Leafing this Right Here...

I've been steadily receiving commissions for "Eleventh Hour Sewing" and it is truly awesome to be doing something I love to do all day long.  Seriously.  I'm amazingly blessed to not only have a skill, but to have people that want to pay me to use that skill.

This piece is today's finished commission piece...

This dress is made from cottons, which I love using for its durability and color-range.

The leaves are appliqued on, and I have to say that this is some of the best applique I've done in my life.  The leaves are small, perhaps 3x3, and are arranged to look as though they are sweeping from the hem of the dress and up the body.

The neckline and collar for this pattern goes in a little wacky, and I worried that the neckline would be pulled further down by the heaviness of the sleeves.  To solve this, I ran a drawstring into the cased-seam of the collar.  Unfortunately, it creates a ruffled effect here, on the dress form, but once it is on its intended wearer, I am confident it will smooth out considerably.

A view of the dress from the side, and how the sleeves drape.

A view of the dress from the back.  Because there are no arms on my dress dummy, it looks a bit rumpled here, but it will be nicely filled out once it is worn.

A detailed view of the back.  Those are button holes that go up to right under the collar.  What isn't shown here is the modesty panel I cleverly inserted into the back, so that any underpinnings the wearer might have on can be kept hidden.