China Rose Finale Part 1

Hello again

Well there was major progress on my dress this past week.  In fact, there are only 2 items left to do before it is 100% complete.

There were several factors on why I did this big push...
So close and wanting to get it done
The desire to wear it at least once before the current heat intensifies
The wish to do a photo shoot with it while at my Sanity Break this past weekend

Pre-Sanity break Progress

I attached my lace sleeves to the brocade bodice pieces.  The pins didn't snag the sleeves, but they sure did like to get caught up in the lace and come out of their pinned locations.  Next, I attached the cuff bias tape to the ends via the wrong side of course.  I wasn't concerned with remedying.  I was going to hand-stitch it closed anyways.  Afterwards, I stitched up the sleeves to the armpit.  With the exception of the bias tape ends, all seams involving the lace sleeves were completed as French Seams.



After the sleeve focus, it was time to attach everything to the yoke.  The bodice gathering could have gone a little better, but live and learn.



With the dress looking like a dress, I attached the neckline bias tape to the correct side of the dress.  I left the hand-stitching and all of the hand-stitching for when I was at my friends.  It was more important to get all of the machine stitching complete before I left.

The last things that I did before I left was completing the zipper attachment and running a gather stitch at the hem.  I decided to try Gertie's circle skirt hemming to try it and to see if it would work better than what I've been doing.  This is of course where I found my lost "Rita" pattern.  Apparently I used the pattern packet as a bookmark.

At this point I was at a stopping point where I could finish up at my friends.  With all of the assistance that Isabelle had been giving me with this project, she insisted that she come along.  I told her that she had 5 minutes to pack.  She was packed.

Sanity Break

As usual, it was very relaxing with a lot of chit-chatting.  Surprisingly, we did not game at all.  There was however discussion on what our Dungeon and Dragons character cosplay outfits look like, and some planning with that.



With Isabelle's assistance, I managed to get the visible hand-stitching complete by Sunday.  I pinned up the hem, and was ready for the photo shoot.  Isabelle had to be in the photo shoot.  She also knew what she was doing in her 5 minute packing.



And here are the pics...