Retirement Party Dress - #maxisewalong

I didn't work on my dress yesterday.  Migraine.  Boo.
But, today is a new day.  Headache almost gone.  I must finish this dress today since the party is tomorrow, and I'm kicked out of the house for most of the day!  I know there are some surprises, and I'm not asking questions.  hehe...  I think am hoping that my brother is coming out from Tennessee, but that may be a long shot.  BUT, I still have that feeling - ya know?

Anyway, dress progress.  This dress has a fully lined bodice as I said before.  And the way it's done means no alterations after it's put together (that's always scary!!)  I did make a muslin, but that's never the same as actually putting the dress together with lining and a zipper.  Sigh.  I guess I could baste in the zipper and see how that goes.  That's all. I. have. left. to. do. Yay! (oops - forgot I will need to tack in the straps too)   I've even hemmed the thing.  I don't think I have hand hemmed anything in over a year, but I was zoned out from my headache yesterday and watching a little SYTYCD and America's got Talent on the On Demand.  It started with a little hand sewing of the bodice.  The whole thing is lined and then they have you attach the skirt and leave a raw edge.  What's with that?  I see this over and over in patterns.  The thing is, the bodice is lined in parts, so it's not like you can really just pull that lining over and cover up the raw edge of the skirt.  I decided to bring in a little Hug Snug and cover that baby up.  Magic.

 I love this stuff.  But, at almost $10.00 a roll, I only have white, pink, and black.  Of course, I have had these rolls for about 8 years, so definitely worth the investment.  Use it for so many things.
One thing I love about things that are lined and underlined is that you can do handsewing and never touch the outer fabric.  No stitches showing!









I had already sewn stretch lace to the hem.  I hate when a curved hem has to be "pleated" to hem up.  On fuller skirts, I usually just do a narrow or rolled hem, but on this, I wanted the weight of the hem.  I decided to sew on the stretch lace, stretching it as I sewed it so that the top of it would be smaller than the bottom.  It worked perfectly.  I even had a package of orange in my stash!  (Love to search yard sales and thrift stores for things like this.)  So, I decided to go ahead and hand stitch the hem too.  I'm glad I did because it really does not show on the outside at all.  Love prints and textured fabrics for that!


So here it is on poor old Myrtle, still waiting for a zipper.  All I have in the stash that's even close to working is pink.  Not going to drive 45 minutes to get a different zipper.  It will have to be pink.