No, no, NOOOOO!

Another screw up on the cocktail dress!

Remember, I had two skirts to hem: the redingote and the taffeta slip.  I started with the redingote.  First I added the velvet ribbon ties.  No problem.



Then.

Friends, I was tired, I was impatient, I was lazy.  Normally I'd have Michael measure the distance from floor to hem but Michael was busy teaching.  I did it myself, being careful not to bend, which is harder than it sounds.  It looked like seven inches.  It seemed like a lot but rulers don't lie.

Parenthetically, I'd planned to roll hem the lace.  But after extensive testing, I realized my lace was not going to fray -- ever.  I don't know what it's made out of -- vinyl perhaps? -- but rub it, pick it, chew it, it does not ravel.  So I decided to simply slice off the extra length.   I lay it on my cutting mat, measured all around, traced a line with chalk, and chopped.  Then I tried it on.



Gadzooks -- it looked too short!  I don't know how it happened but it was not the length I wanted.  I could hem the skirt higher, but the slip would lose its fullness and its late Forties/early Fifties cocktail dress look.

Suddenly a light bulb: I'd add a lace border!  I hightailed to Pacific Trim on 38th St.  And lo and behold...



I bought three yards.  That little mistake cost me $7.50, not to mention what it did to my blood pressure.  The trim cost more per yard than the 60" wide lace I made the redingote out of.

I got it home, tried on the dress for the upteenth time, and then realized I'd overreacted: a shorter skirt length was actually more becoming.  I enlisted Michael's help this time and measured carefully, matching skirt length to redingote length and hemmed, by hand, the taffeta slip 2" around.



I love it.  Cathy loves it.  I'd panicked unnecessarily.  I'll use the lace border for something else.

I also picked up 3 yds. of black tulle and I may make a little black petticoat with it, nothing fancy.  The white one I made for the rose dress is OK, but it's nice to see black tulle peeking out of a dress like this and who knows if Cathy will be called on to do her famous can-can dance.

Friends, that's it.  I hope I haven't agitated you too much this morning.  Of course tonight's event will be well-documented and I hope to share some photos with you tomorrow.  Now I'm off to make a matching taffeta bow tie for Michael.  Maybe he'd settle for a scarf.

Have a great day everybody and easy with the shears, please!

And speaking of Joey Heatherton...