new casual dress.. and some new year's decisions

It's the new year's eve now... it got me to think a little about this past year and what I hope for in the year to come.
It was not an easy year.. in any way. The school year for both my daughters was difficult, and running after two three years old is not easy either. High-tec jobs for both m husband and myself mean many hours of not being home... and a permanent feeling of guilt..
Would my girls do better in school if I were a Stay-at-home-mom? Do I work good enough even though I insist on leaving work in time to see my kids in the evening? did I make the right decision putting my twins into one kindergarten instead of separating them, just to make it easier for me? have less parents' meetings? GUILT!!!!
And on top of that I have his guilt of not using all my fabrics... not using all my patterns...
So for the coming year I hope.. well, PEACE!!! (this was a difficult year in that aspect also!). HEALTH (I was supposed to go fabric shopping last Friday and had to cancel it since my little girl got sick... again!!! and as I'm writing I have two kids throwing up every now and then.. It's virus zone here!)
And.. I hope the school year gets better! My tween is starting to be.. well, a tween, with the moody behavior that comes with it. My 7.5 years old just refuses to study.. school is a social event for her. An opportunity to meet friends. The teacher and what she has to say... are irrelevant :-). Please, I need this school year to go better!!!!
For me I hope to have more time for myself... and less guilt to go around... and as much creativity and fun and fabric as possible!
So here's what I've done. I saw around the new the Comino top dress. It looks amazing. I decided to make my own... It didn't work out exactly as planned though.
I traced my own pattern from RTW dress that I have for years now. I changed the sleeves to look like the comino top, and the top front and back to match MCCALL 6435, which I own for years now/
I made two version... the first was from heavy fabrics, just to try the fit. It was narrow in the armpits and a bit too wide.

It looks OK for a muslin, but I doubt I'll ever wear it. It's not comfortable because the fabrics are very heavy..
I repeated in my "good" fabrics

I think it looks OK.. but not what I hoped for. Does anyone have suggestion how to fix? maybe it's just not right for my body type????
Now that I look at the pictures I actually get depressed... I promised myself to get into shape this year, and I'have done nothing...
Well, I am adding this to my new year's decision. I have to lose at least 5 KGs by next year!!! have to!!!! Happy new year all!

one new pattern every month...

Well, the school year just started!
It feels more like the a new year than the formal new year holiday that will be in three weeks. So i made some new years decisions...
My number 1 decision - buy less patterns! Since I started buy pdf patterns I buy way too much.. and only use half... at best. So, NO! buy one only, and only if this is my next item in my to do list!
My second decision is - use as much stash fabric as I can.. I have so much cottons, some of it I should use really fast, before my three years old grows out of the childish prints...
My third decision - when I find a stretch fabric that I like.. buy a lot of it... I never have enough of these..
My forth decision - try at least one new pattern every month. The rest can be doing the same thing over and over because I usually make leggings and simple tops for me. But at least one new pattern a month should help me learn new things...
So here's the new pattern of September - Mccall 6066. It is a simple skirt with two layers, one is attached to the waist to make it look unique. The sizing is 3-6.
I made size 3 for my three years old. I just looked at the instructions briefly to make sure I understand how to use all the pattern pieces... didn't even bother to read. It really is a very easy pattern!
Sizing is a bit big - I think the skirt I made will be great also for next year, all I will have to do is change the elastic... maybe even another year. It is that big!
Changes I made to this pattern - well, I wanted the skirt to be for the first day of kindergarten.. but I know it it recommended to have shorts.. you know, for hygiene. so I used my Emily pattern - the shorts (size 86-92) and added them below the skirt to make it a skort.

here you can see the shorts I added below..

And these are my kids starting the first day of school

Last for today.. I am trying a new dress for myself. My first version (draft) of it is made off heavy jersey fabric. I am not sure if the problems I see in the dress are due to the fabric choice.. I hope to gather the nerve to cut the cute fabric that I have so little of for the real dress soon..