Not quite coming up roses!

This is the pale face of a lady who felt very grim. Self-inflicted grim, I'm sorry to say. We went out for dinner with friends, and someone very naughty (EP- I'm looking at you!!!), decided that after Indian food, we should move onto another restaurant for dessert. I stupidly ate Indian food then a creme brulee. WHAT was I thinking!!!???? Won't be doing that again in a hurry. Or ever. 

So I hunkered down grimly in my craft room and finished off my latest creation. This is the same bodice as my Tartan Triumph (refer to last post), but what happened? It is huge. The only difference is the fabric. This is a cotton sateen, which has some stretch in it, and is unlined. This fits my bust, but not my shoulders. 

 Oh, well. I'm sure my trusty cardie will come out again and it will still look fabulous.

Now, the tights have a story with them. When I got up feeling like crap, all I wanted to wear was pink. I have no children to embarrass, so I can please myself what I wear. So on went a pink dress, over a stripy pink and white merino long sleeved top, and my gaudy pink tights. I think they look horrid with these shoes. The shoes should be pink too. I'll be wearing the dress with black tights, I say with slight regret.

 The print looks amazing. I absolutely love this fabric. There is some unfortunate gaping at the back of the armscye, and the middle of the back gapes out at the top as I move. The skirt fits well, and the waist could be pulled in a little more for a smoother fit in this stretchy fabric.

 I've already decided that if I lose much weight I'll have to lop off the bodice and make the skirt into a stand alone creation. I have lost quite a bit of weight this year. I stopped eating crap (mostly) and I started shrinking from the top down, much to my surprise.

 Now, I have been enjoying reading some wonderful articles on The Curvy Collective website, and I read that when choosing pattern size you should select the one closest to your high bust measurement. This is measured around above your breasts and under your arms. I've been following instructions on my patterns and measuring my full bust, which is significantly bigger than my high bust. As you can see in the dress above, the pattern fits my bust, but not my frame well at all. What I need to work on is cutting the pattern at the size to fit my frame, then do a full bust adjustment. I'll need to grade through sizes to fit my hips and tummy (although I've already given Gertie's Pencil Skirt a bit of a resize to slim it down).

Since my dress doesn't quite come up roses, as I hoped, I thought I'd pop in some lovely photos of a few of the divine flowers from my garden. I miss them so much at this time of year.

 Oh, and here's a fabric collage panel I made a couple of years ago. I adore flowers.

I'm back to school tomorrow. Pop back during the week to check out a very rosy top I made recently. I got Johnny to snap a photo or two today. Sorry, you'll still have to look at my pallid sick face. Feeling better this evening, thank goodness.