Sunday, March 20, 2011

B4919 almost done

Here it is on the dress form (sorry the picture is so blurry):


I still need to sew on the hooks and eyes and hem it.

Coming back to life...

Sorry Vintage vixens, but lost many weeks due to caring for incapacitated husband waiting for back operation. I think we're easing off of emergency mode and while he recuperates slowly, I'm hoping to get back to my Vintage Vogue Adele Simpson soon.
Love your work, darlings!
Chanel No. 6

Progress, at last!

Today I figured out why I had stalled - fear of cutting the fashion fabric. Which, of course, is silly.

Having talked myself out of this state of mind, I have cut the fashion fabric and started construction. I decided to line the dress with the lime green muslin I had made, for 2 reasons: the fashion fabric is a light cotton and needed some stability and opaqueness; and I forgot to draft new facings when I altered the pattern.

I am up to inserting the zip - a job best left for another day I've decided. Then I can finish the armholes and hems. If I can keep up today's momentum into the next few evenings, I might be able to wear my new dress to work before the week is out. I just hope this lovely, sunny, warm weather we've had over the weekend holds until the dress is done!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A work in progress

Here's what I've got thus far

I'm unthrilled with the construction of this, really. It's just not up to snuff. But to save it from being a total wadder, I had to just wing it. The sleeves disappeared and it became a tank top. Which doesn't suck too badly, I guess.

The skirt is still in pieces. I drafted a yoke for the top of the skirt but somehow, I've gotten a wee bit larger in the nidsection than my dressform. Ahem. I'm blaming it on Valentine's Day. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The crinoline/fluffer was pretty OK if time consuming to make. I ended up watching "Marigold" with Ali Larter to pass the time whilst I gathered and pinned and gathered and pinned. 111 minutes worth. Give or take a couple of fastforwarded song/dance scenes. As Bollywood musicals go, this one was a B- for song/dance and an A- for story/plot. There weren't any real surprises, but then, Bollywood movies tend to follow a very formulaic standard.

The crinoline isn't hemmed yet, but it will be soon. I've got to address the yoke fitting first and then attach the skirt and THEN hem the crinoline. I estimate that this project will get finished around Friday. I'd hoped for it to be my Easter frock, but it's not looking hopeful. We'll see...

The BEST part of this was the buttons and buttonholes. I did those while watching Herculues and the Lost Kingdom on Netflix. Each button is precisely placed and the buttonholes were perfect fits. YAY!

MIA - Still working...

This pattern has been extremely challenging. I'm still working on the bodice/blouse. It's been a total pain in my tush. Construction is going sloooooowly and the level of detail that I normally use is falling by the wayside in an attempt to just FINISH this thing.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

How about those mitered corners?

Soooo... how about some evidence of participation? Here is a photo of my first muslin for the 1930s jacket:


Apologies for completely forgetting to get a photo of the back of the jacket! This was finished in February, but I never got around to taking pictures until recently. And even though it's taken me so long to get to, I don't even have a second muslin to show! What a terrible sew-alonger, right? Anyhow, the pattern is for a 36" bust, which isn't too far off from my own measurements, but the jacket is still pretty baggy and shapeless, so I'll be taking it in, and possibly re-drafting the arm-hole area as it's super baggy there. I'm absolutely determined to get this done even if it means doing it in little bits over a period of months in order to save my sanity (I hate mitered corners and didn't realize this jacket features four of them until sewing the mock-up...). But thanks to all you sew-alongers for being a source of motivation, and I'll be posting a second muslin here in the coming weeks if it's still open for posting :)