(twelve) dresses

Nesting Boxes, or Cubes, or whatever.....

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:34:00 +0000

I hinted at another sewing project in the last post.

In addition to elves, I also tried sewing some other toys. Before the time of Elves, it was the time of nesting boxes from the same book that had the instructions for the Spectrum Quilt:

This book has a lot of great easy things, BUT--for me--nesting boxes were not one of them. In the book they look like perfect little tissue boxes all in graduated sizes. My expectations were high.

Image from hazelnutgirl.blogspot.com

But when I made mine, they looked like hot floppy wonkiness. The interfacing was not as stiff as it would like you to believe, the corners didn't crisp, the pins were stabbing me left and right when I turned them out. And since I am not a precise sewing, insetting one cube inside another is a terrible, terrible idea. Ugh, and only I will know the amount of double sided interfacing paper that didn't peel off after ironing and is sewn between the layers for all eternity. Blech.

So after two, I quit! But I had cut sooooo many squares. You see, I got ahead of myself and thought I would sew an extra set for my nephew on the way too. That did not go as planned, and when I threw in the towel, I still had all this stuff:

"Heavy Duty Interfacing" my ass.

So now what? Well, when life gives you lots of cut up squares, you make cubes:

Slap a sixth side together, throw a little stuffing in there....ermagad! So much easier. And this, friend, is the project that taught me how to stuff toys and led me to the elves. If I had had jingle bells, I would have put a few in some of the cubes, but do you realize it's hard to find jingle bells for sale outside of the Christmas season? Supply and Demand is a funnily specific animal.

So now I have tons of cubes, our baby is set. Our nephew has a few coming his way. And my scrap pile has been reduced yet again. Including some of this awesome fabric I stole from my mom's stash maybe back in high school:

Mommy like.

Some of the scrap I used was from some upholstery projects I did so I worry once the cubes get covered in baby drool and I drop them in the wash they will come out looking funky and wonky too. But if they do......I bet they will make the nesting boxes look awesome by comparison.

Elves!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Rather than finding a daycare or pediatrician or packing for the inevitable hospital trip which is mere weeks away, I have been nesting by sewing. And I'm here now to show off my latest project: The Three Little Elves.

Scratching your head trying to remember that fairy tale? Well, stop it, because it doesn't exist. It's a real life tale about me and my friends Lauren and Nicole. You may remember Nicole from this guest blogging stint, and Lauren from her own lovely blog. Each are on to more professional endeavors (Little Nut Crafts and Lauren Ann Paul) and in spite of their expertise, I've sewed them some slapdash elves anyway. Enjoy my lack of hand sewing and new adventures into lumpy plush doll making, ladies!!!!

You see, in the last year (or so) we've all gotten pregnant and all had/will have little girls. I thought it would be fun if our little ladies had a similar toy. Play dates while miles apart, just for shits and adorable giggles.

Skinny little elves

Yep, I spent the better part of this afternoon scratching my cole slaw craving and sewing elf legs and arms. Sounds creepy, huh?

I found the idea for the elves here and just could not resist their little faces. There's a free pdf template for the little buggers (though not hard to recreate without the download). I used plush for the face and limbs and I patchworked some scrap fabric for the super tall hat and round little bodies. It was very easy to do, and fun. After all, this project combines my two crafty loves: sewing and embroidery.

I chose the "singing face" for these little elves, which is really more of a talking face because Nicole, Lauren and I would get together and gab a lot. In fact...........

*we met over breakfast a LOT.

Okay, so I tried to incorporate the Orange Elf into this dialogue, but any writer will tell you dialogue is hard to write....besides. This little one is orange, its arm is positioned in a particular way...maybe like a fist pump? It's almost as if it's saying.....

God, please forgive me for that.

So, I've shipped these little angels off to the thawing tundra of Madison, WI with the confident hope that all our girls will love them and keep us connected. Lauren and Nicole, hope you got the ones you wanted and your baby girls enjoy!

****

Oh! And there's a little clue to another sewing project I've been working on above:

Oh those nesting boxes.....Stay tuned!

Honestly, Pregnancy

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:49:00 +0000

**I had many--as you can imagine--hilarious pictures to accompany this post. Except maybe for Article 3 below. But blogger was being weird and I deleted them instead of trying to solve the problem. Happy uninterrupted reading!

I realize I am about to rant with very little context to how easy my pregnancy has been. Forgive me. I love feeling the baby move, but I loathe some other things with a burning passion. Overall I've had a super smooth pregnancy. Matt and I didn't have trouble getting pregnant. We are incredibly fortunate. In fact, knowing those things so very well I almost hate myself a little for writing this post, but I'm going to anyway. I need to unload a short list of things that--at 34 weeks--I'm over about being pregnant.

Of course there are the givens: I miss sleeping on my stomach (watching football players being tackled was making me jealous), miss caffeine (Matt has decided to finally start to drink coffee, that freewheeling bastard) and miss alcohol. But aside from the Tweedledee, Tweedledumb, and No F#@&ing S%*t of pregnancy (and the typical anxieties) here are my special top six:

1) I will not miss launching myself out of bed at night to pee for the tenth time. It's not the waking up. It's that I'm severely testing my wrist strength every time I try to hurl the extra 50 pounds I've added in the last 8 months out of our low bed in the middle of the night.

2) I know that, biologically speaking, it's an amazing feat and will help keep baby fed but I would really like my nipples to return to their regular color, thankyouverymuch. I would like to wear a white sleep shirt and feel sexy again, not like an orangutan on National Geographic. Sleep Shirt Bonus Request: I would also like to fit into the shirt Matt got me from one of his favorite Durham food trucks. Not fitting into a food truck shirt also = not sexy.

3) Oooo, serious one. I will not miss the guy at work looking at me like I'm a saint for not aborting this baby each time we pass in the hallway. This feeling is based on a real life conversation with him in which I never mentioned my views on abortion, let alone abortion as an option. I hope no one can relate to that one.

4) Applesauce cravings have GOT to go. JUST KIDDING! Applesauce is the food of the gods and Johnny Appleseed is a goddamn national treasure.

5) Sitting sucks. Laying down sucks. Walking around is the only thing that feels good and--oh yeah--it's 3:16am right now.

6) And let's end on a high note: I cannot wait for wiping to be easy again.

Fin.

Spectrum Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:46:00 +0000

Hey y'all, I'm back. What, a week goes by and you thought I left you again? We really have to work through these abandonment issues you have. I've just been knee deep in new car shopping and Madison tripping. Yes, dear friends, last weekend I was in Madison: watching roller derby, catching up with awesome friends (some of them meeting their babies for the first time!) and eating at my favorite restaurants. I hope to have a recap soon. But right now it's easier to talk about another saddle I've gotten back on: sewing!

Completely generously and by surprise, my friend Gracie sent me a book of baby sewing projects. It was just the thing I needed to break that year and a half streak of strictly utilitarian sewing. The book is called Handmade Beginnings: 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby by Anna Maria Horner and it is filled. to. the. BRIM! with adorable projects. I decided to now start small and, you know, make my first quilt (first solo endeavor at least, love ya Mom!). Thar she blows:

It's called the Hide and Seek Spectrum Quilt. The fun part is that each window opens and reveals a coordinating patterned fabric for baby to find:

Fun fact! The orange and the dark blue squares are from dresses Seven and Five, respectively. The patterns feature leaves and birds and flowers and....enhance...ENHANCE.....let's look as some other favorite squares:

A girl's got to know: Go Pack Go!

Secrets!: An old pair of Matt's boxers

...but in spite of the source material, the plan is to use this as a play mat for the little one.

It was very quick to pull together. In fact, I did it in one day from start to finish (including prewash). Cutting the pieces was tedious, but you quilters must love that because that's kind of a big part of this whole quilting thing. I understand that now *inhale...exhale* and will be better prepared next time.

The only other pain was that I had to change thread colors a lot. For instance, this is what the quilted border looks like:

Ooooh, pretty. And bobbin-y. Yes, the largest expense other than the batting was the back up bobbins I needed to purchase. And that's true. This quilt is super cheap to make if you have a well-nourished stash:

So if you decide to raid your own stash and make this quilt (and I recommend you do!) you may want to consider a few fun extras...you can make each patterned square more texturey by adding rickrack or use fleece. (I have upholstery fabric and swiss dots for some of mine because that's what I had.) You could even recycle some clean food wrappers or a heavy plastic to sew into the windows for the patterned fabric to make them more "crinkley". Kids love that stuff.

I'll admit the corner I cut in this quilt was the hand quilting. The final dimension of the whole thing is about a four foot square, so I could still feed it through the machine, and I happily did. I thought I might regret not being "true" to the spirit of quilting, but then I thought about the first time baby girl or one of her adorable cousins might spit or poop on this thing and I was glad to save the handiwork. Happy Sewing!

And finally, Big Project #3

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Ten points to Griffyndor if you know what this picture is all about!* If you guessed "Sandy's Organic Chemistry Homework", your points are awarded thusly.

*Sorry, just now reading Harry Potter. I know, way behind.

Yes, the third big project of the last year is my return to school. I know I'm going backwards in excitement level...baby to new house to school? Well excuoooooze me for not being Steven King, Master of Mystery and Suspense. I'm just a girl from Virginia who is definitely four chemistry classes smarter than the last time we met. You noticed, didn't you? *ahem* Straight "A"s, bizzes.

So, why the return to school? Well, I've said it for years and I guess turning 30 was just the swift kick in the pants I needed to stop talking and start doing. I started back this fall to get my prerequisites out of the way so I can apply to grad school and then become a Nutritionist. Sound like a lot of steps? Well, it is! And who knows how long it will take me!

So, how does this work? Well, I am working full time by day and taking class part time classes by night. Although this semester I am taking a little "gestation vacation" but plan on returning in the summer or fall again. Oh, and I also plan on making you listen to me worry about baby time versus school time when the time comes. See, it's started already. What fun.

But so far, I love it. First of all, girls can do and love science. Just in case you believe the rumors going around that say otherwise. And secondly, nutrition makes something in me tick like few other things do. The link between childhood obesity and poor access to health care for low-income families??? Probably not something most people get excited about, but it is if it's something you want to improve and help people understand! Word to ya' adequate access and smart decision making motha'.

****

So, yeah. That's my deal. I've covered the big changes in the last three posts: a baby, a fixer-upper, and school. Now that we're all clear on that, time to move on with life unfolding. What big things do you have going on? When were things most hectic for you, would you pile it all on again? And I do promise to let you know if I ever have an answer to that myself.....

Big Project #2

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Aside from the human baby, Matt and I have another baby we're working on: our new house. After one rejected offer then a decision between the put together house in a neighborhood full of people our age versus a fixer-upper in a neighborhood of octagenarians, we chose.......the octagenarians!

Yes, we bought a butter and baby blue *shudder* ranch house that needed someone who loved it enough to banish fake wood paneling from its being. Our mantra? But it has sooo much potential! Our reality? We have been finding precious surprises about it ever since:

A backyard filled with so many tchotchkes my sister-in-law named it "Narnia"?

A broken dishwasher from the '80s hardplumbed into the house?

A roach problem?

Two fire place flues that exposed the tender wooden frame of our new home?

A yard full of dead trees that lean precariously over our bedroom.

All the hot and cold faucets connected backwards so hot is cold and cold is hot?

So far we've found these smaller hiccups to be manageable via (in order)...

the dump,

a hacksaw followed by a plumber,

better living through chemicals,

a seedy old fireplace repair man called "Beetlejuice",

tree removal service almost followed by small claims court,

aaaaaaaaaannnnd being lazy and living with it! You're welcome unknowing house guests!

(Oh! And here's the part where I skip over mentioning the foundation problems because I don't want a lecture....Yippeeeeee!)

Paint and elbow grease go a long way too and I will look forward to bragging about some of our improvements as the blog goes on. We're finally completed a lot of infrastructure-y and detail stuff and are now dealing with the "fun" of having moved from a 720 square foot home in our beloved Madison to a 2100 square foot home that echoes because of lack of furniture. First world problems.

And (for those sewing blog hanger-on-ers!) I do have a sewing space set up in the new house, but unbelievably the sewing machine has only been used to sew curtains and repair Matt's heavy duty wood splitting gloves. Yes, much like the Bounty paper towel man I imagine, my man splits wood. My husband is awesome.

First Big Project #1

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Wow, two posts in 2013 so far. That's 200% more that 2012, I'd say I'm off to a good start and should take the rest of the day off.....

Just kidding. This one's too good to wait.

Second post and it's been a year and a half since we've chatted! We have some catching up to do. Time to reveal one of three big new projects of 2012-13 for this now casual sew-er. I made it through nine measly dresses with my crazy sewing blog goal, but now I have my eyes on a larger prize. Instead of nine dresses, I'm now over halfway through nine months of my largest project to date. The Matt and I are having our first baby!

Yep, that's our sweet little girl at 20 weeks. Whoa. I love this picture because we were totally not expecting 3D pictures and were so surprised when the technician flipped the switch and we could see our daughter sucking and moving (and man, is she a mover). You'd think having a baby would be an excuse to take things easy, move things off your plate, but I'm excited to add this blog to the mix and chat up some momma stuff with you. Besides, Matt has already made it clear that I am now the #2 woman in his life now. I need to feed the ego somewhere.

Exhibit A: Proud Papa

Now, if you were starting to get excited/nauseous that this was going to turn into a "parenting blog", you have no reason to squeal/reach for a paper bag to puke in just yet. I'm still an adult human and like all adult humans, I have varied interests which you will be forced to listen to: house stuff, craft stuff, work stuff, (spoiler alert!) school stuff, and also, eventually, this "parenting" stuff of which I speak. Welcome, baby girl!

Hellloooooooo beautifuls!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

*Mwah*! *Mwah*! I'm back. Happy Monday! A lot has changed since I last posted to (twelve) dresses, if the last post there didn't give that away. Yep, in the summer of 2011 the hubbs and I were packing up our precious first home in Madison, Wisconsin and moving back to North Carolina. I won't get into the ins and outs of that decision making process right now, but it was (and sometimes is still) difficult. We knew all along we left in spite of having a great life there, not running away in search of one.

Lucky Strike Tower, Durham NC

So now, here we are! Settling in in Durham, in the Bull City. The land of tobacco and a young Kevin Costner, kickstarting this old new blog (to use the parlance of our times). I never did finish those twelve dresses (I got to nine) and I don't have the awesome blonde streak in my hair that I used to. I also don't play derby anymore. But I do have a few other new and exciting things going on, which I'm excited to share.

About that, this blog is going to move away from being a sewing blog and more about life and other random projects. Hey, I was honest in my original "About Me" and said I have a history of perfected and then hastily abandoned crafty interests. Turns out I know myself really well. But there's still a lot of making and doing going on around here, and I might need your help sorting some of it out. So sorry for the old "one, TWO!", but I hope you'll still stick around because we have fun, don't we? I still love ya, baby.

The (twelve) dress project has a place of history and honor in the "In Summary" section to the right. You'll see the tagline (to the left) has also changed to include a healthy dose of honesty. Other tweaks to the blog layout and content coming too. A year and a half is a long time to make changes. And a "Hi, World! I'm back on the internets!" blog post is too teeny tiny small to explain them all, so stay tuned for the 'splaining to come 'round.

It feels good to be back.

Life Be Crazy

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 17 May 2011 12:43:00 +0000

I know. I've been a horrible blogger. But if it's any consolation...I've been an even worse sew-er. You see, dear friends, this is what our sewing/dining/crafting/boardgaming/computer room looks like:

And it's pouring into our living room and kitchen too. We are getting ready for a huge yard sale this weekend, so let me know if you see anything you want. It's too soon for me to give up anything I've sewn (*ahem*), but I know that day will come, right?

I once read an eyeopening entry on a blog (that I regret not bookmarking) where she talked about donating some of her selfmade clothes to Goodwill. That's when I realized one day I'll purge any less than perfect project, but for now that seems weird to me. I'm such a new sew-er that everything handmade is darling and wonderful and worthy of saving from the scrapheap, but there must come a time when that switches over, right? Have you hit that wall? Early projects that just had to go, or whose trends faded away like acid wash?

Revisiting the Tenth Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 10 May 2011 23:00:00 +0000

After a weekend of reflection, feedback, and winning (more on that later) I am back with a renewed spirit and plans for the Tenth Dress!

As you may recall the Little House on the Prairie fabric I originally choose became totally washed out in the pre-rinse. I asked for feedback and the sagest advice I received was some replica watch spam, so I scrapped that fabric and moved on to Plan B. But before I do that, let's revisit that "winning" part since that is what ultimately got me here...

...This past weekend my roller derby team, the Reservoir Dolls, won the championship bout of the season! I can't tell you how thrilling this is. We have worked so hard and so long for the past year(s) and consistent training and strength of will really paid off for us. Now, we have the sexiest of sexy trophies to show for it...the Leg!

Photo Credit: Pappa-razzi

It was a particularly adversarial year for the Res Dolls and I am so proud that we rose above injury of body and reputation to be the best we could be, which is all we ever asked of one another on and off the track. I am so proud.

What does all of this have to do with the Tenth Dress, you ask? Instead of Little House on the Prairie, I'm changing fabric gears and going full out Reservoir Doll. Our uniforms are black and white, with ties. Always looking so professional. This is a girlie girl dress, which the Res Dolls are not, but I can always squeeze a little more roller derby into my life. Plus, as I'm making this dress, I can share some of the team lore with you. We're going from washed out roses to black and white. This dress is going to be full black poplin, with the button strip in contrasting white poplin. Like a tie. Can you see it?

Aside from our first place victory, this is the perfect way to mark the end the season. CanIgettaBanBangonThree? BANG! BANG! (That's a cheer we do. I told you, get ready for it.)

WWLauraDo?

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Fri, 06 May 2011 16:46:00 +0000

If you'll remember this fabric, a simple 100% cotton, bled like crazy on the first prewash. On the second, things took a turn for the worse. Instead of bleeding, the red dye damn near ran. I never got a "before" photo, but I think it's pretty obvious. The print has lost it's vividness.

The fabric already looks over loved and I've never even worn it yet! *sigh* A friend suggested I take it back to the fabric shop, but then what's to stop this from happening again later?

What I loved so much about this fabric with this dress pattern was the "Little House on the Prairie"ness of it all. I loved loved loved those Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a kid. Of all the pages and totally engaging stories, though, two stand out. They are funny and small, but they are easily the first things that come to mind when I think about these books: when they make maple candy and whenever the girls go shopping for calico fabric. To this day I love maple candy. And I think this fabric made me think of those trips to the General Store. I know that sounds a little over dramatic, and I've over analyzing this thought enough that I am confident that this isn't some weird aging nostalgia. But still, I wonder: WWLauraD? Do I salvage or start over?

The Tenth Dress Revealed!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:29:00 +0000

Dun-dun-dun! Here she is:

Another Cynthia Rowley pattern. And I have another in the cue yet! I love these! Originally I saw this dress and immediately thought of my friend, Lauren. It would be adorable on her! And I was right...When I showed her, she immediately responded saying she'd make seven, one for every day of the week. But she hasn't done that yet, so when I'm done, I'm passing this pattern along to Lauren so she can get started on her ambitious wardrobe plans. Because what she needs is more projects. But I'll confess I just had to get one in first, because let's face it, how cute is this dress??

I like it because it's sweet and modest, but no where near frumpy. The reviews talk about how small the armholes are, which seems like a nice thing too. I'm not as advanced a sew-er to consider these things when picking a pattern, but I'll look forward to them when I learn about these things.

Yayay!

Tenth Dress Fabric, with a side of Bad Pre-Wash

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:25:00 +0000

Hola! Time to start the Tenth Dress. Double digits, I'm a big girl now! With only two months left and a million dresses I want to sew, I guess I'll keep this experiment up beyond a year...though I am looking forward to sewing things other than dresses for a bit...but for now, onward with the dresses.

As you may have guessed I've already hit a little snag-a-roo on this dress. The prewash. And now my husband will know the whole story....

I threw in a load of whites, along with my new fabric, into the washer. Mid-spin cycle I went back in the laundry room for some reason and notice the water from the washer was running pink. Crapcrapcrap. Stop the washer, and there it is: pink underwear, pink undershirts, pink oxfords, pink socks. I hadn't done this since 6th grade and I thought I learned my lesson for life! Well, maybe not. Here is the fabric I was prewashing with my whites. Oopsies!:

This is post-bleed, obviously. And not a white fabric, obviously. Damnit. Why am I so impatient? I swear, aside from this incident and this past one, I'm actually a very capable laundry washer. It's just been a bad year.

In my non-defense, I also found a pair of red underwear (the type our good friend Karl would eschew) in the wash. Too much information? Perhaps. Too many variables to squarely place the blame on this cute new fabric? Definitely.

So I'm washing the fabric again. I think the bleeding fabric could still work, but I'll see how much of the dye I can get out in pre-wash, round two, flying solo. Dress reveal manana!

THE NINTH DRESS--ALL DONE!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 02:01:00 +0000

Whoa, Cirque du Soleil was AMAZING. It makes me want to run away with the circus, for realsies. I got a little misty eyed as Matt and I were walking in because I've wanted to see Cirque du Soleil since I was a little girl. I don't have a bucket list, but if I did, this show would have totally been on it. And it did not disappoint.

I got to wear my cute new dress, which was perfect for le occasion, too. Here's the wrap up on that supa' fine wrap dress:

In some of the previous pictures I realized I hadn't undone the basting on the from pleats. Looks a lot better now, doesn't it??

*Ninth Dress Report Card*

PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS: Easy, no frills. It was a See & Sew pattern, so no complicated steps but no cushy guidance either.

PATTERN SIZING: With a wrap dress, it's probably harder to tell, but for the first time ever I melded (my husband hates that word) two sizes and it fit great. 12 shoulders and hips, 10 waist.

FABRIC CHOICE: Well, this should come as no surprise but YEESH! I love the way this fabric looks and feels but I hated sewing with it. I think I would hate it even if I had used a pattern that called for such a stretchy fabric, so the fact that this pattern didn't call for such a stretchy fabric made it. the. worst.

Stripes: I tried matching up lines previously and I was so conscientious of it then, but horizontal lines were a different lesson all together, so this fabric helped me there. I thought the stripes laid in pretty good places once the dress was done.

The lining is suitable. The polyester stretch is a heavy, but does the job which was to make the fabric less sheer. (I still wore a slip under it yesterday, but also it was cold and I wanted ever layer possible!) I cut off the bottom five inches or so off the skirt lining to lessen the load. If I were to make this dress over again with the same fashion fabric, I'd definitely line the bodice. The fabric is thin enough that with some undergarments, I have bra lines (like panty lines, but for your bra).

My construction of this dress is pretty bad. I failed in a lot of cover-up-able ways, which I'm thankful for. But I felt the same about my efforts with the Sixth Dress, and the Seventh Dress remains unfinished, so I really have to knock this next one out of the park!

FINANCIALS:

Pattern: $2.99

Fashion Fabric: $11.14 (sale!)
Lining: $3.00 (clearance!)

Notions: $0 (though I used some leftover interfacing to stabilize the sashes)

TOTAL: $17.13...cheapest dress to date?

Good lord, that section has more notations than Barry Bonds' home run record.

PERFECT OCCASION: Done and done. I wore it to Cirque du Soleil last night! I felt a little fashionista-y and totally appropriate with the crazy colors.

WOULD I MAKE THIS DRESS AGAIN?: Maybe. I don't know how many simple wrap dresses a girl needs, but I wouldn't rule it out. This dress can easily be cut and sewn in a day.

Off to the Circus!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:02:00 +0000

Yesterday I posted that I was hoping to wrap up this dress before date night with the man this evening. Not only did I have time to finish the dress, but I'm blogging about it too. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you skip roller derby practice!

Speaking of roller derby, every now and then I have a small aside about how my team, the Reservoir Dolls, are doing. You should know (!!!!!) that we won our semifinals this past Saturday and we're on our way to the championship round in TWO WEEKS! May 7th. Circle that dates, folks. This is seriously exciting. The team did great! No more skipping practice though....but for now, back to the dress...

I just had to finish narrow hemming the lining. Well, wait, back up...I had to undo the travesty that was part of the narrow hemming where one of the dress sashes comes in.

Please don't ask me to explain the picture above. No, I don't know which side is up, or where that sash end is meant to be coming from. And no, I don't know how this happened. Well, I do a little bit. Again, this fabric is too stretchy and light for this dress. The sash is folded into the hem in a certain way, and when the sash is supposed to do an about face so it can be wrapped around your body, the fabric pulls all weird. I seam ripped and resewed and STILL ended up with the same results. But then I realized something wonderful. This sash is the one that goes inside of the wrap part of the dress. I didn't touch it again. If I see you on the street, I'll happily unite my dress and show you the dirty details--no, the sewing dirty details--but until then, I'll spare you.

Next, I zoom zoom zipped around this dress and it's DONE. Well, I haven't put in the recommended "stay" button on the wrap yet, but those crazy French Canadian contortionists can't wait any longer! I'm off in my faboo new dress--toodles!

Happy belated Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:06:00 +0000

Looks like I took an impromptu vacation from sewing and staying in touch, but it was great! My parents were in town...we painted trim, fixed cracked sidewalks, fixed fences, fixed a screen door, took down a tree! It was amazing. They are excellent and capable homeowners and Matt and I appreciated the lessons. The house is in great shape, which was so nice to have confirmed by my home inspector dad, but there is always a bit of cosmetic work to do....

Needless to say it did not leave much time for anything else and I only have a few days left to finish sewing this dress. Matt and I are going to Cirque du Soleil tomorrow night. Can I finish it by then? I have just a bit of hemming to do and to put in a button to hold the heavy thing up (as recommended by Tommie).

Wish me luck!

Getting it Lined

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:22:00 +0000

Welcome to the first episode of "Getting it Lined!", with your host....me! Where you take an unlined pattern and try to make a lining for it. It's even less exciting than that sounds (and certainly a lot less cheerful...)

So I mentioned yesterday I picked up some polyester lining. It's a "moderate stretch", and I was hopeful that it would keep the crazy stretch that is this ITY fabric in place.

I thought a lot about, and has some missteps with how this lining should work. (NOTE: Continue reading the rest of this paragraph only if you're looking for guidance on whether or not to make this dress. It gets a little technical. About the lining...) This dress has pleats in the front..should I pleat the lining? If I do, will that be too much bulk? Do I ignore the pleats for the lining? If I do, will the lining move enough? This was such a mindbender for a novice such as myself. After a lot of thought, turns out I wasted my time on thinking of a solution. I only had enough fabric for one answer. Based on the constraints of the too little lining yardage, I added pleats to the back, but just cut the lining into post-pleat sized panels for the front. I figured, it's a wrap skirt. I won't need that extra yardage in the front for movement. Plus, this lining fabric is HEAVY, so every inch I can leave out, the better. Here's what I did, while obviously enjoying the morning sun...

Pleats for the back panel

No pleats in the front.

So, I "solved" (by default) the problem of the lining shape, but I soon began to worry about the weight of the fabric. I think I mentioned that already...

The next step was pinning the bodice to the skirt. With each pin, though, I got more and more worried about the weight. I am sad to admit that wasn't even excited to see the dress come together because it just sagged with the polyester. Just before the moment of truth...

...then, voila!...

No, wait...I'm holding it there.....VOILA!

Excitement meter = zero. Here's hoping the ties do a hell of a lot of good. Putting the dress down now. Full critical review of unstraight stripes, weird sags, and the questioning of this fabric choice coming soon....and this is supposed to be an easy See & Sew!

The Sleeves that Never Were

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:14:00 +0000

Here they are, the sleeves that never were:

I originally wanted short sleeves for this dress. I thought they would show off the stripes a bit better, but in the half-waking life that is falling asleep, I realized fluttery sleeves are better. I feel like I have a lot of good ideas in that twilight time. I also sing really well in the shower and find things in the last place I look. I guess I'm just a special little snowflake that way!

So, I scrapped the short sleeves and went onward with the pain-in-the-ass-to-cut-out curves of fluttery sleeves:

Pain in the ass, for sure, but I'm happy with the outcome...

So many stripes!!!

Also, I bit the bullet and stopped by Joann's to pick up lining for the dress. I got a stretch polyester which I'm less than thrilled about. While the bolts of novelty fleece were numerous, the options for sexy, slinky black fabric were not. Do you think it will be itchy?

Started the Sewing...

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:04:00 +0000

I'll take care of the lining I'm missing later. For now, I sew! Since I won't be lining the bodice anyway, I say let's get started...

Oh! I finally took a good picture of this fabric. I don't think any of the other picture captured the vividness of the print, but we had sun yesterday, and it was glorious!

I love it. And it's a good thing because this is a bear to sew with. Sooooo stretchy....you're going along, sewing with right sides together...all you see is this vaguely colorful, mostly grayish coming together, getting caught in the bobbin feed hole (or whatever it's called). It's awful. But when it's done, you turn the fabric right side out and, ahhhh, you forget all the pain. I'm pretty sure it's exactly like childbirth. All the pain of labor, but then you see the baby. Yes, I'm sure sewing stretchy fabric is exactly like giving birth.

I haven't gotten very far. Just the bodice, but there was a little detail to the dress I had overlooked on the pattern envelope. There is a little 'tuck' on the sleeves. Intrigue!

So here's the bodice all put together. I am not going to worry that the stripes don't match up. I hadn't even though about it for these pattern pieces. Sheesh. Amateur.

Lining Update. A Short Story.

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:51:00 +0000

Someone has their bolts mislabeled...

See Sandy order lining fabric.

See wrong fabric arrive.

See fabric returned, replacement shipped quickly.

(Yes, I picked the 'cute guy' customer service pic.)

See replacement arrive.

See replacement is the same wrong fabric.

Really?

Truly?

The End.

Thanks, McCall's! (and other shoutouts!)

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:36:00 +0000

BREAKING NEWS! I'm excited about this. My Eighth Dress was featured on McCall's facebook page last week!

I got a very nice email from a very kind administrator, and was thrilled. So not only do I have a great dress, but a shout out from the pattern makers themselves. Hello! and Welcome! to those of you visiting from the fancy blue and white world of facebook!

Since there are a few more new people here though, I'm going to put you to work. My lining fabric is due at my doorstep any minute! and have a question about it: When you line a garment, do you serge the two layers together and sew as one dress? Or do you create a second insideout garment and just attach it at the...shoulder seams? ...waist seam? I probably won't get to this part until the end of the week, so if you see this, let me know.

Also, in other BREAKING NEWS news. My boss will be on NBC's Today Show any. second. now. Way to go Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier!

Cutting the Ninth Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:05:00 +0000

Today I wore a wrap dress I've had in my closet for years without a single wardrobe malfunction, so I'm pressing ahead with this Ninth of Dresses. You may recall I was a little nervous about the potential fabric sagging in the décolletage region. Fears subsided.

So tonight I'm cutting, I'm cutting, I'm cutting. This wasn't a mindless cut, mind you. Silly stripes making it all confusing. Since I'm working with horizontal stripes of irregular width, I had to avoid the really wide stripes falling across my bum.

Which is why there is a large gap between the fabric pieces in the picture above.

Also, the bodice front is cut on the grain line, so the stripes kind of fall downward to the sides on your body. Not the most flattering way to have them go, but there wasn't much I could do to avoid it. You can kind of see what I mean in this picture (piece marked '1' is the bodice):

Oy. This fabric was not fun to fold and cut. The fabric stuck to itself when folded, and the stretch made the stripes warp when I was trying to unstick the damn thing. Good times. Now that I'm done cutting everything, I get to wait for the same ITY lining fabric to arrive and then cut it out all over again.

The "Before Work Skirt"

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Okay, the allergy melodrama is over* and I'm on to the "Before Work Skirt" timed session. This is called the "Before Work Skirt" because it can be made if you use that extra time in the morning to sew and not, oh I don't know, to catch up on facebook and crush on Matt Lauer.

I used Freshly Picked's elastic skirt tutorial and followed it to the t/tee/tea with excellent results. Freshly Picked and I share the same measurements, so I cut everything exactly the same size. Next time I'll make the elastic about an inch shorter for a more snug fit, but obviously not shortening it worked too.

I figured this skirt would take less than an hour to pull together, so I wanted to time it to see if I could encourage at least one of you to get this cute little thing done. To prove it's ease, I stopped to take a picture every five minutes. Below are the results. Note: I did not time the cutting of the fabric, and I'll explain that in the Preamble. Also, I won't repeat the directions here because Freshly Picked deserves all the credit. Oh, and one more thing. Not only is this skirt quick, but take a minimal amount of fabric. I'm a pattern size 12 and made it for less than a yard. Here goes...

Preamble
I picked a fabric with an extra trim pattern on one side. I'm sure there is a technical term for it, but I picture is worth a thousand words:

See? That thing on the bottom is the extra trim. I didn't want to lose that, but only had a yard of fabric. which wouldn't be wide enough Sadly, I had to lose that little bean motif in the middle there, but was able to salvage the rest. I cut the remaining panel in half and sewed on what was left of the divided motif. Here's what the panels I ended up looking like:

Not bad. Now I start the timing:

5 Minutes

Crap, I forgot to cut the pockets. I used the pattern from Simplicity 2443, but FP has a downloadable pattern too. Also not hard to invent one. I hadn't made it very far after 5 minutes. I must have checked up on everyone on facebook.

10 Minutes

Not quite pinned the pockets on, but I can explain why...I had measured the skirt wrong and had to do some more cutting. See! You can make this skirt in even less time.

15 Minutes

Pockets sewn in and pressed. I'm cruising now....

20 Minutes

Panels almost completely sewn together. Rock star!

25 Minutes

Pressing the hem. I like hemming a lot more when it's not the last, laborious step.

30 Minutes

Tickticktick... Hem almost sewn in...but whoops!...

35 Minutes

Bad thread tension strikes! Seam ripping commences at breakneck pace.

40 Minutes

Elastic starts getting pinned in. It helped a lot to match up the quarter-lengths of the elastic and the skirt circumference. And since the skirt circumference, according to FP's tutorial, should be twice your waist measurement, when pinning you should gather your fabric twice over. Meaning, the length between the pins should actually gather twice that length of fabric. Like so....

~~45 Minutes~~ 44:07 Minutes

The skirt is fully pinned and I stopped the timer because I didn't want to restart in in the middle of sewing the elastic on the band. Justincase. You can see my handy youtube countdown clock in the background.

46:57 Minutes

TA DA! Finished sewing the elastic in. Another clock cameo to mark the timely occasion. Yes, this skirt was done in just under 47 minutes. Are you motivated yet???

Looks good with my pajama shirt, no?

So, there you have it, the Before Work Skirt. What are you waiting for???

*No it's not. I only shut up to save face. Still bummed big time about the pecan allergy.

Allergies and a New Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:59:00 +0000

Once again, we wait for the lining fabric to come in.....A heads up, this post has little to do with sewing, fair warning!

When I get dressed in the morning I find I follow three rules, and generally this order:

1) Seasonally appropriate/Warm Enough,

2) Matching, and

3) Cute.

However, when I am getting ready for a particularly unfun day...say the first day back to work after a great vacation, or a day when I have a really early and dreaded doctor's appointment...the order changes quite a bit:

1) Cute.

And today was one of those days. I had an early and dreaded appointment with an allergist. Something seasonal has been driving me crizz-azy! Plus cats always get to me, and maybe I had an, I don't know, itchy mouth and maybe, maybe, a rash develop on my face whenever I ate pecans. Maybe. So I got it checked out.

Turns out I have an allergy to a common outdoor mold, I'm super allergic to cats, and was handed a damn near unbelievable epi pen for the pecan thing. WHAT? I'm that allergic to pecans? I was told this pen could save my life and I've been playing with fire. WHAT? Out of the blue. I didn't even get a week to binge unknowingly before this was thrown at me. A nut allergy? A pecan allergy????? I'm southern, and love these things: Carrot Cake, Pecan Smokies, PECANS!

A late in life nut allergy of the tastiest of nuts. Worried that this might be the case, I knew today called for breaking all morning dressing rules. I was dressing:

1) Cute!

Inspired by my favorite skirt in my wardrobe, purchased at the local The Purple Goose:

and armed with Freshly Picked's elastic waistband skirt tutorial, I set out to make it a better day. Or at least a day where I had a new skirt to wear to arm me against the harsh world of anaphalactic risks. Here she is:

The nurse practitioner even complimented it!

I call this the "Before Work Skirt" because you can literally make this if you get up just an hour early for work/early and dreaded doctor's appointment. It's true. I timed myself, and will share the progress tomorrow. But tonight...Tonight, I relive the magic and wonder of the 50-serving carrot cake Matt bought for a party of 20. I enjoyed that thing, itchy and all, for an extra week. Oh pecans, we had some good times. Farewell, old friend.

Rogue Lining Strikes Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Sandy) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:37:00 +0000

The deviant powers of the world that control the ebb and flow between lining fabric and moi must not happy. While waiting for the lining for the Seventh Dress to come in (still), I am once again sabotaged.

When I ordered the beautiful stretch that is this month's fabric, I also added some similiarly stretchy black fabric to the cart as a lining. But instead of three yards of a black rayon knit thing, I received three yards of black cotton. Frowny.

I called Fabric.com to let them know about the mix-up and to their credit: they were wonderful. I was never on hold, no questions asked, loved it. Two minutes, tops. That is customer service at it's best. The fabric I was supposed to get is already on it's way, so I guess now all I need is some confidence I was right to begin with.

Povre Sandy, what do you mean?

Well, receiving this fabric feels kind of like a Freudian Slip on the part of Fabric.com. The pattern I'm using for this dress (Butterick 5546) calls for nothing more than a moderate stretch knit. Does this stretch look "moderate" to you?

So getting this mispicked cotton was like a "whoa, Stretch Fabric, calm down" from the universe. I feel like I shouldn't be so uptight about this, but I really love this fabric and want this dress to work.

Have you ever made a pattern with overly stretchy fabric? How did that turn out? Do you have any tips on how to stabilize the neckline so the stretch doesn't plunge into cleavage-y oblivion? Or do I not have to worry about a sagging dress at all?