the coral dress that never was

but then was!  an old friend from childhood, yes you know who you are, asked me to be a bridesmaid.  she wanted all of us to wear coral.  being the organized type, i went ahead and bought 2 yards of coral silk (i bought charmeuse, but used the back side so the dress wouldn't be so shiny-- the color is like that in the upper right of the pic), 

coral thread, coral serger thread, a coral invisible zipper.  

i even picked out a pattern, simplicity 1877, view b, the one on the right, with a ruffle on the shoulder, a triangle detail at the waist center, gathered skirt.  the designer of this pattern is leanne marshall, one of my fav winners of project runway from many seasons ago.  simple, clean lines, nice subtle details.

and then this friend changed her mind and didn't want coral and wanted longer dresses.  so, project died.  but, then i decided, i'll just make the dress anyway and wear it to the rehearsal dinner, or whatever other fancy thing i'll be required to attend in my future.  so, full speed ahead i went.  the fit wasn't easy.  my waist isn't narrow.  i had to let out half of each back dart and each side seam.  here i am, trying on the dress with the zipper just basted on.  the fit ended being my best yet!  bust darts end exactly where they should.  the dress makes my shoulders look like they're of normal width.  my waist looks like it goes in, when really it goes straight down.  MAGIC!  look how feminine i appear!

i didn't hem the bottom of the dress in the back when i tried it on.

finished view of the front:

zoomed in view of the triangle detail at the waist.  this wasn't easy to stitch.  the pleats were slippery because of the silk charmeuse, and thus i had to stitch it 3 times before i could finally get it not to pucker.

back view, hemmed!  

look at what a good job i did matching up the left and right waist lines:

my fav detail is that this dress has pockets!

and finally, here are the shoulder details tacked down so they don't flop everywhere.  i made a bias binding for the neckline, but with the slippery side showing up.  the ruffle is also done with the slippery side.

i just missed wearing this for graduation, so i guess the next event i have where i could wear this is for the rehearsal dinner for the wedding.  hehehe, still wearing coral to it, i guess.

and the fuzzfeed:

lil' fuzz is exhausted after mowing the lawn.  we paid him in blueberries for a job well done.