Knitting the Blues

To Ruffle Or Not To Ruffle....

Hey, I'm looking for opinions. Which I reserve the right to ignore. ;)

Thanks, though!

 

And then I recorded this:

 

Well, there you go. Quick and easy blog post.

 

 2013. Six. As you might have guessed, my game room studio, which was so nice and neat has become victim to a flash of sewing creativity. I hope I sew all I brought up before I lose the inspiration. Off to cut some more!

And Now For A Tropical MomentThat Would Have Been More Timely Back in July

I can't remember how long ago I purchased this fabric, maybe a year or two on a jaunt to NYC.  I love the blue tropical feel, the pineapples and surfboards, palm trees and tropical drinks.  A rayon and cotton blend I thought it would make a great little dress to wear on an island vacation.  So, it sat for awhile and as time went on the idea of a wrap skirt took over, one I fell in love with, so I went on the search for a pattern.  You have no idea how hard it is to find a pattern for a wrap skirt.  After finally discovering the discontinued pattern sections on the pattern company websites I found a pattern for just what I thought I was looking for and ordered it. 

An invitation to a luau themed party was just the push I needed to pull this out and make it.  So, the night before the party I got the pattern out and was so disappointed!  This pattern was the simplest of patterns going with everything about wrap skirts that I hate!  First, it was a true wrap skirt, the bottom flap having a tie that goes through a space in the side seam and wraps around to tie with the extension on the front flap of the skirt.  Well, that just never works well, does it?  Second icky thing?  The reason this is a one hour pattern:  Cut four pieces (two fronts, a back and a tie) seam them, add a couple of darts, then turn under 5/8" all around and topstitch.  There is just so much wrong with that.  First, it never lays well at the waist (add that to the true wrap nature of the skirt and ick!) and then you see the wrong side of the fabric on the tie when you are wearing it.  My simple one hour skirt wasn't going to be so simple after all. 

I decided to make the skirt as written on some old cotton I had lying around to check the fit, thinking that if I liked it I might have a skirt to, as my mom would say, "knock around in".  That took less than an hour and lucky I did it, the skirt needed a few alterations in addition to the ones I was planning.  As much as I thought I might wear it, that skirt went into the scrap pile for other test projects, all of my wardrobe would have to be waiting to be washed and fil-thy for me to put it on. 

Once I got that figured out, I decided to create a facing for the front edges, waistband and tie.  Then I planned to sew the other tie into the waistband, not one that wraps around, but is at the same side that the top tie comes across to, and to insert a hook and eye to secure the inside of the wrap skirt on the other hip.  Even with these additions, the skirt worked up pretty quickly and I had it made in one morning to wear that day.

 

I like it!

 

Ties up purty with no "wrong side" showing!

 

It fits.

 

And looks so matchy-matchy with my pedicure.

 

Thinking about what to sew next....

Ninety.  So, what did I do with the rest of the fabric?  Something kinda fun,  you'll have to wait and see!

And Erin Thought She Had The Prettiest Dress At the Ball

Or Junior Semi-formal, whatever. 

So, the only problem was that while I can sew anything, really, I can hem nothing.  I was fixing that effing hem right up until the time she had to leave and she was so frazzled that she left without letting me get a single photo.  The pics that follow were taken after she had been to the dance, out to eat with friends, then to an after party at a friend's house and she was only home long enough to get changed into her pajamas and head back to the party to sleep over.  I'm assuming that the after party involved all kinds of sitting and laying around on floors, which will explain all of those wrinkles in the silk.  I plan on getting it to the dry cleaners this week and making her put it on again for better photos, minus the good hair.

Pattern:  Vogue 8360
Fabric: Silk Charmeuse-vewy vewy slippewy!
Started: December 1, 2008
Finished: December 6, 2008

I am pretty happy with this dress, especially after doing an internet search to see if others had made it and not liking much of what I saw.  There were definitely problems, but the biggest one was bad fabric choices.  The pattern clearly calls for light-weight fabric and the ones I saw around the net were made in heavier satins and tafettas.  As a consequence, the gathered section on the front made the dress look slightly "maternityish" and I knew that there was an excellent chance that I could finish the dress, have her try it on, complain about looking preggers and refuse to wear it.  Hmmm....  So.  I knew the correct fabric choice was on my side.  I also knew that the construction of the dress as written was not.  The pattern instructed the sewer to gather both the dress fabric and the lining together before attaching to the bodice and I knew that would have to change, so I planned to rework the linings and cut them flat (there are gathers on the back as well-I'll get pics when I get it cleaned, the back is so.cute.).  Still a tad bit worried about the preggers look I called a friend who is a real dress-maker and she made the best suggestion.  Usually when I gather fabric I will run two gathering threads and pull up, I use smallish stitches if I am using a really light fabric, but just the two.  Well, Candy told me to run four gathering rows of stitches.  What a Great.I.Dea!  The gathers were perfect, and they didn't poof out at all, the dress was so flattering.  I'll get better photos of that, too. 

There was a little issue with the underarms and the low back popping away from the body a little and I ran out of time (and the will) to fix them.  Thank God for Braza Clothing Adhesives.  They kept anyone from looking down the back of the dress and the bodice, which fit almost perfectly, to her sides.  

I think she was happy.

 

Hey, don't forget to check out this week's  YouTube Saturday post and read to the end, I'm giving away a copy of the cd I talk about to one lucky commenter!

Twenty-four to go!  Don't you even dare think critically of these photos.  It was late, I had been asleep on the couch for two hours before she got home and could barely see her as she whirled by and back out again.  I'm lucky I got these at all. 

My Sewing Mojo.....

...has been forced into action.  It is semi-formal season around here and I am making this dress (shortened to just above the knee) for Erin.  We travelled to NYC to get the fabric she saw over the summer, I have spent hours with slippery silk, pinning (oh, the gajillions of pins!), hand basting every seam, lining and underlining each piece, and that is just the bodice.  You would think when she volunteers to clean my car she wouldn't charge me $30, wouldn't you?

The gorgeous royal purple is to be the skirt and the bodice inset, while that really nice light lilac makes the straps and the bodice section between the inset and the skirt, wrapping around to the back.  You cannot believe how much time I have spent on this thing, but the bodice is finished and the skirt is underway.  Why can't they wear cotton muslin to these dances anyway?

Twenty-eight to go.  NO!  I WILL NOT pay her to clean my car, not that I think she will actually do it.