Really Big Sleeves

Lined sleeves with some ribbon
just pinned on.

Working away on the fantasy outfit and moving at a snail’s pace.  The ginormous sleeves are sewn and lined.  The trim is still not completely put on.  In fact, not all of it has even been purchased!

 

I love the sleeves.  They are so big they seem decadent.  The sleeves are longer than the skirt!!

Ultra-Suede

Makes you think of the 70’s doesn’t it?  It is the fabric I choose for my fantasy outfit.  I have never sewn with such a beast before and let me tell you I will take slippery old silk over this any day of the week.

Mmmm yummy pretty mossy green

It is difficult to iron, impossible to mark and almost invincible when it comes to pins.  Sewing is ok due to the heavy duty denim needle I am using.  However, I am not looking forward to the miles of hand sewing which is coming my way!  I wonder where I put my thimble?

Body Issues

Apparently I have them.

I spent hours going through my patterns to find a skirt pattern that I thought would fit.  I tossed aside many smaller patterns and a few larger. 

Last weekend, having a sewing day with friends, I made up Advance 9689.  It went together quickly if one disregards my inability to decipher pleats.  This is a known issue and I am discarding this problem.

I try on the skirt and my friends laugh….hard….rolling on the floor type of laughing.  Then came the comments that I clearly do not know what size I am on my lower half.  (I seem to have the upper half under control.)  Of course, some of this may be payback for me advising one of my friends was basing her pattern choice on a pattern that was at least 2 sizes too big.  Payback or not, it was well deserved laughing, I looked comical!

I was swimming in the skirt.  It was HUGE.  All I could say to the laughing is that I thought it would fit.  Then pleaded for help to try and make it fit.  I ended up increasing the darts and pleats which, of course, worked.

But seriously, this is the second skirt that I have had the issue that it was just too darned big!

Haven't yet removed
the hand basting from
the waistband.

Oh, I suppose you would like to see a picture of the skirt.  There is no picture of any kind of it falling off of me.   Here’s where it is now:  waistband on but no zipper and no hem.  My place has been like the surface of the sun so sewing has been out of the question.  I just cannot sew when sweat is pouring off of me.  If only I had air conditioning.

A Perfect Opportunity

Since, I need a pencil skirt for the fantasy outfit, I might as well muslin one that can possibly be a wearable muslin.  So, I just spent the past couple of hours wading through my vast pattern collection to find what I was looking for.  Meanwhile, I popped some khaki fabric into the washing machine.

I found the pattern I wanted and found an entire box of patterns I forgot I owned!  I really do not need to buy any patterns for a very long long while.  I just wish patterns would stop tempting me!

The chosen pattern is Advance 9689.  I did dither quite a bit over the pencil skirt patterns I own.  Pencil skirts, on the whole, scare the bejebbers out of me!  My athletic thighs are not meant to be paired with pencil skirts. This pattern looks to be from the early 60's based on the model's hat.




I hope to be able to throw this one together except for the zipper rather quickly.  I will not have access to my 25 cent zipper store over the weekend and I can no longer pay more than 25 cents for a skirt zipper!