Thank you everyone for giving me feedback on yesterday's dress. I'm going to give it a try and wear it out a few times before I make up my mind on how it looks - in fact, Bret's brother is getting married in just a few weeks and I may wear this to the wedding.

In the mean time, I've fiddled around with the iron on vinyl a bit and came up with this:

A pirate clutch. I used a poster as the medium (nothing like Johnny Depp looking at you all evening!) to iron the vinyl onto which became an oilcloth type material. I lined the purse with a pirate-y feeling fabric Alexander Henry's 'skulls & roses".

I was very excited to use this type of vinyl, but here's some thoughts that I have on using it.

1. Follow the directions carefully - make sure you use MEDIUM heat, the vinyl will otherwise melt.

2. My 'material' still looks a bit bubbly and not as smooth as I had hoped it would - this could be due to a softer pressing surface or the steam holes on the iron (I may have to get one of those ironing plates next time).

3. If you use this product on paper, be sure that the design you have in mind is very simple. Sewing right sides together is not an option as the paper will get mangled looking when you attempt to flip it right side out.

Maternity (just looking like one, it's not a real maternity dress!) or baby doll style dress? I'll let you decide. With an opening like this, it must mean one thing, my Vogue dress is complete! Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's extremely comfortable and easy to sew, but I have some "issues" with this garment (one look at my face in this photo says it all, right?).

For one, my fabric is too bulky so it's created 'puffs' at various seams and gathers and I can't seem to get rid of them (I even steamed them to death with the iron - they'd lay flat for awhile and poofed right back up after cooling. By the way, this fabric scorches if you use too much heat on it). It's also a bit on the heavy side so it just doesn't drape and flow as much as what I would have liked. As for the pattern itself, it could stand to have several inches taken off of it - it would still give the same effect, but a bit more body contouring and less maternity looking (IMHO).

I've been working on my Vogue dress a bit - here's what I have so far, the bodice:

I think I'll be eventually tacking down the front so it will stay closed, I'm sure that I'll be flashing my brassiere to everyone otherwise. One other thing about this dress, carefully select your fabric for this one. I used a nice matte jersey, but it's a bit on the 'thick' side (my seams are a bit bulky and I'm afraid that it might not be as flowy as I had envisioned.

Well, before I start into my next project, I thought I would share that today is my husband's birthday! Yes, I'm officially married to an older man (well, at least for the next few months until I catch up). So, today will pretty much be spent however Bret would like it - I would say golfing, but guess what? It's raining, again! In the mean time, I'm happy to say that I'm ready to move on to a long awaited project - Vogue 8386 (info is now up on the sidebar)! I've seen this made up several times and an anxious to try it myself. I've decided, after reading several reviews, that I'll make up a size 6 (which I never make for myself) since it appears to run large. Now off to cut the pattern and fabric and get this baby started!