Works In Progress and Easter Dresses

I think I might be the worst person in the world at finishing projects. People who know me are probably shocked by that statement, but that's because I keep my unfinished projects tightly under wraps, and I never talk about them. They're like my shameful secret. Here's the life cycle of most of my projects: I get an idea, either straight from the ol' noggin or inspired by something (a photo, some fabric, etc.); I immediately go out and buy all of the materials for the project; I hang the shopping bag full of materials on the back of the chair at my desk. That's it. That's where it ends.

I've been thinking that if I put a list of my works in progress out into the universe, it might make me a little more accountable as far as project completion goes. So here's my list, which I will be updating regularly--hopefully.

• master bedroom quilt--started in January, 2009
• embroidery hoop wall art--materials bought in Fall, 2009/COMPLETED Summer, 2010!
  
• pocket bag--no clue on this one; maybe 2008???
• fabric butterfly mobiles for the girls' bedrooms--started in January, 2010
• pink monster t-shirts for a birthday party that happened 6 months ago!
• baby's 1st year keepsake cards--started in Summer, 2009
  

Now, just to show you that I'm starting off on the right foot, here are some pictures of the Easter dresses I made for our girls. They turned out beautifully, better than I even imagined them. The fabrics are Martini in Mustard and Optic Blossom in Linen, both from the Midwest Modern line from Amy Butler. The fabrics were a joy to work with. Sewing is such a pleasure when the fabric you are staring at is gorgeous.

I used the Gracie dress pattern from Portabellopixie by Sandi Henderson. It was mostly easy, but there were a few major problems. First, when you are sewing the yoke onto the bodice, it tells you to sew it backwards. Instead of sewing the inside of the yoke to the top of the bodice, you should be sewing the outside of the yoke to the top of the bodice. Just trust me on that one. Next, I could tell they weren't going to be long enough, so I sewed an extra tier onto the skirt before attaching it to the bodice. I didn't trust myself enough to wing it, so I used the pattern piecs for the top tier of the skirt, piece number 6 (which you aren't supposed to use if you are attaching the skirt to a bodice). Lastly, and most importantly, you are supposed to finish off the yoke with bias tape. After literally days of trying to make it work, I took all of my carefully made bias tape off, stuffed it in a bag, and just finished off the inside of the yoke without it. I folded the two raw edges inside and topstitched around the whole yoke, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. All's well that ends well!