Tuesday, March 16, 2010

I Made a Dress! With Sewing!



Well, this has been a bit of a long break. Why don’t I just pick things up from here?

I finished this dress on Saturday and wore it to work on Sunday (note my photo-shoot locale). I love it. It’s my first major sewing project that I get to wear. I also just finished Ysolda’s Ishbel scarf in Fleece Artist Merino Sock in bright reds, oranges and pinks. I also love it. They look both awesome and intense together.

I used some thrift store find fabric. It’s a medium/large floral print in turquoise, purple and black with overprinted black leopard spots. I think it must be a misprint, since it really doesn’t look on purpose, but it's completely me fabric. The pattern is Anna Maria Horner’s Socialite Dress, and I found it was a good beginner project. I made the dress over a couple of weeks, just doing one thing at a time and not rushing, which I think was important. I tend to rush through projects just to see what I’m going to end up with. Not so great when you’re learning a new skill. The instructions that came with the dress, and which I have lost twice now, are very well written and detailed. The only thing I would change is to finish the side seams before sewing down the arm facing or hem. I also added 4” to the bottom of the dress, but about an inch of that got eaten up by my larger hem. I can’t wait until my serger gets back from Brian’s house, so I can super finish my edges.

You may be wondering why I have a serger and am just beginning to sew. The answer is that I am just beginning to sew woven fabrics. I spent a bunch of time in high school and right after making wacky things out of old sweaters, mostly prompted by a love of Preloved and a lack of cash. My dad was kind enough to buy me one for a birthday present a few years ago, and it made the whole process easier. It needed some tweaking the last time I used it, so I think this may be downloading the manual time. I’m looking forward to using it on the pants I have planned next…