UFO... Which UFO?

UFO. Probably the most surprising term an unsuspecting individual can come across on a sewing blog. Of course, most blog readers are well-versed in the lingo but just in case: In the sewing blogosphere, UFO means Un-Finished Object. 
I tend to take pride in not making them. I make something or I don't. Starting and then stopping half-way through is not what I do. I think that attitude is a result of being a pattern maker. It's very understandable for a seamstress to get disillusioned if the project she (or he) has worked so hard on doesn't fit. Or doesn't suit him or her. If you make your own patterns and have done so long enough to have a reasonable idea of what suits you, that's different. 
And yet, of course I'm not immune to the occasional failure. 

Last year, I wanted to make a red dress, a dress with gathers, loosely inspired by the styles of the 1940's.
I managed to find a fabric in a tone of red which actually suits me (most don't). A cotton with a nice, soft hand which made it very suitable for this design. The quality of the fabric wasn't great but you can't have everything, can you?
I made my design, a wrap dress with ray-of-the-sun gathers. I tried to be clever with it too and made a skirt which can't be blown open by a gust of wind. Only the sleeves weren't drafted straight away. With those, I waited to see how the dress would look and how the fabric would really behave. 
After that, I did the hard work, gathering, fusing and sewing. Then, I tried the dress on... And I wasn't impressed. It just didn't seem very flattering. And there was no real way to fix it. 

I put the dress aside and worked on other things. In fact, I didn't look at it for a whole year. Until this year, when I got once more interested in gathered designs. I tried the UFO on again... And it didn't seem so unflattering now. 
I decided I could at least try and finish my red dress. It only needed sleeves and a hem. 

And this is it. Red fabric, wrap style, gathers, flutter sleeves.

Not so bad after all.

And just in case you were wondering about that clever skirt design of mine, this is it:

The over- and underlapping parts of the skirt are connected. It's just one big, wide skirt that folds back on itself. The bodice has a normal overlap. 
It makes for a dress that's easy to wear. I could even ride a bicycle in this one. 

It's still a look I have to get used to but I'm glad I finished this dress. I think I'll enjoy wearing it.