Lavender & Twill : stitching stories

Showing posts with label stitching stories. Show all posts

Monday, March 26, 2018

༺ Stitching Stories: Loop the Loop ༻

Oh my goodness ~ I knew it has been a long time since I last did a Stitching Stories, but over a year and a half? Wow…

I guess it does make sense, we were so busy packing at the beginning of 2017 that I didn’t have a lick of time spare for any hobbies at all. When we got back for Christmas at the end of November, it wasn’t long until I was sitting down and doing some sewing at my Mom’s machine. I finished two dresses over Christmas ~ this one, and another. But I haven’t had a chance to post about until now.

The dress I’m wearing in this post was supposed to be my Christmas dress {didn’t finish it in time} and a wearable toile test for Butterick Retro Pattern B5748. I’ve had trouble with Butterick patterns fitting me properly before, so even though this was a simple pattern, I was determined to try and make sure it fitted perfectly beforehand.

I added a FBA, added extra seam allowance as the finished measurements of the size 14 I cut were 36B and 28W. Now, I hadn’t measured myself recently {and this is actually a good thing..!} but I knew for certain I was NOT a 28W!

I did the math and added the extra inches I thought I’d need and sewed up the bodice. It seemed to fit okay, but the skirt wasn’t on yet, so I couldn’t really tell. Once I put the skirt on it was clear to me that the bodice was wayyyyy too big! So glad I didn’t try to add even extra for my new measurements!

To make it wearable, I ended up making a series of darts and inside tucks to pinch out ALL the excess fabric I’d put in. Unfortunately, I’d already hand sewn my bias binding trim on around the neckline and armscyes. This meant that they all ended up with visible seams in the binding. Poo.

I had to take a big chunk out of the middle of the bodice, the back and the shoulders. And in the end, I also took more in at the waist seam to get the waist seam up a little higher! This was tricky as I did it after inserting my zipper.

Overall, the dress doesn’t fit as well as I’d like, it has some bunching issues under the arms, and it also likes to drop down at the front, which pushes the shoulder seams forward and the extra fabric bunches under my bust. I think this is actually the fault of too much fabric at the back. I have a slight sway back, and if there was any adjustment that I really needed it was a SBA.

Still, the dress is super lightweight and comfortable. The length and the simplicity of the cut and fabric make it really easy to wear so I was actually wearing it a TON over the summer.

But one thing was still bothering me… I’d added the bow at the neckline when making the dress ~ mostly because I’d had to do that interior tuck right up the middle of the bodice and I needed to camouflage the subsequent seam in the bias binding ~ but it wasn’t enough.

The rest of the dress looked so bare, I knew I had to do something about it. So just a week or so ago, I decided to add decorations to the pockets! I ended up with a loop-the-loop design with a bow at each end, and I really love, love, love it!

It doesn’t make the dress too fussy, but just adds that touch of something special. I was so pleased when I finally figured out what I needed to finish it off.

I have discovered I really do need to sew more basic clothing. I’m always drawn to all the fiddly patterns and all the fussy prints ~ and while I adore the intricacy of creating a detailed dress, I tend up “saving” those ones for special outings. I kept on pulling this one out over and over and over again because I loved how easy it was to wear! Whereas the second dress {which this one was the toile for…} yes, it has been sitting in the cupboard waiting for a special occasion to wear it! D’oh…

That one might not come out until much later on… Hehe…

~ Project Details ~

Year: Retro re-print from the 60s
Pattern: Butterick Retro B5748
Fabric: From my mother’s stash – a super sheer lightweight poly-cotton, red and white striped.
Notions: Red bias binding, red satin tubing, and a zip.
Time to complete: I can’t remember. The sewing on the machine didn’t take long at all, it was the hand sewing that really added the time. I hand sewed the bias trim, the hem, and the pocket detail.
Make again? Yes! I already have! And I want to make some other versions playing with the bodice style. I really enjoy how easy this one is to sew, and once I figured out the fit issues, I loved the fit.
Wear again? Absolutely. This one is coming with me to Thailand. I love it.
Total Cost: Not sure. Maybe $15.00? Thanks Mummy for the fabric!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Retrimmed Straw Boater Hat | Old
Red & White Ranunculus Hair Flowers | Daisy Jean Floral Designs
Loop The Loop Dress | Me Made, 2018
Red Bow Spectator Court Pumps | Dolce Nome

༺ ♡ ༻
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Tuesday, October 25, 2016

༺ Stitching Stories: Corbett Tulips ༻

You know, sometimes having too much to say can almost be as bad as not having anything to say at all… Where do I even being? At the beginning? Haha, that seems about right! But be warned ~ the beginning of this story literally started months ago… It’s a long one, so you might want to fetch a snack and a cup of tea. I’ll wait.

Ready?

My friend Tanith {Tanith Rowan Designs} and I have been trying to meet up since the start of this year. We picked Bowral as a nice “right-in-the-middle-for-the-both-of-us” spot and made plans, but between sick children, rain, cars breaking down, and goodness knows what else, six or so months later and we said we are doing this no matter what, and guess what… We did it! ╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ˂ᵒ͜͡ᵏᵎ⁾✩

I drove up to meet her by myself {the traffic was horrendous} so I was very glad to arrive and have lunch and tea at a cute little Alice in Wonderland themed café. Tanith and I both agreed that their Sweet Potato chips where the way to go!

We had a little wander around the town after lunch, and while we were both disappointed to find that the fascinating antiques shop we were planning to explore had shut, there was still a nice little fabric shop with all sorts of gorgeous silks, lush velvets, and buttons ~ vintage buttons!

Then we made our way to Corbett Gardens. I’d driven past it when I was hopelessly scouting around for a parking spot {main street was MUCH too busy} ~ and we thought it might be nice to take a proper look.

And even though it was freezing and the weather was miserable, I must say, the garden was certainly worth the time!

I didn’t even mind so much about missing the antiques shop {But only because I’m planning to go back..! I do really want to see inside ~ it’s an old ‘shops within a building’ historic site and the whole thing has been converted to into an antique shop and café which I think is just marvellous} ~ all those beautiful flowers where so delightful!

The Corbett Gardens are a veritable tulip wonderland, and so excellently designed. There were two rotundas, one small one nestled under a cherry tree, and one large one surrounded by all the flower beds ~ which were these fantastic terrace gardens. They looked like blooming layer cakes, or colourful pyramids, but the great thing about them was that it was so much easier to take photos of the flowers with all the height to the flower beds! Which of course, made it blogger heaven… Haha! (*≧ꇴ≦)

And best of all, I totally blended right in because everyone else was taking loads of selfies with the flowers too… :P

Now onto what I wore ~ this is a Stitching Stories post after all!

I had started this Simplicity 3688 skirt to go with a matching Simplicity 1940’s pattern of a bolero jacket last year. I had to put it aside to work on something else ~ my Christmas blouse I think? Anyway, I knew I could finish this skirt to wear out, but I needed a top to go with it.

I’d seen Christina of Gussets and Godet’s blog post where she wrote about the 1940's wrap top she had made and I really wanted to make it so I thought ~ why not? And went for it!

It’s a super easy pattern to make up and works beautifully, but I must say that my photographs are not the best example of how well it can work, and yes, I’ll tell you why….

Story time…. Again! Still have that tea? Or do you need another cup by now?

I had parked the car before meeting Tanith, I needed to change from my driving shoes ~ flats, to my co-coordinating with my ensemble shoes ~ heels. As I was bending over to buckle my shoe I heard something pop… “Uh-oh… But what could it be?” I thought. “Anyway I’m running late, must ignore it for now.” Then I buckled the other shoe, heard some more popping and nothing else. Quick check, couldn’t see anything wrong, “Well okay then, we must be alright…”

Fast forward to me messing about with my blouse while taking photos ~ “Why is this thing floating about everywhere!? I know it’s windy, but yeesh, it doesn’t want to stay tucked properly!” Fiddle, fiddle, fuss, fuss… Tuck it in and smile for the camera!

Fast forward again ~ I’d finished taking the photos, Tanith had had to leave before then, and now it was my turn to drive home. I hopped in the car, but before I started off I wanted to shed some of the constricting elements of my outfit for a more comfortable trip home. As I took off my blouse to change it for a knit top, I realized that the back tie was dangling by one strap ~ *ding!* “Oooooh! That’s why the dang thing wouldn’t stay tucked in properly!” … And also why it looks a bit poufy and weird in some of the pictures. It’s not solely the wind and the rain blowing right down one sleeve and out the other!

The moral to this story is ~ sew straps that take a lot of strain more securely next time. And maybe pay attention to any popping noises you might hear… (๑˃́ε˂̀๑ )

~ Project Details ~

Year: 1940’s
Pattern: Simplicity 3688 Retro Release & a 1940’s wrap top tutorial
Fabric: Mint pinwale corduroy and rose print poly-cotton fabric
Notions: One grey zip and a silver button
Time to complete: Two hours-ish for the wrap blouse, and I’m not sure, maybe that for finishing up the skirt? I had to hem it, insert the zip, put on the waist band, and do the button and button hole
Make again? I do like the 40s skirt pattern, it’s a good basic, but it’s not a pattern I really love so I don’t know if I will make it again. I will see. But the wrap top ~ this is not going to be the only version of this, for sure! I am itching to try it out in a crepe or silk, and a jersey knit, and… I foresee a few variations on this pattern. I like it a lot. It’s easy to make, easy to wear, and it’s just brilliant!
Wear again? Yes, once I mend the blouse… And re-enforce those strap seams!
Total Cost: I’m not sure, because I can’t remember the price on any of it, but I know it probably was under or around $20.00 for the skirt and blouse.

xox,
bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

༺ Stitching Stories: Cherry Bloom ༻

How quickly the spring brings blossoms to bud! All the trees are bursting with glorious colour, although our fickle Canberra weather likes to remind us every other day that winter is not quite ready to say goodbye just yet ~ we are still enjoying occasional days of glorious sun. I am also particularly enjoying the posies of dainty flowers peeping their shy heads up all over the place. They are welcoming the warmth of the sun, and so are we! (✿◡‿◡)੭✧*｡

It was fitting that the first weekend of September was a busy one of celebrations ~ I decided to sew up a celebrating~spring~and~blossoming~things skirt, and wear it to the parties we were attending, two in one afternoon. Whew!

I went with Butterick 5926, a vintage pattern I hadn’t sewn up before. I’m not actually sure what drew me to pick this pattern, but I think it was the slender, late1940’s look about about, and the patch pockets! {I found out later that it was from 1951 ~ so not actually 40s, but close enough for me. (⁎❛ᴗ❛⁎)} This is my second make for the Vintage Pattern Pledge 2016, and I’m so glad it went smoothly.

~ See? The best ~ patch pockets!! Also, isn’t the blouse perfectly dreamy? The pattern for that wasn’t included, but I sure wish it was! ~

I was actually a little surprised that the skirt went together so easily, but it was a total relief to me as you might remember that my last Butterick make was an absolute disaster{I wanted to burn that dress for those that don’t know}!

I added extra inches to the pattern pieces when cutting it out, as my pattern was a touch too small. It was a lazy hack, and not very scientific to eyeball it like that, but it worked out beautifully. It’s a simple make, but one that made me so happy when I put it on that I think it’s become an instant favourite. My inner little girl gave a squee and a spin when I felt it fluttering delicately about. I just love that feeling, and bias cuts do it so well!

Then I got to give the skirt a perfect first outing, as we had a picnic lunch and after that, a birthday dance to attend. Let me tell you, it’s a lovely dancing skirt. We danced some fantastic historical dances {my favourite ~ along with Scottish and bush dances!} and it spun and twirled just like you want.

I kind of had this vision of pairing it with a white peasant blouse and large straw hat, only to find on the day that I didn’t really have the right white top to go with it. But this peach one worked perfectly, so I decided that would do. I’m glad it did go so well, as I feel the different tone adds an interesting dimension to the ensemble. Plus, I get to save the white top idea for another day, so you know… ✧٩(•́⌄ - ́๑)

~ Project Details ~

Year: 1951
Pattern: Vintage Butterick 5926 {there has since been a different release with this same number for a jacket pattern}
Fabric: 2 and a half-ish meters of thrifted poly-cotton sheet.
Notions: One pastel pink pearlescent button, and a pink zip
Time to complete: Two days-ish. I cut my fabric on Thursday afternoon, sewed it up Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon & evening, and finished handpicking the hem Sunday morning.
Make again? I definitely think so ~ this skirt is cut on the bias, and I really love how it moves. It’s not the fullest skirt ever, which means it’s economical on fabric, but the cut is fluttery enough to make my wanna-be princess self super happy. Plus, giant pockets forever. ❤︎꒰ ॢꈍ◡ꈍ ॢ *꒱.*˚‧
Wear again? For sure! I’m super sad that I managed to mark it on it’s first outing so it’s going in the wash asap, and I can’t wait to try out variations of looks with it.
Total Cost: All from the stash, so totally free right?? Haha, no ~ ‘coz I paid for most of the stash items at some point! I think the sheet set would have been about $10.00 and the zipper $2.50. Considering I still have over half of the sheet fabric left, we will say maybe $5.50 in total?

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Friday, January 29, 2016

༺ Roundup: The Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge 2015 ༻

I’m going to keep this quick as you probably have seen the rather exhustive Stitching Stories posts that I have already done on these items.

For my records, however, here is the complete list of my Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge items that I made in 2015.

If you recall from my first post about the Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge, this was my goal:

“I, Bonita Vear of Lavender & Twill, pledge to sew at least five vintage or vintage reproduction patterns in 2015 ~ these MUST be patterns that I haven’t used before from my stash!”

And here are the items:

♡ Stitching Stories: Going Dotty for Spotty Cotton

♡ Stitching Stories: A 'Round the House Wrap Dress

♡ Stitching Stories: Adventures in Baby Cord

♡ Stitching Stories: Burning the Roses Red

♡ Stitching Stories: The 1940’s Peasant Christmas Blouse

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There you have it; my 2015 Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge completed.

If you have noticed a trend with these ~ haha! So have I! It is quite clear that I simply adore Simplicity patterns. It’s even more obvious when you look in my pattern stash. I kind of want to sew/collect all of them from the late 1930s to the end of the 1950s {though I have liked a 1960s Simplicity here and there too!}. (⁎♥ ヮ♥⁎)∠❤

There is something about the style of Simplicity patterns that instantly wins me over ~ I feel like their designs are very “me” and I don’t think that I’ve met a Simplicity from those eras that I haven’t fallen for on the spot!

Another trend I also noticed ~ barring the Wrap House Dress {which was Simplicity 2275} ~ is that it seems like every time I try to do a pattern from another company, like Advance or Butterick, the pattern goes horribly, terribly, wrong and I can’t resurect it.

Now, I don’t know if this is just down to bad pattern choice, or whether the patterns from Simplicity suit my body shape better, or maybe the Simplicity patterns make more sense to me construction-wise. I’m not too sure, but I do know that I love my Simplicity patterns and will continue to make them this coming year!

And hopefully I don’t run into too many snags if I do decide to make up a pattern from another pattern company! (≧ o ≦)

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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Monday, January 18, 2016

༺ Stitching Stories: The 1940’s Peasant Christmas Blouse ༻

Thank goodness this blouse worked! That’s all I have to say! …

Haha! Joking! You should know by now that of course I have a ton more stuff to say. : P

This is my last Vintage Pattern Pledge make of 2015 ~ Simplicity 2483, a 1948 peasant blouse ~ and I hit my goal of five different vintage or vintage reprinted patterns made up from my pattern stash. Yay!

I’m actually super relieved that this blouse turned out so nicely. Mostly because, once again, I ended up having little to no time to get this project done. Christmas was arriving with the speed of a bullet, and I had tons of events to go to, things to do, etc. And you know what else?

I had to grade a pattern for the first time. Yup. I went there…

With all the sewing disasters that have been dogging me through the last half of this year, I really don’t know what I was thinking except that I really wanted a peasant blouse for my Christmas outfit this year?? Simplicity 2483, Veiw 3 was perfect, except my pattern was for a 32 Bust.

….. Yes. Not going to fit. So I just, ya’know, graded it up using this tutorial I found on the interwebs.

I’m surprised it worked, but you know what else ~ I did end up sewing a toile for this. I was way too freaked out about the pattern grading, and the fact that to get my perfect fabric I had to pay $22.00 a metre! *faint!* (ô д ô) I think it was worth it, but you can bet your buttons that I wasn’t going to cut into that precious print without making sure I wasn’t going to stuff it up.

Good thing I did too, because some how I graded too much into the pattern, and with the FBA I also added, the toile was huge on me!

So I cut the back, the sleeves and the back yoke using the original pattern pieces. Thank you Charlotte for eating my traced pattern pieces.

Then I cut the front and the front yoke with my newly adjusted pattern pieces from which I’d removed all the grading, but left the FBA.

Still with me?

Because the pattern is actually too small for me, the cutting the back from the original pattern turned out to ~ surprise, surprise, make the back too small. Um. Yeah. Whoops.

I decided that, instead of folding over the back panels in the centre to get the interfacing for the button bands, I would sew an extra strip of fabric to each side of the back opening, fold them over, top stitch them down so that they wouldn’t peak out at all and give myself the room I needed for the buttons and the button holes that way.

It worked!

Up to the point when I realised that now the yoke was also too small for the back of the blouse. With the button band modification, the yoke was too short and didn’t reach the edges of the blouse any more, so I had to taper it down to meet the top edge of the blouse, rather than being the full height with an extra button on it as it was supposed to be. You can see the gap in the photo below, where the lace ends, the yoke ends. I think it still looks okay though! It now has a pretty scoop along the back neckline which I like. Alls well that ends well.
₍₍ ◟(• ε •๑)◞ ₎₎ ₎₎

*whew*

Sometimes I wonder why I can’t sew through a pattern just the way it’s supposed to go, but then I realise that it’s mostly my fault for not thinking every step through clearly and realising the implications of what I am doing until it is too late to fix it! (￣。￣;)

I really liked sewing this pattern though. For the most part, everything went together really smoothly. The blouse is pieced in a way that makes sense {yay!} and allows for a fairly straight forward construction process. I left off the ruffle, but decided to go with some cream lace trim instead, which I think was the right addition to break up the busy pattern and add a touch of interest to the yoke detail.

Also; top stitching!!

I had so much fun top stitching this blouse. I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I discovered a new-to-me trick that experienced sewers probably already know ~ and it’s awesome! Seriously, it really changed my top stitching method.

I used to try to top stitch with my machine on the slowest setting and be as smooth as I could. This is still a good idea, but at time I had a thought ~ what if I was to set my needle over to the right so that the line of top stitching was at the very edge of my material?

GAME CHANGER!! ✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡

I don’t know if you can see from that close up of the back ~ but my top stitching came out nearly perfect. Not because I did anything great, just because I moved that needle over! When I did that, the fabric fits neatly along the edge of my presser foot, the stitching is right at the edge of the fabric, and that helps it all to feed through accurately. The top stitching came out so neat and tidy all over my blouse, that now I want to top stitch all the things because it. looks. that. good.

And makes me feel totally profesh. Which I am not. But I feel it. And that feels super cool. I can’t say it too many times: Peoples! Move that needle over when you top stitch!

~ Project Details ~

Year: 1948
Pattern: Simplicity 2483
Fabric: 2 meters of quilting cotton
Notions: 6 red bow buttons
Time to complete: One and a half days
Make again? Yessss!! I love peasant blouses, and I want them in all the colours. This pattern turned out so nicely I guess I’ll just have to make it in all the colours!
Wear again? Yup! Well, once December rolls around again. Gold printed holly is pretty much relegated to Christmas time only wear. But I will wear the heck out of it come the Christmas holidays!
Total Cost: $54.00 I think? I lost the reciept… Ouch though for a Christmas blouse!! I mean, I love the fabric, but the price per meter is not for the faint of heart. And no, I didn’t total that up when I was buying the components. I tend to see what I want, buy it, and count the cost later. I need to work on that…

So what’s the final verdict ~ novelty Christmas prints for the win, or save it for the table cloths and tree skirts?? (*≧▽≦)

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Holly Bow Fascinator Come Whimsy | Me Made, 2015
Deck the Halls Brooch | Erstwilder {sold out}
Gold Holly Peasant Blouse | Me Made, 2015
The Red Christmas Skirt | Sammy Dress
Hoop Petticoat | eBay
Vintage Ruched Gloves | eBay
Snowy Lattice Knee-Hi | Old
Santa Cruz Beach Heel | Modcloth, Old

༺ ♡ ༻

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Friday, December 4, 2015

༺ Stitching Stories: Burning the Roses Red ༻

You guys… I wanted to burn this dress sooo badly….

The only reason I kept pushing on with it is that I didn’t have anything to wear to the Aussie Vintage Girls Meetup, and you know ~ that would have been a disaster….

A disaster I tell you! Oh wait… First world vintage girl problems again.

Okay, okay, not so much a big deal, except when it was.

I was using this lovely pattern, and rated at “Easy” I felt sure I couldn’t go wrong! It was my fourth make for my Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge for the year {one, two, three}, and I was thinking it should be fairly simple.

Alas, if only I’d read the multiple reviews of this pattern online ~ I think this one explains it best ~ I probably would have changed my mind!! (ಠ_ಠ)

So I cut the pattern, did my do, and seriously, everything was going pretty well. I had a few of my usual frustrations in sewing the bodice to the skirt ~ why do I always get the bodice caught up in the waist seam? Why?? (╯°□°）╯彡 ┻━┻

But I was about 95% done on the dress when I decided I’d better try it on. *cue ominous spooky music*

So I slipped it on, and the world ended. *ahem

My world ended. (┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻

The bodice was ALL kinds of wrong, with wrinkles going every which way, and compressing my bust so much that it looked like I had squished marshmallows instead, of ~ well, you know!

I literally freaked out, cried, ranted, raved, and promptly ate half a block of chocolate. Yes. Chocolate. .·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.

Then I left it for the day. I was DONE. I was *THIS* close to burning the darn thing and turning up naked. Hahaha…

No, really….

The next morning I took a deep breath. I thought I knew what went wrong. I’d forgotten to do an FBA. Silly me just assumed that because I was doing a larger size to fit my bust that it would fit. Totally stu-pid!

I’d forgotten that although this was previously a vintage pattern where technically cutting the larger size for the bust would probably have worked, this was a re-release of a vintage pattern, which means it has also been fiddled with to meet ‘today’s industry standards’ ~ i.e. a C cup bust. Nowhere near close to my size. Phooey. {Today’s industry standards are totally wack btw! I have less problems with vintage patterns than I do modern ones.}

So I went back, unpicked the lining {yes, the darn thing is lined and that was already in!}, unpicked the bodice, and half unpicked the zipper. Then I cut the lining and bodice up ~ added bust darts from the side seams to the point of bust, added extra fabric under the bust in the gather point {which in hindsight I may not have needed. Oh well.}, cut another toile from the hack pattern, made that up, thought it might work, cut my fashion fabric again, cut my lining again, sewed up the fashion fabric, sewed it back onto the dress… Then it was bed time.

The next day was Thursday and I had one day to get it done. (″･ิ_･ิ)っ

I sewed the lining back together, then sewed it onto the fabric again, tried the dress on again, realised that the bottom half of the lining was messing up the bottom half of the the bodice by creating needless wrinkles underneath the fabric that showed through, hacked off the bottom half of the lining, overlocked the bottom of the lining to the midriff seam of the bodice, sewed the lining down to the fashion fabric on the bodice with some top stitching, struggled to make the armpits look nice where the lining and fashion fabric where sewn together, failed, hacked at the inside of the dress, sewed some more seams, finished the zipper, decide to sew the hem by machine instead of hand picking because of time, then sewed the hem seam three times around for a deliberate “decorative” look, ruched the front of the bodice to make a sweetheart neckline and pull in the neckline from standing out, then sewed on the pockets, each of them twice because of having to move them around when they didn’t go on correctly the first time. Gave up when one of them was still crooked because running out of the mint green thread I was using.

Deeeeep breath. By this time it was around about seven o’clock in the evening. Then I tried the dress on again. Yay! More room at bust! BOO!! TOO MUCH FABRIC BETWEEN BUST AND WAIST!! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ *rage attack* ~ which quickly turned to:

PANIC! ∑(゜Д゜;)

I quickly skyped my sister to ask for a second opinion and while we were tossing around a. wearing a belt {couldn’t find one that looked good}, or b. sewing up a cummerbund ~ I thought of option c. which was: sew the midriff seam again, pulling in the extra fold of fabric that was wrinkling under the bust. As you might be able to tell ~ this is what I ended up doing.

This had a three-fold effect of curving the midriff seam rather than it being a triangle point as in the illustration of the pattern, gathering in some of the excess fabric causing wrinkles, and lifting the waist to my natural waist because the dress waist was sitting about a centimetre below my real waist which didn’t look the best.

10:00pm that night, and I was finally finished. (✖ ｡ ✖)° ° °

If you are wondering why top half of the bodice is still insanely wrinkled after all that extra work on it ~ well, I was too until I look more closely at the illustration. There are actually wrinkles in the top half of the bodices pictured there too. I think it’s suppose to mimic a sarong look.

I just hate it. I think it looks unsightly, ill-fitting and like a big hot mess. However I can’t fix a design styling, unless I redraft the bodice part entirely. And you know what? I’m soooo over it….

I don’t think I want to touch this dress again, even to wear it, until some of the trauma of this make has faded from my memory!

Surprisingly enough, even though I did say to The Mister that I didn’t want to touch my sewing machines again for months, I’ve change my mind and I’m already planning to sew parts of my Christmas outfit. ┬──┬ …ノ( ゜-゜ノ)

I have decided it’s just that particular pattern I can’t stand. Not the sewing.

Though I tell you what, I’ve also decided that sewing is not a relaxing hobby for me. Too stressful for that!

~ Project Details ~

Year: A retro re-release of a 1950’s sarong dress pattern
Pattern: Butterick B5708
Fabric: 4 meters of mint green fabric and 1.5 meters of white fabric with pink roses, 1.5 meters of white linen. From the stash: $13.00 for the fabric
Notions: An invisible zip ~ repurposed.
Time to complete: One week.
Make again? Nope. No, no, no, nope, no, nope. That’s all there is to that.
Wear again? Yes. I suppose so. I suppose the dress escapes it’s fiery end….
Total Cost: $13.00 and a block of chocolate. Oh yes, and my sanity. Mustn’t forget that!

If you got through all of that saga ~ well done to you! I hope you never have had to struggle like this with any of your dresses, but if you have ~ not just if you are making them, but have bought them or ordered them online ~ you can always share your stories! Any creative “Make Do and Mends” out there? The Mister quoted that to me, and needless to say, I wasn’t particularly impressed at the time… Lol!

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

Find me:

Pages

Monday, March 26, 2018

༺ Stitching Stories: Loop the Loop ༻

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

༺ Stitching Stories: Corbett Tulips ༻

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

༺ Stitching Stories: Cherry Bloom ༻

Friday, January 29, 2016

༺ Roundup: The Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge 2015 ༻

♡ Stitching Stories: Going Dotty for Spotty Cotton

♡ Stitching Stories: A 'Round the House Wrap Dress

Monday, January 18, 2016

༺ Stitching Stories: The 1940’s Peasant Christmas Blouse ༻

Friday, December 4, 2015

༺ Stitching Stories: Burning the Roses Red ༻

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