Saturday, January 5, 2013

Sewing Won

But I'm betting you knew it would. ;-)

The invisible (magenta!) zip is in, the hem is complete, and the skirt is finished. I cut out a black lining and then decided not to use it. First, I wanted this done already so impatience won out, and second, I was thinking with the poly, it was just gonna be hot and static-y and my impatience didn't want to find out if that would be true. Since the lining is pretty much ready to go, I can always go back and add it if I change my mind. Or, I have a lining waiting for another skirt. The scrap around Zillie's neck is all that my friends Polly and Esther left me (BTW, P&E is not original, I think I stole that from Rachelle). I think I might serge a rolled edge and have a cowl/scarf, which I probably *won't* wear with the skirt.


Next up is another make of McCall's 6397.


I wore the first make all summer but it's definitely a summer dress and I've been missing it now that "winter" is here. If you were following along back then, you probably remember my disappointment at finding out too late that there's a drafting error in the pattern so that the pocket seam/waist dart on the skirt doesn't match up with the bust dart on the bodice in real life like shown on the envelope drawings. (I also notice that the human version on the envelope is the other view, the one without that seam. Hmm.) Other than that, I really liked this pattern and knew I'd make it again, after fixing that error.

It was actually a pretty quick fix. (So why, McCall's, didn't YOU do it?) I lined up the bust dart with the pocket seam and saw that all I had to do was re-cut it on the size 14 line. That's step 1.


Step 2 was to add onto the side piece (10) what was removed by recutting the seam above. Step 3, the last step, was to add onto the pocket bag (9) so it matched piece 10.


I knew I wanted to make this in a double-knit. The first make is a stretch woven and since it has about the same amount of stretch as a firm double-knit, I was fairly confident the fit would be similar. (Hope that confidence doesn't come back to bite me in the butt.)

I'm using this printed double-knit recently acquired from Fabric.com. I had ordered two colorways but only received this one because the other had sold out, darn it.


I auditioned some different thread colors for the topstitching and settled on the one at the bottom of this pic. It actually matches the light color in the fabric, but the lighting played tricks with the camera.

Here's where I am as of now. I'll get back into the sewing room tomorrow, but I also do want to tackle the Christmas crap ... er ... decorations ... too, so I'm not counting on a finished dress at the end of the day.


If this one works out like I think it will, I'm going to make another double-knit dress from McCall's 6394, probably similar to the bottom left view. You know I'll be checking those seams before I cut good fabric.


Now it's time for a chocolate martini ... which is chocolate-flavored vodka + creme de cacao + Godiva liquor, chilled in a shaker with ice and then drained. Yum! They were passing these out (in cute little martini shooter glasses) at my cousin's wedding last April and I've been hooked ever since. It took me a few experiments to come up with a mix that tasted like those, but even the trials tasted pretty darn good. Hic!

11 comments:

  1. You would always make up the lining as a stand alone slip you can wear with any skirt. Someone suggested this to me and I thought that would be a great idea and save me from having to line some of my skirts. I'm looking forward to seeing your next project (winter dress) all sewn up... the fabric looks great! By the way I love the skirt too :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Make me a martini too ! The skirt is cute.I'd love to see what you will pair it with. Can't what to see the finished dress.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have very similar taste! I have that dress pattern pinned to my notice board to make up in a winter weight fabric for next season. Maybe I should try a summer version first. :)

    I will come and check your blog for the fixes though when I start it... thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like the new skirt and I vote yet again to leave those pesky Christmas decorations where they are and sew. You are on a roll, girl and I need to see more from your sewing machine.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with Carolyn - leave the decorations up. We still have an outdoor tree glowing.

    Love the sewing you are getting done and the martini sounds fabulous.

    g

    ReplyDelete
  6. Have a little sip for me - creme de cacao is one of my faaaaavourites! And over ice, naturally...
    Sorry, sidetracked there - love the skirt....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah! Sewing won out. I really learn a lot from all the photos of the fitting you show us. I think your blog is how I lost my fear of putting scissors and tape to patterns which is what I needed to get a decent fit instead of just a tent to pull over my head. Your sewing and fit is really wonderful

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sewing should win whenever you have a choice :). I love 6394 & can"t wait to see how you make it up!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I knew sewing would win. The skirt looks great and I love what your doing with the dress so far. Can't wait to see it finished.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now you need to post the RECIPE for that chocolate martini! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. PS: I'm seriously considering throwing black plastic lawn bags over the decorated (artificial) Christmas tree and just pretending it isn't there for the next 11 months until it's needed again. Then I'll whisk off the bag the day after Thanksgiving and I'll be ready to go!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

To help keep spam comments under control, any comments to blog posts that are more than 30 days old are moderated and will not show up immediately.