Thanks Missie
I rarely use pins as I find them more trouble than they are worth. I'll only use them if I really, absolutely have to. But hand basting sounds like a good idea and I will do that.
Was planning on flat felled seams, but I dropped that idea
Have been playing today and will probably use a french seam. I'm a bit afraid of the sleeve seams, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
By the way, it's AMAZING what a good iron can do. I have a small iron in my sewing room, as the Miele ironing station is too cumbersome to move around and I only use it when I have more than one little seam to iron. So I was using the small iron and couldn't get anything to stay pressed. Almost got to the point of yanking my hair out. And then I thought "might as well try with the steam iron, see what that'll do".
Lo and behold, perfectly pressed seams with no effort. They looked darn good!
Took them to husband for his inspectiong. "A bit crooked and not so good looking" says he. Well, I felt like punching him in the face
Told him that's what he's getting even if he likes it or not.