Too many projects! Is there really such a thing?

I know, I know, I never think about how much I've already got on my plate... but when there's a RTW contest on PR, and there's a dress that I've wanted to make since 2009.... well, how could I resist?

So this is the dress

It's from Gossip Girl of course, and first aired in series 2 back in 2009. I'm a big fan of the show - pretty people, beautiful wardrobe and oh the drama! what's not to like? 

So this is my inspiration dress... and it's quite a challenge! 

The contest is in April which means that I'm not allowed to start sewing until 1 April but I can think about it all I want and buy the fabric. 

So I went to shepherds bush again and bought some (by which I mean 5 metres of) green taffeta.

My plan is to alter the bodice a little to more of a sweetheart neckline which I think will be more flattering for my figure, and make a huge pick-up skirt with a bubble hem that is a little less dramatic than the inspiration dress just so I have some occasions where I can wear it without being stared at! I'm planning on adding some netting between the skirt lining and fashion fabric to give the body... Hopefully this will work! I'm still trying to figure out where/how the zipper would work amongst all that volume... so if you have any good ideas/comments please do let me know! 

When I was at shepherds bush, I also saw this fabric and fell in love.... well I guess it doesn't hurt to show it off a little here before I turn it into something that I can wear!

I'm sure you're all wondering... hmmm I wonder what can be made out of this? well guess what? I received 9 patterns today in the post - it felt like xmas! and the best thing is, another few are coming in the post later on! obviously there was a sale and I took advantage of that! 

I thought I could use the paisley coral fabric for this pattern and it would make a very cute little dress. 

My other favourite patterns received today were:

How fabulous! I can't wait to start them!

However (a big however in fact), is that I need to try and complete my wedding dress first! At the moment I'm doing a lot of handsewing - mainly catchstithing all the seam allowances on ALL layers! 

I also had a go at the mock-up version of the lace-up back, using different types of shop purchased loops, and I think the result is clear - I'll let you judge first!

 

 As you can see, one side is made of a shiny looking cord thing (I don't know how else to describe it!) and the other more experimental - I think the shiny side is the way to go! 

I then tried the previous corselette mock-up on:

 

So the top one was loosely laced up, and the bottom one really tightly (I could just about breathe!) The whole point of this exercise really was to assess how much of a gap I want, and where to stitch the loops into the back of the dress. 

My thoughts were:

• I liked the width and shape of the loosely tied picture so that means that I'll have to leave an even bigger gap;
• The lace up looks a little soft, so I'm going to maybe insert boning near the edge of the lace up;
• The bottom picture shows that the loops are being pulled quite a lot so I'm going to leave less of the loops out of the seams. 

I'm going to unpick the loops now and make a set of new ones using the shiny cord and maybe instead of sewing it on a piece of paper, attaching them to a strip of organza selvage for some extra strength in case of too much stress! The last thing I want is for the loops to come out on my wedding day! 

I will also need to make the loops for the actual ribbon but I'm going to worry about that later!