Mending and The Frock progresses

My sewing hiatus may have been extended by the enormous pile of mending that was threatening to engulf the sewing machine. I hope you can see my halo, as today I have reduced the pile to manageable proportions.I fear that the disproportionate feeling of virtue this provoked has left me a little light headed and frivolous. See what happened when I started darning my gauze merino knit cardigan?
(It was attacked by cobblers' pegs in (shame) April). I started embroidering. I couldn't stop when I had covered the darns on the back either - the embellishment was unbalanced.
 I am blaming the next embroidery overdose on Bernice. She shamelessly exhibited a pair of utterly transformed skivvies a few months ago by chopping off the neck, and I had been hating my unflattering Burda skivvy every since- (I cannot really blame Bernice for the hating of the Burda skivvy, it was hate at first wear ) as she made fixing it look so simple. I finally got around to trying this fix, but as I was carried away with embroidery, there are a few leaves made using a DMC variegated thread that leapt onto the skivvy. I am not sure if you can see that the colours of the thread range from coral through to a deep rust.
 I had decided to hand baste the fold over elastic to the new scoop neck,being incapable of machine sewing it in one pass without this step, so used the left over thread on the needle. I was quite taken with the effect, so unpicked my rough basting, and used a running stitch to attach the elastic instead of the machine stitching I had intended. I stretched the elastic slightly as I sewed, so the neckline still has plenty of stretch. I like my top much better now.
These minor successes gave me some fortitude to get back to The Frock. This is the minor frock, being a trial of the lattice smocked bodice on a day dress, to check for wear and construction issues. Today I have sewed the skirt, and started on the upper bodice. I have made a lining and outer section from the bra stay from the pattern, and whip stitched a section of the organza edged lattice smocking to the upper edge of the finished stay.
(That is the inside)
 I then draped the smocked section over the curves of the bodice and have tacked the lower edge of the smocked section to the outer section of the stay in preparation for piping and attachment to the lower bodice.
It is going quite well so far.