Trials and Tribulations-Conclusion

Stopping to work on the project and take a shower, helped to clear my mind. Giving some thought to what could be wrong; I decided I must have cut the front piece using the wrong center fold line. This pattern has several optional center front fold lines. Not seen this before on other patterns. If this was the case I did not have enough lining fabric to cut out another front piece. My thoughts continued along the lines, of how can I save this?

My idea was to measure how much I was off in matching from shoulder seam to center front to other shoulder seam. Once this was determined I decided I would cut the front lining piece on the center front and insert a piece of fabric that would expand the width so seam lines at neckline would match up. I did not act on this on Sunday afternoon as I actually fell sick later from either a stomach virus or food poisoning.

The next morning, feeling somewhat better, I proceeded slowly to get dress. In this process, I decided to baste the back and side seams of the dress fabric to see how this was fitting since I was working off of the fit of the lining unit. When I put on the dress, I was totally surprised that the front neckline on the dress was gaping seriously. It looked like I had a modified cowl neckline. That is not the style of this dress. I again was flummoxed by this fitting issue. The armholes were rather tight, which was not an issue with the lining unit.

I removed the dress and held the neckline up to the neckline of the lining unit. Now, dear reader as Stephen King writes, do you have any idea what the problem could be with this? The light bulb clicked on for me and mystery solved!!! Remember in my previous post, if you read it all that I noted the yoke pattern pieces were not clearly marked as to the shoulder and armholes on the yoke pieces? Once I saw how wide the neckline looked and how tight the fit was at the underarms, I realized I had sewn the yoke pieces to the front piece totally incorrect. The neckline was really the armhole curve and shoulder line was the armholes. That evening I removed the yoke pieces and re-stitched correctly.

Yes, the dress and the lining now match up at the neckline. The armholes now match and I can now proceed with sewing the units together and getting the dress finished.

I feel a little stupid at doing this. I mean I have been sewing since junior high. Sometimes I am what I call a concrete thinker; i.e., don't leave out any steps assuming that you will just "know" what to include between steps. I did not really read through the instructions again with this dress as I had made it before. Have you ever done anything like this? I am still wondering where I lost my brain during this process. I do feel better that I did not waste my fabric and that I will get a new dress to wear with my new jacket.

THE END AND ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!