New Year's Eve ideas

So, the hubby and I are going out for New Year's Eve. We go out every year, but this is the first time that I'm able to make a dress for the occasion. I have a million ideas going through my head. I'm getting overwhelmed to say the least.

I want to make something relatively simple but classy and stylish. I already have the shoes which limits my color options to eggplant, plum and black. I'm one of those people that needs everything to match.

Gallery Mary Jane by Sofft

I bought the December issue of Burda Style Magazine hoping to make this dress:

Burda Style 12/2011 (107)

I like this dress...a lot. I bought some black crepe but I'm still hesitant to make this dress. The instructions leave much to be desired. I've read through them a couple times already and I got a headache both times. I don't know if I have the patience for such an undertaking even though the dress seems really simple.  Also, empire waist dresses almost always make me look pregnant. There will possibly be a sew-along next month, so I may give it whirl then.

I also thought about the Colette Licorice dress from the Colette Sewing Handbook.

Colette Licorice dress

Something about this dress just doesn't do it for me. I love it in theory. It seems like it would make a great party dress but I don't know. It seems a bit matronly. Perhaps it's the sleeves that just aren't doing it for me.

While browsing on Pinterest, I came across this lovely dress by Kate Spade:

Liana Dress by Kate Spade

This dress reminds me of the Colette Peony pattern. I would make mine with sleeves and all black. I would nix the gathers in the front skirt in favor of pleats. That would be too cute.

I know that I need to post photos of my Peony but I'm not feeling photogenic right now and I also need to make some adjustments.

It never dawned on me before that I would need to make adjustments for my shoulders...until I made my Peony. The dress fit marvelously except for the neckline. It rises up over my shoulders as if it's too large. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.

I consulted my Busy Woman's Fitting Book by Nancy Zieman (thanks Half-Price Books)...too bad I didn't consult it before I finished the dress. Turns out, I should have been making adjustments for my square shoulders. D'oh! I think the boat neckline of the Peony dress makes this adjustment more necessary which is probably why it never dawned on me to make it before.

A black Peony would be excellent. I could get more wear out of it. Would it be too plain? Hmm. Decisions, decisions.