Me and the dress are both high waisted, and the bodice wasn't quite fitted enough ...but a smaller size would not have worked, either. After doubling the waist darts, the fit was perfect.
...but now I'm not sure what to do with the skirt. It's 6 panels and below the knee. I tried a version with a small cluster of gathers/pleats at each outer front panel, and it was a little bulky in the front. Then I tried adding a cluster of gathers/pleats to each side-front panel (near the side-front seam), but that looked even bulkier. So...
I'm thinking I need to remove the excess fabric instead of gathering or pleating it, but I'm guessing there's something I haven't considered. Can I just make those panels more narrow where they correspond to the waist darts?
I'm open to any ideas. Thank you in advance!