Reclaimed dresses make nice aprons

When my oldest was in her teens, she picked out a dress pattern she liked.  I sewed a lovely dress for her, which she wore often enough that it eventually ended up in the donation bag to charity.  Before she donated it a few weeks ago, though, she asked if there was any way we could renew it.  Shellie loved that dress and all of the happy memories she tied to it. 
What a challenge!  It was pretty worn in spots with stains in others.  And the cotton/poly gingham was thin with age.  I thought we could make an apron out of it and set to work.
First I cut the front skirt at the sides and top.  This would form the apron skirt.  Along the back seam, I cut out the zipper and cut strips on either side that would form the waist ties.  I hemmed the ties along each side.  The bodice gave me pause, as it was gathered along the top edge with elastic and along the bottom edge by simple gathering.  I chose a waist length and cut a waistband out, then cut the bodice to be a few inches wider than the waistband. 
Using some cotton quilt fabric, I backed up each piece stitching them right sides together at the sides.  This finished the edges for me nicely.  I made the skirt piece slightly longer to give some contrast.  I stitched the skirt to the waistband, then the waistband to the bodice.  Using some fabric from the back skirt, I made ties that I attached to the upper bodice.  And I finished the ties for the waist, which I stitched into the waist seam.  I added a pocket cobbled from back fabric and trimmed with removed lace trim.  I backed it with cotton fabric as well.
I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  My daughter is happy to have her memorable dress back.  I think this can be done with many dresses.  If one doesn't want to take a dress apart, as I did, one could simply use an apron pattern laid right on the front of the dress and finish the raw edges with bias tape.  Here is the reclaimed dress made into an apron.