Me Made March Day 13

So after getting up early for a Sunday and deciding that I was going to sew a dress to wear by the end of the day from the new fabric I got yesterday I was in full blown sewing mode.  I even decided that instead of cheating and just doing facings like I did for this dress I would actually line the whole thing as was worried about undergarment colour show through.  Things were going well but I then realised I couldn't finish it in time as needed to go out so I popped this dress on instead.

Me wearing Amy Butler Lotus tunic with monsoon fluffy cardi and tights and Dr Martens

It was a lot sunnier earlier in the day but by the time we got out into my mother-in-law's garden the sun had dropped down.  She was happy to take photos of me in her garden thankfully as she'd weeded and mown the lawns the day before!  She's got a beautiful garden and is very proud of it and is desperately trying to teach me and I'm trying to learn!

And because she wanted to make sure I got a good shot and because I want to show a bit more of her garden here's another shot!

Me again in same outfit

I'm laughing as we had some technical difficulties with the flash and I ended up looking away on one shot and so it became a bit of a marathon, but good fun! 

I was also very very lucky in that she'd found me a lovely Monsoon skirt in a charity shop that she'd already found time to wash and iron that's really pretty.  She's such a good charity shop buyer, she was the one who found me my sewing machine for £5!  Again, she's trying to teach me the art of charity shop bargain shopping!

So back to the dress I was trying to make today.  Well, it's almost finished in that all I need to do is hem the lining and the outer.  I tried it on as a final fitting and sadly I need to take it almost all apart.

Cream flower pattern dress on hanger hung on bannister

It's hung on the bannister as I'm not showing you what it looks like on me.  I'm highly disappointed as I've made this dress before, last weekend in fact, but this time it just didn't work.  The skirt seems more gathered than on the raspberry one and this subsequently makes my hips and derrière look even more voluptuous than I would like, putting it kindly.  I'm really not happy as despite resting most of the week, this has really taken it out of me and my back and arms are in need of an ice pack and to find that it's got to be taken apart and reworked is breaking my heart.  I really love the look of this dress as it's rather romantic looking with it's vintage-y pattern and colours and think this style of dress works well for it if I could just get it right!  Aaarrrrggghhhh!

Close up of print and gathers on the skirt

It's my own fault really as I didn't measure the width of the fabric and just though that by looking at it it was the same width as the other fabric I used on the raspberry dress.  I need to calmly take out the seam ripper and disconnect the skirt from the bodice for both the lining and the outer.  I'm thinking I won't gather the lining skirt at all and really cut it down or omit it completely as I have that tulle underskirt.  Any suggestions?