Oh it's June and where has my sewing time gone?

I am finally on university vacation! This means I get to sew again! How I love to sew. Having a break from something I love really makes me appreciate it. I've decided to go into my stash and do a stash busting project. I collect fabric cut offs from different shops when I go on holidays. As my part of the world is sooooo limited as to choice places to buy fabric. I am sure I get charged an arm and a leg because there are very few fabric stores here.

So I have decided to make McCall's M4994. This pattern is out of print but I bought a copy a long time ago when I was a dress size larger.  The first thing was to find out how to grade the pattern a size smaller to a 12. For a quick way to grade a pattern up or down I recommend this site: http://blog.megannielsen.com/2009/04/easy-pattern-grading/  I found this method really easy and no cutting and taping pieces together. I am now up to sewing the calico to work out the fit before I do the real one in velvet and silver vine brocade.