It is done! Finally. Actually, the making of the dress didn't take a particularly long time... it's just the times in between that sort of stretched out the making! lol
The dress is made up of blue print cotton, with a cream linen lining. The bodice lining is fitted, with two darts on each side. The skirt lining reaches only to my knees in the front, and is about a foot longer in the back. There is hand-sewn topstitching everywhere! Around the bottom edge of the sleeve, on both sides of each side-back seam, along the back neckline and shoulders... I think that's all of it. On the linen skirt-lining, instead of making a regular hem, I turned it under by 1/8" twice, and toptstitched it by hand. I also topstitched next to the dart seams. Yes, I was having fun topstitching... it's one stitch that I know I can do, and I got a bit carried away. But it does look nice and tidy, I think!
The back closure is hook-and-eye. This is the first time I have attempted a hook-and-eye closure and I am inordinately proud of it (or, I will be once I fix that horrid gap on the bottom!). There are seven metal hooks, and seven handsewn thread eyes. I made the eyes by sewing a 'bar' with a buttonhole stitch over six loops of thread. Tell me if that doesn't make sense! It was really quite easy. And now, I shall let the pictures speak for themselves (because I can't think of anything else to say). Except: I am wearing a corset and shift, as you may be able to tell. The shift kept peeking out at the neckline, which was rather a nuisance.
