Downton Abbey Dress - Finished!

Here is the finished dress.  I was (as usual) literally sewing minutes before the event.  Paul and my friend helped set up for the event while I finished.  I liked this pattern a lot.  It went together well with only one snafu (something weird with the way the underbodice and overbodice armholes went together, i.e., they didn't, and I had to adjust the seams).  I never did get to doing the armhole seam finishing, and only did a basting of the hem (I will remedy these issues later), but the dress was ready to go, just in the nick of time!  The Musicale went very well.  Four ladies performed, and a lovely tea was enjoyed after the performance.  

Before and After - Home Improvement Style (With Trompe l'oeil)!

Last October I had posted about replacing our kitchen windows here.  We finally have the north side of our house re-sided and painted.  Here are two comparison pictures (with Tyler!):

Before photo, windows installed but not painted.

After, windows painted, siding up and painted!

Paul also need to figure out a way to deal with the crawlspace door below the porch area.  We had tried hinging the door, but the gusty winter winds blew it off the hinges.  So Paul figured out a way to rest the door on the concrete lip of the crawlspace, and used movable clips at the top to hold it against the wall.  Then he did a very creative trompe l'oeil to blend it into the rest of the exterior wall:

Side by side withe the real window

Close up view

Talented, creative man he is!

Cutting and Fitting

I made the toile for the bodice of the Downton Abbey Dress.  The fit is nice, but may need some refinements before I am totally done.  I then started the long, laborious process of cutting out the lining, dress, and overlay yesterday.  We were so busy today with other projects that I did not get to sew.  But here is the bodice fabric with the curtain material laid over it.  I was checking to see how I wanted the overlay pattern to lay on the fabric: