Sewing for a Princess and Getting to Know My Sewing Machine

My sewing machine and I have been together for maybe eight or more years but it still holds surprises for me.  I was looking something up in the owner's manual when I spotted a topic that interested me; "How to sew square corners."  What I learned is that there are two notches on the plate that indicate when the fabric is reaching the 5/8 " mark, the usual apparel seam allowance.  By knowing this, you can turn the fabric in the same spot for every corner and your seam allowance is the same on both sides of the corner.   I never knew about those notches, even after all of the times I've replaced bobbins, etc.  And I love them.  I used them when I sewed the Christening dress back and they do work great. 

I've also been using feet I only use occasionally, namely the rolled hemmer and the buttonholer.  The dress now has a perfect rolled hem.  The buttonholes are not so perfect.  The piping bumps prevented the foot from sewing forward and so I have a little hand sewing to do on them, but not too much. 

The online store from whom I ordered the wool crepe let me know yesterday that they sold out of the fabric (after placing the charge on my card; bad business practise if you ask me), so today I bought white velvet for the cape.  Is there a princess in the house?

This is the dress so far:

 

 I've been auditioning placement of the lace appliques.

 

 

 I think the second version is what we're going with although I would like to see something at the waist. 

 

I'm happy about the progress I've made. 

Now on to some cross stitching.

 

God Bless You.