The dress vs. ME

Remember the dress I have been talking about making for the last few months?  The one that was supposed to save me $100+ dollars and give me the thrill of being able to say, "This dress?  Oh thanks.  I made it."?  
Or are you talking about the one that is all but in a heap in my trash bin after a lengthy Skype conversation with my younger sister--who has made a wedding dress for crying out loud--leaving both of us stumped as to how anyone had been able to accomplish the "easy" pattern?  Maybe you're thinking of the one that left my crying on the back steps telling my hubby that all I wanted to do was cuss and burn the dang thing I did neither.  at least not that I remember.
That's right.  The handmade dress with pockets is not happening.  I really haven't had the heart to fully accept my defeat and actually throw the thing away, but there really are no other options at this point.  My seamstress sister can't figure it out well, she can, but not in a way that will actually work without compromising the fabric.  I have read and re-read the instructions and cannot for the life of me figure out where I went wrong.
Can I tell you all how hard it was for me to accept that I actually failed at this?  It hurts!  Actually, I should really say, it hurts my pride.  I realize now that I had put too much into this dress.  There's nothing wrong with saying (perhaps even with a hint of pride) "yes, I did make this.", but if I am really honest, there was definitely a strong force driving me to make this dress so that I could show it off to all my hip southern California friends.  That's not so cool.
So yesterday I took my girl with me to the mall and we did a little shopping.  Well, I shopped.  Adeline amused herself wildly in the dressing room.  See?

I totally would have missed out on that had I made my dress!  haha!  She was such a trooper while I tried on lots of dresses--and even found one I really like.  I'll show it to you later when I have something better than my iPhone shot from the dressing room to my mother in law making sure she thought it was a good choice!