We have a dress...

The lining still needs a hem, but it's gonna work.

I'm not crazy about it, but she likes it better than any that she tried on in the malls ...'It's swishy!'

I will readily admit that it looks much better in motion than it looks in a flash photograph.

I never dreamed that fabric would be such a beast to sew.  The bias has hung out a bit unevenly on the skirts; I just whacked the lining back so that it won't show, but I don't think I'll worry about the dress itself.

It's no worse than the RTW we looked at.  Really.

At least she has a dress to wear Friday.   I think a perfect dress would have a midriff band under the bodice, to move the fullness of the skirt down a bit. Maybe for the church events...we'll worry about the other occasions after we get past this week....

Rough day in the sewing room...

Let's just say that, if this had been any kind of competition like the Great British Sewing Bee, today is the day I would've gone home.

It was noonish before I actually sat down to sew; laundry and such, you know, but I figured it'd take me about six hours to sew up the dress.

ha ha and ha.

The dress has a lined surplice bodice.  The skirt was not to be lined, but the fabric I'm using is very nearly lawn-weight and needed a lining.

I did not think through how impossible it is to fully line a dress with a surplice bodice.  The bodice lining has to be sewn to the crossover parts, and that is sewn into the skirt.  There's no way to sew the lining skirt to the lining top.  I tried a number of things that didn't work; finally decided I was just going to have to sew the skirt lining on by hand.

And I had the graduate try on the dress.  I don't know what happened between the muslin and the first fitting...but there were some issues with the fit of the bodice.  I made a few tweaks; the before-the-lining fitting was the second try on.

And the right front bodice just Did Not Work.  It looked like it was shifted off center, but all the measurements indicated it was where it should be.  I don't know if something  in the lining was pulling wrong...that looked ok, too, from the inside, but there was no disputing the fact that it looked horrible when it was actually on her.

Really, really horrible.

Call it a wadder and throw it in the trash can horrible....and you know how much I hate wadders.

Except 'wadder' is not an option with this dress; we are out of time and options.

Then I recollected that I probably had enough fabric to cut the other view of the bodice....

I thought of the nicely inserted zipper...and all the trimmed and serged seams...and I knew that it was the only way this dress was possibly going to be salvaged.

So I took the zipper off, took the skirt off, cut a new front and back bodice and front and back lining from the UNFITTED bodice on the pattern, hoping  it would work.

And I commenced to making stupid mistakes.

Again, things on the bodice went wonky.  I'm beginning to think the on-sale poly I'm using for the lining is off grain.  I'm not even going to try to describe the weirdness that happened when I put the lining in; even understitching didn't completely fix it.  I've got a cobbled up bit on one shoulder strap; and it's visibly narrower than the other, if anyone looks close.

Wadder not an option.  Forging ahead.

I put the first skirt piece on wrong-side-to right side.  Discovered it after I had serged and trimmed the seam.

Out it came...then I had to offset those two pieces when I sewed them to the correct one.

The invisible zip went in pretty much right the first time...except one of the waistline seam allowances got flipped down.

Took out a bit and fixed it.  It was just a teeny fix and, after I did it,  the zipper looked pretty good.

Then I noticed the twist in the shoulder.

I made sure I walked the edge around before sewing the second side of thezipper so that I did NOT get that twist...I have no idea how that happened.

There was no way I was taking that zipper out.  I opened up one of the shoulder seams...lining, understiching, everything.... untwisted the bodice,  sewed up the shoulder seam and then handstitched the lining back in place.

No, it's not like the other side, but it works.

And that's where I was 13 hours after I started.

No dress, and no assurance that what I've done is even going to be wearable.

Not even going to be home until about 7:30 tomorrow night.

So.  yeah. 

The Grad Dress part 3 -- cutting table...

For the New Look pattern all I needed to muslin up was the bodice...

So, of course, I unpicked the scrapped Vogue muslin and cut the bodice out of the skirt before I tossed the fail.  :-)

I added a bit to the front to raise the cross over just a bit; when the Flute Player tried it on and I told her that that had been raised about an inch, she gave me the big eyed-jaw drop.

Yeah.  It was pretty much a necessity.

But the only real adjustment I had to make to the muslin was to rotate a quarter inch dart out of the armhole into the tucks.  I dithered over adding a bit more ease to the back...it fit, but only just...and decided I'd probably make something quite acceptable into a mess.  I'll just narrow the side seams a wee bit and I think we'll be good.

I did, however, draft a new skirt.  She wanted more swish and fullness, so I drafted a four-gore half circle skirt.  Tedious, but it will avoid the whole 'cut a bigger size on the bottom' issue.

I hit both Hancock's in town...happened to eat lunch near the one on the other side, so I looked 'round in there...y'know...just in case.  They didn't have anything close to what I had in mind, so I stopped in the one on our end of the parkway on my way home and found a poly dot jacquard with a great hand on the  oddball fabric rack. It's not white-white, more cream or eggshell, but it is dressy w/o looking like it's intended for bridal wear.

There wasn't anything close to that shade for lining, though, and I ended up with white.  I thought it would brighten the face fabric a bit; but now I'm skeered it will just mean all the seams and tucks will be highlighted.

If it is, it is.  There wasn't anything else...and, you know, all the RTW dresses we tried yesterday had seams and such that showed through.  So  I don't know why I'm worried about it.

The skirt panel was too wide to cut on a fold; so I cut the dress and the lining out single layer.

Oy.

But...it's all cut out and ready to go.  I get to do the GBSB deal tomorrow;  the influx of folks for grad festivities begins Tuesday, and my house (and refrigerator!  I can NOT find the smell generator in there!) is a wreck.  I have all day tomorrow...but I ONLY have tomorrow...

Grad Dress, Part 2 -- Fruitless search

Today was the Flute Player's LAST Last Day of School, and she was done before lunch, so I used some of my mega comp time accumulated during the data base migration and took the day off and we went shopping.

Oy.  'Tis a desolate search in the world of retail.  We actually only found try-on worthy dresses in two stores.  Of those, there were about 3 that she rather liked.  But the fit was off in all of them just a bit, and the construction...well, lets just say it wasn't up to my standards.

But she tried on about 8 dresses and, in trying those on, saw what silhouettes she liked and got a good idea of what she wants.

So I came home and showed her  about 3 patterns that had elements of the dresses she liked; of those, she chose New Look 6935.

We had to leave again almost immediately for the LAST end-of-the-year band concert, but once that was history I came home and began tracing.  Hope to get it muslined up tomorrow so I  know it's a go and can make a quick trip to Hancock's for suitable fabric.  I have an idea of what I want...but, you know, I'm just gonna hafta pick the best of what's there.
Fortunately, both of the reviews the dress has over on Pattern Review say the dress is very quick to make.

Glory hallelujah.

The Grad Dress, Part 1...fail

There is not much time before graduation...it is a week from Friday.

The Flute Player requires a white dress.

She'll wear this dress at least 4 times this summer...graduation, her Girls Ministry Gold Medal award ceremony, the Honor ceremony at state girls camp and the advancement ceremony for our local girls ministry program.

The church related events have requirements...no off-the shoulder, wiggle, or above knee dresses.

Time being short and all, I just figured we'd go shopping.

We'd planned to go tonight.

However, she had a ton of work to do on a powerpoint presentation due tomorrow and it became apparent about 7 that we were NOT going to make it shopping tonight.

So I decided to give a muslin a go; if I could find a dress that worked, I could make it about as quick as we could wander over the city shopping.

So our first go was Vogue 1348, a Tom and Linda Platt dress that I thought would make a nice dress for her.  I guesstimated her size, traced a 10 w/ no adjustments and whipped up a muslin.

It fit great in the shoulders but was too small everywhere else.  So I let out the seams as far as the pleats, which helped a bit, but it was still too snug in the hips.

And, you know, it just looked sorta meh on her.  She's a pear, and the snug fitting bodice and fullish skirt really kinda emphasized that.

So, after an evening of work, I've decided that dress won't suit her.

So I'm back to square one.

and we won't have a chance to go shopping until Friday...

3 Plus 1 Pillowcases

As I'm sure many of you know, Rhonda Buss is doing a pillowcase drive for Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.  Her goal was to accumulate 900 pillowcases...roughly the amount needed for one month's worth of giveaways.

I wanted to participate, but I don't have a big stash of printed cottons and I just hadn't managed to go hunting for suitable fabric and wasn't sure I was going to get something suitable in time to get them in.  But at the Sewing Expo last month, a pizza-printed cotton caught my eye, and I found that there were also hotdog and hamburger prints.  They were kinda pricey for pillowcases, but, hey, it's for kids, right?

So I brought 'em home and, like every other project I've been sewing for the last six months, I worked on 'em fifteen minutes at a time.

During the course of the little-bit-at-a-time pillowcase project, my high school girls club had a sewing night and made some tote bags from the three cotton prints I could scrape out of my stash (more on that later, with photos...).  I had a remnant left of one of the prints that was just enough for a pillowcase, so I have the three food pillowcases...plus the one random one.

These will go in the mail tomorrow (I hope!);  Rhonda is only 6 pillowcases short of 900 as of her blog post today, so I'm sure mine will be extras, but I'm glad to get to send some along.  It has been fun to see what everyone has done for this.

Choir Wardrobe 061913

 Ok, this is pretty much the same thing I wore a couple of weeks ago, allowing for a different necklace and different jeans, so the main reason to even talk about today's photo is the haircut.

After deliberately spending three years growing my hair out to one length, I went to my hairdresser Friday and had her re-layer it.

I'm not so sure I feel at home in such frothyness, but, believe it or not, that is my hair in pretty much its natural state.  I have fought it for most all my life, trying to get it to lie down and behave and be NEAT, but it just won't cooperate.  Since I'm trying to define my own personal style, I decided I needed to start with accepting my hair the way it is.  I could get it chopped off short,  and I may yet do that, but there's nothing distinctive about short hair.  This may be weird and un-neat and not quite appropriate for a Woman of A Certain Age, but it is uniquely me so I'm going to TRY to make it work for me.

We'll see how it goes.

And then there was the one that got away....


I bought some lovely black/white/silver knit from one of my favorite online vendors and proceeded to make up my latest TNT T shirt pattern, Jalie 2566.  I knew I was dealing with fabric that didn't have a boatload of stretch, but I thought I'd be ok.  I have a version of this made from a really stretchy knit that's almost too big, and another made from a fairly stable knit that's ok. 

I guess this knit is more than just 'fairly' stable, because once I finished it and put it on...well, 'sausage casing' came to mind.  Fortunately, it fits The Flute Player rather well.

Which is ok...she needs some real wardrobe T-shirts, instead of just the graphics-printed promo shirts.  So I gave it to her... Sigh...

Choir Wardrobe 07/15/12

I still can't find my yellow top.  It's not really that big of a deal, since I have plenty of coral and gray, but it would be nice to know where it's disappeared to.  I've looked in all the usual lost garment haunts and all of the unusual ones I can think of...no luck yet.

So, I'm just using the alternates.    The Jalie 2919 cardigan, Jalie 2682 v-neck top, aging Gloria Vanderbilt straight leg jeans (the closest I'll come to skinny jeans!) and the yellow plastic jewelry again.

And...a report on a finished project.  This upcoming week is dual camp week. First the annual Massive Youth Group Trip to Florida (last count: we have 17 other churches coming to our camp this year.  Wow.), which my three unmarried offspring will be attending; one as a camper and two as workers/counselors.  Secondary to that, it is the State Girls' Ministry camp, and I actually have five girls who, for one reason or another, didn't go to Youth Camp and who are going with me to the Girls camp.  We all leave bright and early in the morning.

The youth group actually did a pre-check in today and all the kids had to have their luggage in to church this morning; they were loading it up in a HUGE Ryder truck.  So all the packing had to be done before we left the house at 7:30 this morning.

Well, a couple of days ago The Flute Player pulled out her swimsuit and the elastic cracked and broke when she stretched it (well, it IS at least 3 years old...).  So, I figured it was faster to make her a suit than to traipse around town late in the season looking for one that was conservative enough for church camp.  Plus I still had a goodly chunk of nylon/lycra left from the last suit.  However, last time I made a girls' suit; this time, it's a Small in the KS misses' range.  And we needed bra cups.

So, I made a quick trip to Hancock's for bra cups and spent exactly as much on them as the remnant of fabric I had at home for her was worth.  A basic swimsuit is pretty simple; however, I had a time trying to figure out how to arrange the bra cups so that they were even and right and...I sewed them onto the lining backward and had to take them off and do it over.  But I did it while I was doing laundry, and I still think it was easier than shopping. ;-)  However, I finished it about 12:30 this AM and it's already on the truck, so I don't have even a hanger shot.

And I did have a bit of fabric arrive from a sale last week and a friend gave me a couple of pieces from her stash as a birthday gift; I think I'm actually going to do another variation of that Jalie cardigan again from one of the new arrivals.

After camp. ;-)

PJ's for for the Flute Player

So, church youth camp is coming up next week and The Flute Player did not have suitable PJ's.  I got the note-printed knit from one of Ann's significant sales, and used my modified Loes Hinse City Dress pattern for the top and the good' ol' Burda No-Side-Seam pants for the britches and...happy musical daughter.  The only fly in the ointment was that she has grown more than I realized and the pants are very nearly too snug.

But they'll do.

Incidentally, I cut out a second pair of the Burda pants in my size; PJ bottoms for me, from what was left of the note fabric too.  Working on a fuschia tank top for the top...literally made from scraps...to go with 'em.  I'm going to camp next week, too, although it's not the same one.

I put different colored ribbons in the backs of the pants so we can not only tell the front from the back easily, but tell whose is whose...

A Goofy Shirt for the Artist

The only other bit of holiday sewing I did this year was what amounts to a joke.  I saw a sweatshirt in a catalog that was customizable with "(NAME) The Man. The Myth. The Legend." as the graphic.  For 42 bucks plus shipping.

I immediately knew that my older son had to have such a shirt.  If you knew him, you'd know why.

However, I wasn't going to spend such a sum for what was essentially a gag gift.

Fortunately, I had some long-stashed white cotton french terry fleece in the bins and a long out-of-print Palmer/Pletsch  multi-sized sweat shirt pattern ready to use.  Light fabric transfer paper from Hobby Lobby and my minimal graphic arts skills were all that I needed to come up with a truly memorable Christmas gift.

After all, not many presents generate a reaction like this:

So here's the shirt, with his name in Icelandic.  I may never actually see it on him:

Then and Now

I thought I'd do a little reminiscing...the first dress I reviewed for the Flute Player (she was, I think, 6) and the most recent dress I reviewed.

Sigh.  Time flies.

I will post more about the things sewed for the wedding as the week progresses.  Unfortunately, I did not manage to get a good shot of the MOB dress at any point Saturday, so I'll need to put it back on and have someone point the camera at it.  The pictures I did see, though, revealed some fit issues that the mirror did not.  I really could've benefited greatly from one more muslin; it's a pity I didn't have time.  But I did learn some things about drafting and fitting...and it probably fit at least as well as something bought RTW would've fit.

I read back over the wedding posts and realized I never mentioned what happened with the bridesmaid's dresses.  At the very point at which I was ready to dig in and start the manufacturing process, the Bride decided that it would be easier on me if each of the girls all just went out and bought a grey dress that she liked.  So long as it was sleeveless and knee length, she was happy with it.  So we had an eclectic mix of dresses in a couple of different shades of gray (one had some black accents, which went with the overall color scheme) that actually looked very nice together.  Made the guys, in their rented suits and matching ties, look kind of cookie cutterish in contrast.

And I suppose the best thing is that none of the girls will ever wear their dress in an 'Ugly Bridesmaids' pageant...

...And I didn't get a picutre

I finished version 2 of the Madison Avenue dress for the Flute Player and got her to try it on. She's happy with it; I think it's still snug through the lower torso and hips. So if/when I make her another one, I'll bump up the size below the ribcage again.

To Recap: I originally cut an XXS, shortened 6" and grading out to an XS in the back at the hip line. This was Quite Snug. With a lining to help smooth things, it was Barely Wearable.

So, I added 3/8" to the side seams and tried again.

Better through the bust and upper back, but still snug on the bottom half.

Guess I should've started w/a XXS in the shoulders, and graded out to a S in the front and a M in the back.

What can I say? She's growing like nobody's business right now. What I measure today will no doubt be too small next month.

Still, she likes the dress pattern a lot, so I'm sure I'll make more. Sooner or later, I'll hit it dead on. ;-)

Unfortunately, I didn' think about getting a picture until she'd already changed out. Oh, well, it'll look better when she brushes her hair and adds a slip anyway...

So, after supper tonight the Actor and I sat down and he totally cleaned my clock in Mario Party 7: Neon Heights. Even the computer characters beat me...very sad....BUT there is a lot of time between turns on that board, so I did get the offending sleeve removed from my gray denim jacket. So I'll be back on that very shortly.

The (almost) Instant Dress

I guess it was 1) the hurry we were in and 2) the low light in the foyer, but this picture didn't get focused very well. sigh.

We had a wedding to attend today and The Flute Player had NOTHING suitable for a wedding to wear. I flip flopped ideas until I ran out of time...then I decided I'd just whip up a little knit dress for her.

Cinderella's mice would've done a MUCH better job than I did, but she had to wear it so I more or less shut my eyes and off we went.
The main problem was that I just didn't realize how much she'd grown since the last time I sewed for her, and I traced a too-small pattern. It doesn't show in the photos, but the dress really is Quite Snug. Wearable...but barely.

This is Textile Studio's Madison Avenue Dress shortened by 6". I traced a size XXS, going up a size in the back from the waist down. As I said, it's snug. One size up all around would probably have been perfect.

It's made from 11-oz rayon/lycra jersey that I purchased from an online vendor for choir this month, but it turned out to be just a bit brighter orange than I thought...no matter, I knew I'd get something from it since orange is the Flute Player's favorite color.

But that 11-oz jersey is very lightweight; I'd even call it semi-sheer. I pulled out some beige lining knit and lined it.

I need to go back and tack the lining/facings better...when I have time. It's pretty slapdashed at the moment. I had to topstitch the armholes and the neckline to keep the lining/facings from rolling out; had I had more time I'd've tweaked my procedures a bit and maybe had a nicer finish. But...I think it's as good as any RTW dress would be at that price point...$16, including the lining.

At least she likes the dress. She's funny...she really doesn't like dresses that are even approaching a short length, so the length on this is just about perfect for her.

I expect I'll make this one again.

A Quarter Century...

I thought, in honor of celebrating 25 years of motherhood, I'd do a little retrospective of the various garments I've sewn for my firstborn down through the ages.

I got the highlights of the first five years. Several of those garments I'd totally forgotten about. Wow.


Sometimes I matched her to me...sometimes to her brother...sometimes to her cousin.

And that's really only about half of it...just the better things.

I didn't realize I accomplished so much!

But I had a hard time finding photos that showed the clothes; I guess I was more interested in taking pictures of the kids! Imagine! LOL....

Made it!!!

Whew.

Review to follow... ;)

I *Think* I'll make it...

The wedding to which The Princess wants to wear her Simplicity 2442 dress takes place at 4 PM tomorrow...and this is the current state of the dress:

Now, in all actuality it needs:
1) Facings applied to top back
2) Side seams
3) Facings folded down and slipstitched
4) narrow machine hem on the skirt.

I think that's do-able by 3 ish tomorrow; but I've lost the back facings. I'm pretty sure I remember sewing them up as prep...but they've TOTALLY gone missing.

I'll just cut new ones. In the morning.

Right now...I'm off to bed. And I'm turning the alarm off... ;)

Let's Make A Deal

The Princess has been asking me to make a dress for her for, well, awhile. The trouble was, she kept asking for it when I was swamped with other sewing.

She had the pattern picked out...Simplicity 2442, and she had some turquoise rayon challis. She even traced the pattern/cut it out for me just before Easter, hoping I'd get it made for her for Easter. Unfortunately, she did that, like, four days before Easter, and I had other sewing to do and extra church services. So it was just not possible at that point.

Since then, I've gotten some rather snide remarks about having time to sew for other folks (the Honor Dress, the baptism robes...) but not for her. I keep hinting she could make it herself; I'd be glad to help. That, however, seems to be just not possible also.

We have a friend getting married a week from today; The Princess wanted to know if I could make her dress for the wedding. I've told her I'd see if I could work it in.

Then last week I had an Idea.

I am a total decorating klutz. I really am not good at it at all. When I first went to work, I asked The Princess if she could help me decorate my office...back when I had the dark brown paint left by the previous inhabitant. She flat refused, saying she wouldn't have any idea what I'd like.

Now, this is the young lady who looked in our guest bathroom and pronounced, 'This room is a hot mess!!' and went out and bought stuff specifically for me to put in there so it didn't look so, um, hot messy. I thought she'd be glad to help.

Not so much.

Last month, we switched offices around and I got a freshly painted office...I even got to pick the color (a blue -leaning green). I like the new color; I could live with an undecorated office before; now, I'm ready to make it mine. However,I'm still a decorating klutz. But, instead of just asking The Princess for help, I offered a swap...

I'll make the dress if she'll help with my office decorating.

I got a very quick 'Yes!' on that one.

So I've temporarily shelved my choir sewing and I worked on the Simplicity dress. I believe she's lost weight since she traced the pattern last spring; I had to take up the muslin of the bodice quite a bit. But it looks like it's gonna fit.

So. that's my project for the next few days.

Here's a couple of Parting Shots for your amusement:

Frisco couldn't understand why I didn't want her exactly on that spot while I was altering the pattern...

I gave up arguing with her and went to switch the laundry in the machines.
Suddenly, she turned up in the middle of that, too...


She's not cuddly, but she's very sociable!

Back from Camp

...and the dress fit.

We had a great weekend and the girls had a marvelous time. The honors ceremony was very pretty; the three girls from my class who graduated all pulled a joke on me. The Flute Player was the first one; as they're escorted in for the ceremony, a little biographical blurb is read, based on replies the girls wrote on a questionnaire about themselves and about their class. Her favorite part of class? "When her teacher would go on tangents or 'Rabbit trails' ". Two girls later, M. was escorted in. She put down that her favorite part of class was "When her teacher would go on tangents or 'Rabbit trails' ".
Finally, the last girl to go up on stage was K., and she had a long list of things she loved about Friends club, finished off with , "When her teacher would go on tangents or 'Rabbit trails' ".

I think I'm gonna need to get a little stuffed rabbit to put in our classroom as a mascot....
Now I need to get a shower and a nap!!! ;)

Honor Dress...In The TA-DA! Nick of time...

I had the Flute Player try it on before I added the sleeves; it may be a tad big but I'm not going to sweat it. It's at least as good as something we could buy, and, well, she might wear it for Easter next year if it still fits... ;)

That's three layers thick...the eyelet (which is almost as sheer as batiste)face, underlining and lining, both in white poly/cotton batiste. I was sooo afraid it'd be transparent, but, when she tried it on, it looked ok.

Now I'm just waiting on the last load of laundry. We're supposed to load up at church at 8:30 tomorrow....

Changing the Honor Dress. Again.

I finally sat down with The Flute Player and told her what I thought would happen with the dress she described to me...raised waist, puffy sleeves and a gathered skirt to below her knees.

It *might* be cute, but my expectation was that it would look like a little girl's dress. Not exactly what we want.

I dug around and found Simplicity 9130, which I made for her sister about 7 years ago. It is *designed* to be made from a border eyelet, and it's a little more sophisticated than what we'd talked about.

She agreed...providing I made it down to her mid-knee and put sleeves on it.

I took some measurements and determined that she's pretty close to the size I cut for her sister; I'm going to make the lining up tomorrow and see if it'll work.

At least I know the dress won't take forever to make... which is a good thing, because we're cutting out baptismal robes tomorrow and sewing them on Friday and Saturday.

Sometimes I really wish my right brain and my left brain would communicate! :rolleyes: