This afternoon, I had 5 yards of 6″ black lace trim waiting for me in the mailbox. After spending some time at the gym and eating some dinner, I rewarded myself with some sewing time!

Dress with waist trim

I also installed the zipper and gave it a test try-on, but it’s still a bit loose at the top, so tomorrow or Wednesday, I’ll adjust the zipper so it’s a bit tighter at the top of the dress.  I can also try to get some of that rubber grippy stuff to put along the top edge.

Weird thing, while installing the zipper, one side happened to be an inch longer than the other.  I assume a seam allowance got out of whack somewhere to make THAT big of a difference. Fortunately, with the lace along the waist, I was able to fudge it a little and tuck in that extra inch.  Hopefully, no one else will notice, and just think it’s just a little wackiness in the gathering.

But, after I fix the zipper/fit, just have to hem, attach the trim to the bottom of the dress, and then TONS of slip stitching the lining to the rest of the dress!

I worked on my dress up until bedtime last night, so I didn’t have a chance to make a post until this morning.

Here’s where the dress is at now, and progress is on hold until I get the lace trim I need for it.

Skirt gathered and attached to bodice, waiting on lace to finish

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I’ve definitely made some progress today, even with all the extra attention I’m putting towards neatening seams and making sure everything looks “couture”. I couldn’t wait until just before bed to make a post, so here it is!

So much basting took place to get to this point, but I'm totally enamored with these pleats

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Last night, I started working on a muslin for the dress I’m making to wear to our friends’ wedding in a couple months. (Two months, to be exact, actually!)  Tonight, I finally finished it.

Front of muslin

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For most of my projects, I don’t bother to make a test garment, better known as a “toile” or “muslin”. Mostly, because I’m confident they’ll fit (maybe some minor alterations). But for a pretty dress, I’ll take the extra time (especially when I’m still waiting for swatches to arrive AND it’s my first strapless dress, so I want to make sure the bust fits just right) to make it fit, since my measurements don’t line up in the same column on the sizing chart. I’ll want to know where and how much I’ll need to take in on the pattern pieces before committing it to the fashion fabric.

Here’s the pattern I’m using for this project:

McCall's 5382, Style B

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