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:

Can you see the traced pattern? And the grease spots?

I've transferred the printed pattern to tracing paper.
Please don't mind the couch-- it's well-loved, and was used in a pinch for these photos. In the past when using a printed pattern from Burda, I've just cut it out from the original copy paper. Apparently, this is not how you're supposed to do it. How do I know now, you ask? I finally read all the instructions. Smart, right? Anyway, tracing patterns is a really great way to have a clean pattern piece, especially if you have altered the original in any way (for us tall girls, lengthening everything). It's time consuming and, if you don't have a steady hand, frustrating, but worth it. Since I happened into a "tall" pattern, I didn't have to do any of the altering, but I traced it anyway!

I figured out how to lay out the pattern pieces on the fabric.
This sounds simple, but OH MY GOD it took me forever. Remember how I mentioned that I bought 48" fabric instead of the suggested 55" fabric? Well, I paid for it. Instead of following the diagram included with the pattern, I had to finagle (yes, I said finagle) the layout several times before cutting. And since I couldn't cut the pieces with the fabric folded, I had to lay everything out on the floor. Havoc ensued:

   

don't worry, that's just her fearsome play face.

Well, really my dogs wreaked the havoc-- it's their specialty. This actually happened a couple of times. The first time I was so tired that I just let them play on my fabric until they passed out, and then gave up for the night. This is the second time it happened:

 

he just wanted to help

They played for a few moments, and then collapsed (albeit on the fabric). After nudging a grumbling Kofi off the fabric, I was actually able to make some progress! So as for the actual progress that I made (since I know not everyone wants to hear all about my dogs), I decided to map out the circle skirt first, and lay the pattern pieces down on the remaining fabric to see if it could fit. **As I write this, I realize that I cut everything out, but did not check whether or not it was on the grain. I do know that all the pieces have the pattern going the same direction. Whoops! I'll update you on how that works out later.** 
Anyway, moving on. I did manage to get the pieces laid out so that I can fit in all the pieces.

I cut out most of the pieces.
Not all of them, but the important ones (like the bodice and skirt). All that I have left are the pockets, armhole bias strips (what?), and back neck facing. But unfortunately, in a fit of pattern alteration, I deepened the V in the back by about 2" to fit the zipper I bought. I couldn't be bothered to just have a shorter zip in the back. No, I had to fiddle with it. Now I have to alter my back neck facing (which is the part that goes on the inside of the bodice in the back, to make the seam nice-looking) to match the change I made in the bodice. *Cue crazed laughter* I'm sure if there are experienced seamstresses out there, you are probably wondering why this is at all deserving of mention. Well, here's the short answer-- it's amateur hour over here.  

So what do I have left? A lot. It's kind of overwhelming to think about actually. I thought I had done the hard part already, but I was most definitely kidding myself. I'm trying to decipher the instructions for sewing, and I find that my eyes just keep skipping over the text until I find something I understand. There is a lot of skipping happening here, folks. I think I understand what happens with the front, but then when it gets to the armholes and back neck facing and invisible zippering, I kind of glaze over. I suppose I'll just keep blundering through it like a rhino, as usual. Stay tuned for more next time!