Baltimore and husbands (picture heavy)

Well, finally I'm updating you on what I did in Baltimore (besides getting a chance to visit relatives). Of course on my second day there I had to do the rounds of fabric stores! At first my husband kept trying to send a relative with me, but I finally convinced him that unless they were into fabrics and sewing, then it would just make the trip miserable for myself and them. All I had to do was remind him of the times he's tried to go with me on an all day excursion! Thank GOD for portable navigation systems! You can't get lost with one of those things, even if you tried to.

My first stop was Blanks. It is a quaint little shop, but most of the fabrics I saw were more geared towards home interior (but hey that hasn't stopped me from using a piece of silk I loved for a dress; I'm terrified I'll walk into some one's house and see a matching curtain or pillow).I didn't get anything from there; mainly because I didn't have home decor items on my list of to-do. My husband was very pleased with my decision; His biggest fear was that I would end up having to ship some stuff back home.

Then I immediately went to G-Street fabric in Rockville, MD. Of course the table that caught my eye was the $2.98 table. I got some awesome finds, once I was willing to dig. One piece I'm sure is a silk/wool blend. I've already got the patterns picked for each of the pieces (All of the fabrics are dark, so not sure the fabrics will show up well)

Vogue 1123 From what I and the fabric clerk could tell, this appears to be a silk/wool blend in a navy blue tone.

Vogue 1121

This fabric is a brown tone, sort of a herringbone with some spandex.

Vogue 8594

This a a brown tweed.

Vogue 2457 (OOP)

(This is two pieces a smoke gray cotton w/ spandex for the top, and a black wool for the dress).

I also found two pieces of wool in a black tweed and solid at $13.00/yd to make this Vogue ensemble from.

Vogue 8605

(I also purchased all of the trimmings, so all I have to do is start working on them.)

I was tempted to go to one of the other locations also, but had promised my husband I'd be back at a reasonable time.

Then on the way home, I stopped by a little Quilt shop in Glen Burnie, MD. Turns out it is going out of business (another victim of the economy). If only I had known they were there on all of my other visits. They are a Bernina shop, so all of their Bernina items were 40% off.

I found two pieces of fabric a Kona Print, and Hoffman; which I had to get.
Along with 3 differential feed feet for the Bernina 830: 1/4" piecing foot, clear foot, and open-toe embroidery foot.

By then it was time to go home (I'd been gone since 9am and it was now approaching 3pm).

When I got back, my husband was surprised that I only had the few items that I did (Although this may seem like a good size bounty to others, my husband has seen me do SO-o-o-o much more damage!).

I didn't get a chance to check out "A Fabric Place', but its on the list for next time.

Well that Saturday my husband decided to take me downtown, and guess what we walked upon: Gus Woolen shop! I got a chance to just browse through it. My husband kept encouraging me to go in and get some fabrics, but I decided that it was not good to be greedy. So we made a deal that next time we go to Baltimore, GUS WOOLEN HERE I COME!

Then we walked towards the Hippodrome theatre. As we were walking I spotted a hatmakers shop. Too bad they weren't open. I was so excited I had to take a picture of the shop window. This is also a MUST go in, and check out when we go back.

We'll be heading back to Baltimore in February, 2010 for a wedding; so I think I'll get there a day or so early! I gotta have time to go fabric shopping again, and add to my stash.

I must say my husband was extremely accommodating, and encouraging when it came to me wanting to go to the fabric stores, etc. You know it was one of the moments where you look and go, "who replaced my husband!". I guess it would be sort of a "Stepford Husbands" moment. Usually when I mention fabric or sewing in a sentence he and the kids would cringe, and literally run to other parts of the house. The empty nesting is pulling us closer, and we're learning new things about ourselves. "I think I've found my new potential boyfriend", but I call him my husband!

Well I'll be back to Baltimore in February, and maybe I'll get a chance to hook up with some of you in that area to do some Fabric shopping or just have lunch.

In the meantime "Happy Sewing!"

The dress that almost made it to Baltimore

Well, we completed our trip to Baltimore. I got a chance to go to G-Street; all I can say is I think they need to open a store in Denver! I got plenty of bounty from there, which I'll talk about later.

Prior to leaving though I was working on a dress that I was hoping to take with me but didn't get done in time, so I finished it up when I got back. (I only had the facings on the neckline and arms to complete).

There are quite a few things I learned but the most important is to ALWAYS DO A MUSLIN, no matter how simple the dress may seem. Just luckily I had enough fabric to make the dress twice!

I made the dress view starting with a size 14. The changes that I did to the pattern were:

1. Took in at the waistline
2. Added an additional 2 inches at the hip line.
3. Changed the hemline so that it was straight rather than asymmetrical
4. Used a serged rolled edge hem on the ruffle on the dress hemline
5. Removed the zipper all together and just had a slit opening, since the dress ties at the neckline. (The dress had a tie opening for the first 8 inches then a zipper which extended to the hip)

I used a fabric from my stash that was a Georgette, and a solid red Georgette for the lining. This was probably the most difficult and time consuming portion of making the dress. Since it was sliding I ended up cutting it on top of a layer tissue paper. (Another reason why I didn't want to deal with a zipper in this dress).
The pattern was only 5 pieces: front, back, bias trim for neck & armhole, ties for dress back, and ruffle on hem. At first I figured that this shouldn't be that big a deal as far as the fit so why do a muslin (famous last words as always!). Well I forgot that I am a woman with some stuff in my trunk so the first version was too snug through the hip line. Thank GOD I had bought 6 yards of this fabric when I originally purchased it. So now I got to do it over, but this time I did up a quick muslin.
Dress on my old dress form (time for an updated form, but that's a different posting at a later time):
The completed dress on me (Sorry, my official photographer is off to college, and my replacement photographer is watching a football game - SMILE - so in the meantime I'm doing my photos.)
So here is the fabric that I will make the 2nd go around of the dress in: