Sewing fiend

The last two weeks have been nuts, and I've been sewing to keep my head straight. It's going well. I completed two dress projects, a few little accessories, and a top.

I saw this fabric and HAD to have it. I bought enough to make a dress (no sale, but I had a coupon), but I had no idea what I was going to do with it, exactly. I brought it home and surveyed my pattern collection for a woven dress that didn't require much vertical piecing.

There were a few challenges. I had to modify the bust in the pattern to accommodate the Girls, and after I got the zipper installed, I realized that the back was waaaaaaaay too big. (I think I over-compensated on the extra seam allowance.) Time to make a sewing dummy. Also, the straps needed to be solid white, and there wasn't enough fabric at the edge of the cloth to cut that on the proper grain. I had to take a scrap around and hunt for a good match in plain white cotton.

The fabric for this dress was found on a clearance table. Once again, I picked through my patterns. I had been a bit frustrated after the last project, so I wanted something that didn't have much structure to deal with: no closures, no elastic, just a simple dress. This had some interesting construction challenges, but the knit was stretchy and fit easily, and the final result is, well, amazing! It makes me look about 20 lbs slimmer.

I made a top the other night, but it's got some fit issues that I need to work out before I do the dress from the same pattern. I also made a little pouch for carrying poo bags on a dog lead and a pair of shorts for yoga out of a leggings pattern. (Leggings are back! My early sewing years come back to me in a rush of magenta spandex memory!)

Posted by foxydot at May 3, 2007 2:24 PM