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.



So after some mulling, I decided to be smart and just buy a dress for these upcoming nuptials. You see, I've tried this whole thing before. Last year my cousin was getting married, and I was brave enough to try making a dress for that wedding, too. I almost finished it. It still hangs in my closet, waiting to be hemmed and taken in. Anyway, I thought I would avoid the trouble but of course, anything that was affordable (and I am not being picky here) looked awful on me. So I changed my plan again. I decided to make this:

So flouncy and fluttery!

In this fabric:

A watercolor floral perfect for spring love

The beauty of this dress is that I only have to piece together the bodice. The skirt is a circle (my favorite!), which is most definitely flattering and easy to make. The bodice seems simple enough, and I'll probably skip the covered belt. One problem is that the fabric is 48" wide, while the pattern calls for fabric that is 55" wide. Shouldn't be too big of a deal, but it will require more fabric (which could be expensive). Now, I have 11 days to make it. Can I do it? Will I? Who knows; OR I could always wear something I already own. What kind of fun would that be though? I'll try and keep you updated on my progress. Until then, wish me luck!