celebratory sewing

I passed my prelim exam! Yay! To celebrate (yeah, this girl knows how to party!) I did some sewing - I worked on Advance 9427. I had an issue on the bodice in the front and the back, where the center seams meet the facing - what a mess. I'm not too good at seam intersections like that. I have enough fabric to cut out another bodice if I need to, though I may move on to another pattern; those little kimono sleeves built into the bodice may not be the best choice for a full figure.

Sewing is so relaxing...

...except when things don't go my way.

Case in point: I figured I'd take a little break and cut out a skirt, Butterick 4743 (view E). I figured I had enough fabric, since it called for 1 3/4 yards and I had maybe an inch or two to spare. So I start the layout (following the directions exactly as I've learned the hard way not to try to outguess those layouts) - and I can't get the pattern pieces to fit. ???? Could there be a typo? Not according to the Internets. Finally, in desparation, I took the liberty of measuring the width of the fabric ("Little Ladybugs" by Alexander Henry, cute but not cutesy), and guess what?

The fabric is 43" wide. Not 45" as the pattern calls for. Just two inches short. Two inches! Well, that was an hour spent fruitlessly, and now I have to get back to studying. Hrumph.