Progress on the Pink Sweetness Dress (hereby called)

I got so much done today! Yay me! I started on the Stil 8777 dress yesterday. I traced the pattern pieces and cut them from the muslin fabric. Today I made the muslin, alterations and almost the entire bodice piece!The first muslin wasn't much of a looker; the neckline was too wide and it dragged to the sides. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show you, the sun wasn't my friend today when I tried to photo the muslins. I did a few little tweeks: widened the neck darts and straightened the shoulderline by taking 1 cm of. The muslin was pretty perfect after this. I then started to trace the patterns on the underlining cotton. The downside for me with this pattern (and all the Stil patterns) is the fact that it doesn't have seam allowances on the pattern pieces. Therefore there aren't any notches either. So I added the seam allowances and of course when it was time to cut the cotton I cut one of the sleeve pieces along the seamline not the seam allowance line. Luckily this was the underlining cotton so it was only a matter of doing things anew.

Tracing the patterns on my drawing table aka ironing board.

I followed Gertie's tutorial on the underlining except I didn't handbaste the pieces together. I don't trust my handbasting skills. Instead I used a ton of pins and machine basted the pieces together here and there. For example I sew a row of stiches in the middle of the darts and in the curved bits. This way the stiches worked also as a staystich. Don't be alarmed with the yellow lines, they don't show on the right side and should come off in the wash.

This was the first time I've ever sewn princess seams. I got to tell you that it wasn't a totally unnerving experience but I managed to come up with two nice seams. The princess seams are on the backside of the bodice, the front has darts and an opening for a button closure. I was a bit worried about the front darts at first because they looked really pointy on the muslin. Luckily they don't look that way once the bodice is worn. Since I used a double fabric the seams are also all a bit heavy. I'm thinking of maybe trimming the darts but I'll wait till the dress is all done. before worrying about that too much.

A nice and nearly perfect princess seam finisfed with a zigzag line.

I was beginning to dream about a serger after the millionth zigzag seam, sigh..

After I'd sewn all the darts, the princess seams, the shoulder seams and side seams it was time to sew on the facing. Although the intruction sheet only recommended using interface on the button strip, I used it also on the facing piece just to stabilize the neckline more. Though it seamed like a good idea, the result of two-layered fabric plus an interfaced single-fabric wasn't that good after all. I'm still hoping that after ironing and ironing some more the neckline will look alright. Interesting thing about ironing this fabric, the fabric (100 per cent cotton) changed color when I ironed it. The pink parts turned peachy. In the end I actually like the effect that it gives. Wonder about why that happened still.

Facing pinned and ready to be sewn.

After the facing I decided it was time to quit for the day. At least on the machine (lol). I covered some buttons with the fabric and came up with a new problem: what buttons to use?! The fabric is really really cute, and I'm worrying if it becomes unbearably so with the self-fabric buttons. I need seven buttons for this and the only ones that I have in my poor button stash are these ones:

Dark buttons, yay or nay?

This is how the bodice looks with the self-fabric buttons (need to buy two more):

Decisions, decisions, this is the world of a sewist.

Well, maybe I'll worry about that tomorrow. It's good have something else to think about besides setting the sleeves, yikes! I'm also thinking about making the handsewn buttonholes that Sunni shared, but will have to see if I'll be able to find descent materials for them.

The dreaded sleeves await for tomorrow.

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Ompelukone sai laulaa kyllikseen tänään. Sain tehtyä Stil 8777 mekon koeversion, muutokset kaavaan ja ompeltua lopullista versiota yläosan verran. Vuorasin mekkokankaan valkoisella ohuella puuvillalla, koska päällikangas oli mielestäni turhan läpinäkyvä yläosaksi. Kaksinkertaisen kankaan ompeleminen olikin sitten hieman haasteellista, mutta nyt yläosa on vuorauksineen ja tukikankaineen koossa. Huomenna luvassa hihojen istutus ja alaosan ompelu. Sitten jääkin enää napit ja näpinlävet sekä tietysti vetoketju! Vielä kun saisi päätettyä mitä nappeja tuohon miehustaan laittaisi...

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Edit: I'm going with the self-fabric buttons. It'll make accessorising much easier.