Some sewing

I started this dress (HP 1138 Metropolitan Verano) before that day which shall not be named and finally got around to finishing it up two weekends ago. I wore it to where I'm working temporarily and received compliments, which was nice. (It *is* a nice group of people in this office, and I have no complaints about personnel.)

It's an easy-to-sew dress but before I'd make it again, it needs some tweaks. Specifically, around the neckline and facings. HP necklines and facings are always hit or miss with me, and usually miss. I blame it on the drafting software they use since the home sewer version (PMB) always gave me the same problems without manual finessing. I used a lazy fix here and just took two darts in the back. Even if you could see them through the print, no one else would ever know they are a kludge fix and not a feature so I'm not going to worry about it. The front facing wants to roll outward on the hanger but seems to be OK when I'm actually wearing the dress but I did force it by stitching it down in the ditch of the CF seam.

It is a super-comfy dress to wear, and I'm sure it will get a lot of rotation during the summer months. In fact, I'll probably wear it tomorrow with flats for "casual Friday." I still don't like doing jeans in an office, especially in Florida summer so it's dresses and skirts for me.

I'm off today and not liking it because as a temp, it's not a paid holiday but instead of vegging all day, I started Butterick 5749.

I'm using this ITY knit, purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics while I still had money for fabric shopping.

I hope it works out because I love the print, but I didn't do any muslin-ing so it will be a crap shoot. I did add two inches to the skirt length after reading reviews but I'm worried it may still be too short. I also didn't follow the cutting layout and instead cut the pattern pieces as they would fit so I would  have enough fabric for them. I may be proved wrong when it's sewn up, but I couldn't see much point in cutting knit pieces on the bias even with more fabric, especially when those pieces seemed to need to be cut with stretch. Cutting this pattern was a pain, I won't lie. Single layer and pieces that were wider than my cutting table. But I pressed on and it's all cut out now and actually started some stitching. I'm not sure how much more will be done tonight since dinner is almost ready (Go Alex for grilling for all of us!), the dogs still need their walk before fireworks take over, and I've been hitting the bed earlier than my usual night owl self. I blame my increased need for sleep on a combination of depressed mood and a wicked sciatic nerve that's been KILLING me for a couple of weeks now and a diet of Advil makes me drowsy early.

Please no preaching about my depression comment. I appreciate concern, but it's perfectly normal to feel depressed in my current situation. It's not ruling my life and I know things could always be worse, but until things are better, I'm just not going to feel as happy as I usually do. Life has ups and downs. I'm in a down. I'm dealing with it. I have no choice. ;-)

Happy Fourth!