Past Patterns 803: Part I

Part I again, really.

I'm totally pattern-scatterbrained this week.  Bear with me.

So, the deal is: Tuesday, I was commiserating with Amber Jean, who also sews, about how badly I needed a new reenacting dress and how little time I had to achieve one, and how I was going to do a cop-out and make a baggy Mother Hubbard just so I wouldn't have to show up at Jesse Jones Park in jeans.

About two seconds after I hit "send", I got an email from the human resources department telling me that I was, once again, maxed out on my vacation hours and I should take some time off.  Now, I swear I just took some time off not that long ago, but apparently it had already built back up.  Whatever.  The result is that I now have four extra days off over the next few weeks during which I can work on a dress.

Since I have extra time now, I don't see why I should waste it on the least accurate and least desirable of my dress options.  I'm not up to the task of self-drafting that gathered-front dress that I want so much, but I do think I can manage the Past Patterns 803 Round Dress that I've owned for years but never attempted.  I'd still be using the brown ivy print about which I am not so crazy, but that's actually perfect since this is sort of a trial run.  (It has not escaped me, either, that the Round Dress should be an ideal starting point for the gathered-front dress.  They would have the same basic construction, and the Round Dress will have the fitted lining that will really matter most in constructing the gathered-front dress.)

I'm going to do bishop sleeves, though.  I can't play music in those open sleeves.

I spent last night making pizza for lunch today and tracing Round Dress pattern pieces.  The construction of the dress itself is not that hard.  There is some handwork, of course, and I'm a bit intimidated by hand-attaching the skirt (I am totally not convinced that that won't tear out, but I guess women did it for hundreds of years and did all right), but it doesn't look any worse than most other dresses I've made, and it's probably a bit less handwork than the Mill Girl dress.