Haha, shortening the “Houndstooth Poodle Sheath” to HTPS makes it sound like some new and hip disorder!
I worked on the dress on the train to Zürich today, taking out the sleeve I had already put in (didn’t baste and ease the entire section, read the markings wrong :)), hand basting and easing the sleeve, and then basting the sleeves to the bodice. I like the control hand basting gives! Now all I have left to do is go over it with my machine and serging the seam allowances.
I’m so glad I took it on the train to work on it by hand, after messing up the sleeve slightly on monday evening I got a little demotivated, hand-sewing was just what I needed!
Ah, and now the zipper. I’ve been doing lapped zippers lately (well, two so far), one according to Gerties instructions in her “Bombshell Dress” e-course, and for the other one I followed the Butterick instructions (this was for the Lucille Dress, Butterick 2907). When I followed the Butterick instructions, I wasn’t even sure what kind of zipper I would end up with! It involves basting the back of the dress closed (where the zipper will be), then attaching the zipper, and then taking out the basting.
Is this the “normal” way to insert a lapped zipper? Since I don’t own any sewing books I’ve had to learn from the internet, so I don’t know, am I the only one who didn’t know this technique? Or are there others like me out there? :) I found the instructions a little weird to follow, should I maybe try a tutorial? I’ve never made a tutorial (mostly because I don’t feel I have anything to teach, haha!), but I could make one for this. What do you think? Does everyone but me already know this technique? What I like about it, is that you can make sure the two sides will match up perfectly, since you baste it closed first.
Btw, thank you for the suggestions for attaching/interfacing the collar and cuffs! I’m going to test how visible/uncomfortable the snaps are, and I’m going to use fusible-interfaced muslin as an underlining for collar and cuffs. We’ll see how it goes!
Mad Girls Prefer Pretty Dresses 
My sewing machine had this technique in the instruction book. But mine always turn out horribly :( But I prefer buttons anyway. I don’t know why, but there’s just something about them that I really, really like