Fit to be Tied

Well, I wasn't that badly disappointed when I finished this dress! My sewing is not without troubles. I really made some problems for myself while sewing this one. I had made some adjustments to this dress that messed up the sleeves so badly, I had to cut them off. I was really looking forward to this light blue dress with sleeves, using this fabric that I found in my mother's stash (I traded her some pink). Replacing boring ties, I did laced-up ribbon on the back.

I put two tucks in the front of the bodice, with some decorative stitching.

The vine stitch is repeated on edges of the dress. The way I turned this one into a jumper at the last minute (when I was too tired to make bias tape) was to serge and turn under the armhole edges 1/4 inch. The decorative stitching keeps it all nice and flat.

A tuck in the skirt echos the bodice. The vine stitch I used to hem up the bottom edge. Though I have been known to hand-hem a dress (great to do when company comes and you cannot run your sewing machine) I am all for getting this last bit done quickly.

Here is how I added the lace-up ribbon. Usually these little tabs go in a seam. If I had planned this a little more carefully, I would have made a false seam in the back to secure these. As it is, they are tacked on by hand.

I placed the loops above the pleats in the back. The ribbon will have to be taken out when the dress is washed, so it does not get all tangled up.