diy: swing dress sew along!

Drumroll, please! After going over the final poll results for the sew-along, we have a clear winner: the swing dress! (A big thank you to everyone who took a moment to cast their vote!) I have to admit, I'm more than a bit nervous about leading a sew-along, having never done anything like this before. So I do hope I don't royally mess things up or prove to be the most frustrating sew-along leader ever! lol. Despite these reservations, I am excited that we'll be doing the dress, and dearly hope that you're not too disappointed if you were looking forward to the circle skirt sew-along. (I'll be keeping that in mind for a later sew-along possibility!) So are you ready to jump into it? Here's the tenative schedule I worked out: Start Date: January 11, 2011 End Date: March 3, 2011 January 11: intro and supplies list. Inspiration from period sources January 13: sources for fabric/suitable stabilizers January 20: preparing for the muslin January 27: making and fitting the muslin/adjustments February 3: finalizing the pattern + cutting out the fashion fabric February 7: applying stabilizer and sewing the shoulder seams February 11: topstitching the midriff and finishing the bodice February 14: sewing the skirt + attaching the skirt and bodice February 17: closure application (invisible and regular zipper, as well as a “period” method) February 24: setting in the sleeves February 28: hemming and finishing touches March 3: final dress show-off party! Does that sound like a reasonable timeline? I wanted to keep it spread out enough since I know many people will want to order the pattern and possibly fabric as well--so that hopefully gives us enough time. But if all goes well, everyone who is participating can join in a little blog party on February 28th (I'll be putting up a post with final photos of my version as well as a way for everyone who finished theirs to add links to their pictures/blog)! So the first official post will be up sometime tomorrow--keep an eye out for it!