Retirement Party dress on the move

As I drove up to my driveway, I smiled to see the stop sigh that said "Stop! Party here!"  Then I saw this

It was a great party!  

There were about 25 people, so just about the right size.  I think we had enough food to feed four times that many people!  The beat part was that I didn't have to do any of it.

After I got dressed, my daughter was shocked that my dress was too low cut.  Fortunately I had e trap fabric, but no extra time.  The magic of safety pins!  Here's a shot of me with my two wonderful kids

And, a full length shot of the dress with Andy, the DH

  I can see there are still some things I Need to tweak on the bodice of this dress to get it to be the most comfortable and fit the way I want it to, but all in all, I was very happy with how this dress turned out.

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.

Maxi Love

I've been wanting to make a maxi dress (actually several) this summer, but have been having trouble finding the "perfect" pattern.  Even when searching for a pattern to buy, I still haven't found anything I'm that crazy about.  I finally settled on New Look 6774.  It has the look I'm after.  Unfortuately, this crossover bodice front does not work for me.  I would guess that it does not work well for most large busted women.  Or maybe I'm just doing something wrong.  The problem is that little crossover piece that goes under the bust.  It doesn't actually go under the bust.  It kind of cuts across it.  It seems to work OK on the front piece, but the under piece definitely wants to let it ride UNDER the bust.  This causes pulling up of the under-bust band and gapping in the front.  Not a good look.  I struggled with this on my summer top, and now here we go again.  I ended up redrafting the front of the bust and hopefully this will help.

Since I am doing the stash contest on PR, I decided I better find something in my stash to use.  I originally bought this cotton fabric to make another dress with a really full skirt.  Most of the fabric I have is in smaller cuts; not enough to make a maxi dress.  This fabric has more than enough.
I'm calling it a madras / seersucker combo.  Andy is throwing a retirement party for me this Friday night, and I figured this will be the perfect dress to wear.  (If I finish it.  If it fits.  If it looks good)



I worked on this almost all day yesterday, but still have some things to finish up.  Right now it is pinned together.  This dress is a lot of work.  Each bodice piece is interfaced and lined.  That includes 2 bodice fronts, 2 bodice backs, 2 straps, and an underbust band.  Also, those straps are a pain in the you know what to put on.  They are very steep curves and you are putting them onto a straight piece in the opposite direction.  Not fun.  Especially since I altered the top, many of the dots and notches did not line up.
I happened to be checking out some reviews on PR and linked through to "Sewn by Ashley"'s blog.  She is hosting a Maxi Dress Sew Along along with That's Sew Amy, so I'm in.  Perfect timing!
  I will post more pictures later!!!
(Gotta go.  DH wants to watch a little TV together.  It's too darn hot to do anything else.)