Sunday 2 March 2014

Bits and Pieces

1. Tonight I traced out all the pieces of McCall's 5522, the blouse I am (possibly) making for the PR Fitted Blouse competition. It's a lot of pieces. I'm having major second thoughts about using a dart to fit the bust though -- I am definitely NOT using gathers, ugh, so it would have to be a princess seam. I like princess seams though, and surely my previous fitting with princess seams will provide SOME kind of template. My bust measurement is smaller than it was when I last did a woven princess seam fitting (by 14.5cm, or 5.75", so a not insignificant change) but it's still more or less in the same proportion to the rest of me.

2. I also did a tiny bit of work to tweak my knit sloper this weekend. Wearing my black and white top the other day, I realized I needed to pull the neckline in closer to the neck by 1 to 1.5cm, just to be absolutely certain it stays put covering my bra straps. I'm still working on making sense of the armpit seam and how to sew extra space in the bust while not ending up with a triangle of fabric in the underarm. I tried one thing and it really didn't work, but I have another idea. I keep having to remind myself that the shape of the finished sloper doesn't matter so long as it fits me: weird is fine!

3. I feel like I have a lot to say about my coverstitch machine and no time to say it. Maybe I will get to my review of it sooner rather than later. Actually, I have a lot to say about a lot of other things and no time to say any of them. Why must my work and PhD get in the way of my blithering about sewing this way?

4. I managed to be at fabric stash parity with 1st January for like, 3 days, and then spoiled it by accidentally buying 3m of black cotton lawn. I really mean it was accidental this time. It was in my eBay shopping basket by mistake and I checked out without taking it out. Annoying! Not that I didn't want it, because I did. I just didn't need to buy it RIGHT NOW. It's going to be blouses, assuming this month of fitting and working on woven slopers and tops works out for me. Specifically, it might well be a Carme blouse, the new pattern from Pauline Alice. Or something similar. The rest of it I will stash temporarily before I make a short-sleeved blouse this summer.

5. I really want a dark blue shirt dress and a green corduroy jacket for spring. I have the fabrics for each of them, and I don't have any of the skills I need to make them. Well, I will maybe have some of the basic shirt-making skills after this month, we'll see how I get on with making a regular shirt first. And surely jackets are an extension of shirts, in many ways? This is where sewing is no better than shopping. If I shopped, I could look forever and probably never find the perfect blue shirt dress, especially since dresses are nearly impossible for me in RTW because of the upper/lower body size discrepancy in RTW, nor the perfect cord jacket. However, I am just as unlikely to be able to MAKE a perfect anything. :|

3 comments:

  1. Did you decide on a spring jacket pattern?? I'm thinking of this simplicity one (crud. Can't remember the number) in black.

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    1. Ooh! I like that Simplicity pattern! Doesn't look too bad to sew either.

      The jacket I like is the one on the cover of Ottobre 05/2012 (http://www.ottobredesign.com/lehdet_js/2012_5/index.html?fi). It's more of a blazer than a jacket, I guess? But to be honest I doubt I'll make it because my sewing time is very limited by illness and work at the moment. I might make it in the autumn instead, because it's totally an autumn colour and pattern as easily as spring.

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