Thank you for a frightening, confusing, strange and dangerous time. What more could a girl ask for?

This is my second dress for the #sewDollyClackett challenge. I've gone ahead and used my lovely palm tree fabric I bought in Tokyo as I figure an Irish lass like Miss Clackett, who's living in grey old England, must long for a bit of sunshine and palm trees every now and then.

You know what? I feel like I am making the same dress over and over and over again. A little tweaking on each version should, by all rights, be making it perfect. But instead it's making me totally CRAZY!

Yes folks this is my 823rd Party Peplum Dress by April Rhodes. And yes, like the last one...and the one before it...and the one before that, it still bunches up a bit on my butt. I'm finally going to bite the bullet and go full-on with my FBA (Full Butt Adjustment) and shorten the bodice to the smallest size available, XS. So in the space of 4 dresses I've gone from XXL to XS. Makes sense. Or not?

Whilst I'm not a small person I have a very bad habit of thinking that I am bigger than I actually am...bloggers in the rear-view mirror may appear larger than the actually are. I always end up buying clothes that are just too big and not all that well fitted (and I feel like a frump in them)...and now I'm making them too big as well. Le sigh. I think I'm afraid to make this dress in a size smaller than what I think I should wear...in case it doesn't fit and all that effort (and fabric) is for nothing.

Even after all this self-psychological analysis aside it's pretty obvious that this dress is WAY too big. Especially as I've lost 6kgs and 2" off my waist since I first started sewing last year. Clearly...I can downsize.

If you ever see me out and about in the dress do not flip up my hem for a look at the seams as I did some REALLY dodgy "taking in at the seams" after I'd fully completed the dress. The dress is smaller now, and fits better, but it's also a total dogs breakfast on the inside. Unlike people though, it's not really what's on the inside that counts with dresses (well, that's what I'm telling myself anyway). It looks "ok" from the outside, and still gives good twirl.

I think I'm going to make ONE more version of this dress, in the next size down and I'm feeling well and truly ready to move onto something else...perhaps something with a zipper. I have the Colette Truffle Dress pattern at home so I might have a go at that...not sure if my brain can work out the lining component of that or not, but we'll cross the bridge when we come to it.

The universe may not always play fair, but at least it's got a hell of a sense of humor (or #sewingDollyClackett)

I wasn't initially going to join the #sewingDollyClackett shenanigans, which has been started to celebrate the impending nuptials of sewist and blogger extraordinaire, Roisin (aka Dolly Clackett). As much as I love her style (those dresses, those fabrics!) the "fit and flare" shape just does not suit my body.  As a long-time food blogger I need a little (ok a lot) of room in my clothes to accommodate what we food bloggers call "our food babies".

But then I thought if Dolly Clackett was...fatter (or a food blogger) she'd totally go for the April Rhodes Party Peplum Dress. It's a style that emulates the "fit and flare" dress, but with a bit more room. Plus, there's no way I'm at the stage yet of going anywhere near zippers, lining or pockets. As Dolly would say, "fuck that"!

So here we have my Dolly Clackett-ish dress....this is actually my fourth attempt at the Party Peplum Dress, but only the second one that is a keeper. Like the first "keeper" it still gives Good Twirl!

From the denim dress disaster I shortened the bodice from an XXL to a S in what I am terming an FBA (full butt adjustment). This means that the bodice is no longer bunching up on my caboose and sits much better (though I still think the back bodice could be a little shorter). I actually did a toil of this before I cut into this lovely fabric...a first for impatient me. After wearing this dress for a day it's a little big...I might try and go down a size, or sew large side seams next time around. In the meantime I've run this in a little at the sides so it's not quite so...sack like.

The fabric is a cotton that I nabbed from the fabric swap at our first Sydney Spoolettes meet up. It was a dream to sew with - really sturdy and no slipping or sliding around.  I wore the dress out to a lunch a few weekends ago and on the way home popped into The Fabric Store. They recognized the fabric and said it was a DKNY Cotton. SCORE!

So there you have it. Happy impending nuptials Roisin and Nick. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness...and pretty dresses (well, not so much for Nick, but you know what I mean).