Frustrations!

While I have finished the apple/pear dress and put it in my closet, the first dress I started making is taking a bit more time. I wasn't happy with the way the collar looked (and frankly it just wasn't right), the zipper needed to be fixed and I wanted to add a strip of fabric at the bottom to make the dress a bit longer. Well, at this point, I have made the collar THREE TIMES and I'm still not sure if I'm happy. I have also put the zipper in three times, there isn't a seam on the darn dress that I haven't done at least twice. I'm starting to think I'm learning to rip seams, not sew them!
Today I decided, after the suggestion of someone who has sewn a lot more than I, that since I could put on and take off the dress without unzipping it, I would just remove the zipper and sew the seam. Also, I've had a considerable bit of trouble with the fabric itself, as it is silky, and frays very easily. To fix that, I cut strips of iron-on interfacing about 1 inch wide, and fused them down both sides of the seam where the zipper used to be. That will stop the fabric from fraying any more.
The original pattern for the dress called for "gathering"- basically some loose stitching across the top that I would then pull tight. I wasn't digging this--it wasn't easy to control while sewing, which also made the collar look goofy. So instead I have fashioned some pleats, which is one of the few things I am quite happy about!
I have also made really good friends with my iron. I didn't realize how much ironing was involved in sewing!

Since blogs are much better with pictures-- I took some of the seams I have been sewing, ripping out and re-sewing (x3). Enjoy!

The fabric fraying and the interfacing fused on.





Mes amis the iron, pin cushion, interfacing and the dress.

Oops, I ironed my ruler. I thought ironing made things flat..