The Green Dress and the Garden

I have been pulled between gardening and dressmaking  this past week or so.When I am gifted with a glorious summer day and a husband who loves to garden along with me, the gardening will win out over the sewing. It is something we share together and really enjoy, real quality time. And we can still work up a sweat together, ; ) too! However, I have managed to finish the green dress and  will hopefully get it up on the blog tomorrow. All that is left are the buttons and then it will be picture time. I hope the weather cooperates.
Above you can see that I have taped the v-neckline. I mark my tape the length of the seam on the pattern and ease the neckline on to the tape. This coaxes it back into shape after having been handled thru construction, despite the original stay stitching. For a stay tape I save and use selvedges from thin fabrics, in this case a cotton. It's yellow and will not show once the facing is stitched on. I keep my selvedges in a canning jar. Never throw out thin selvedges!

ETA June 25, 2010: In the above picture the arrows point to the shoulder seam. The seam crossing it above is where the collar and facing are stitched to the dress. You are looking at the undercollar. Once the collar and facing were stitched on and pressed I stitched in the well of the SHOULDER  seam, where the arrows are pointing. That stitching goes thru the shoulder seam AND the facing. Now the facing is secured. Hope this explains a little more clearly. This technique is great for securing any facing or a lining to a purse and I use it fairly often.

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This messy looking hunk of yard to the right of  the walk is my latest project. Here it has been edged, hard to see, and will turn into a bed that will house a "butterfly pool". First all the sod needs to be taken up. We have a roto tiller but I like to remove the sod first and then till in cow manure and peat moss to build up the bed. It took me 6 straight hours to dig out every square inch of sod with my matlock and now its ready for tilling. I hope to plant shortly. There are lots of volunteers around the yard that I can move into this area. I am not solid on the plant materials I will use yet. I know I need some height to balance the other side of the walk but other than that, I think a shopping trip is needed for inspiration. I love going to the nursery as much as the fabric store!. Here's a pic of my 6 hours work: