What Time? What Sewing?

Time was at a premium this weekend. That does not mean that sewing did not occur. A little bit occurred. In fact,, because I knew that time would be at a premium I did not create a to do list because I knew I could not keep up.


What did I do you might ask? Well, I ripped out the cream color zipper on McCalls 5150. I will replace it with the almost matching one. It bugged me. I did get the hem measured, so I can sew that up sometime soon. I also want to lower the bust darts a tad. I don’t think I need to get into that one in detail.

The new 1918 dress got some action as well. One sleeve was set in but then I forgot about the fichu. So out came the sleeve. Tonight I am going to hem the fichu and start put it in and re-do the sleeve. That was a silly mistake.

All I can say, is that I have a lot to do in the next 2 weeks and I know I cannot finish everything I would like to finish. I do not know what I will want to wear. I am getting a little wishy washy. The Teal 1918 dress will be worn. That is the only “for sure” I have at this point.

Agenda

Since it worked well last weekend, I want to set another agenda. 

So, McCall’s 5150 needs the facing sewed down, the waist stay put in and hemmed.  I will have no problem with the facing and the waist stay but I may need help with hemming it.  I think it will be much to hot to wear.  But I might as well finish it since it is so close to completion.  I may not bother with the facing stitching I wanted to put around the neckline and cuffs.  I can always add this another time but if I finish the dress, it can at least be worn in the meantime.

The stays I want to put back to the place where I tore them apart.  That is essentially 6 seams.  That should not take too long if I can find the correct needle.  I seem to be out of denim needles.   Though I may have some hidden away somewhere.

I think I can almost complete a dress to go with the hat this weekend if I put my mind to it.  I have decided to go with the already muslined pattern, if you call this a muslin!  I will be doing this view.  The only time consuming bit about the other dress was the hours spent sewing on the trim.  No trim planned for this one: a plain jane but flashier material.  Oh no, now I do have to pull out the bottom tub to dig out the fabric.

I was going to put a couple of other items on the list; but think this is sufficient…for now.  I also have to go to a fabric store…horrors I have been so good and have not bought fabric since June.  Need to get eyelet ruffle material for the class and will need thread to match the material.  Ah..that could take up most of Saturday.

I guess I better get cracking on something!

Weekend Accomplishments?

Not a whole lot but not a big fail.   Zipper went in McCall’s 5150 and bias binding went on the Mint Chip dress (perhaps if I didn’t keep messing up sewing the bias binding on, I would have gotten further this weekend).  I did not put the buttons on the Mint Chip dress but I could right now before bed, I mean how long does it take to sew on 3 buttons? 

Just now before sitting down to write this, I cut out the need piece for my stays.  The only reason I did this was because I knew I had this to do list hanging over my head.  Wow pulling out the stays, I see I have a lot of unpicking to do to remove that one piece.  Too bad it was one of the center front pieces.

Overcasting facings did not happen…at all…on anything.  Actually, I fail because I totally forgot that this task was on my list.  However, I did get some substantial cleaning and laundry done so that’s probably better than doing the overcastting.  Ah…yes…justifications.. are raising their evil little heads.

Then there is homework and no it wasn’t on my list but no it did not get done.

Zipper … What Zipper? Or That's Why It's Called an Invisible Zipper

Ok, put the cream invisible zipper in McCall’s 5150.  I am very happy with it. 

I hand based the zipper in and then hand sewed using a backstitch closer to the zipper coils.  It turned out nice.  Only one place where the waist is does a little cream show. I can fix that later but it still looks nice.  I am happy with the way the waist seam lines up.  I cannot be this precise on the machine so even though I am down on handsewing lately it really is the only way to get this type of precision.

So to Kelli, Susan and Lisa….thanks for the input the neutral zipper WAS the way to go.  No worries about matching.

Lisa….about the magic bias slip:  I have that on the agenda but it keeps on getting pushed back which is silly really since I need to wear this dress in September for an event.  So I guess I need to get off my backside and do more sewing!

To Do List

All the sewing I am doing is homework which is rather unsatisfying.  Trying out different stitche on 10 pieces of muslin....blah.  Yes, it is nice that I am learning these skilss but exciting not so much.

Last night I spent almost 5 hours on homework, the night before 4 hours.  Because this homework is overtaking my sewing life I need to be proactive and make a list of what I want to do Friday,Saturday and Sunday:

1.  Put the zipper in McCall's 5150.  Kelli, do not worry about sending me in the wrong direction.  The consenus is a non-descript cream/beige zipper.  I just agree with what you and everyone else who chimed in said.  And if I hate, but I know I wont, its just a zipper and easy to rip out.

2.  Put bias binding trim on the sleeves of the Mint Chip dress.  Then put the buttons on.

3.  Cut out the one piece of the 18th century stays that I mesed up the first time.  Sew as much of the stays as possible.  One side is done, just need to do the other side.  I havent blogged about this because it seems to be outside the scope of the blog but if anyone is interested, just let me know.

4.  Overcast the facings in McCall's 5150 and the 1918 dress. 

Ok, this does not seem overwhelming.  Let see how much I can get through!  I cant even think about next week's homework....add that in somewhere because it is my company's monthly event which means a killer couple of long days next week.  Maybe having this list out there in the universe will help me focus.  Normally, I dont care but I have some deadlines looming.

I am trying to stop another weekend from passing by with no work done....darn vacations!

What happened

Well to start no sewing happened other than some homework assignements.

No blogging.  What's up with that?  I just didnt find the time.

What did happen?  Fun for the 4th!  Bbq and fireworks.  Plus work of a volunteer nature that took a big chunk of time.   

I am disappointed about the lack of sewing.  I did pop out to get a zipper for the McCall's 5150 dress. 

Kelli and Susan:  I took both of your advice and went with a cream/beige invisible zipper.  I do think you both are spot on that trying to match a blue (or a green) is insane.  Of course, I still need to put in the zipper...maybe tonight?  Make that a BIG Question mark.

Here ends the old bullet point post.

Conundrum

So what do I do?

McCalls 5150 is ready for a zipper.  I have been unable to find a zipper even in the same blue tone as this turquoise.

So...Do I use a blue zipper the closest match I can find?

Or

Do I use a neutral white, cream or beige?

I was going to try a lap zipper but think I will wait until there is not such a glaring color differential.  With an invisible zipper, not much will be seen, just the zip pull really.

Any thoughts???

I am tempted to go with a cream or a deeper beige simply because the blues seemed to be an in the face mismatch.

Rethinking Sleeves

I gave putting in the sleeves before sewing up the sides a try.

For me, I continued with the pin basting with lots and lots and lots of pins to set in the sleeve.

Then came the sewing of I believe is the sleeve head.  Not sure of the technical term.  The sleeve set in without any fuss.  However, I do attribute the success in sewing in the sleeve to my method of pin basting.  I swear by that now.  While it was a little easier to sew, there really did not seem that much of a difference from sewing up the sleeve prior to setting it in.

Next, I finally got to sew up the sides of the bodices.  I sewed in the various directions from the bust point.  A little extra work but am unsure of the benefit.

Will I continue to sew in sleeves in this manner?  Maybe.  I will continue to give this a try for the next couple of times and then assess what will work best for me.  The first try at any new method is not sufficient to determine whether it is the best.  My instinct is to always go with tried and true methods.  So, I will need to continue to work on these techniques.

It is always good to have options and my sleeves look good!

New Techniques

My class is all about learning; so what if every book you ever read says something different.  Right?

My instructor provided some guidelines.  Always so a dart from the point in.  Always backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam.  Put in the sleeve prior to joining either the sides of the bodice and the sides of the sleeve.  These are all new to me and I am giving them a try with this dress.  We also have certain directions to sew: for example from the bust point up and then from the bust point down.  Never heard of this either.

I will be honest that starting the dart at the point is not as simple as the other way around.  I also had to restrain myself from sewing up the sides of the bodice.  It just looks so unfinished this way.  But here's the front and back with the facings in

I am glad I am using an “easy’ pattern to give these techniques a try! Trying to figure out a pattern while trying to remember to do many steps differently from what I have done before would just give me a headache!  I have enough trouble trying to keep my furry helper under control.

Found

Monique and Kelli, thanks for the comments!   You will be happy to know that the missing spool of thread has been found.  It appears that a creature of the feline persuasion found the spool and thought it was a new toy.  The thread was found in a different room under a table.  No where near the sewing table.

So, yay! I did not have to use the thread that was kinda close or run out and buy more.  I was also able to cut out the McCall’s 5150 dress.  I did make a FBA on the pattern, it is my first and I think I muddled through it correctly.

I am using a turquoise cotton sateen which does have a bit of stretch in it.  It is a brighter color than I normally gravitate to, but I think it will be pretty with brown shoes and boy do I have some great brown shoes to wear with it.

I was also able to sew up the skirt which does need to hang for a few days to allow the bias to do its thing.

Next Project

Being optimistic that the Mint Chip Dress will be finished today, I have selected my next project:  McCall's 5150 which is from 1959.  Need to switch it up a little from the 1930's for the moment and make something, hopefully, straight forward.  Yeah, like that ever happens.

I am planning to sew up the 3/4 sleeves since I work in an artic zone and here in the middle of summer am wearing long sleeves and 2, yes count them, 2 sweaters.  I do reserve the right to change the sleeve length depending on my mood which is very changeable when it comes to all things sewing.

I will make this up in a turquoise cotton sateen.  It is pretty but wrinkles sooooo darn easy. 

Ahhhh the excitement of a new project.