Working on Green Velvet Loose Gown

With no major projects on hand, I decided to tidyup a few wips. The green velvet gown I started in July has been sitting on top of a pile of blankets since they were cut out. So last night I grabbed them and sewed the major seams up. I got the trickest part done, which is the back collar. When I tried it on the side seams looked like crap. I think the puckering on one side is caused by a combination of not feeding through at the same speed and the pieces not being cut out properly. So I brought the coat to work with me and used the big table in the meeting room to lay it out. When I looked at how the side seam of the back piece was cut out, I saw a major part of the problem. So I grabbed a straight edge and recut this side. I think think this will solve most of the problems. I might also put the walking foot on my machine (yah, had the damn thing for years and never used it!) to see if that helps as well. I think working on a bias cut seam of stretchy velvet will require these solutions.

The next step will be recutting the lining to the correct size and shape and putting the lining and fur together. I hope the linen will be able to cope with the weight of the fur. Then once the body is together, I can start thinking about the sleeves.