So Far, Sew Good?

Today was a day of practice, and we practiced doing lots of things wrong in hopes that we'd make all of our mistakes at once.

What sorts of mistakes?? Well, let us tell you:

We thought that the pretty, shimmery, fancy-shmancy tulle would make a lovely underlining, and judging by our test attempt, the tulle thought so as well.

The little strip of sewn-together dupioni and tulle seemed to suggest that we were on the right track, until we tried it on a larger scale for the actual dress.

After Stephanie pinned and cut all of the appropriate pieces, we discovered that the tulle was too stretchy and it puckered.  Sigh.  The tulle and dupioni had to be ripped apart.

But not to worry, we had plenty of leftover netting that was anxious for a new purpose!

The unassuming, not-so-shimmery netting sewed up nicely with the dupioni for the test strip.

Stephanie was back at the table pinning and cutting the new underlining pieces.

But, upon sewing a larger piece for the dress we discovered the netting was too stretchy and it puckered.  Double sigh. The netting and dupioni had to be ripped apart.

Right sides, wrong sides, side backs, and backsides...

While struggling to decipher pattern lingo we managed to sew two pieces together inside out and backwards.  We also cut out at least one piece incorrectly.

And then we discovered that we are not the only ones who make mistakes. 

The dupioni we had cut for the train has a noticeable run all the way across it.  Luckily, we can use the piece for the lining (not to be confused with the underlining, at least I think they shouldn't be confused).  But we definitely need more dupioni.

The lace we intended to use for the straps has odd imperfections all the way through it.  At first we thought it was dirt, and then we concluded it was burn marks, and finally we decided to buy more.

The next batch wasn't any better.  But it will get used, somewhere!  Perhaps on the bottom of the dress... or as a table decoration... or perhaps we can get even more of it and...