Pressing Forward on my Alabama Chanin Anna's Garden Dress!

I am so excited to be making significant progress on my Alabama Chanin Anna's Garden negative reverse applique dress. Inspired by this dress:

                  

I started hand-stitching this four panel dress in February when I got my new airbrush and Anna's Garden stencil.

 

I enthusiastically began stitching the panels every chance I got. I took it with me to appointments, on drives, to the gym, wherever  I went; I could not stop working on it. That was the way it was for a good part of the year. I was making great progress until one day someone said something to me that made me change my perspective on this one. It was a benign observation that eluded me until they mentioned it. It was not a bad comment in itself, but it just took the wind out of my sails. 

It was not a conscious decision to stop working on this, but it fell by the wayside while I worked on many other things. It was bought back into my focus by Dr. Fun who is making a full length dress in the Anna's Garden stencil for Mardi Gras. Her dress is going to be beautiful and I cannot wait to see it completed. She lit the fire under me again to get stitching. 

Back in August I had half of the dress stitched and wrote about it here.

B.I.R.A Wearing half of the dress

Now, after renewed inspiration, I am making tremendous progress. Here is where I am today:
 

Front Completely Hand-stitched

Back still a work in progress

Stitch Details. I decided to keep some of the white paint in my version.

Getting There

Underside stitching

Though I love this, I am on the fence about keeping this dress for myself or selling it to help fund my Alabama Studio Week (if interested, email me). If I keep it, I hope to have it completed by my birthday in January. I am also hoping to have a place to wear it by then. :) 

Happy Sewing,
Bianca