Current Sewing

A blouse pattern from the 1940s which is one of the first patterns I bought.

Making the short sleeve with the attached collar.

Due to reading comprehension failures, I ended up making 5 muslins of this blouse with the first 4 each getting respectfully bigger and bigger.  During this process I was befuddled as to why my usual FBA was not working.

Finally, it was pointed out to me my reading mistake that the facing was also a placket for the buttons/button holes.  Super duh moment.  Then I had to go back down to my second muslin which is the one that should have always been correct as I forgot to make a FBA in my first muslin (over anxious to dive right in).

Yummy silk

Loving this blouse.

Look at the glass buttons I plan to use.  Are they not sweet??










More soon....promise

Building a Plan

First the Pattern

What pattern have I made that I could turn into a cocktail dress?  Running through the memory banks, the pattern that stood out was Butterick 7820 since if you look at the pattern art, it seems like it is supposed to be a late 30’s cocktail dress.  My make was a cotton poly day dress but why not?

Second, the fabric.

It is times like this when I love working downtown.  Off I ran to the fabric district to check my favorite silk store.  After fondling the fabric assessing my options, I decided basic black silk charmeuse was the way to go and $39 later I had my silk and was off to buy thread.

Can you tell this is black?  At first is was just
a black square.  Black is so difficult to
photograph

Taming Silk Chiffon

Last time I made a 1930s dress out of silk chiffon, I had a blog post entitled “Silk Chiffon is Evil.”  I know this because I tried to use the same title again simply because silk chiffon is evil.  It is slippery and difficult to both cut out and sew.

Look at those sweet pintucks!

This time, I was prepared.  I tackled that silk chiffon and beat it into submission.  Last time, my silk slipped all over the place when I cut out the pattern pieces.  This time, I took care.  There was no placing on a fold; there was no laying out all the pieces.  Each piece was cut out individually one at a time.  If a piece needed to be placed on a fold, I traced the piece off twice and taped it together.  A lot of work…yes indeedy but worth it.  Each pattern piece was correct and not morphed by the cutting process.

I hear you…big deal you are thinking so you managed to cut out the pieces.  What about the sewing???

The sewing was incredibly easy going this time.  No ripping out of seams.  No seriously no seam ripping happening on this dress for one simple reason: I hand basted everything tighter.  WHAT??  Hand basted every seam??  You heard me….hand basted.  Not as much work as you would think.  The hand basting was quick since there really is no need for precision…I am removing the basting.  However, the end result was perfection in sewing.  The basting stitches kept that silk from slipping around while sewing.

Front bodice with pintucks

I am a convert.  I raise my right hand and pledge to hand baste all seams in silk fabric from here on out.  It was worth it!!!!

Resolved

At least I hope all of my computer issues are finally resolved.  Ever since the power went out in a wind storm on December 1^st, I have been having significant computer problems.  Basically, the computer has been not working more than it has been working.  That makes blogging tough since I cant download my photos onto my work computer.

A flippy little number made with
a modern pattern....ooohhhh bad
of me, I know

However, it now seems that the problem has been fixed ….something with the hard drive.  Let’s hope so.

Without further ado….yes I have been sewing.

I whipped up this skirt while manning a costume repair station at a local Doctor Who convention.

I also started this dress a typical 1930s cape sleeve dress.  But, I dont like the cape bit, I think it is too young looking for me.

Using this fabric:

Perfect for a 1930's dress

Silk chiffon, a favorite of mine but so hard to sew….

But more to come on this little dress.