Mis-Adventures in Garment Making

Monday morning I met up with my real life blogging friend Solanah to get some work done on a dress we decided to make together. It was the 1930s butterick pattern I posted a while back.
I must admit, I think this dress was doomed from the beginning, alas we set forth trying to decipher some of the most poorly written instructions I have ever seen.
We start out the morning looking quite cheery and excited, with a "we can do it" attitude!

After pondering the instructions for ages, we decide to throw caution to the wind and just start cutting. After a small issue with cutting out the sleeve piece wrong and driving all around town, we finally completed the cutting stage.

We then moved onto a deadlock for hours, with little to know progress outside of some darts. After a sewing machine broke, we pack it all up and head to Solanah's house to sew there instead.
While loading the car I was lucky enough to be stung on the foot by a wasp! Which delayed us another 20 minutes or so while we "googled" a treatment for Bee Stings.

Deadlock continues. Solanah and I stare aimlessly at the dress pinned up on the dressform.
It makes no sense, none of this pattern makes any sense. We try to re-pin and adjust. We try scraping it all and making it up. Nothing.
We close this saga with a dress hanging off the form, 7 hours later, with no end in sight.
We packed our fabric up, and stuck it in her basement, until a day when we felt we could try again. At this point I never want to see this dress again. Ever.

I am hoping next week when if we get together we can sew This 30s Dress, which Solanah has once completed and swears is nothing like the dreaded butterick disaster.