The Birthday Dress - Part 2

Regular readers will recall I started this dress to wear out for dinner for my birthday but I ran out of time to finish it properly.

 

Although the occasion has come and gone, things were going far too well to add this dress to the UFO pile. It was looking pretty good on the dress-form and all I had left to do was attach the sleeves and the hand sewing. You'd think it would have been smooth sailing, right? Well look what happened when I tried it on...

It's difficult to see in photo but the neckline is bagging open in the front and it's sticking out where the shoulder seams meet. Arghhhh!!! Shoulder pads helped a little but fixing this would require unpicking and taking nearly an inch out of the bodice at the neckline.

The alterations to the Birthday Dress have been pinned together for a week now, so instead of sewing the bound buttonholes in my next project, I procrastinated by finishing it off this afternoon.

As you can see, the bodice fits across the bust but neckline still isn't sitting properly. At least the back hangs nicely...

I'm not normally a 'near enough is good enough' kinda gal but I can't think how to solve the neckline issue so I think I'm gonna have to leave it as is. Or, I can pin the excess fabric down with a dress clip or clip-on earring like so...

Problem solved!

BTW - Just in case you were wondering, those little beauties on my feet are one of my many pairs of Fluevogs

Malibran - Operetta Family

Now, back to those buttonholes...!

- Tamara