I had assembled and traced the pattern yesterday so that everything would be ready when I wanted to sew. I made very few adjustments; I did the bodice in a straight XS, and tapered the skirt from XS to M using my hip curve. When I go to put in the elastic at the waist, I'll use the length for the S.
After Hubby went to work, I got busy ironing my fabric and cutting out my pieces. I'm not 100% convinced this style will work on me, so I got some fabric I like a lot, but which was not expensive: a nice silk twill with lots of drape in a coral pink color:
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| This picture makes it look more pink than it really is. |
There were only three yards of it left, so I bought all three. It's nice to know that I have some leeway in case something goes wrong!
It's not the easiest fabric to work with - it's somehow sticky and slippery at the same time. Not too unusual for silk, I guess. I seem to have traded fitting headaches for fabric headaches.
I spent the first half hour applying interfacing to the facing pieces. I bought very lightweight knit interfacing, which I had never used before. The lady at the fabric store told me that I should soak it in hot water for 20 minutes and hang it to dry. She claims that will prevent it from bubbling. It went on like a charm, and I really like it - it gives just enough structure without interfering with the drape.
As I was working, I serged all the edges that needed it.
After a couple hours, I felt like my attention was beginning to wane. I'm very proud of myself that I put everything away rather than push through. I think when I keep going even though I'm tired, that's when I start to get careless. So here it is, in my staging area (a.k.a. the guest bed) waiting for another day:
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| This one is more color-accurate. |
I've been daydreaming about which shoes to wear with this, of course. IF it looks good on me.
It's so smart to walk away when you get to that point. I'm really trying to cultivate that ability. And the colour looks great.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't walk away - and then I regret it later!
DeleteOh I'm glad I'm not the only one who traces patterns- it's such a pain but I don't want to destroy the pattern tissue of the other sizes... just in case! Looking good! And you are brave to sew without a muslin, I'm being too careful at the moment not to!
ReplyDeleteI trace ALL my patterns! I don't want to destroy the tissue either! And I find the pattern-making material I use a lot easier to work with than tissue. It's got the same texture as non-woven interfacing, so it sticks to the fabric!
DeleteI'm glad you discovered knit fusible interfacing. I love the stuff. I didn't know about the bubbling, the instructions that came with it said the hot water was to pre-shrink it but perhaps that's the same. I love how it moves along with light weight fabrics. That color you bought is beautiful! I can't wait when I can mail order fabrics again and get a wider variety of weights and colors.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll be using that interfacing a lot from here on out!
DeleteI bought this fabric in person - I got a little scared after my last online fabric purchase, when the red twill was so much heavier than I was expecting! I'm clearly still in the learning phase re: suitable fabric choices!
Oh my gosh, that color is gorgeous! I'm really excited to see it! I just read about knit fusible interfacing for the first time today (on Lizz's blog over at A Good Wardrobe)! It sounds so useful! I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteI always kind of knew about it, but somehow I had the idea it was only to be used on knits! But when I looked at the tutorial on Pattern Runway, I could see it's what she used, so I decided to give it a try. Love it!
DeleteI would have never guessed that you were feeling fatigued about your sewing -- all your recent projects have been so wonderful. I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering when we'd see more of your knitting so I'm glad that you've got your needles going. As for your new dress, the fabric looks beautiful but incredibly delicate.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's just that the knitting doesn't really look like much until it's done! Just a bunch of big pieces of stockinette! Also, I haven't been able to knit as much lately because my elbows have been sore (I think I overdid it with that Still Light dress).
DeleteBravo for knowing when to stop! I really struggle with this and I'm hoping that once I set up a permanent sewing station that it might be easier to put projects away in the middle. Right now I sew on the dining room table and I always feel an urgency to finish and clean up.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see how you like this design. One thing I wish I had done with this dress is to sew a casing for the elastic instead of sewing it directly to the fabric. The length of the elastic varied from dress to dress and it would have been nice to easily take it in.
I'm the same - I really hate having stuff laying all over my dining room and living room (it's all one big space), so I push myself through in order to be able to put it all away. But it usually ends up biting me in the butt.
DeleteI wondered that too about the elastic not having a casing. It didn't make sense to me when I read the instructions, and I had to go to the photos in the tutorial to figure out what she meant. So now that you've mentioned it, maybe I'll go ahead and do a casing.
Looking forward to seeing this one! It feels so great to make some sewing progress mid-week, even if you don't finish a whole garment :)
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteLooking good, friend!
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