Sunday, October 31, 2010

De ja vu!

Well my dress is looking a lot like the photo on the right side, only better.  That photo is of the previous version. The skirt portion I kept so that is the same.

I sewed a lot today.  The lining is attached using a combination of the pattern instructions and my own method.  I am ready to insert the zipper, then sew the side seams.  Then I only have to hem the dress and the lining-yeah!  I see an end insight.

I just was not going to let this dress defeat me and I was not going to let this lovely fabric be wasted.  I am liking the fit of the dress now that I got the upper bodice and midriffs to fit and insert properly!

I am ready to move on to some other projects.  I think I am going to make a few tops that will be easy-peasy to make.  I need some new ones for the fall/winter.  I also want to make a few jackets and of course a few dresses.

Photos and more later.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Checking in

This has been a none sewing week.  I have been reading about sewing and thinking about it; just have not been able to get in the mood to sew.  My wrist is bothering me more and I made the decision when I go back to doctor next week, I will get the cortisone shot.

I also discovered last weekend that if I wrap the wrist support in plastic from dry cleaning bag, I don't accidentally pick my fabric with the Velcro.   I plan to pick up where I stopped on the "do over" tomorrow.  I need to finish this up so I can feel like moving on to some other projects.

I am getting lots of inspiration from your blogs and several fashion catalogues arriving weekly.  More later.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

"Do Over"

Sometimes you get a chance to do a "do over".  I was not happy with the upper and mid bodice with the Kay Unger dress.  I thought the pivot/slide bust adjustment was going to work but it wasn't.  The front midriff piece was not hanging right after attached to the skirt portion.  Basically it was just wonky. 

I was searching through PR reviews of this dress and came across KnitMachineQueen review.  Thankfully she had posted photos of her FBA adjustment to this pattern.  This was what I was attempting to do when I first attempted a FBA and botched it so badly that I could not tape patten pieces together again.  Thus when Club BMV had a sale again, I purchase the pattern again and used the pivot/slide method of adjusting.   After sewing all of the pieces and even inserting the zipper,the sides just looked wrong. 

So reading KMQ's review and studying her photos, I determined I had enough of the fabric to cut out the front and back bodice and midriff pieces.  I removed the zipper and removed the stitches of the skirt to midriff pieces.

I made the FBA changes to the front and back pieces with great success.  This AM I cut the fabric using the newly adjusted pattern pieces, sewed them all together, tried it on and it fit the way it should!!!! Yeah!!!!
I also have enough lining fabric and will cut out the lining pieces and get them sewn to fabric pieces.

I just did not want to give up on this dress!  The fabric is gorgeous and from "Gorgeous Fabrics" and has been a dream to work with.  The skirt portion fit great and this is just one of those garments that I have to make it work.  All the bodice pieces have been topstitched. (This is deja vu).  I think it will work as a transitional piece until the extreme cold weather sits in.  I have a jacket I plan to wear with it and will work well for transition from winter to spring.

So that was my sewing weekend.  Oh, I also covered my wrist support with a cut up dry cleaning plastic.  Worked great and kept the exposed Velcro from picking the fabric. 

More later!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Latest fashion accessory



This is my latest fashion accessory! I got this on Tuesday and haven't stopped wearing it since. Isn't it lovely!!??

My tendinitis continues to plague me and thus my doctor prescribed a fitted wrist support that also stabilizes the thumb more. My previous version (in beige) did not. I was in agreement to try this. At least the black color goes well with my fall and winter clothes which most are black and brown. I go back to doctor in two weeks; I see a cortisone shot in my future!

My sewing mojo has taken a vacation this week. I am hoping I can do some sewing this weekend. There is some Velcro issues with this new accessory and will need to try placing some sort of wrap around this so as not to hurt fabric. I may find that this thing may be too prohibitive to sew. My current project still needs a zipper and to be hemmed.
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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Photos of dress in progress

Dress in progress

This is a view of the front. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another front view

This is a better view of the full dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back view without zipper

A view of the back.  Zipper not inserted yet!

I think it will become a completed project soon!

My DH is having sleeping issues since his surgery.  The bad news is we are both out of sync when it comes to sleeping now; he may finally get to sleep by 3 AM.  During the week I am up by 5:00, weekends by 7:30ish.  He then sleeps til noon.  The good news is I got a lot of sewing done this AM while he slept.

Because of that sewing I actually have a garment that is looking like the dress it was intended to be.  I am so glad I decided to attach the pieces as stated in my last post.  I actually ended up taking deeper side seams.  This came about during the basting/fitting this AM.  I only have to insert the zipper, try on once again to make sure I don't need to make any other adjustments; then hem and finally will have a completed dress!!!

Photos to follow soon!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Pattern rated easy- you've got to be kidding me!

I worked on the dress pattern this AM and this evening.  I have undone seams, restitched seams, sewed some more seams, re-read instructions and more to get this dress completed.  I looked at the rating on this pattern and saw once again what I saw when I purchased it --EASY!  Truly, someones rating of easy for this pattern is incorrect.  I think this will be a real challenge for a beginner!

The top bodice piece has three front pieces and the back also.  The back skirt pattern piece has a total of 4. There is a front and back midriff piece.  There is a lot of topstitching and of course, a lining.

Now don't get me wrong, I have made numerous dresses with linings.  But having a lining with as many pattern pieces as the dress in my personal opinion does not make this an EASY pattern.

The key issue for me is the fitting challenge with all these parts.  The top needed a FBA which then impacts the fit of the midriff.  For me I am fuller at the bust  and through waist; then I have shorter distance between waist and hip than the standard pattern size.  Plus I then normally go to a smaller size starting midway between waist and hip.  Transitioning through the multi-sizes of the pattern has been a real challenge.

After attaching the lining to the upper bodice, I decided to undo the side seams and to attach the front midriff to the front bodice and then attach the back bodice to back midriff without sewing the side seams.  This will allow me the best opportunity to adjust the fit through the side seams.  I will then attach the skirt front to front midriff and do the same to back.  I will basically end up with one continuous side seam.

This is one project that I will be glad to complete.  Hopefully the outcome is going to meet my original expectation.  I have so many other sewing projects I want to get started on and this one has taken much longer than anticipated.

Friday, October 15, 2010

No new progress

Well I have not had any new opportunities to work on the Kay Unger dress.  This has been a very challenging week workwise and still have to take care of a few extra home chores due to DH’s back restrictions. 

I take him back to Doctor today and hopefully some of the restrictions will be lifted.  My wrist is still giving me issues and I have to go to a source for prosthetics/orthotics to get a different wrist support band.  I am taking the conservative approach to healing this; if this does not work then a cortisone shot is my next option.

I am looking forward to the weekend to hopefully finish the dress.  I have several other projects I want to start. 

Happy TGIF day!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Dress update

As I said previously this dress is presenting a lot of sewing  challenges opportunities.  I really thought I would be further along; but it takes time to do a lot of topstitching.
I attached the bodice lining to the bodice fabric.  There was a lot of trimming and pressing necessary.  I then sewed the side seams per the instructions.  The back is still full at the bottom of the bodice piece.  I think I will undo the side seam and adjust the seam so that I take an additional 1/4 inch on each back seam.  You can see how it looks on Alma Marie.  The back seam was pinned where the zipper would be inserted.Upper bodice attached to lining
 
 
 
 
 
Here is a view of the completed bodice from the frontFront view of bodice attached to lining

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Kay Unger Dress progress

This pattern has presented some sewing opportunities.  First let me say that I am glad that I used the pivot and slide method for the FBA.  This worked perfectly and the fit is just right. 

I spent a considerable amount of time this AM working on the lining and making fitting adjustments with that before tackling the fabric.  I have a narrow back from the underarm down to waist, so princess seams in the back are great for making fitting adjustments.  By working on the lining first, I determined that I needed to go from 5/8 SA to 7/8 from under arm to end of back bodice.  The back midriff had to be adjusted as it was too wide after taking the deeper seams.  I trimmed the excess from the midriff side piece.

The front midriff piece was adjusted earlier during the FBA adjustments but is still lacking about 1/2 inch at the sides.  I had enough material to cut a new midriff piece for fabric and lining.    I actually made the front midriff piece fit by snipping along the upper edge but decided that weakens the fabric and because I had enough left over fabric I preferred to cut new midriff pieces.

After reviewing the pattern instructions further I decided to use them for attaching the bodice fabric and lining.  It was necessary to make the front crossover piece to work appropriately before attaching to midriff.
Here are some photos of some of the sewing I did earlier today:Center -mid back bodice attached and topstitchedTopstitching upper bodice-frontUpper bodice fabricUpper bodice lining

Saturday, October 09, 2010

Saturday sewing

Went to CURVES this morning and came home to find DH up and around.  He had a particularly bad night last night-restlessness, nervousness, etc.  Some I think is coming from medication and sheer boredom while recuperating. 

After fixing us a light breakfast, I spent sometime in sewing room.  I needed to set up the serger and sewing machine.  Once that was completed I started sewing the dress lining.  I like to start with the lining sometimes as I can do some tweaking of fit before tackling the actual sewing of the garment fabric.  I spent time reading the instructions last night just to get a feel for the process per Vogue. 

I will be deviating some.  For example, they have you sewing the front and middle front bodice pieces together and then topstitch.  Next you sew the side front to middle front piece and do the same.  IMHO, if this is the first time sewing this pattern and you are unsure of fit until you either baste or sew all of these pieces together and then fit it; then you do all of this edge/top stitching and have to make a fitting adjustment, that is a lot of stitching to remove.  So for me I am sewing the lining bodice pieces first and fitting.  If they need adjusting it will be easy to do.  From this I can then sew the fabric bodice pieces knowing what seam allowance to use-either deeper or shallower- then I can topstitch.

Thus far I have stitched the three lining front bodice pieces together.  Next I will stitch back bodice pieces together, baste to front and back midriffs/ baste side seams and then try on for fit.  More later, off to take a shower and run some errands. 

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

What I have been up to

DH is continuing to improve every day.  I actually had a good night's sleep last night.  Having some time before the "patient" gets up has allowed me to do some housecleaning chores which I love to put off but then it gets to a point that I can't.  Thank you to everyone for the well wishes for him.

I even took time yesterday to do some work on the Kay Unger dress by completing a needed FBA. Remember this post.  I decided to use the pivot and slide method to do the adjustment. I added 1.5 inches by distributing 1/2 inch to each front bodice piece.  This required an adjustment to the front bodice midriff also.  I traced that piece and then aligned it to the front bodice pieces that I pinned together.  This allowed me to adjust the midriff piece and have it line up appropriately.

This AM I cut out the lining fabric.  Hopefully I will be able to cut out the dress fabric later today.  Got to go run some errands.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Family update

DH and I had to be at hospital this AM at 6:30.  He had back surgery at 8:30 and I had him home by 1:30.  He is doing very well, lower back and leg pain are gone.  Discomfort now is from the back incision.  I truly appreciate all the positive thoughts and prayers sent our way.  We are both glad to have this procedure over and done. 

I will be playing nurse for a few days and hopefully will return to work on Thursday.  DH is not able to drive or travel for 10 days so I will be busy as errand person also.  In between will plan some sewing projects.  More later.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Completed blouse

The second Sencha blouse is complete.  I ended up reducing the upper chest/shoulder area from a 12 to an 8, keeping the bust to hip area at 14. 

After stitching the buttonholes and adding the buttons, I tried this on for final adjustments before hemming.  I took deeper tucks in the front  and back extending the length of the back tuck to take in some of the fullness I was experiencing right above the waist line.

I really love the look of this fabric and wish I could capture it better in the following photographs.

Here is a photo of the buttons I settled on.  The outer edges are shiny blue with the center a matte look.

Button closeup

Here is view of the frontCompleted Sencha #2 blouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is with the completed Simplicity skirt

Colette Sencha blouse with Simplicity skirt

I am glad I improved the fit of the blouse.  I know that I will make more.

Testing Windows Live Writer

In reading blogs this AM, I came across a post on the blog "Two On and Two Off" about this program.  She referenced two other bloggers who are using this system with great success.  One had a lot more information to share and apparently she has had good success in posting photos etc. using this program  So I am posting this using Windows Live Writer. It worked, so may try additional features.  Love having options.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Found buttons

I found two sets of buttons that I liked, not loved, but liked.  I completed the buttonholes and then wrist started aching so will do the buttons later.  I plan to sew them on with machine so should not create wrist pain. 

The skirt and fabric I had plan to make next will not work as I do not have enough of the fabric to make this particular skirt.  I do have enough to make another style.  So I need to decide whether to use the fabric and make another skirt; or use another fabric and make the Burda skirt.  I am thinking using the planned fabric and making another view of the recent Simplicity pattern.  Tomorrow I will decide.  Going to catch up on some other blogs now. 

Buttons

The Sencha blouse is complete except for buttonholes and buttons.  I have some beautiful blue buttons but not enough of the ones I wanted to use.  I think I got them at Hancock's when they were going out of business here in Roanoke several years ago now. 

My only close by source is JoAnn's Fabrics.  Hopefully when I go there today they will have just what I need. Another source is in Floyd but time to travel there is just not going to work at this moment.  If no luck at JoAnn's I may try online; that is hit and miss due to monitor colors not always being accurate. 

I am not sure what I want to work on next.  I think I want to make the Kay Unger dress; I am also thinking skirts and most particularly a BurdaStyle skirt in the September issue.  I have read several reviews about it on PR and the reviewer's blog. 

More later.

August Sewing Simplicity 7295

 I am not doing well as a blogger. I have been working on this project since July 30. Today, I finally finished it. It has been a stop-and-g...