Fashion Fabric

The moment of truth has arrived.  I must cut into the fashion fabric.  Dr. Simpson has made that sound like a really big deal all semester, and now, even though I've cut out dozens of dresses over the years without a qualm, I'm a bit nervous.

Should I make a third muslin?  What if those final adjustments I made aren't quite right?  I may mess up my fashion fabric!  Not that I should get that upset about it -- I got it on sale and the fabric only cost me about thirty dollars.  That's not a great loss, but the two hundred and fifty dollars I spent on books and dress-making supplies (not to mention all the hours I've put in!) really gives me impetus to have this dress turn out well.

Once again I lay out the fabric and marked the seam allowances around the pattern directly on the fabric.  (Since I'm going to end up doing this four times before the lining is completed I really should have added the seam allowances on my pattern.  I noticed one of my classmates had just taped strips of paper 1/2" wide all around her patterns instead of retracing them and adding the seam allowance.  How brilliant!)

Umm, okay, I cheated just a little bit, and used a pattern I already had to make the sleeve and the pocket.  But I did alter the sleeve pattern!

Meanwhile I get distracted by the crazy ants swarming the ant bait -- we finally found the kind they like!

Notice the long legs on these critters.  These are the only ants I've ever known to "duck and cover" when you try to smash them.  Really, they do!  Then they all run around like crazy trying to find a place to hide.  

  

Okay, back to the job at hand.  After cutting out all the fabric  pieces, and then cutting out all of the interfacing, I was ready to begin.

I started with the collar swooshes, since those are the smallest pieces, and the most finicky detail on the dress.  The curves actually stitched in nicely, and after an hour I'm pretty happy with the result.  Then I realize that I didn't press the straight edge of the white piece so that the seam doesn't show.  I understitched the top seam so that it rolls perfectly, but forgot the short straight seam.  And I didn't clip the seams around the white point as well as I did on the green swoosh.   I contemplate just making the whole thing over (it's so small, and I have so much extra fabric) then think about the hour it took me.  I go to bed.

Saturday, I realize that I don't have to make the whole thing over, I can just rip out enough of the seam so that I can adjust the way the seamline falls.  Done.  I baste it onto the front of the bodice and the result is pretty nice.

That's when I realize I'm going to have trouble putting the facing in, because I have no way to connect the facing at the shoulder seam.  I'll solve that problem when I come to it.

I stitch the side pieces onto the front and back without incident.  Then I notice that none of the subtle stripes in the curved back princess seam match.  I had taken great pains to get the stripes to match on the shoulder, but hadn't worried about the princess seams because I knew that they wouldn't line up all the way around the curve.  The result really bothered me.  Maybe I'll do it all over in the morning.... I went to bed.

Before -- none of the stripes match.

Sunday after church, I rip out the side seams, carefully line up the pattern to the side back with the center back before cutting, and put it back together.  An hour later, I did have lines that matched!  Too bad the only line that matches perfectly is the one that will be inside the armhole seam allowance.  But I think the overall result is nicer

After -- that last stripe on the edge matches! 

Compare to the version above -- see any difference?

Horrible picture, I know.  I can sew, I can take pictures, or I can blog.  But doing all three simultaneously is really difficult.

So now I'm ready to stitch the front to the back at the shoulder seams.  Here's where I need to fix the facing on the right side.  I decide to put the shoulder seam in by hand, and then blind stitch the facing down over the seam. It looks pretty good, though some of the stitches show on the white part.  At least that's on the inside! :) 

"That looks cool!" said Miss Z.  "It looks like one of those handsome shirts."

"What is a handsome shirt?" I inquired.

"One that's short, that comes down to about here," she gestured about hip level, "and has buttons on the front."

Aha!  A men's sport coat!  Well, it is a coat dress, so that's not far off.

Next I stitch the pockets to the side seams, and just can't quite get up the steam to stitch up the side seams, so I go to bed!