Never as Perfect the Second Time

     Well I haven't be sewing for a while.  I had a wonderful time with my relatives from New York when they came to stay.  Unfortunately, rather than getting back to normal when they left, life got complicated.  My car broke down in the college town where my daughter lives on a Saturday night.  Had to wait till Monday to get it fixed.  Then I got the chance to assist a friend who has a little too much on her plate.  You can't complain when life gets in the way because you are always blessed to have one.
     Now, I am attempting to fix the opening in my dress so that I will like it better.  Unfortunately,  I probably should have listened to the advice of my aunt who is a wonderful seamstress.  She took a look at the opening and said I should leave it because it was perfect.  She suggested that I just spread it a bit when I attached the binding.  Guess I should have listened.  The new keyhole is not perfect.  I don't know if anyone but I will notice, but I know it.  The procedure I used worked pretty well, however it is always difficult to work on something partially complete.

I first traced a couple keyholes using the pattern piece as my guide.  When I got it the desired size, I cut it out.  

Next, I taped the opening together with transparent tape.  Then I layed my template on the taped cutline and traced.

Finally, I stitched around the marked line, clipped, and understitched the opening.  This is the result.

     I like the opening better, but I wish it was done as well as it was the first time I did it

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     New complication--I have now misplace the instructions.  I may have accidentally placed them in another pattern envelope.  I hope my next post will be about this dress, but I'm in the mood to sew, not hunt for misplaced papers.