Do not start anything NEW!!!

OK, my first goal of my summer holidays (5 1/2 long luxury weeks) is to finish up all the bits and pieces I have started during the year. Time to either finish, fix or dispose of. No longer will they be sitting staring at me each time I start a new project.


First off is a summery dress for my daughter. 

What a fun little number this dress was to make! With the strangely shaped bodice piece and the other multiple pattern pieces that would somehow make up the bodice it was certainly going to be one of the more unusual patterns I have worked with. The pattern envelope really doesn't do it any justice. On the photographed model it is just way too difficult to see the pleats and darts that are intrinsic to the design of the bodice. For the amount of work that goes into the bodice alone, you do want the details to be noticed.

Now like most garments sewn, I started off prowling around at PR researching how others had tackled this dress. I read all of the reviews in detail and everyone said the same thing; the bodice lining was short. And this was the best thing I could have done. Basically there are a few little tweaks that need to be seen to in this pattern.

First major tweak is to lengthen the bodice lining pieces - they are definitely too short. This has been noted by nearly every maker of the dress to date.

I will write a full review of this pattern once it is finished. So, what is left to do???? Well, I added on a fair bit of length to this dress, as daughter is a fairly tall girl, so it needs to be hemmed yet. And the straps need to be sewn into place at the last try on. So, can I finish it today???? Sadly, no. Daughter is down in Bendigo for a week, so this poor little dress can't be hung with its friends in the wardrobe just yet - back to the unfinished hanger for it!!!

OK, project number 2 to attack. Yet another dress for daughter (lucky thing). This time it is a recreation project and not a pattern. Ashlee found a pretty little singlet top that was fairly unusual in its design, but naturally it was a tad tooo short for her. So turn it into a dress was the solution...

Basically just added extra wide elastic around the waistline, attached 3 buttons to break it up a bit, and attached a gathered skirt. Then there is a wearable dress. So why is this one not finished??? Yes, that hemline yet again. 

And to the last unfinished hanging project. Can you guess??? Yes, a third dress. And another one that started with a singlet top that someone 'just loved'...

Now this one started life off as a plain fronted grey racer back singlet with a lace insert at the top. Fairly plain as a top from the front, but the back is a little different. To this I added a gathered waist skirt, using the selvedge along the gathering line for a little effect. Then the back was cut to insert the zipper. The dark grey zipper was chosen as there is a dark grey thread running through the skirt fabric, and up close it actually looks OK.  And by looking at the threads hanging from the bottom, no, it isn't hemmed yet either. We certainly are going to have a long hemming day ahead of us on her return.

Common theme to all these dresses are the exposed zipper - easy to do but not my favourite style. This look is quite in with the 18 year olds at the moment. All 3 are cool and summery, and ideal for our long hot summer ahead. But back to the unfinished hangers they go...

So that leaves me with no unfinished projects in my books. I tried, but can't finish any of them. Time to move onto the first holiday project for me...