Vintage pattern alteration

Hello.

I picked up a vintage pattern from 1981 yesterday at the op shop for 50 cents

and made this dress today.

I thought this pattern was really sweet when I saw it.

One thing I didn't like was the neck opening.

I thought I'd change it to more of a keyhole shape which actually turned out lovely.

I even managed to do this while lining the dress.

Unfortunately the dress was not able to fit over her head :(

I had to cut the opening to make it bigger which made my lovely neat work

look so messy and unfinished. I decided to cover it using a small scrap of stretch lace.

It was size 6 so it was a little large for my daughter who wears a 4-5 at the moment.

I decided to add some shirring to the waist once it was finished which made it fit better.

I have not had a lot of success with shirring but I have a new mechanical machine which handled it heaps better than my computerised machine.

I used this shirring tutorial from Pink Fig.

I also added in some pockets because dresses are more fun with pockets.

Overall I'm very pleased with this dress.

I think the sand is a little cold judging by this expression. 

Linking up here.