Garden party anyone?

Or as I like to call it 'The quick let's gone it done in time to wear it to Easter' dress..

FYI- I've been a shit blogger,and haven't posted anything for over a month.. but I have been really busy/about to transition into a new job....Soz. I have still been following everyone and keeping up to date on new patterns etc.. (Elisalex's to come) also homg on the bombshell swimsuits out there..
Anyway back to the Garden dress..

I gotta say this free pattern from Elise over at HonigDesigns is such a cute little dress:)
I used some sort of wool poly blend I got from a thrift store for $3 so turned out to be another great little bargain.. which is great seems I F*&%$d the back...

 

 

and didn't realise (idiot) until I had completely finished the dress and hand stitched the lining in, GGrrrr.. Nevermind..
When I get around to it I will hopefully fix it (erm probably never, so lazy)

Also I think my bust darts may be too high up on the bodice, and if I made it again I would make the sleeves a little larger (Elise has a tute on this)
I should have made it a little longer too, but only because I don't like my legs all out and about..
But all up the dress came together fairly quickly and apart from me being a retard was simple to piece together :)

First actual sewing project

So after my first sewing attempt, I decided I needed some help..
So I joined up at The Sewing School. http://www.thesewingschool.net/

Run by Janet it is a great little place that has a positive attitude to learning, and a great group of girls with varied skill levels that love to sew and give advice :)

So after joining the first project I thought I would try was a Butterick Skirt, B5285.
I used a navy wool blend, as I wanted to wear this skirt fairly high waisted and for work.

So what the skirt taught me was this. People who have never sewn before don't realise how long it takes to sew one garment. Especially a new pattern.. even the cutting out of the pattern and material took me about 3 hours hahah.. but eventually I got around to the sewing of the skirt.

The skirt has pleats, which were easier than I first thought, but still a pain..
Also the zip was interesting to learn.. and difficult to remember.. The outcome to the skirt was below..

 

Not so bad, but not so good....
I think stitched the pleats too far down, so it sits a bit weird..

I think I have worn it once or twice, but have trouble pairing it with other items..What do you think?