V1257: Moving on to Fabric

This will either be a half-muslin or a whole dress. I decided to use "good" fabric and not do a true crappy-fabric muslin because those sleeves need a reliable test. I'll sew the upper sections and evaluate. If it fits, I'll continue. If not, I may decide to salvage the skirt and leftover fabric for a top. So far the lengths and boob coverage look OK on Zillie.

It's funny how sometimes you don't really *see* the fabric until it's stretched out on the cutting table. I thought this was a giraffe-ish print and instead I see it's actual a floral that reads giraffe. Personally, I wouldn't want brown flowers in real life but in this print, they're OK.

So far tonight, I've cut out and marked the pieces, attached clear elastic to the neckline pieces, and sewn the waist pleats on one side of the bodice. And that's where I'm calling it quits for the evening as it's getting to be bedtime and I need my beauty sleep. Although now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to go pin that sleeve and try it on before I hit the sack so I don't lay awake wondering.

This weekend is going to be crazy busy with sewing cammie purses and doing more video training in preparation for a job interview. I figure the best way to up the odds that I get the job I'm working at is to interview for and be offered another one. Or who knows — maybe I'll like that one better. ;-)

Wardrobe Malfunction

It was 31 degrees when I left for work this morning. Brrrrr.

I finally wore the brown mini houndstooth check skirt I made about a month ago and I think it's now going to go straight into the trash, because OMG look at those wrinkles. The bias side panels are fine, but the center front is a hot mess. And if that wasn't bad enough, my tights pooled around my ankles and knees all day. When I got home and changed out of them, I could pull a good 12" past my foot without affecting the rest of the leg at all. I wonder if I can serge off about 20" from the toes and if this will fix things. Or if I should just add them to the trash too.

On the plus side, my velour mock turtleneck was very snuggly and warm all day and I got to wear a new scarf.

There's been no more progress on the Vogue dress. It's been so cold, I just want to snuggle under the covers and read so that's what I've done the last two nights.

Oh and speaking of reading, here's a complaint. After being on the wait list for 2 months, I got a notice from the Library that it was finally my turn for the Kindle edition of The Help. I immediately did everything I needed to do to get it downloaded to my Kindle, went to open it up and start reading, and there's nothing there but the cover picture. I've deleted and re-tried about 5 times with no success. So I'm stuck. If I think about it, I'll try calling the library tomorrow but I doubt there's anything they can do. I'll probably end up just buying this one. I haven't heard/read a bad thing about the book, so it should be money well spent.

V1257: Pattern Tissue Evaluation

I was going to write this tonight and post it tomorrow morning, but I really suck at remembering that it's a scheduled post and writing in future tense so here it is now instead of later.

This is Vogue 1257, to refresh your memory.

All of the reviews on PR complained about the tight sleeve, and with good reason. Holy cow- the size 20 sleeve is 13" wide, *before* subtracting seam allowances.

I was thinking I'd have to add at least 4" inches, but then I actually measured my bicep and … well … Holy cow again. My bicep, *with a shirt on* is 13". When did THAT happen? So that's why the scale is still going down but my pants size isn't. Oh well, I'll just have to be patient. Thinner biceps are great for eliminating a pattern alteration. Well, except here.

I decided to add 2" as a starting point. This is not my idea for the alteration, although it's pretty easy to see the sleeve "piece" melded with the front bodice. Now. ;-) I saw this in a PR review and thought, "Brilliant!" It's your usual full bicep alteration if you're not familiar with it.

The is the pattern piece altered, and turned back so CF is vertical, so you can get an idea of the whole weird shape of it.

I cut the bodice at the size 16, but the sleeve at the largest size, 20, because of the drafting goof. And then I also blended to more width at hip, figuring I can always take it in if needed. Better safe than sorry.

And that's where I'm stopping for tonight because tomorrow it's Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Back to Work I Go and I need to go chill for a bit and then tuck myself into bed. But I've had a great weekend and I feel very productive. Got lots of errands done, the panties finally finished, some work this afternoon, some Sons of Anarchy watching, lots of football viewing, a couple of grown-up beverages, blog reading, and a new pattern pressed, cut and altered. I love these long weekends. And there's another one coming up in a couple of weeks. Yay!

Speaking of chill — it's going to be FREEZING here tomorrow (literally freezing tomorrow night), so I'm already thinking about what to wear, and tights will figure in to it. Too bad I don't have any full-length boots. But as a consolation, it will definitely be nice to pull a nice new pair of undies out of the drawer tomorrow morning. There's just something about new underwear that makes the whole day better, am I right? Even without boots. Hahaha!

I Only Went In For Thread …

… and purse-making interfacings.

13 spools of thread
2 yds fusible fleece
2 yds fusible heavy Craftfuse

And the rest just fell into my cart. Yet another pattern, Threads, 5 yds of pattern tracing paper (very much like Swedish tracing paper), 2 yds of brown/white dots poly stretch charmeuse (for an as-yet undetermined blouse), 3-1/2 yds of paisley stretch moleskin (for the 1980-ish Vogue dress), and an accent button for that dress which matched so perfectly I couldn't leave it.

I *did* have a 15% off entire purchase coupon good for sale and non-sale items alike which coincidentally expired today and I did return two dresses to Walmart this morning, so that absolves me a little. Um, very little.

Oh Thank Heaven

Yes!! I am FINALLY done with the Panty Project (KS2908, modified, before you ask). They still need a trip through the laundry so the elastic shrinks back up. I love wearing my self-made panties and I will definitely avoid buying any RTW for as long as I'm able to sew, but truth be told, I hate sewing them. Well, what I really hate is sewing them assembly-line style. Maybe I ought to just knock out one or two pairs at a time every six months instead of attempting EIGHT. Urg. The mojo ought to deal with two with more enthusiasm. OK, not enthusiasm exactly, but tolerance.

But, really, I probably don't need to sew panties again for another five years. For kicks, I revisited my first real post on this blog, which was panty sewing. And I saw that every single pair from that 2006 post was still in circulation. Not from desperation, though, but because they were still in pretty good condition (with one exception) and still fit fine (through up and down weights too, go figure — although they DO fit better now).

This is the photo from back then:



This is the photo from 15 minutes ago:

One pair from the top photo is currently in the wash. Another (lower left corner) I tossed tonight because I noticed tiny fabric fatigue holes forming in a weird place and, well, I have a gazillion pairs now, because not only do I have these old ones and the new ones, I also have others I made in between.

But some are favorites and some are worn with certain outfits. Do you do that? Have panties you prefer with jeans and others you prefer with officewear, and then those that have seen better days for "those" days of the month? I hope so, or else I'm just weird.

This is the white tee I sacrificed for crotch linings. (Lord help me on the spam I'm going to get on this post with both panties and crotches. lol) After cutting what I needed, I stuffed it into my lingerie (oops, another spamtastic word) elastic bin so that maybe I can find it next time I am delusional and decide to make panties from scraps.

So, enough about my underwear. Under where? Under there! Sorry, that just popped into my head.

These are the patterns I'm contemplating for my next project. Unfortunately, the Vogue on the left has had mostly bad reviews, but at least I'll be forewarned. Maybe I'll consider it a personal challenge. ;-) The HP on the right I can see as a 2-piece dress (otherwise known as a skirt and top). The only problem I see with it is that I can't wear another layer over top (especially the top on the left which is my first choice), so will it be warm enough in my office? I'll ruminate over these and suitable stash fabrics while watching the rest of the football game tonight. (Looks like Tony Romo still ain't making it to the playoffs.)

Tomorrow will include some work I need to do (yay overtime, and from home), and a trip to Joann's for thread and purse interfacings. If I've decided on a pattern, I may even get to start on a muslin.

And with that, I'm off to toast the completion of the Panty Project. I'm very sure I deserve it. ;-) It's not Bailey's (my preference), but it's close, and a LOT cheaper.