Diary of a Sometimes-Seamstress

I've been on a little bit of a hunt for a modest, cute, age appropriate (read: not for grandma or my babysitter) dress for church.  It has to be long enough.  It has to have a high enough neckline (ok-and backline) to stand alone or use minimal help from some sort of layering tee.  It has to be cute.  It must be a dress (not a skirt-not that I don't love my skirts). And mostly it has to be affordable.  My results turned up..........nada.  Nothing. Zilch. Oh-I've found plenty of cute, modest dresses.  But they're too rich for my blood (budget-whatever). 

My mom passed on her can-do attitude, and my sewing skills have improved immenseley over the last several years.  So, why not?  I'll try my hand at sewing myself a cute dress!

Today is day one. Here's what I've accomplished so far:

Pattern? Check.
Cute fabric (on sale even)? Check.
Mom and friend on speed dial for help? check and check.

After picking out my pattern from my stash, I loaded up 3 cute girlies and headed to Hobby Lobby.  It wasn't my first choice because their cute fabrics are well-known.  I didn't really want a "Hobby Lobby" dress.  Fortune was with me, though, and I found exactly what I wanted and for 30% off.  There was exactly the amount I needed left on the bolt.  Sweet.   After laundering my 4 yards of undescribed cotton, I set out to do my least favorite part.  The cutting.  Ummm...yeah.  There were a lot of pieces.  Which was okay.  Then I looked closer.  Several pieces needed to be cut out 4 times.  One piece 8 times.  Phew.  Little break.  Ok.  Back to business.  Pattern cut, pinned, and fabric cut.  (all 1 million pieces) The left side of the bodice took me 10 minutes to sew together correctly.  The right side took 10 seconds.  :p  I feel like I accomplished a lot on it already. 

My goal is to have it finished in time to wear it to church the Sunday after General Conference. Assuming it turns out well, that's when I'll reveal it here as well. That gives me about 2 weeks.  Plenty of time to take it slow and do a good job.  Wish me luck!