I was determined to make a dress to wear out on Saturday night. I had all intentions of going with the Cynthia Rowley, S2406 dress because it was already cut. And then, I found 4 black fabrics in my stash and commenced burn test on them.
The fabric I had intended to use, which was soft and silky feeling, turned out to be some type of acetate blend. Now, not that it's a total waste...but I didn't want to use it for this dress. There was a poly blend, one that I'm not 100% on, and a wool. That wool piece is becoming a skirt...even if I don't wear skirts very often.
Then I decided to use this tan geometric lace knit that I'd scored at FabricMart awhile back to make V8787. Great! I found a cream knit for lining at WalMart at $1.50. So far, so good. The fashion fabric was much more delicate than the lining so I decided to sew the lining first and make any adjustments there...so as not to have to remove stitches, etc from the lace knit.
NICE! I like...I was really happy with the bodice and it fit well. I cut a size 14 neck/shoulders, grading to a 16 the rest of the way.
So I sewed the skirt. And attached it. And...
I became lumpy. Well I looked lumpy in the dress. :-( The midriff hits at the natural waist. While this is good for most of us, most of the time (emphasizing the narrowest part and all that a la Stacy and Clinton), it made my lower belly look all rolly polly. No bueno. It's going into a storage bin until I am no longer an Oompa Loompa. And I wore a knit dress that I already owned...and we went to Wildfire. Yummy to my tummy!
So what you can't see the dress! :)
BUT
Working on the dress fueled the desire to sew, so I went on to another project yesterday. At the time I cut V8787 I also cut B5926
This is View A
This is View B
I cut View B but with long sleeves...or A without the contrast on the collar...
I started cutting my fabric at around 3 yesterday and by 5 had a shell to try on. It's a little wide across the back, one place I forgot to take a measurement, but otherwise I expect to be really pleased. EVERY measurement of mine matched with the size 16. And I have to get over the hesitance of doing a sway back. I need to. I have a little puddling there.
I was sewing away, and then...oops. I sewed the shoulder seam inside out. Time to take a break. I tried to sneak in a little more sewing right before bedtime and...oops. I sewed the 2nd sleeve inside out. Alright, sewing time is over! LOL!
Progress:
So far:
*I love that the measurements were nearly all perfectly matched to mine (while allowing for more ease in a jacket)
*I dislike how the pockets are set closer to the sideseams. I of course could have changed that...but didn't notice til I tried it on, and I'm not ripping those pockets off! :)
*I love the length of it. It's going to hit right above my hipbone.
*I love the overall look of it so far. I can see myself throwing this little knit blazer on over everything. I'm already scheming on more ponte...a navy/white stripe? Oooooh <3
*I'm curious about the elbow dart on the sleeve...
Reading the directions for the collar is a bit confusing, I'm sure it'll make more sense as I'm actually sewing it. Up next, front facings, collar, set the sleeves and hem it all. I'm going to serge all the interior seams and I'm thinking of adding bias tape to the back and side seams...we'll see.
I'm thinking by Wednesday I'll be sporting my new blazer!
