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Yeah yeah, I made it again. Virgos out there will totally get this: I just wanted to make the whole thing properly - like with darts that started, ended, and pointed where they should; with fabric that I didn't get dirt cheap from a fire sale or an op shop; with a shirt band that didn't resemble a pair of chooks with beaks. That's not too much to ask is it?
I thought this dress would look better on me in a softer cotton, with a bit more drape, and I wanted to experiment with the shirring, placing it lower on the waist so I had less of the "barrel" look so amusingly described
here.I read a review where someone said they whipped this dress up. How do you whip up flat felled arm seams, shirt stand with collar, 13 buttons, 21 rows of shirring and double welt pockets? How ? HOW?
double welt pockets: (blue mark is my wash out pen, haven't washed it out yet)
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2 of 13 buttons
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back shirring (just completed, using zigzag method, gives better control)
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shirt stand on collar (no beak! I followed instructions and hand sewed it)
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flat felled arm seams (so when you roll up your sleeve you've got a pretty seam on show .. that's the theory anyway, and it definitely was not the practice on my last version)
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I have had a busy fortnight, that encompassed a holiday in Nelson and another weekend girls away trip to Wellington for Wearable Arts.
I'm still reading my wardrobe planning book. It's got a whole chapter called, "so you sew?" And it has really good advice on wardrobe planning for seamstresses. Two bits stick in my mind: when you go fabric shopping your eye is drawn to patterns, so sewers often buy lots of patterns that languish in stash because they haven't actually got any use for them. They strongly recommend doing a wardrobe inventory first, and basing your sewing plans on things you need. That way you won't fall into the 'eye catching fabric' trap. Second piece of advice: make sure that everything you sew contributes fully to your wardrobe by ensuring that it will go with at least 3 existing pieces.
You know what? After all that advice I just don't feel like sewing anything. Usually I just start with curiousity. Hmm, that's an interesting fabric, what can I do with that? Hmm, that's an unusual pattern, I wonder what that detail would look like made up? And then curiousity spurs me on to explore it. This planning business just kills creativity.
Time to throw out the rule book, me thinks.
Shirt dress: Burda 07-2009-104
Fabric: Japanese cotton sateen: imported by Global Fabrics
Wardrobe Planning book: Looking Good, Nancy Nix-Rice