The First Major Boo-Boo

So here's the muslin you saw last...note the slit in the front left of the dress - your right - hard to see, I know. The right side of the dress is facing out, but that side should be against me if I understand linings correctly.

Oh, here's the boning in place. Now boning comes rolled in a box - anybody know how to get it to lose it's rolled up shape? (Though it may work to my advantage if turned the right way - hubba hubba!).

Now here's the muslin bodice pinned to skirt to check the fit. I thought I screwed up and basted the right side of the bodice to the wrong side of the skirt, but see the seams and boning are on the outside, so that's actually the way it's supposed to go. So why did I think that?

Because the left front slit is in the back! Now when I saw this, I thought I basted it together wrong. I did take the boning off the side seam to let that out some and then reattached it, so that's not going to be pulling hopefully.

I got the real skirt cut out and went to sew it to the lining, and that's when it hit me that this is all screwed up. So I went back and read the instructions again: you sew the skirt pieces right sides together, leaving open the left front...OHHHHHH! The drawing has the RIGHT front left open for the lining, even though they say LEFT front in the instructions - DOHHHHHH! And the reason I can't just unsew the other side is because the zipper is on the wrong side too, and the diagram is wrong there too. Aye-yie-yie (I don't know how you spell that - I think it really starts with a capital F!).

So my options currently are to just make the wrong side of the lining the inside of my dress, which will show somewhat because of the large slit. Or I have to unsew the right side for the zipper and the slit, then sew up the other side I left open.

Okay, I think I can wrap my head around that. It just means lots of ripping of serger stitching, but there's nothing irreversible...I don't think.

So I didn't quite get the picture of the beautiful matching job I did with the real skirt because of this fiasco, but hopefully I'll get it all straightened out tomorrow - big sewing day! And any thoughts or tips you have are welcomed...