Garden transplants

Before

After

Enough with the baggy waists! Enough!

This ruffly, gathered-just-below-the-waist tank top wasn't doing my figure any favors, but I really loved the pattern, so I uprooted and replaced some of the elastic to make it a better fit for me.

Step 1: Turn inside out and pick out the elastic band that runs around the inside near the bottom.

Step 2: Reattach that elastic to the back of the shirt, near the top.

There were some intermediary steps, mainly a lot of trial and error to determine how much fully-stretched elastic I would have to add to remove 5 inches of fabric when unstretched (apparently it's 6-and-a-quarter for this particular piece of elastic), but you get the gist of it.

By following this fairly simple method, I got a nice comfy tank top that's fitted at the top and flared at the bottom.

I wore it to a conference last week.

As you can see, I went all warm and conservative (because conferences are notorious for being overly air-conditioned) with long black pants and a blue sweater and flat shoes because I also planned to do a fair amount of walking....

But once business hours were over, it was time to get glam with bare shoulders, some stylin' (free from a vendor!) shades, and – last but not least – a dramatic pose!