Something for Self Stitched September or …Or Falling in Love Again

Last night I decided I wanted to wear something new to work.  I realized that with “Self Stitched September” I had worn nothing I made to work.  August was full of me made clothes but not September. 

But what could I do?  I am not a fast sewer so no whipping up something in an evening.  I have tried and failed miserably.  I looked around and the pile of UFOs caught my eye; I looked away quickly lest I be turned to stone.  Looking at the UFO pile is a no-no in this house, best to just ignore the pile and maybe the clothing faeries will appear and finish them for me.  They are mostly simple finishes needing a zipper or a hem.  Surely the sewing faeries can take care of it for me?

Alas, the sewing faeries have never popped in to help.  But hope does burn eternal, so I wait and ignore the pile.  Until last night.

I knew if I was taking on an UFO it had to be this skirt.  I have been “meaning” to finish it since November.  It only needed a hem on the lining.  Yup you heard me, all that was unfinished was the lining hem which I would sew by machine.  I had dragged this skirt to many a sewing days thinking I would sew up that hem.  It never happened.  I have been dragging that skirt with me for months.

The whole hemming process took no more than 10 minutes!  Done, finished, wore to work and I love the skirt.  I loved that it swishes when I walk.  I love the long length, the color, and how I styled it.

Ok, old picture.  I did
not get a new one.  The skirt
has been pressed.

So….how did it become achieve UFO status?  In December, I thought the skirt made me look fat.  Ok, maybe not fat but the fabric seemed to emphasize my pouchy tummy and I did not like it.  When I looked in the mirror it was a case of “its not you, its me” so why bother finishing it.

The irony is that the skirt is now too big.  But then I do not like tight fitting clothes so I am happy.  

Sewing ADD

I saw a lot of peacocks this weekend.
This fellow followed me and shook his feathers at me

As I walked away,
he then started to follow me.

What do I do when my project is not going well?  Do I stay with it?  Do I work through the problems.

No silly me, I start a bunch of other projects. 

My new motto:  When a project goes horribly awry, just start something else!! And ignore any UFOs that are formed.

My current list:

Then he opened up and
shook his feathers at me again!

1.  The 1940’s skirt;  I am baffled on how to fix and therefore paralyzed.  Blech.  I swear I have not yet given up. 

2.  Started a summer sundress that has had problems from the cutting out stage.  My fault but still it is aggravating.  Seriously, I tend to think this dress is cursed.

A little later, I ran into this fellow
showing off his backside.  Just in case you
wondered what the backside of a
peacock looks like.

3.  Gala outfit.  Traced off the bodice pattern that I need to adapt to muslin.  But then started having nightmares about the project so moved on.  Will have to buckle down…at some point…since I need it in July.

But then he turned around to show off his
plumage

4.  Steampunk skirt: Decided on a pattern but have not yet traced off the pattern because I am now overwhelmed by what I have on my agenda.

Another hiding behind the fountain

I mentioned the nightmares didn’t I?  Yup there it is in item 3.  The nightmare I am having is that I only have 24 hours to complete the project.  


Peacocks in lieu of actual sewing pictures.  Prettier too!

A Perpetual Meh

It is not done, but here it is in it's present state.  Does the fabric give you a headache or just annoy you?  I cant decide.  I will shoot an upclose picture of the fabric, it is very busy.

It needs a zipper and a hem.  I wonder where I put that zipper I bought for this dress?  This is what happens when you buy notions  a year and a half before you need them - you end up buying them again.

No Zipper, no finish

Interestingly, this pattern seems to be ever so popular and I like some of the dresses made up with the pattern.  I think the fabric is just not drapey enough for the pattern.  It is also a pain to press.

Black and White Swirls or UFO #1

UFO #1

The first item coming off of my December list is this UFO.  It has been sitting on my sewing table for about a year and a half.  It will be off of the table by the end of 2010.

A year and a half on from the point of just giving up because the bodice was inches bigger than the skirt which made putting them together seem impossible, I have learned many skills which would have prevented this from occurring.

In fact, many problems I encountered with this pattern I would not now encounter.

There are a number of reasons this dress became an UFO;

1. I didn’t like the fabric.  This is now a no-no for me.  If I don’t like the fabric, no matter what, I do not buy the fabric.  The irony is not just that I don’t like the fabric but I spent more money for it than I normally did.  Also, it is a cotton stretch….ugh. 
2. I did not know about FBAs at this time so I cut the bodice to fit what I thought was the correct bust size.  Wrong!  I had so many fitting issues because the bodice gaped at the arms.  Much fiddling occurred to try and fix that.  A simple FBA would have resolved that issue!
3. I had never eased in anything.  You will note there are no sleeves in this dress because at this point in time sleeves scared me.  It wasn’t until I picked this back up today when the lightbulb went off and I figured I could just ease the bodice into the skirt.  Duh….how simple.  Never occurred to me when I was first making the dress.
4. I didn’t know about different types of interfacing and the one I have is too heavy/thick.  This problem still exists but I if I made this up now, it wouldn’t.
5. The ribbons on the pleats just would not press correctly.  I now know what to do to fix this and may work on this before I go to sleep tonight.
6. Zippers scared me.  Not any more.
7. I was making this to go to a party.  What was I thinking???   I didn’t love this outfit so why would I hurry to complete it to wear to a party?  Once the party got close and I had issues, this was tossed aside with pleasure.
8. Hubris: I seriously thought I would be able to whip this together in a few days….right!  Now that would be a possibility but then….no way.

Current Status:  Bodice and skirt have been sewn together!  It did take a while to ease the bodice into the skirt but it was doable.