graduation dress

my june garment was one heck of a project.  right after i finished my may garment, i dove right in, hoping to complete a new dress for my students' graduation, friday june 8!  i used this fabric (that is stain resistant!), that i purchased from g street fabrics near dc years ago,

and vogue1174

this project was no small feat.  i had my serger and sewing machine on at the same time and my apartment looked like this:

 poor bunks was bored out of his wits:

the bodice required my usual adjustment:  skinnier up top, wider at the waist

putting the bodice together was a huge pain in the butt.  there were 7 pieces for just the front half and i wanted to make sure that the pattern continued smoothly.  also, each piece was split by piping.  ahhhhh!!

the pattern made the skirt super long.  we all know i'm not that modest... so off came 2.5 inches.

around back, i lined up the fabric so that the zipper split a reed right down the center!  suffice it to say, cutting fabric for this project probably took 5 hours...  sigh.  

the inside of the bodice had a foundation (as vogue calls it), otherwise known as a modern day corset.  sewing boning is WORSE than sewing in zippers.  too bad there were 6 pieces of boning to sew in.  ack. 

the final result was quite stunning, if i do say so myself.  the kids were thrilled that i finished (many heard about this project), as were the few teachers who i told.  here's a pic of em and i outside independence hall, after graduation.  i had cute gold wedges on, but got tired from walking in them, so here unfortunately this pic is of me in gold sandals.   

we finished, bunks!  we finished!

now off to finish dad's shirt that was for xmas, his birthday, chinese new year, and now father's day.  oops.  i'm a terrible daughter