After removing the draped top pattern from the dress form, I ironed the material and cut around the edges to smooth out the lines. I then cut the pattern from another piece of muslin to create the top back panel.

Now that I have my two top pieces, I strategically draped them on the dress form. They both require bunching on the side and I wanted to make sure that the lines matched up from front to back. After I was happy with the way the bunching looked, I baste stitched the top panels together at the side, top and shoulder seams.

I placed the skirt panels back on the form and baste stitched them to the top panels with all seams matching up. I left open the seam that will hold the zipper so I could easily slide it off and on for fittings. After trying the dress on, I feel that it is ready for the final pattern. The only changes that will be made to the pattern are fusing the top and bottom panels into one. I also decided that I love the way the armpit hole on the left side is open which steps away from the original design. It adds just a touch of sexy to an overall classic gown.

I decided after much trial and error to try a hand-stitch on the zipper. After breaking a needle and jamming the sewing machine several times, it was really my only option. It turned out to be my best option. It came out very clean and professional looking (pats self on back).

I had to go back and cut away the excess fabric on the inside of the waistband that was left after I added the finishing stitch:

After doing this, I tried the skirt on again. There is a weird curve underneath the waistband now and you can faintly see the seams and darts through the linen fabric. I’m contemplating on lining the skirt. What do you guys recommend? Would releasing the darts a bit underneath the waistband fill out this unwanted curve? Also, what are your thoughts on cutting away the excess fabric where the darts are? Keep in mind that you can only faintly see it and I am probably just being too much of a perfectionist so it may not be worth it.

Thoughts on the second episode of Project Runway from last night – I love that they gave them a pregnancy garment challenge! Even though I have never been pregnant, my problem with maternity wear is that it always looks too babydoll-ish. Just because a woman is pregnant does not mean that she does not want to look or feel sexy. I feel that a lot of maternity wear out there takes the sex appeal away from a woman. That being said, while the winning design was beautifully designed and made by Shirin, it was too girlish in my opinion:

The design that I would prefer to wear is the jersey gown designed by Althea. She did a great job of highlighting the pregnant form while also making the body appear slimmer. The fabric color was beautiful and I also LOVED the way she accentuated the lower back (very slimming). My only recommendation was that she ad a bit more fabric to the bust. While most women want to show off the breasts they never had during their pregnancy, there is a such thing as too much.  What did you guys think about the designs?

On another note, I took a day off from working on the pencil skirt because of the zipper dilemma. I’m pretty sure that because of the thickness of the folds in the fabric, a machine stitch is pretty much out of the question. My fear is that it will appear sloppy and that just won’t work on a tailored skirt. I am going to try a blind hand-stitch and see how it goes. I like the idea of not being able to see the zipper seam on the outside of the garment. Details to follow…