Thanks girls, as always some great information. I've almost finished, just hems, buttonholes and buttons to do - oh and shoulder pads...
I wondered why the shoulders weren't looking right, and it turns out they need a shoulder pad. I'm not making big power shoulders here, just enough to lift them a bit
The collar
@BrendaP , I just trimmed down a bit, and angled the points more gradually. I checked it against a collar I like, and it looks much better.
Because I've lined it, it has the look of a coat dress rather than a tea dress, but I'm OK with that as the weather is very unpredictable atm. OH thinks it's a bit black, and that I'll look like one of the Addams family, we'll see...
I do have other things I can wear...
I'll post some pics shortly, but I really need to go and make bias binding for the hems
Jessie