The Exchange Dress fiasco

This dress was SUCH a good idea. A sweet little jumper with a panel that you can switch out as the holiday or season changes. And it was designed by Trisha Smith, from the Children's Corner, so I KNOW it is going to fit well. So what could the problem be, pray tell?

ME! Once again, I did not pay attention as I was embroidering! The top of my panel got caught on the underside of the embroidery, and it was a dense satin stitch, so I knew there was no pulling the stitches out. This poor little snowlady, standing on her head, was stitched to my embroidery hoop.

After much discussion and lots of ideas from sewing friends, I decided I could cut off the top portion of the panel and just add a ruffle to the bottom of the panel and the dress. That was my plan. Sadly, I did not have more of the red corduroy, and the corduroy at Hancocks was a different color.

So I cut out enough of the lining to do a ruffle, and did bias strips for my piping. As I pressed and pulled, it dawned on me that I could maybe squeak enough of the seam allowance up to keep the same pattern shape without a ruffle. I pulled and tugged, and the bottom and top seams of the panel have perhaps a 1/16th of an inch seam allowance.

My next disappointment was my reindeer applique. I purchased the design from an online site that has precious designs, but I do not know what happend. The cute little reindeer with a smile stitched in with Mae Mae's name....looks like a pig instead of a reindeer. Maybe a pigdeer?

So I won't say where the pigdeer applique came from because they always have great designs. The snowlady is from SewBaby.
And I just pretended that FABULOUS Tim Gunn was standing beside me...saying "Make it work" and I did! I'll show you the little dress next time!