Skirt is done - and tunic in progress!

It took most of the weekend, but I finished the skirt. Sitting on the floor pinning ruffles was challenging with my hip still stiff, so I only did 3 tiers on Friday. Saturday I was able to sit in a chair to do the remaining 7 ruffles. I think Petunia looks like a can-can dancer!

I had some problems with it. The directions said to fold up 1/4" twice for the ruffle hems. I serged, pressed, and folded, which was only about 3/8" total, and the ruffles were still too short for each marked line, so I had to adjust. I was really careful marking all the lines for ruffle placement. I'm going to add one more layer at the bottom in my cat fabric.

On to the tunic. I really didn't want to do a mock-up. Or flatline. I'm not sure I even have enough stash fabric to do it. I held up the pattern to Petunia and decided the waist was long enough (Victorian patterns tend to be short in the waist on me and usually need lengthening), and figured I'd adjust the rest with the darts. Well, it turned out PERFECT! I might need a couple tucks in the neckline, but otherwise I think it's going to be great, and looks wonderful with the skirt.

I had challenges with this too. I painstakingly marked everything with my tracing wheel, and all the marks faded so quickly I couldn't use them. Sigh. The inverted box pleats at the center back stymied me for some reason and it took about an hour to figure them out. I even had to resort to pleating up a piece of twill tape for practice! But I won in the end. 

The sleeves are mostly done and ready to set in, so that will be the next step. I found some adorable cat buttons that I'm not sure will look good, but we'll see. If not I will likely just cover buttons.