If Everything Else Fails...

...read the instructions.  

~ Unknown

I managed to squeeze in some sewing time this weekend - which was non-trivial, because there were a lot of other things that I should have been doing!  ;)

But I shook off all those annoying chores that were hanging onto my legs and yipping around my feet, and locked myself into my sewing room for a couple of hours.  Yay!  :)

I probably should have finished my postmark blouse, but I was lured in by the new fabric and worked on the three, A-Line dresses for the young daughters of my friends at work.  I was using the same pattern as the Snoopy Valentine Day dress, in a smaller size - but I thought that this time, just for the heck of it, I'd actually pay attention to the instructions.  

So, instead of sewing front to back along the side seams, I stitched fronts to backs at the SHOULDER seams!  This allowed me to lay the facing against the dress, right sides together, like this:  

...and then stitch around the open armholes...

...and the neck opening:  

Once these seams were stitched and trimmed (I've really gotten into my pinking shears recently)...  

...I pulled the two back panels through the shoulder openings:  

Ta da!  ;)

The next step was to close up the side seams.

If you've done this before, you know to raise the facing...  

...and stitch in one continuous seam:  

Then you fold the facing back down and voila!  

So, I got the facings inserted and side seams done on two of the three dresses:  

And I got all that done AND the bottom ruffle attached on the third dress:  

Once the other two ruffles are attached, it's just a matter of dealing with the back center seam - which will mostly be closed, with only a small opening at the top and a button/button loop closure.  It should be a breeze to finish these up!  

It was nice to get some sewing done - and I hope you all had a wonderful sewing weekend!  :)