Redemption - The Vogue 8799 Dress is Done!

Here is the finished dress...

I'm starting with a picture first because I can't believe the danged thing is done and wearable.  Seriously, it was touch and go there for more than a few minutes but once I start hand stitching piping in, I've got to make it work.  So first some stats...

Fabric ~
100% linen from Mood.com

Notions ~
22" invisible zipper
navy blue piping purchased from Daytona Trimmings
navy blue rayon hem tape

Construction ~
First there is ALOT of hand-stitching in this dress.  When I started the dress my first thought was that it was a great project for my sewcation because to make it right, I needed time.  Now I realize that it's great that I made it that week because otherwise it would have never been finished! *LOL*

Let's start with the piping...first the way I apply piping can be found in my posts here and here.  Originally I was only going to add piping to the side inserts but after I enlarged the center front panel, there seemed to be an expanse of  fabric stretching across the front of me...so I took the time and hand basted more piping into the center front panel's side seams before sewing the panel back into the dress.

Now we know I had some serious fit difficulties because I can't keep ish to myself and I had to share my discouragement.  I'm sure that a muslin would have highlighted the issues I had before I laid the scissors to my fabric.  However, I can assure you that if I had to make a muslin first, I wouldn't have a finished dress now.  I'm just not that girl.  BUT, I won't discount the value of a muslin especially if you have several fit issues.  

Second, some of my fit issues were definitely operator error.  I probably should have added 5/8" allowances to more than just the side pieces.  I may have inadvertently taken away some space by just laying the pieces on top of each other and assuming that they would work.

After removing and re-cutting the center front and center back pieces, then reinserting the invisible zipper, I was too through.  So the thought of trying to come up with a lining for this dress was just more than I could handle especially since I'd changed the dress pieces so much.  Talk about killing my mojo...I just wasn't going to allow that to happen!  I will wear a slip with it and deal with the wrinkling!

Adding width to the center back piece

A few additional notes...

• I was definitely free styling because I never pulled the entire dress apart.  I only pulled out the problem areas and reworked them.
• I ended up taking in the side seams several times.  5/8" the first time and then an additional inch when I realized that the dress' skirt had more of an a-line shape than I wanted.
• To make the neckline fit, I cheated. At the seam lines on both sides of the neckline, I placed the piping over an additional 5/8" and sewed a larger seam.  This eliminated the extra pucker in the front.  Now if I had made a muslin, I could have simply sliced and tucked that extra out of the center front piece.
• I cut 2.5" from the hemline before I turned up a one inch hem allowance. I didn't need the two inches I added in at the beginning.
• The sleeves were cut on the bias to give them even more stretch.  I'm always afraid that I'm going to end up with really tight fitting sleeves so this is my trick...to always cut the sleeves on the bias.
• It is my least favorite of the three dresses I made during the sewcation.  It was a lot of work for so-so results in my opinion and this pattern won't be used again for the dress, though I do still want to try the jacket.

Okay, a few more pics...

Piping at the sleeve hem, neckline and side seams

Front view - showing piping detail

Back view - showing piping detail

I'm so thankful that the dress did work out in the end, even if it does have more flare in the skirt than the original dress.  I'm a little sad that I didn't have enough fabric for the jacket but after the drama of the dress, I know that I wouldn't have sewn it during the sewing vacay anyway. 

Also, I've been sick as a dog this past week...I even missed a day of work due to this horrible cold that I've managed to pick up from somewhere...so that's why it's taken a minute to get these pictures not only taken but blogged about.  The other two dresses will show up this week since I took pictures of all of them at once.

...as always more later!

Do you remember this?

It's McCalls 6506 and this is where it stands...

Now I hate unfinished objects (UFOs) but I'm putting the leftover fabric, the uncut pattern pieces and the pattern envelope into a storage bag.  Then I'm moving it all to the side on the fabric wall.  Why do you ask?  Especially since I don't like UFOs? Well, you will eventually see (Mimi loved your comment btw!) that the pieces I just made, while constructed using linen fabric are in transitional fall colors.

Just two weeks ago, before I started vacation, I awoke at 5:30am to the sun rising.  I'm now waking to darkness...yes, the sun does rise while I'm in the shower and it's light out by the time I walk to the bus stop but autumn and the darkness is coming.  So while I'm not ready to sew wools yet, I do realize that it's time to put summer sewing away.  That's what's happened to this dress...it just can't go forward into fall...so I'm admitting it and setting it aside to wait for next spring.

Now that's not saying that I've jumped into fall sewing with both feet...please I'm pulling hard against that right now.  Not because I love the heat of summer...but I do like the long hours of light.  I do like the fact that I can wear dresses and skirts without concerns and I'm honestly just not looking forward to the cold.

Realistically change of the seasons is coming...so it's time to move forward with it. I have one more dress I'd like to make from a wool/linen/silk blend and then I've planned another wardrobe that I'd like to start sewing now and through to the end of the year. I've had some success with wardrobes this year, first the "Lavender & Gray Skies" one and then "The Ten Yard Adventure."  I'm excited about this new one which is a little more involved with quite a few more pieces. I'm sure I'll still be sewing it come January but once again this wardrobe will fill some gaps in my wardrobe and will encompass several of the fall trends.

So my McCalls 6506 dress will sit and wait for the spring to come when I'll get back to it. Right now, I'm moving forward not back...

...as always more later!

Erdem Chocolate Linen & Lace Dress - Pt. 1

Fashion Week starts next week and the designers will be showing Spring 2013 but this dress from Erdum's Resort 2012 line really pushed my creative buttons.  Now to be honest, this is just one of the dresses from this line that I loved but it's the one that shouted my name the loudest.  You may yet see more interpretations from this collection...especially since Erdum is fast becoming my favorite designer!

photo courtesy of Style.com

The dress on the left is the one that I want so I collected the following fabrics from "The Collection." How kewl is that?  That I had all of this on hand!

Of course, I knew that I would start with my TNT dress pattern to make this garment. And after the twists and turns of my last dress adventure, something familiar was what I needed to sew!  This will be my autumn lace dress since lace is still quite popular heading into fall.  The linen fabric is from the Couture Line at Fabric Mart and the lace is an Anna Sui polyester blend from Emmaonesock.

To me the most important part of making this dress work is the lace overlay. Normally, I would spend days riding the bus back and forth to my job figuring out the construction order of the dress.  Since I've been on vacation for awhile now, I'm working the order out as I make the dress which, of course, has slowed down it's construction - but since that seems to be the operative word of this sewcation - slow - I'm okay with that. 

Determining how to make the lace overlay ~
My first challenge was trying to see the back of the dress.  I searched all over the internet and none of my favorite retailers even purchased this dress.  What the heck is wrong with them!?  Couldn't they see the beauty of this sheath?  So from a piece of the side view in the picture above, I determined that the back has the lace overlay too...especially after looking at the backs of quite a few of the designer's other dresses.  He typically carries the design all the way through the back. 

Making the lace overlay ~
From those observations this is what I did to make the lace overlay...

To prepare the lace fabric, I pinned all of the scallops together.

Then I determined how wide I wanted the center portion to be.  I chose 6" after measuring across the front of me.  I started out with 10" and moved down to 8", finally settling on 6 because I liked the proportion of lace and linen.

Next I laid the front dress pattern piece on top of the lace measuring 3" from each scallop to the pattern's center front line.  I wanted to insure that there was a standard 6" down the front of the dress.

For the back piece I used a 3.5" measurement to account for the back seam and vent. The lace pieces were first pinned to the linen with pins inserted every couple of inches to get a good hold.  I used my pink & raspberry pins so that I could see them through the lace.

Then I carefully and slowly machine stitched the lace scallops to the linen fabric using the smallest stitch on my sewing machine (2.2).  I wanted a lot of stitches to insure that the lace pieces were stitched down completely to the linen dress front and backs.

I hand basted the remaining portions of the lace to the linen. Finally I serged the lace and linen pieces together.  

The dress front and backs were now ready to be sewn together. Since this is my TNT dress pattern, I will sew it together like normal.  This is where I am now so the next post about this garment will be the reveal.

...as always more later!

Butterick 5598 - Pattern Alterations

I mentioned a couple of posts back that I want to spend spring sewing some of the new patterns I've purchased...especially since I was really impressed with the variety of patterns that Butterick recently produced for plus size sewists.  For my first foray into transitional spring/summer sewing, I've really been aching to make this dress:

I love that it's on trend...that it has an a-line skirt...some pockets and I'm also loving the tie belt and button placement...well almost all of the button placement.  I've decided to leave the top two buttons off.

So it was with some trepidation that I pulled the pattern sheets from the envelope.  I mean I don't use alot of new patterns.  Every once in awhile something will strike my fancy and I'm willing to make the fit and pattern alteration journey.  However, I was pleasantly surprised with this pattern.  Because based upon the finished body measurements for a size 24, I would need to make very few pattern alterations.

Since there are no sleeves, I don't have to make a bicep alteration.  Since the dress skirt is flared with extra ease built into it, I don't have to enlarge the skirt to make room for my abdomen and bottom.  After placing the front pattern piece to my body and standing in the mirror to see how it fell, I determined that I only needed to lower the waistline because it's 2" too high.  So that was the major alteration I made to the pattern pieces.  The front and back pieces, as well as the front side & back side pieces were all lengthened by 2". 

I also made a note on the hemline of all the pieces to cut them out with an additional inch added to the hemline...and that's it.  That's all the alterations I made to this pattern.

 
Now there is an interesting design feature to this dress that you can't see in the line drawings or the pictures of the dress worn by the model. What I thought were seam lines in the front and back of the dress are actually tucks.  

These tucks bring the fabric closer to the body at the waistline then gently releases it into the skirt.  An interesting detail that was somehow omitted from the fashion drawings.

I've picked fabric (a Ralph Lauren tan tropical wool purchased from Fabric Mart), buttons (tortoise-shell like buttons - 10 not 12 as the pattern suggests) and a nutmeg bemberg rayon lining for the dress.

This weekend I will cut the fabric and begin construction...so stay tuned because I know this is going to be an adventure! *LOL*

...more later!

Making a list

Lately my thoughts have been turning towards spring...it's not hard to do. The spring clothes are arriving in the stores...the spring catalogues are arriving in the mail...and all of the fashion magazines have spreads on spring clothing...even Oprah!

But realistically speaking, it is still winter where I live...and no amount of floral fabrics, bright colors or summer fabrics is gonna make that go away or spring come faster. So what is a sewist to do? Make a list! *LOL* Now my list is not comprised of garments to sew for spring...but a few pieces that I could reasonably complete before the soft breezes of spring start to flow through my windows.

I've also decided that right now, at this particular moment, I am most comfortable in dresses and skirts...so my list is primarily comprised of dresses. Dresses drawn from glossy magazine pictures...dresses drawn from my vintage collection (yes, I've been chomping at the bit for spring to come to use some of them!)...dresses drawn from something that I've imagined and would like to make and wear.

My list also has a few cardigans on it...I don't know if it's a nod to our new First Lady or not but in my day to day activities, I am more comfortable in a dress and cardigan or twinset and skirt. So I'm going to apply a little "Corporate Chic" to them, and take them up a notch so that they are above the norm and applicable for my workplace.

I have a list, some direction and plenty of fabric and patterns to play with...and I can't wait to get started!!!

"A Grayed Affair" Update

"A Grayed Affair" is my latest "Sewing With A Plan" (SWAP) wardrobe for late summer/early fall transitional dressing. Since it is early October, I thought I would do a quick recap of the items that have been completed and the ones yet to be finished.

McCalls 5620 - Dress from gray/coral cotton print

I love the cotton print fabric that I chose for this dress - however, I think the fabric is too lightweight to sew now. It probably would have worked better if I had made the dress when I was making the jacket and pants...as it is I am dropping this from the wardrobe. It just won't work now.

Burda OOP Cardigan and cowl neck tank from gray/beige/yellow rayon knit

I changed the top from a cowl neck to a mock neck to make it more comfortable to wear on crisp fall mornings. Otherwise besides adding embellishment to bring out the print on the rayon/lycra knit...these two pieces are working well with the pants and the skirt.

SW Mission Tank from grey/blk/white print silk

This is always a quick and easy sew but it adds so much to my wardrobe...it also goes great with an all black pantsuit in the closet.

New Look Jacket 6788 - gray midweight linen
It was a new look for me but very versatile...love it! And it plays nice with other pieces in my wardrobe.

TNT Pants - gray midweight linen

These are the hardest working bottom in this collection!

TNT - 4 gore skirt - gray midweight linen

It took a little work to get this made and in the end I'm only so-so about it. Maybe I will like it better with the red knit pieces.

I still need to sew the red print jersey knit into a twinset using my TNT Burda cardigan pattern and making a tie neck top. I will try to get that finished up this month. Mostly though I am calling this complete. I have a new coordinated wardrobe that I want to work on for November - more about that later!

I will leave you with a shot of the completed wardrobe so far...

More Vintage Patterns

I've become a stalker...yeah, I'm admitting it...I have left eBay behind and I've moved onto actual vintage pattern sites...before noon every Monday through Friday...I go to two spots without fail ~ Lanetz Living and Out of the Ashes. I love both of these sites because they offer free shipping on 3 or more patterns and because both have great plus size sections.

My friend, Julie-Ann, asked how I've managed to find such great plus size patterns...both of these sites are prime reasons why...along with a few lucky winning auctions on eBay. But after a few months of immersing myself in "vintage" patterns (and different people and collectors have different ideas of what vintage is!), I have defined a style of pattern and a couple of things I desire...

60's Mod, Jackie Kennedy retro, dresses and suits with lots of details in plus sizes and some half sizes...I primarily look for Simplicity and Vogue patterns. These pattern companies seem to have embodied the looks and translated them best to me.

I have also found that if I have an idea of what I am looking for, I am not easily distracted by how much there is out there. Another consideration is price...I like cheap priced patterns but I am willing to pay for what I want...however, I have set a limit of $25 if I really want something and $10 for something I'm interested in.

This gives me plenty of room to play and has resulted in some very interesting finds...these are the latest:

Pattern Description:

One piece dress and scarfSlim skirt joins bodice at waistline. Buttoned front closing below front neckline. Lap seamed detail at side front of bodice and skirt. Elbow length, short sleeves and sleeveless. Tubular scarf. Novelty or self belt...size 42...no copyright date.

Pattern Description:

One Piece Dress Sheath dress with notched collar with or without top stitched trimming has optional modesty. Below elbow length sleeves and short sleeves with cuffs. Size 42...no copyright date.

Pattern Description:

Half size and women's dress and jacket. Semi-fitted, a-line dress has princess seaming, oval neckline with front slit, short sleeves and self-side belts with button trim. Semi-fitted jacket has princess seaming, rolled notched collar, patch pockets and short or waist length sleeves...size 40...no copyright date

However, I have to tell you that I am very anxious to actually sew up some of these patterns. I think they will really kick my work wardrobe up a notch and give me the detailing and styling that is so lacking in plus size patterns today! I am really tired of the sacks, the ill-fitting, unstylish items that the pattern companies are passing off for plus size women. Short of learning pattern drafting, I am taking back my fashion destiny by using this catalog of "vintage" patterns that I have amassed as well as some of the new Burda magazine dresses for plus size women.

On a final note...I've moved onto late summer/early fall transistional sewing...dresses and suits will figure predominately in this sewing...so stay tuned for a little vintage, a little Burda and a whole lotta plus size style!

How Many Steps?

I had quite a number of titles for this post...but ultimately rejected them for this one because the question I wanted to pose to you, was/is, "How Many Steps Does it Take for You to Complete a Garment?" In this particular case, how many steps did it take for me to make a simple skirt...this skirt:

Now I'm referring to construction steps...the things or procedures you do once you've chosen the pattern and the fabric. I am referring to the decisions you start to make when you lay that piece of fabric onto the cutting table and begin the construction process. Have you ever really thought about all of the steps you take/make from the cutting table to actually wearing the garment?

Well I thought about it today...probably because I took what should have been a very simple to make skirt and as usual turned it into a production. I am beginning to think that I can no longer sew "fast & easy" but that everything must have the best construction techniques I know thrown into it. I use to brag that I could make a simple skirt in 60 minutes/1 hour...add some lining to it and I only needed 30 minutes more. I don't think I could do that now, if my life depended upon it! *LOL*

So steps - lets start with the fabric:

Both pieces are from Metro Textiles - when Kashi handed me the black eyelet, he originally paired it with something shimmery and soft...however, I saw the cotton paisley print and KNEW that I had something that was more me. I knew that I wanted an a-line skirt with this print under it...at first I thought that the two skirts would just free float and be connected at the waistline. I also thought that I would use my TNT four gore skirt to accomplish that...but something happened between the purchase to the time the fabric landed on the cutting table:

I decided to cut this as an on-grain skirt with only side seams. So I laid both pieces of fabric down on the fold and cut them out together. I hemmed and hawwed over whether they would be separate skirts or one piece...finally the fabric decided that it liked being together so after cutting them out, I serged the two pieces together. This definitely made it easier to work with...no worrying about how to handle the seams of the eyelet fabric.

Next I sewed the side seams up thinking that I would make my regular elastic waist skirt...but it was late...like 1:30 in the morning and I decided to call it a night and start again in the morning. I went to sleep with that skirt on my mind and when I woke up this morning, I had dreamt of a skirt with darts and a lapped side zipper...not one with an elastic waist!

So this morning I added darts to the front and the back of the skirt - using my TNT straight skirt's dart placement to get the darts on the skirt correctly. Up next was the lapped zipper, after I ripped out half of the side seam, I had to remember how to put in a lapped zipper...it's been a minute, okay? *LOL*

Using the DVD, "Easy Zippers" by the Islander team, I quickly reviewed how to insert a lapped zipper but I also remembered a few things (ah, it's coming back to me now!) that I liked to do to insure the best insertion:

1. I put a piece of fusible web in the center of the lapped piece to hold it together and add firmness to it - the video tells you to fuse the seamlines, so I guess it's the same principle. I've sometimes had a problem with the lapped area not catching and flopping open. The fusible web makes sure that I am working with one solid piece...

2. The second thing I always do is to hand baste the lapped piece of the zipper down. It insures that I catch the entire lapped piece and it gives me a guideline to machine stitch the zipper down. From the pic, you can see that I used a burnt orange thread for the hand basting so that I was sure to see it when I took it to my sewing machine.

Darts, lapped zipper, and several fittings later, I had to make a decision about waistband or no waistband? More steps...*sigh* I went with no waistband but needed to add a waistband facing to finish off the top of the skirt. Okay, I'm NOT cutting waistband pieces at this point...so I went looking for some bias binding that would work for the facing. I found a striped cotton blend from the collection and used that:

Let's see now that means measuring the bias binding, serging one end so that it will be finished inside the garment, sewing it down, turning and pressing (clapper photo above), edge stitching it flat and hand basting it to the side seams and darts...ummm, how many more steps did I just add!?!?!

I try the skirt on...it fits! But I don't like the length. I dig around in the closet for a tank top and a sweater to try it on with...I put on the Spanx...ummm, a little loose! *sigh* I can take the waistband facing off and remove the handstitching and edgestitching, deepen the darts and put it all back on...NOT!!! Or I can go have some lunch! Lunch won! *LOL*

But while I'm making a sandwich, I remember that Summerset added a button tab to one of her skirts? recently....ummm, I can do a tab! Back to the cutting table to cut out and sew a tab, find a button, make a buttonhole and sew the entire thing together. I'm almost afraid to try the darn thing on but it works, it really works! (Thanks Summerset!)

Finally, I am onto the hem. I knew even back before it became "The Production Skirt" that I wanted to bind the hem of the eyelet...again it would just be easier to handle the hem if there was something solid to add to the eyelets...but I needed to decide on length, binding material and how to apply it...more steps!

This time after rooting around in the notions collection, I found a cotton blend bias binding that I've had forever. I bought a 50 yard roll of it at least 10 years ago and I'm slowly working my way through it...probably one of my better purchases! Anyway it was applied on the right side using a 1/4" seam allowance...at which point my sewing machine decided it wanted to die on me! I am truly worried about it since it's been acting funny after the power shut off yesterday...

I turned it off for 30 minutes, while I pressed the seam towards the binding and then pressed it towards the back covering the seam while I watched a little Oprah. I am trying to be patient here...but I am worried about my SM! Next, I flipped it back on and I sewed close to the edge of the seam, checking every now and then to make sure that I was catching the binding in the back...and finally, finally the skirt was done.

I got this binding technique from Vonnevo on PR. Her photosite use to have the technique listed on it...cause I printed the pics off but I can't find it now...maybe I'm overlooking it...she has a Picasa site and a Flickr site.

During one of the trips to my daughter's full length mirror to check on the fit of the skirt, I did moan about how long it was taking to make a simple skirt...and her response was two words, "Quality Sewing."

However, I do think it is more than just that! I really do think that you can decide how many steps you want to take/make in your garment. I'm not sure if the steps are based upon sewing knowledge - well I guess some of them are...because how else would you know how to perform the task if you didn't know about it! But I think some of it is choices too...

So tell me, how many steps do you usually take when constructing a garment? Do you think them out ahead of time or do you just wing it? Do you sometimes get halfway through the construction process and realize that you need to go in a different direction? Or do you just forge ahead with the plans you already have? Talk back to me...I really want to know...because I took an awful lot of steps to get a simple skirt constructed today!!!

Twice as Nice

I only had two days left to sew after spending most of the weekend on home improvement projects...so I wanted to make these two days count. Do I work on one involved project that might not get me much return (as in garments to wear right away) during this time...or do I go for the quick project that would make me feel like my weekend wasn't wasted...*sigh* I went for the quick project...

Actually I went for the project that would eliminate something from my "Grayed Affair" Wardrobe list as well as something from my Top 10 Fall Items list...yes, I pulled out my TNT Sewing Workshop Tank Top and set to work...

But first ~ the power went off for about an hour this morning in my apartment and let me just say that I was less than pleased with my utility company that the power shut off while my COMPUTERIZED sewing machine was on...

However, I did get a basic SW Mission Tank completed in the gray EOS silk that is part of the "Grayed Affair" wardrobe:

It's just basic sewing but it's a basic that brings so much punch to a garment:

And I also finished off the JCrew Argyle Knock-off Vest:

Some simple alterations to my SW Mission Tank pattern got me this vest.

1. Folded the front pattern piece over so that I would get a v-neckline.

2. Cut the pattern on the fold.

3. Normally I cut the back piece with a 5/8" seam allowance for a back seam - this time I cut it on the fold also.

4. My SW Mission Tank pattern has been altered to give me a closer fit at the underarm seam - for this version I added all of that back in. I wanted a looser fitting version for the vest.

5. The tie strips were cut 4" wide instead of the 3" that I normally use. I also cut them 60" long.

6. The front of the vest is cut from the argyle knit and the back and ties are cut from a black knit called Suaveur Knit from Fabric.com.

7. Assemble as normal for my tie-front top.

And wallah...the vest with RTW blouse and pants:

So I'm happy that I went with instant gratification...

Because now I've got two great transitional outfits to wear for late summer/early fall!

Prada Inspired

So what was the one thing that stood out, chased me in my sleep, caused me so much grief that I just couldn't stand it anymore....(insert scream!) those Prada ads in all the September fashion magazines.

I kept looking at them and wondering just "how" could I make that lace look "corporate!" How could I manage to make just one piece fit into my oh-so-by-the-book corporate workplace? Question number 2 was, where would I be able to find a piece of lace as wonderfully gorgeous as the pieces Prada was using but without the amazing price...

Here are my two favorite pieces from the Prada line:

photo credit: www.style.com

photo credit: www.style.com

And while at Metro Textiles today with a friend...I found this:

Yes, two yards of a lace that with a brown silk charmeuse lining would make my "version" of this amazing skirt! I've decided that I won't be able to wear it on important meeting days or even on regular work days but it could be worn on "Casual Fridays" with a silk twinset. I've decided that Fridays this fall will be "Fashion Fridays" for me unless there is a meeting scheduled...that way I can indulge my love of fashion while they are giving khaki its due! *LOL*

For more information on the Prada Skirt - there is a piece in today's NYTimes about it. Thanks Lyra for pointing me that way...

So I have my fabric, my TNT straight skirt pattern and now all I need is an afternoon to become "Prada Inspired!"

Scrap Happy

This is the story of how this pile of scraps:

Became this skirt:

See I really wanted a jacket, pants, skirt combo from the gray linen...but after pretreating the linen I lost some yardage...and I was only able to get the jacket and pants cut out from the fabric.

So the challenge became how to turn the remaining scraps into my TNT 4 gore skirt. Using some very constructive cutting and basically ignoring every grain rule ever written, I came up with a plan.

The front of the skirt is constructed from two panels of fabric that are about 3" shorter width wise than normal. From another scrap I added a 6" center front panel with 5/8" seam allowances. These three pieces were sewn together and the Saddle Stitch topstitching was added to the seaming to carry the tone-on-tone seaming detail through from the jacket.

For the back, I had pieces big enough to separate the 2 panels into 4 adding seam allowances to both sides of each panel. Again all of the seams were topstitched using the Saddle Stitch. However, this is very hard to photograph...the skirt just comes out looking very gray and basic...which I guess is a good thing since the tops I have planned are very bright, printed garments.

The skirt and lining still needs to be hemmed...will work on that tonight while I'm watching The Closer...and I have no pics of me wearing it with the jacket yet because I still need to make one of the tops from the collection...yes, sure I have RTW tanks that would work but what would be the fun in that?! *smile*

I set aside the dress because I only had one day to sew. I need time to work out what I'm seeing in my head and rushing the process in a day would only leave me frustrated. So I will work on the dress this weekend and the tops after that!

After tonight, I will have three garments completed. I have to admit that I so love sewing with a plan!!!