Sunday sewing (for someone else)

On Sunday I sat down to make some progress on the dress I'm sewing for my mum. Despite having a deadline (she's going on holiday on 8 September) and knowing that I'm pretty busy until then, I was feeling rather lethargic. We'd hosted a dinner party on Friday night, then had a wedding on Saturday, so energy levels were pretty low. However, TMOTH* was going to see a friend so I thought I should take advantage of the peace and quiet. 

Here's what I started with: 

Here's what happened in the middle: 

And here's the result three hours later: 

 As you can see, no *tah dah* moment. Though I did make a belt:

So why the lack of progress? I think that this is one of those projects where it all comes together quite quickly at the end, but in the interim you're sewing darts, endless darts. Now I know that this is pretty much as basic as it gets, but I personally find them a little tricky as I start well but nearly always sew merrily past the tip. Fabric permitting, I often draw a line to follow, but this fabric is quite thin (hence the lining, more on that later) so I was doing it by eye. Out of 16 darts, I had to resew six because of my incompetence/tiredness. Bad times indeed.  Does anyone have any tips on making them perfect every time?!

The second reason is that pesky lining. The pattern isn't lined, so I'm having to wing it a bit. Winging it is not my style. Knowing this, I went online and read/watched about 10 tutorials on lining a sleeveless bodice, to no avail. My sewing buddy Mishka is an absolute whizz at lining, and boy, was I jealous of her at that moment!  Rather than get frustrated, I've decided to ask the professional (Karen) for advice; being shown how to do something seems to make it click for me.

Until then, I'm going to get cutting!  I've got lots of fabric and patterns in my stash at the moment, along with an unfinished playsuit, so I've got no excuse to be idle.

Amy x

* The Man of the House