Just in the nick of time, my dress was finished for my sister-in-law's wedding reception - and my frantic pace sewing to get it done was well worth it! I'm in love with this dress.

For this pattern I used a size 8 and made minimal modifications. The only thing that I did was take a little over an inch off the skirt length. I had contemplated taking up the bodice length some as well since I was worried about how plunging the neckline was, but decided that I didn't have time to fiddle with it and left it 'as is'. The neckline is low, but not revealing and frankly, it looks darn sexy. Overall, the fit is great and I felt fantastic wearing it - it's a great wrap dress pattern! You can check out a more detailed review of my pattern here.

The fabric was also fantastic to work with - it's comfortable to wear, has a great amount of stretch and was a dream to work with. If you've shied away from working with knits, I highly recommend you contacting Ann about what she's got in stock - if they're all like this particular fabric, you'll never have a fear of stretch again (I also recomend Emma One Sock's buttermilks, but beware since it's polyester it won't breathe like a cotton)!

I also have to send out a HUGE thank you to Bernadette - she not only found the mini calculators that I was looking for in this post, but sent me two of them! Thank you so much, they are PERFECT!

I'm sure that there are two questions on people's minds right now when you enter my blog - how's the dress coming and what did you buy yesterday?

First, let's tackle the dress. Today is the day of the reception and I'm almost done. It will be complete before we have to head out to the party - thank goodness Taylor has softball this afternoon, because it gives me just enough time to finish it while they're out practicing! Consequently, completed project photos will have to wait until Sunday's post (which will probably be put up late in the evening).

Now for the shopping. I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed in the fat quarter selection - it was slim pickins'! I was hoping to get a group of fabrics that were either bold batiks (that I could use on a black background) or a set that looked like they really coordinated well together. Instead, I settled on these:

The top three are just for fun - a watermelon seed print and 2 Belle prints by Amy Butler. The rest are enough to make a Caddy Corners quilt. I decided that it needed lots of contrast so I've opted for a black, white, pink, and turquoise theme. Give me your honest opinion, what do you think (I'm leaning toward omitting the turquoise and just going with black, white, and the bold pink colors)?

I know it doesn't look like much, but this is the current state of my dress. The upper bodice is complete and the hems are finished. The front drape is also attached and hemmed. Now what's left is the skirt, it's hems, and the loop that the drape is strung through! Of course, that means another big day of sewing to get this project complete.......

Actually, I believe that I would have been further along (maybe have the skirt attached) than this if I had read through the directions properly before sewing. I just assumed I knew what I was doing - I just started sewing all the seams together (never thinking about how that drape would be attached) and, consequently, had to rip out some serged edges (DRAT). Note to self: Remember to read the directions before sewing!

Now, I'm off to my fat quarter sale. I'll be letting you all know what I pick up! Hopefully, my credit card doesn't catch on fire from too much use.

The worst part of sewing for me is the cutting - not just the pattern, but the fabric too. I spent the better part of the afternoon yesterday doing just that, cutting.

It took a bit longer than expected, too. Why? I decided I was going to try to conserve fabric by doing my own layout and not following the directions. This meant, lots of multiple pinnings (I didn't fold my fabric in many places as recommended and did a single layout - remembering to flip over my pattern for those that had to be cut out twice, or let's hope I did). I believe that I've saved some fabric - not enough to make a top, but just enough to use as 'accent' pieces (maybe a neckline binding, waistband, etc.). Now comes the best part - sewing it up!

In other news, it appears that we have sold our house, again. We are crossing our fingers (and toes) that it works out this time around!