Progress Report: #8 - Sew a dress that I actually will wear

Quite a few of the items on my list are going to take skill and time to accomplish, so I thought I'd issue a progress report on one that I'm particularly excited about: #8 - sewing a dress that I'll actually wear.

This progress report is provided by my crafty friend Leslie, who is a very driven crafter. She's made jewelry, decoupage boxes, knit things and more (and done it well, I might add). Most importantly she bullied encouraged me to go to a sewing class at a local craft store, Bon Bon Atelier, back in November to make "retro aprons." These looked very complicated to a neophyte sewer such as I was - lots of layers, strings that tie in the back, and a gathered front that was oh-so-cute! Fortunately for me, the teacher/store owner was gloriously patient with me and my apron turned out muy adorable - so much so that I made two as gifts for Christmas and one again as a birthday present for my niece in February:

I made it reversible, to double as a cape!

Anywho, this led to the next Big Project To Be Tackled, a real-live skirt! (Also known as an apron, completed.) Leslie had chosen a cute pattern and had already made the skirt once before I headed to her apartment one rainy Saturday in March. This proved handy for me, because I can't read a pattern. (Oops...)

This particular project took me hours to complete. It was frustrating, and there was a lot of stitching followed by unstitching followed by re-stitching. Also, the waistband is permanently sewn on upside-down and the zipper is crooked. Also, Leslie's cat kept trying to investigate by way of jumping up onto the table.

BUT. The finished product (if you don't know about the waistband or zipper issues) is freakin' CUTE. And I get compliments when I wear it before people know that I made it, which is cool. And! It has pockets! I made pockets!

I'm going to re-attempt this skirt before moving on to other, Even Bigger projects. I have some old shirts with cuteness on them that I want to incorporate somehow. And I like that the pattern casual enough to wear on weekends but also dressy enough to wear around my office. You can never have too many of those in your wardrobe.