B5566 Done — Let's ParTAY!

It may take a few minutes for this post to fully download cuz there's a TON of pics.

The skirt is done, and all layers now fit. Whew. I compared pattern pieces and they were fine, so I can only conclude that the lining fabric shrunk during pressing. This was sorta confirmed when I saw it puckering when I started to press the new seams. I quickly abandoned THAT idea. I'm no fool. Well, except for the no-prewash bit. ;-)

The fix was relatively easy. Unpicking black stitches on black fabric after dark was the hardest part. I just re-sewed with the most minimal of seam allowances and it worked.My zipper is a thing of beauty and I did NOT want to disturb it at all. The matching looks a little wonky in these hanger pics, but it really came out pretty good. Not perfect, since I totally forgot about matching that CB seam when cutting, but more than good enough. And my hem is one thousand percent better (and straighter) than the RTW inspiration skirt.

Here's that dastardly lining. It's really straight, not crooked like it looks here. Once again, I cheated, cut crosswise, and used the selvege for the hem. It's a lining — who cares.

Here you can see those puckers I mentioned. The good thing is that I will keep getting smaller, so they shouldn't be a problem going forward. Fingers crossed.

Now it's time to start the What Will I Wear To The Christmas Party Parade of Possibilities.

First up, a ruffle knit tee with gold flecks throughout. It's more sparkly than it appears here. Pros — it's comfortable, it's a size Medium (that shouldn't count but it does), and it won't be too hot. Cons — maybe just a little too casual. I'll probably keep this no matter what because I do like it and sparkly this season seems to be more silver than gold and I prefer gold. Maybe with jeans at Universal on Christmas Day with Alex??

Red shell with jeweled neckline, drapey-neck red cardi, sparkly belt. Pros — more Christmas-y but still office appropriate, looks good with the houndstooth. Cons —Not sure about the red on me, the belt is probably too much, will need to get back to Beall's tomorrow night to get the earrings I saw to go with this and somehow ended up not buying cuz I think they fell through my cart. 

With a wide black belt (and a Chili dog). Better I think.

Faux twinset that I found buried in a drawer. The underlayer is very sparkly but you can't see it very well here. Pros — Extremely comfortable, lightweight, and maybe better than red on me. Cons — it's too big so I'm going to have to do some serging of the sideams tomorrow night if I go with this, and will still need to get some earrings, and maybe a purse. Hey, if I'm going to wear something I already had, I deserve a new purse, right?

Extremely, incredibly sparkly velour faux twinset. I love this jacket, but it's not office appropriate at all. This one is definitely out, but I still love it. And this shade of red is better on me. I wish I had someplace to wear it, but since I don't, it will be returned. Oh, that uneven hem? Yes, it really is. So I'd have to fix this too, if I were keeping it.

Outfit from the closet of years past. It's a long black velour sheath dress with a gold/black cardi/jacket over top, another Walmart find if I remember correctly. It's too long to be office appropriate IMO, but I'm not ready to cut it off yet. So this one is pretty much a no-go.

Dress alone, with belt, and half-pale arms. I can see this being part of a cool go-out outfit, if I ever go out again. Haha. But I'm definitely not going sleeveless in the office.

NOT for the party, but this is my $29 faux leather jacket. With nuthin' underneath. Ooooo. lol

Or THIS could be a going out outfit. I'm also wearing the scarf I picked up with the party tops, but not to wear to the party. Now I need some black boots to complete the look, right?

I'm sure you will all weigh in with opinions. I'm looking forward to it. I'm leaning toward one pairing in particular — which one do you think I'll pick?

BTW —another agency, which hasn't contacted me in MONTHS, called me today about a job doing pretty much exactly what I'm doing now but for a global commercial real estate brokerage not a law firm. I told them I'm up for an interview if they can sell me. Can't have too many irons in the fire, right? And nice to know I'm not dead to them. ;-)