of upcycling it into a sundress. I had my eyes on the super soft floral fabric, the fullness of the skirt, and the pleats at the bottom.    

One year on, I finally got round to implementing my genius plan. After some mild unpicking, and approx. 3 whole hours of intensive shirring on a school night, my first mini-moon wardrobe item is complete! 

So there you have it, a very quick and effective project! This is what I did:

• I removed the top "tier" of the maxi skirt; 
• I measured the length of the skirt to position the pleats to start just above my hips so I get a dropped waist effect;
• I finished the edges of the top of the dress, sewing a casing for a piece of elastic;
• Then I shirred, shirred, and shirred some more, using a whole spool of elastic thread; 
• Finally I inserted some white elastic into the top, et voila! I have a new sundress!