Moving through 'Sewing Block'...

I pondered on the question all day...what fabrication should I use for the dress?

I thought about what my wardrobe needs; I thought about what the February selections that I am emulating were on Janice's blog.

I need a nice black dress.  Not a fancy black dress, but a good utility dress that can be fancied up or down by accessories.

And, according to the February choices on the Vivienne Files, I should use the main neutral for the February dress.

Then I hit on an idea that made it work...I could shorten the sleeves on my shift pattern, so they are elbow-length...on trend and a little more wear-under-a-jacket friendly than the original bracelet-length belled sleeves; I could use on-seam pockets instead of patch pockets and I could use facings instead of a banded neckline.  All of those elements would inch the potential dressiness of the dress up a wee bit.

And I could use my nice Telio Ponte...several notches above the original black double knit in niceness.

That was that I needed.

I came home and cut it all out this evening...it's ready to stitch up.

I'm really pleased with the concept; now, we'll see if the fitting tweaks I did are enough to get rid of the underarm sloppiness on the first dress.  Even if it's not gone...it should be considerably better.