Ix-Nay on the Ipes-Stray: The Continued Saga of the 20's Dress

I'm sorry, but Jean Paul Gaultier stole my harem pants.   That's for my lawyers to deal with, however, not us, not today.

Friends, I so appreciate your willingness to indulge me and forgive my somewhat capricious nature.  Which brings us back to the Twenties dress.

You'll recall that after the paisley-ish fabric faux pas, I went back to the $2 yard sales pile and picked up three yards of black and white striped chiffon.



Followers and lurkers, I had every intention of whipping up the dress in those stripes, honestly I did.  But a voice inside my gut that sounded eerily like MPB reader and commenter (and never one to mince words) Brian Linger told me those stripes were wrong.  Or maybe it was just gas.

Regardless, I realized that while a little bit of stripes can be a good thing...

...too much is, well, too much.  It also gives me a headache.

So back to the bargain bolts I bounced.  And I purchased this.



It's the color of strawberry sorbet with small dots that thankfully don't scream "polka."  It's a dainty and soft poly chiffon and a very good color for Cathy.  Moreover, it passes the cheap beads test:



By the end of yesterday the fabric was mostly all cut (chiffon is hard, Barbie!), underlining included, and hanging on my bodyform to stretch for the night.  You can already get a sense of the shape of the dress.



Now I like the look of a contrasting front yoke...but what to make it out of?



The cream chiffon underlining is too strong a contrast imo and too opaque.  I know it sounds crazy but I may return to the fabric store (it's just half a mile from here) and pick up a yard of something closer to the pink or more sheer or something.  I think doing it all in the dotted pink chiffon is a little boring.

Thoughts? 

Also -- if the top of the front (beneath the yoke) is gathered, do I also gather the underlining, or should I (as I suspect) gather the fashion fabric and then attach the underlining?

How should I finish the fragile edges of the neckline: bias strips, facing?

I wouldn't say I'm losing sleep over this dress, but it has taken quite a bit of focus.  Last night I tried to distract myself with the Meg Ryan version of "The Women" on DVD (thankfully borrowed from the library).   I discovered it is The Worst Movie Ever Made.  I couldn't take more than ten minutes and I usually like bad movies.   This was unwatchable.

Have a great day, everybody.  Any bad movies you can recommend?  ("Susan Slade" is on its way from Amazon, btw -- in a set that includes "Parrish" AND "Rome Adventure"!)

Oh, the Drama!