A linen skirt in a heavyweight fabric with buttons down the front, a kickpleat at center back and vertical overseams is now a vest. Here is what I did: I cut off the waist band (a small by-the-by here: the description of what happened is actually the précis of the procedure; f’r’instance the waist band was not discarded at the beginning but only after a day or two of thinking it might work and fiddling with it still in place…but it didn’t so it got – edited), scooped the neckline at the back but left the front higher so that the center front points fall open into a V.
The armholes are deep and I did finish their edges and the neckline. The buttons got left and the vest can be worn with one or two buttoned without restraining too greatly the purse at my waist. I wanted a pocket but there was no extra material so I folded the corner of the bottom front right up to meet the right-side/back seam and stitched along the side seam to form a V-shaped one. Will have to see how such a pocket ‘carries.’