Hmmm

I'm not convinced by this one. The fact that I finished it a week ago and haven't worn it yet says a lot to me. It just doesn't fit right. I did do a muslin, but I was focused entirely on the bust (which worked out quite well, thanks to this tutorial: Gathered bodice full bust adjustment). Here's a little secret. I'm a lazy musliner. I do the basics, but I don't go as far as zippers and buttons. I did get as far as putting on one sleeve - a giant puffed sleeve which I promptly rejected in favour of these slightly fluttery ones. But because I didn't properly fit the closure, I didn't notice that it didn't totally fit around the hips, or in the shoulders.

 

I don't know why I didn't think to make the two adjustments I made so successfully with the Cambie (swayback adjustment, and an inch off the bodice length). It's too bad, because those are exactly the problems. Note to self: FBA, swayback, and bodice length! Every time. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to do that before the muslin, even.

The thing is, I'm not sure it's a great style for me anyway, at least not around the neckline. Doesn't it look better without the collar? (And it would look even better without the sunburn.)

 

So, all in all, unconvinced. I'm going to make myself wear it next week and see how it is in real life - with that skirt, I think; it perfectly matches some of the flowers in the pretty yellow fabric. 

Dress Me Up

I made a dress! Although I suppose the more exciting part is that I FINISHED a dress.

The bad news is that I didn't meet my January goal of finishing up my two UFOs (the shirt and the dress). But I was only 2 days late, so that basically counts, right? Good enough!

I'm pretty happy with it. It's fully lined, which was the reason I picked this pattern from the list for the course (actually the pattern had only the top lined, but I added a lining to the skirt) - that was a trick I wanted to learn. And the fabric was a fabulous gift from my friend K in England. It is, however, very definitely not perfect.

 This is a perfect gathered sleeve.

This...is not. It's so flat!

Whoops - my seams don't match up. Yikes.

And the pattern really doesn't match up. Look at those circles! In my defense I had barely enough fabric for the pattern. I actually had to shorten it quite a bit in order to fit all the pieces onto the fabric, but I'm pretty short, so it worked out to be the right length.

The waist is too short in the front (my hand is at my natural waist). That's because I didn't do a proper full bust adjustment - I just faked it by cutting the top in the same size as the bottom (instead of 2 sizes smaller, which is my actual size minus the boobs), and pinning to fit. So of course the whole thing is hiked up in order to fit over the ladies.





Here's the thing, though: I don't care. I like the dress! Sure, it's not perfectly fit and gorgeously tailored, but it has awesome material and I will totally wear it. 

...when it's not winter.

Skipping ahead

Well, my wee audience, I've had a half a post going for ages now, waiting for me to upload photos, but I'm going to jump ahead and come back to that post. Because I've started another sewing class!

This time it's the advanced beginner, where you do your choice of project from a set list of patterns. I knew I wanted to do something more complicated - definitely not another skirt! My lastest obsession is proper fitting, so I decided to do either a pair of trousers (because how amazing would it be to be able to sew pants that actually fit?) or a dress (fitting the bodice; lining). In the end I decided to do the dress, even though it's going to be far too cold to wear it, because I really want to figure out how to deal with my top and bottom being different sizes.

Did you know that you should always start with a pattern that's the right size for the top, and then adjust from there? And that most patterns are built for a B cup? Two very important things that I've learned in my readings, particularly of the fantastic book, Fit for Real People. According to that book, you measure your high bust (under the arms, above the bust) instead of your actual bust, and start with that pattern size so that the shoulders and back fit properly. And then you make a Full Bust Adjustment if needed (or a Small Bust Adjustment, but that's not happening here).

So I did that, but I made the rookie mistake in not really believing my measurements. I ended up cutting one size smaller on top than bottom, because that fit with my regular bust size. I did a tissue fitting the first class (pinning the pattern on myself along the seam allowances), mostly to check the bust and the back length. And it seemed okay. But clearly I wasn't looking closely enough, because when I tried on my bodice once it was sewn (in the second class), it was really obvious that I should have cut one size smaller - it was quite big in the back and around the armholes.  Plus it was a bit short in the front (because I didn't give myself the extra room with the FBA) and long in the back (because I am short-waisted). Basically all the problems I have with ready-to-wear dressses.

Next time, I tell you.

Anyway, the teacher pinned me up and I'm going to resew the seams, plus attempt to sew the lining with the new seams. It's mostly rescued, but it was an excellent lesson in what I'll need to do next time: cut 2 sizes smaller on top, do an FBA, shorted the back length and the shoulders, and do a good tissue fitting.

More to come!

Christmas catch-up

Well, my Christmas sewing was a huge success. Yay! The project that I didn't mention was the 5 drawstring pouches and zippered bags I made for friends (one set was already in the mail when I took the photo).

Aren't they fun fabrics? It was so much fun picking them. Although if you can believe it, these were much more trouble than the shirt and skirt - I had to buy more fabric twice, once because the fabric I bought was far too stretchy to work with and I needed something different (the top blue flowers), and once because I bungled it so badly I had to start again (the stripes). But I got them all done in time, hurrah.


And then there's the presents for my parents. I didn't get a picture of the skirt for my mom before I gifted it, mostly because I was sewing the buttons on Christmas Eve, and the skirt didn't look like anything without them. (I got the shirt buttons sewn on minutes before leaving to catch my flight out.) But here are my parents wearing their new clothes.

No, I'm not such a terrible photographer that I cut their heads off. Close, though. Both things fit perfectly (yay, again), and they both seemed genuinely thrilled, not just with the thought, but with the final product. I was awfully happy.

Now I can do some more sewing for myself! I'd bought some fabric in the fall to make another version of the skirt I did for my class, because I liked it so much. So I pulled that out today, and struggled through the effort of prepping the fabric (side note: this is the most time consuming part for me. so annoying). In then end I decided on another pattern I had, just for fun. I layed out the pattern and started pinning, but didn't get very far - it was very hard (and painful!) to get the pins through this fabric. After putting multiple dents in my fingers I figured it was enough for the night. But still, it feels good to start another project, even if it is, yes, one more skirt.