Mission accomplished- at least for now. This dress took so much time. The first one always seems to anyway. I have learned much on this great adventure. First, that I have every conceivable answer to sewing issues in my own personal library- now if I just had the time to read them all. I was in the just- do- it- mode for a while. Then, things started getting tricky.
Sewing is just one big problem to be solved. That is, if you aren't using a pattern! I realized after the fact that I should have used fusible lining for the interlining. That would of helped with the fraying. Tweed unravels so quickly. It can become a mess. I secured the edges as much as possible. Next time, I will try the fusible lining. However, just for the bodice. I ended up liking the body the silk gave the dress in the skirt. Plus, then it is easy to make the fringe at the end. This would not be possible with fusible lining.
The dress turned out to be very pretty. I thought that it would be much easier. I used a lot of hand stitching. Lining the dress, trimming, and pressing took so much time. It is hard to factor that in. The dress only had 5 pattern pieces which I drafted myself. I made a muslin afterward. The whole process took about two weeks total. When I looked at the original picture with
Jennifer Aniston, I though the dress would be a piece of cake.
It was no cake. I enjoyed the process though. I left the fringe long on my dress for now. I may cut it. I need to have a fresh pair off hands when I do it though. My husband likes the fringe long. Proportionally, I am not sure. It may get tangled longer too. What do you think? Long or short fringe? I like the pink tweed for the summer. I also did not make the skirt as tight as Jennifer's. Maybe that might look good for the black one I make next time. I want to wear this dress to a wedding and a military ceremony for a new museum. My butt doesn't need to be the highlight either. The fringe is sassy enough!
SO, this is the second dress I have designed myself. This one was fun. It is encouraging when something turns out right. It makes you want to do it again! Thanks for reading and happy sewing to you!
I finally made a quick top last week. It sat in my closet all this past week and I finally wore it yesterday! It seems like every project I have been doing lately takes forever. I love to sew something that I can complete in an afternoon, like it, and wear it soon afterwards. It doesn't happen often, but when it does-Yahoo!
So a little info about the construction of this top: This top was easy to make. I did not follow directions because I almost never do! I did read several reviews about this pattern company before on PatternReview.com which I found extremely helpful. Most of the pattern reviews say that the patterns run big-yes this particular one did as well. I have made a top before a few years ago from this company- I like the edgey styles, but the construction of the pattern peices don't always go together very well. After I started this top, I remember that I had to do some major adjustments to a top I made a few years ago. It was made of a fabulous, expensive sweater fabric, however, it was not comfortable. I liked the idea- it needed a lot of tweaking. I don't have time to tweak.
I am a 2-4 in commercial sizes. Because I knew this top probably ran big, I took off an inch all the way around. I downloaded this top from Hot Pattern's website, and I didn't see the pattern piece for the neck. The directions had you cut two more pieces neccessary for the armbands. So, I made my own pieces for both the armband, and neck. I actually used the banded v-neck technique from the book The Dressmaker's Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques written by Lynda Maynard. It recommends that you use this technique on wovens, but I interfaced the silk jersey with a great stabilizer and it worked just fine.
Other changes I made to this top were-I eliminated the back seam and cut it on the fold. I don't see the need for a seam down the back anyways. I had a beautiful silk jersey that I purchased from Emmaonesock.com, and I didn't want to interrupt the design. I used my serger mostly for seaming, and then used my sewing machine to do the details on top. My Artista 180 is in the shop getting a new faceboard(ouch!), so I have been using my mechanical Bernina 55 that I got to teach sewing lessons to my little ones on. So far, I have liked how the machine has sewed. It has handled the jersey very well.
Overall, I like the style of this top, and I think it goes well with skinny jeans. I don't always like tight tops, and loose fitting tops during the summer feel better to me. I caution you to piece the pattern together first, and check to see if you have all the pattern peices, too, if you use a pattern from this company. I will probably make this top one more time because there is a style change idea I have-ruching.
Happy sewing,
Timi
