Blueberry blossoms!

I checked on my blueberry bushes today... there are hundreds and hundreds of blossoms. The Tifblue blossoms are more mature than the Brightwell ones... the Brightwell should ripen mid-June thru mid-July, and the Tifblue are said to be "mid to late season". I'm not sure exactly what the late season is for blueberries; I'll have to look it up.

The dewberries also seem to be doing okay, they're covered with buds. I never did prune them this winter, yikes! But they're alive and well, as are the blackberries.

http://www.bottomsnursery.com/blueberries.htm

Tifblue:



Brightwell:



Austin Dewberries:

Sheer dotted swiss gown

I just finished it! I started working on it March 6th and didn't work on it on Sunday, so I think I made pretty good time. I hand-gathered the skirt yesterday and attached it this morning (by hand, whip-stitching every tiny little pleat- hundreds of 'em), and that took me 3 hours. My arm is tired, LOL. Every time I sit down to attach a cartridge-pleated skirt to a bodice I think, "Why am I doing this?"

I really do like this pattern... I would have liked to make a half-high bodice lining (meaning that the neckline of the lining is lower than that of the bodice, similar to Katherine's dress)... but I didn't feel like altering the pattern. Maybe next time... I have some more of this fabric in a medium blue print.

Pictures don't do it justice, of course. It needs ironed and like I've said before, my camera is getting old and worn out. I'll try to get more pics later.

And I still haven't cleaned up the room, LOL. I have an 1876 polonaise gown and a 1860's plaid gown (my project before this one) piled up on the couch there...

Bodice is finished

This went together a lot faster than the first bodice I made from this pattern.

I have the skirt pieces cut out and sewn together... what I need to do now is add the hem facing, turn the top edge under (tapered from 6" in the front to 3" in the back), run the gathering stitches for the cartridge pleating, and whip-stitch each cartridge pleat to the waist edge. I can get that all done tomorrow if I neglect my house-cleaning duties, ha ha. I am in no hurry to get this done, though, so maybe I'll just do one step each day.

And I have 2 3/4 yards of this fabric (50" wide) left over... enough to make a Regency gown. I don't know if I'll use it for that... but I can't think of any other uses at the moment.

New dress plans... another sheer

Once I get finished making the collar and undersleeves for my plaid dress, I plan on getting started on another sheer dress.

This one will be made from the same pattern as the last one I made (Past Patterns #812) but it is going to be made of sheer dotted cotton lawn... white with a printed pink floral pattern. It is beautiful fabric. It's currently in the washer right now...

I haven't decided if I'll put a ruffle on the skirt. I love the way the ruffle looked on my last sheer dress, and I have plenty of fabric (8 yards of 56" wide) but it kind of stressed me out the first time around. It was easier to do than I thought it would be... but do I really want to do it again?