I have a beautiful black and white shift style lace vintage dress. As I am really short (5ft 2), the dress is a little long on me and not only would I prefer it shorter but at the moment the waist is on my hips. I thought that it would fit better if I could convert it into an empire line and shorten it under the bust. In theory I don't think this would be too difficult except that is has metal zipper in the back.

Can anyone offer any advice or tips on how to convert it to an empire line and particularly how to shorten the zip.

Many thanks for your help

Ceri