So jumping around in topics a bunch to get this Venetian updated for the Much Ado About Sebastopol faire in two weeks.

On the original post for this dress, I mentioned the major changes I wanted to make:

• Trimming down the V point on the back bodice
• Adding more fabric to the skirt

Aka just about the most boring kind of sewing to do. In order to get this done, I need to:

• remove the skirt from the dress
• unpick the bias facing on the back point
• trim down the back V
• Re-sew the bias facing
• take out the skirt cartridge pleats
• undo a seam and attach another panel of fabric + lining to the skirt
• re-measure the top fold for the cartridge pleats (this is the worst part. I leveled the skirt at the waist by folding down fabric on the top and it ended up *perfect*. Except when I add another panel, the heights will be ALL WRONG so will have to be measured again)
• re-do cartridge pleats
• re-attach the skirt

Hoping this will only take a week, so I can use the other week to finish up that partlet I mentioned.

Tonight, my goals were to wash the new skirt fabric, and measure how much I folded down on the previous skirt so I could reference it on the new version. I had a one-yard remnant of the fabric from Joann, which I (very smugly) picked up on sale one day in anticipation of doing these alterations.

Then, while tossing the fabric in the wash, a realization hit me.

My waist to floor measurement is 36 inches (convenient that. Why yes, I’m the shortest).

My piece of fabric is exactly 1 yard.

Which does not leave room for a hem, or fabric to fold at the top.

The thought of having to buy another 40 inches of fabric was INCREDIBLY unpleasant. I quickly pondered options. Or rather one option – do it anyways and hope for the best? Since the bodice is a v-point, I actually need less than my waist-to-floor measurement for the front parts, but that would be cutting it incredibly close.

I scrounged through the scraps of fabric leftover from the dress. Shockingly, turns out I have a selvedge-to-selvedge piece of ~ 5 inches. I’m thinking if I attach that on top of my 36 inch piece, I get something long enough, and the horizontal seam will get mostly hidden by the cartridge pleats (whereas it would be totally visible on the bottom of the skirt).

Just keep chanting to myself:

Piecing is period. Piecing is period. Piecing is period.