Victory, from the jaws of defeat!

Better not keep you on tenterhooks any longer, if you were with me the day before yesterday, when I had to contemplate doing this...

when what I really should have been doing was this...

Having found out why ladies buttons are on the left (you can read why in the previous post here if you did not already know) I really could not make the dress as a mirror image of what it should be.  I couldn't have people feeling sorry for me in my button-up-on-the-right dress, thinking I was too impecunious to afford a slave servant.

So there was a big sigh of relief when I craftily managed to get all the pieces out, the right way round!  The only compromise I had to make is that I don't have enough fabric for the self belt, and that one of my seam allowances has an eensie bit of white selvedge.

So this is what Buffy the dressmaking form has on today.

It looks more finished than it is, as the bodice and skirt are yet to be attached to one another.

I was a good girl and followed all the instructions VERY carefully after the silly schoolgirl error with the cutting out.  I had intended to try to adapt the pattern a bit, as this dress is fully lined and I HATE working with lining, and as a bit of a warm-body, I'm not sure that I will appreciate the added layer when I am heaving things about getting ready for fairs!  However, I realised that this pattern really wasn't one to mess with, and I have paid attention to every word of the instructions.

Pleats on the right shoulder and a nice square neckline...

Some nice vintage buttons from my hoard for the left (Yes! The left!)...

There's a nice slanty seam here on the skirt, but having used a pattern, this detail is a little lost.  I will try and get a belt more suited to the style of the dress.  I rather like the idea of an elasticated one like nurses used to wear.

I ground to a halt at the point of attaching the bodice to the two layers of skirt because I had followed the instructions too religiously.  When it said to make the skirt lining 'in the same manner' as the skirt itself, my instinct was to flip everything over, to get the slanty bit correct.  But I let the wording fool me into thinking I was mistaken - and spatial type problems are not my forte, so I thought I must be wrong. So the lining is wrong, and I need to undo it.  Grrrrr!  

Anyway, I won't be able to get any further with it for a couple of weeks, as I've a busy couple of days ahead (Maltings Market on Saturday) and then on Sunday, Miss U-t-B and I are flying out to join the sarky one for a few days skiing!  Yay!   

Here are some of the things that may be coming to market with me...

Two pairs of cushions with salvaged crinoline ladies amidst a bit of patchwork.

A pair of dolls' beds with special bedding...

Cath K quilts, vintage snowy white flannelette broderie anglaise trimmed sheets, flannelette and patchwork pillows., and my special tufted mattresses...

I used salvaged Laura Ashley for the top and sides of the mattresses, and vintage ticking for the underside.

I just need to paint the actual beds (bit of Annie Sloan magic) and add a decal or two.

And these will definitely be coming to market, to hand over to the lady who asked me to make them.

They are for an antique doll she has.  I already made a dress for the doll, but these are her undies...

and an apron to protect her dress.

All made from an antique petticoat.  The pintucks were beautiful, and the fabric so very fine that it was a bit of a nightmare to work with, so I am heartily glad to have finally finished them!