A tale of two hems

Two hem possibilities
Originally uploaded by Catrijn.

Sometimes you've just got to put your butt in the chair and work on things, even if you're not inspired.

I realized I had a whole day for projects, with nothing planned, and I figured I'd just start working on this dress again so that I can get it off my 'in-progress' list. I still hadn't decided on a floor-skimming vs. a puddling-on-the-floor length, but after trimming the main fabric so it was even, it became obvious that I didn't have enough length to puddle convincingly anyway. So I trimmed off another 4 cm or so, and zig-zagged a 1 cm hem to keep the fabric in check while I worked on the rest.

The turned-up contrast of the lining fabric I've decided to do as an applied band rather than actually turning up the lining (which you can see hanging down in the center of the photo). There are four thicknesses total - 2 lengths of fabric, folded over and pressed at the top of the band. The bottom two layers are sewn to the very edge of the dress to secure them, and the upper layers have extra length which will be folded under and tacked on the inside.

Of course, since the band is straight and the skirt is flared, it is inevitably a bit too wide at the top. My current debate is whether to ease the extra through the entire width (on the right on the photo), or to keep it as smooth as possible and take a few darts in the section over the gores as necessary (on the left). I'm strongly leaning toward the latter, but I'm going to stare at it for a day or two before I commit to one or the other.