(plus, I like talking to myself on the internets. Ahem.)
Look! It worked!
That nifty catchstitch is so pretty, and nearly invisible!
How/Why did it suddenly work? (other than sleeping between the frustrated cursing and the picking back up of the needle & thread, I mean.) I actually didn't have the hems folded back on the correct dots. Remember how I couldn't find them? Yea. I wasn't looking far enough back! The hem does fold back at an angle, with more folded in at the shoulder level than the armhole. It fits perfectly when you, you know, follow the directions.
If you're not familiar with a catchstitch, here's a picture of the inside, and my pretty, pretty handstitched sleeve hem. It was actually rather relaxing this afternoon and stitching my pretty hems.
Just a tip for making your handstitching go a little smoother...I always wax my threads (run your doubled & knotted threads through or across a block of beeswax) before sewing on buttons or stitching hems, but a cool little trick is to run a hot iron over your waxed thread. The heat & wax melds those threads together and help them to slip right through your fabric.
I'm almost finished! I do have a bit of a boo-boo though. I got so involved stitching the neck facing that I totally forgot to attach my keyhole ties first! I'll just have to figure that little glitch later.
