BREAKING NEWS: Still not done with that dress (and an homage to dogs)

Remember that dress I said I was going to make by this weekend?

Yep, that's the one. 

Well, I'm still plugging away! Here's the progress I've made so far:

Sewing under the gun

Hi there! My apologies for the spotty posting-- blogging is more difficult to keep up than I had anticipated. Today I thought I would share with you another hopeful endeavor. For some background, I have a few weddings coming up, and I of course wanted to wear a new dress. I hatched this plan a couple of months ago, and it has been through a couple of incarnations since. Initially I wanted to make this sexy little number:

(low whistle)

In this fabric:

Like floral polka dots... with stripes?

Cute, right? Loving the idea of such a feminine and pretty dress, I dove right in. And by that, I mean I printed out the pattern, put it together, and let it sit. After looking at the pattern, I got a little intimidated. It has a lot of pieces, many of which I would need to alter to fit my body. As much as I love fitted skirts, my bottom half doesn't always agree (my hips don't lie, folks). Also, it is a bustier style bodice with seamed cups and I've never really gotten on that train. That and a couple other extra frills really detract from the overall dress.

Lemony aspirations

Over time, I've realized that I go through these hugely fluctuating phases of excitement over different things. Right now I am consumed by designing/making/shopping for a trip to Italy this summer with my husband.  I am falling in love with so many beautiful ready-to-wear pieces from different designers. At the top my my list is kate spade's Lyric dress.

(low whistle) Beeeyoooo-teeful.

Oh. My. Gosh is it beautiful. Kate really outdid herself this time. It's so effortless and classic, but playful at the same time. It reminds me of the dresses from the movie, Chocolat (Johnny Depp, chocolate, and beautiful costumes. The dresses I speak of belong to the zealous minister's absent wife). It's part of kate spade's Roma Collection, so of course it seems extra extra perfect. But alas, as I was dreamily looking at my new-found love with longing eyes, I saw the price. $398! That's definitely out of the question for my budget. So, I thought to myself, "That's a pretty simple silhouette... I should make it!". Well, it's not a bad idea. But I think I underestimated how difficult it is to find a nice looking lemon printed fabric that is reasonably priced. Oh, and the fact that I'm still at the apprentice to the novice level in sewing.

In the beginning...

In the last year or so, I began my long awaited journey into the world of sewing after my darling husband bought me my first sewing machine.

Such a baby face

Prior to this, I think I chattered for over a year about how "I always wanted to sew, but never got around to it" or "I can never find anything that I like, I wish I could just make it." So, being the wonderful, encouraging person that he is, he solved my problem with a birthday present. Which then forced me to actually use it because he bought it for me (thanks, honey).