A family visit to Alberta intervened. Snow was experienced. {{{{{Shudder}}}}} Too soon!
But this summery dress confection must continue apace, because it is to be worn at a wedding in October, in the wilds of Nevada. Well, Las Vegas. I hope it will be quite warm enough there in October for this dress (reassure me in the comments). I'll bring a wrap. Just in case.
Anyhow, progress. As you already know, the bodice was pretty much done before we left. I underlined the very flimsy sari fabric with silk organza which stabilized all those pleats but did not threaten to make the bodice too stiff-looking. At right, admire again how nicely the pleats gathered the curve of the sari border into the neckline. After this, I finished the neck and arm opening edges with the lining (firm poly-cotton fabric). So far so good.I cut out the skirt out before I left, because I was on a roll and I find having to make decisions immediately upon resuming a project after a hiatus is a recipe for disaster. So I decided on the finished length for the skirt by trying on the bodice/lining combo, and scientifically dangling a tape measure from the waist seam to where I wanted the skirt to end (knee length, longer than the pattern). Since I am using a border print, I wouldn't have the luxury of cutting it too long and turning it up to the right length.
I also decided to cut a shorter second layer of the skirt as an overlay, since (a) my fabric is very sheer and flimsy, so a second layer would beef it up and (b) without doubling up the border visually, there would be too much boring beige in the skirt. The length of the over layer was dictated by the fact that I had to cut it along the same border of the original sari as the under skirt. This was dictated in turn by the fact that the printing of the opposite border was really bad - it is printed very off grain. VERY luckily, the length of the sari was *just* enough to permit me to cut an over skirt.
Finally, before I left I marked the pleat lines on the under skirt and neatly folded all my pieces on my cutting board to await my return.
On my return from our trip, and after the post-travel jaggedness wore off, I was pleased today to be able to execute decisions that had already been made by a previous version of The Sewing Lawyer. However I was pretty irritated at her lack of precision in cutting.(Seriously, this fabric is so soft and shifty that precision is impossible. Luckily, it is so soft and shifty that precision also doesn't matter.)
I sewed the side seams in the under skirt using French seams (first pass a narrow 3 thread serger seam, a technique I'm loving), laid the shorter overskirt on top, and basted the pleats through all layers. Then I threw caution to the winds and attached the skirt to the bodice.
It actually worked, and it's the right length! Clearly it will need a belt (and a zipper, my next challenge). But it'll be fine if nobody looks too close at it.
Luckily, since I'm just attending somebody else's wedding, this is practically guaranteed.
Here's another gratuitous Icelandic eruption photo. My dress pales in comparison. 
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