Dress Refresh- From the 70s to classic A-line

My mother and I were going through some of her old dresses.  I was trying them on for fun, and then we stumbled upon this silky beautiful blue coral number.  However, there were these awkward drapes in the front, making the wearer look pregnant.  With mom's insistence that she would never ever wear this again and with her permission to cut it up, I began my new dress refashion!

Throwback pics! - (Left) Me wearing the dress when I was younger, (Right) my mother wearing the dress

Strategic cutting means less work later on.  We hacked off the sleeves, and very carefully removed the drapes in the front.  We also removed the whole lace piece from the neckline.  On the right is a rough layout of what I wanted the final piece to look like.  The lace was so pretty that I felt the need to keep it incorporated in the new dress.  First step was sewing up the bodice and finishing the edges of the cut sleeves.  Then I lowered the neckline and carefully sewed the lace piece back into the dress.  Finally, the old draping became a belt.

Here's the final piece!  The material is a little see through, so you need to wear a slip underneath it.  I still can't get over how pretty the colors of this dress is.