Remember when I said I was struggling with the Diane Kimono top from Sew Serendipity? Well, I had a mini-epiphany and decided since I hated the waistband so much and wasn't feeling the tie waist anyway, that perhaps it would work to combine the Diane bodice with the bottom of the Meghan peasant blouse that I love so much. The Meghan has sort of an ingenious way of making the casing for the waist elastic... it's pretty awesome. So I put them together and tried to make it work:
It actually worked out pretty well! I still had a bit of trouble with the kimono top: lots of gaping at the neckline. I ended up cutting some of the fabric off both sides of the neck, using bias tape instead of facings (which I loathe), and wrapping the two sides further across each other than called for in the pattern. The bottom was pretty foolproof, so I must be beyond a fool since I accidentally cut and sewed the back piece on upside down. But the fabric (a piece of hand stamped batik from Pasar Mayestik) is busy enough that I don't think you can tell too much. I think...
Not too shabby!