Reader, I gave up...or not!

It's been a day and a 1/2.  I am still trying to get this vintage 1967 (too large) Simplicity 7501 to fit correctly. (Here's the original blog where I explain how I mixed up 7501 & 7051.)  And here's Scruffy Badger Time's post about her cool pattern that I just had to have...

I thought I had it on this version, then I had a horrible time getting the back to fit.  You can see on the left what the piece I was using looked like when I started (and that was after many adjustments), and on the right is what actually works & fits!  After what felt like a zillion more adjustments.

I finally got the  back looking okay and realized that, perhaps because of the large darts, that the front was about 2" shorter than it should be. (I figured this out when it didn't match up at the side seams.)  So I had to start w/ new fabric (the green is #3, after the purple & the red).  I could have gone on with the shortened front bodice, but because I was worried about darts, I decided to use up some cheap fabric I bought a while back.  My other thinking was that if it works out, I might actually wear the green dress...

You can see that Bella is very supportive.  She likes supervising me when I'm working.  She especially likes the warm light & the warm computer & playing with thread.  She gives lots of head bumps so that keeps me going.  

So, I got it fitting fairly well, so decided to move on to modifying the neckline & adding a collar.  That took lots of pattern drawing & redrawing, believe me, to get the curves to match at the sides & back of the neck.   But I felt pretty sure that I'd changed the darts enough that it would be pretty close.  Not so.  :-((

I finally got the collar & facing done & tried on the bodice again, and I'm pretty fed up.  Now the front isn't fitting right anymore, though I think the collar & back look good. What the heck is up with that?  I played with it a bit, but can't quite figure out what to do to remove that bulk & get it to fit correctly.  You can see the 2 arrows I drew toward the problem in the picture to the left.  I started ripping out seams before bed & will give the darts yet another look. I'm quite pleased with the collar, though...but am almost thinking the neck is too big for a winter dress.  At the reference desk there's a vent that is always blowing on our necks, so I'd have to wear it with a silk scarf or something.  I do have a ton of jewelry, so a neckline like this is a good way for me to display that collection.  (Ah, yes, there's another collection; this house is full of them, which is why we need the new South Wing that's being added.)

I am going to give it another try.  Or maybe not.  I will see how I feel in the morning after yoga class & a trip to Heidelberg Bakery!

I took a look through some other vintage patterns I got from my mom.  I found 2 that might work, not exactly what I want, but that will work with the fabric I bought.

And I'm rather under the gun on this.  I know once I really start it won't take that long, but I've only got thru this Monday, really.  I just don't have that much time and we'll be away for Thanksgiving and Xmas & then again to California in January...so if I don't get it done soon, it won't be done before spring & won't be much use to me then.  I'll be thinking about spring colors by then!

In the meantime, you'll find me on Bonanza or Ebay looking for a Simplicity 7051 or something similarly cool in my size!

Later...
I'm wondering if a belt would take care of that waist bulkiness?