Birthday Dress--Seventh Finish 2nd Quarter FAL 2020

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Pieces pinned in place to appliqué

Originally, my plan was to construct this dress totally out of the green knit fabric. I planned to embellish it with embroidery. I copied the pattern onto a pattern material. The more I thought about the project, the more I thought that the green knit was too adult and most likely not a fabric a birthday granddaughter would wear!

Auditioning the skirt fabric
with the appliqué

I searched through my stash and found a couple pieces that would coordinate with the knit. Neither piece was pink. Pink is high on the "like" list for the birthday granddaughter. I decided that I would add an applique to the top in a slightly different color from the skirt fabrics to add interest to the dress. I used Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circle and Perfect Petals applique templates to make the flower center and petals. I used spray starch and a paint brush to apply the starch to the fabric. Then I ironed the fabric dry. This process worked well for me.

The last step in the French trim finish 

I chose to hand appliqué the pieces. After I had appliquéd the shapes in place, I topstitched around the shapes to add more security as well as to be more decorative. I liked how the skirt fabric worked with the color of the bodice and the applique. I stitched the skirt so it was ready to attach to the bodice. I even stitched the hem!

After I stitched a shoulder seam on the bodice, I stitched the neckline using a French trim type construction. It took a little time to finish the armholes the same way. I stitched the skirt to the bodice and I had a finish!

Finished dress

I hope she will like it. Her birthday is Wednesday. I'll wrap it so we can do a drive by to drop it off on her birthday. It might be warm enough for her to wear her dress Thursday and Friday as temperatures are forecasted to be in the upper 80s.

I used 1 1/2 yards of fabric from my stash. There is easily enough of the green knit for an adult t-shirt as well as another bodice for a dress for Miss J. I located a different skirt fabric in the stash. The remaining yard and a half of the skirt fabric, I placed in the Good Fortune project box because I think it might work as part of the pieced back.

I now have used 39 1/4 yards of fabric from my stash. This is my seventh finish this quarter and goal number nine on my finish along list. I have posted this finish to Instagram #2020falq2finish

In regards to Covid-19 Statistics:
Worldwide: 5.3lM confirmed cases; 2.11M recovered; 342K deaths
United States: 1.66M confirmed; 335K recovered; 97,426 deaths
Oregon: 3,888 confirmed; 147 deaths
This week, the county I live in applied to the state to open under the state's phase guidelines. The state granted the county to open yesterday. Restaurants, bars for sit down service, barbers, salons and massage services, gym and fitness centers, gatherings for up to 25 people are okay as long as social distancing, cleaning and wearing masks/gloves where appropriate is followed. The county has to be in phase one at least 21 days and meet some requirements before it can apply for phase 2 status. Phase two requirements haven't been released.

I do have a massage appointment scheduled for next week. I plan to wait to try any other activities. I plan to continue staying home as much as possible. I did train 31 people in healthcare provider CPR. Wearing a mask and gloves all day while necessary, is a challenge. Most of the time, I was able to maintain social distancing; but not always. In about three weeks, I have more CPR training scheduled at the hospital.