Lazy Louisiana Dress

This dress is "lazy" on multiple levels:

• It's maxi length and jersey fabric means you don't have to shave your legs and you can eat as much as you want... and still look elegant.
  
• I sewed bra cups into the bodice - the stiff kind - so you don't have to wear a bra with it.
• I was lazy on the finishing - I used the machine where I should have slip stitched, I didn't understitch the lining... whatever... at least I hemmed it.
  
• It took me three weeks to make this dress because some nights I just wanted to come home and watch House Hunters International on HGTV. (I mean, it's important for me to know what to look for in a villa in Belize, right?)

But it was all worth it... because this dress is comfortable, flattering, and keeps the girls in their places. I wore it to pick up Gus for the evening... he lit up when he saw it! This fabric is a favorite of his (he doesn't like the florals I pick out.) I must admit - I'm a sucker for chartreuse and fushia together. Check out the lovely gathering at the waist:

Technical Aspects: I used Butterick B5491 for this dress. The bodice is lined - which included a magnificent line of stitching the traced the entire edge of the bodice piece...

My other project right now is trying to figure out the best way to photograph myself in the dresses I make. I'm a complete amateur, using my boyfriend's camera. Half the time the photos are just ever so slightly blurry. I tried taking photos on my patio today... but the Louisiana humidity fogged up the lens and it took me a while to catch on to the cause of the haziness. Here are some examples:

Tips on sewing project portraiture are greatly welcomed!