Another Corduroy Dress for Winter!

So, here is dress #2! (I'm modeling it in the new kitchen.)

I finished this a few nights ago & I love it.  It's more on the 7501/7051 theme.  I readjusted the neckline ...and added the collar from 6081:   

I used old silk from a kimono scrap to make the neckline facing.  In the photo below, #1 is the silk for the facing, #2 is the underside of the collar, so it wouldn't be too thick.  

And used up lots of scraps someone from freecycle.org gave me to make the bias tape to finish the sleeves and to face the collar. 

The only thing I'm not sure about is the length.  I'll try it once with boots (once winter is here) and see about it then.  I did a halfway decent hand-hemming job, so it should be easy to re-do, if necessary.

Mix & Match Fashion Design

When I was little (many years ago), I received a used fashion design kit.  Essentially it was a light board (small lightbulb) at an angle good for drawing.  It came with pages & pages of different clothing items & they could be mixed & matched via tracing to create different designs.  The pages must have been thicker, I don't remember them wearing out, but I do remember hours of fun playing with collars, sleeves, shoes, hats, etc., to get the look "just right."  (BTW, I have tried to find what it was called or a picture of this toy online, but NSL.)

Anyway, this brings me to my current project, which is one of the corduroy dresses for fall/winter.  And for the first one I just put on a regular collar, which I had to design myself because I bought the wrong pattern (see the 7051/7501 tale here).  Here's the collar I put on the first corduroy dress.

But then I decided I wanted the collar that is on this 1960s dress pattern my mom sent.

And I remembered my mix & match fashion fun childhood & decided to change the collar myself.  In this next photo you'll see (barely) the blue paper that was used for the original collar I drafted, and on top of that the curved collar in the above photo pinned & modified so it will fit the neckline but retain the curviness.

It worked quite well & when I get the dress hemmed (probably tomorrow), I'll be sure you are the first to know!  ;-)

Me vs. the UFOs: 1 down, 4 to go

So I finally finished 7501/7051!  (Clicking on that link will get you the saga of trying to modify the pattern, then having to take a private sewing lesson to get it fitted correctly.)  And in order to finish it I had to redraft the neck facing & the collar (because the fitting involved taking a lot off the shoulder seams).  But it's done!  Totally ready to wear for this fall with tights & my brown leather boots!  Cannot wait.  

More red checkmarks coming soon!

UFOs sighted! Or, a Hall of Shame

Okay, we are back from Catalonia.  It was amazing...got to see all our friends (and their families & children), so that was wonderful.  We were fortunate that 3 different sets of friends were in the same part of the world at the same time. And it meant we traipsed from one end of Catalonia to another, from mountains (hiking/birdwatching) to the seashore (the Roommate worked on his tan while I stayed inside & read--I'm a white girl!) to river deltas (more birding), and managed to bask in the amazing Modernisme architecture that is all over Barcelona. Our next project will be to rent some movies filmed in Parc Guell!


And while I was gone, of course I missed Bella, who is as sweet and adorable as ever. And I missed my machine & thought of about 50 more projects I want to do...but made a vow that I would finish up some UFOs before I move on.
Most of them are almost done, so really, it would be a little work to get a BIG feeling of accomplishment before I move on.
And what are those UFOs, you dare to ask?  Well, let's get started...from oldest to newest the UFOs are:

1. Simplicity 1011A, which you probably recognize from Tilly's logo.  This is a very good lesson in why muslins/toiles are so important.  It is a little too small (wouldn't be if I'd lose that stone I gained since we moved to DC!), but could be let out.  But the real problem is that the bodice is really too short in the front--and I refuse to take out & re-do the zipper--this was back when I wasn't so good at them and I remember it being he** to get it in).  I need to do some playing (maybe not have it overlap so much at the double-breast in front?) and get it into shape.  I love the pattern & the fabric, so really want this to work out.

2. 7051/7501 - This has been going on way too long.  I have fixed the weird fitting issue, thanks to Allison, but have to remake the collar & facing as that required cutting off quite a bit at the neck-side shoulder seam.  I really can't wait to have it done, and winter is sort-of coming, so it must keep its place in the UFO order.  

3. Copy Your Clothes: Pants - I took this class with Allison at Bits of Thread, DC in April.  Here we are 4 months later & though I made a toile (with extremely ugly sheet fabric as you see in the photo), and bought some super cheap $.99/yard fabric, I haven't finished them.  They didn't quite fit right & I really have trouble adjusting & playing with fit as I mostly hate my body (Candy Says...) & therefore inspecting it closely for fitting is icky.  And I'm not sure I want to tackle the lining that will be required.  But I do want a few colors of these pants...it will be great.  And, I want to make my Starlet Suit a pantsuit!  Must achieve!  


4. Starlet Suit Jacket! - It is actually about done.  That is, if you consider w/out a lining about done!  I've really enjoyed all that Gretchen has taught in this class.  I've learned lots of stuff I'll use again, a few things that were interesting but probably won't use much, and had lots of questions & terms I had about tailoring answered/explained.  


5. Probably not the best idea I've ever had.  I really wanted this dress, but I'm not sure it's really for my body type (even if I did lose that stone!).  This is Simplicity 6081, which my mom recently found & sent.  (1966!).  It is so cute & I love the fabric I've got, but goshee gollee, I am not having much luck w/ fitting it.  Did anyone say toiles/muslins are important?  This may get made into something else--like a book bag or cover for my tablet computer...


Next post I'll tell you why I'm so anxious to get all these crossed off my list...

Miracle Worker or Magician?! Thanks, Allison!

Okay, you know that I've been going to classes @ Bits of Thread in DC.  Although I've been sewing for years (40?!), I still have a lot to learn & have only just recently been proud of my zipper installations, rather than thinking, "Hope no one notices that." (Again, thanks Allison!).  


So a while back I booked a private one-hour lesson to have Allison help me with Simplicity 7501 (which all started when I mixed it up with Scruffy's 7051).  You can read all that blather, which started here.   I had a few problems with that hasty ebay purchase!  First, it wasn't the right size, so I had to make it bigger and move darts around like crazy.  Second, I wanted that collar, so had to change the neckline & design & draw a collar.  It all finally worked out, sort of.  This photo doesn't show the gapping at the front & back waist, which I partly covered up w/ the belt.  

Corduroy for 2 more 7501 dresses;
leaning a bit to the purple side!

But it didn't (work out, that is).  I really wanted to make a bunch of corduroy dresses because they are so perfect for winter & look great with boots, and are so different from what you see in stores.  But it really did not fit too well and there was no way I was making up my other corduroy fabric until I had a pattern that was worth making at least twice more.

Taking off the blue at the top
made such a big difference!

So I went to see Allison, and within about 5 minutes of my arrival, she had figured out that the best fix would be to whack off about an inch from the shoulder (more at the neckline, less at the armscye).  The pattern (which I re-drew from the dress after I'd made the change) is laying on a 1" grid so you can see that the lopping off was rather dramatic.  


I had done SOOO much fiddling with darts and the waistline, but never even thought that the shoulder seam needed adjusting.  Having had other similar fitting issues with patterns & clothing I've bought, I will definitely keep an eye on this area in future.  


This dress is a UFO, which may not be finished until we're back from Spain.  I still need to re-draft the neckline facing & a collar as the first one I did won't fit anymore because of the neckline change.  Stay tuned...

7051/7501 Grand Finale!

Well, the most important item on today's post is, of course, our cat, Bella, who likes the new layout in the sewing room.  She immediately found an empty drawer to hide in and looked adorable.

And the next item is the 7501/7051 dress!  Finally...por fin!  If you remember the beginning of this saga was Scruffy Badger's blog about 7051 way back in October (2011!).  I thought, "I MUST have that, too!" And got online & bought a very large 7501, thinking, well, I can size it down.  Not realizing that I was buying the wrong pattern, being old & forgetful & when I got it into my hot little hands I quickly realized, "Uh oh!"  I'd transposed the numbers & bought the wrong pattern on ebay.  So I set about trying and trying and trying to turn the too big wrong pattern into the just right 7501.  (Can I just say here that after getting me started SB still has NOT made her version--and she has the right pattern & started all this?)

I then decided to use my new dress form & lots of extra pieces from my stash & leftover bits to try to make a toile.  I made 4 eventually and cut & sewed & stitched & restitched & and put in darts & moved them & resized them and ripped out stitches & did it again & again & again.  I won't go into the rest of the story (which involves canibalizing another pattern that does fit & then changing the neckline & sleeves).

But at least you can see that it's finished.  I wore it to work today & got lots of compliments! It goes especially well with all my turqouise jewelry.  It's not perfect, but it's good enough.

I'm not dumb enough to think that pattern making or alteration is easy, but I had no idea how hard it was...I just kept feeling like I'd get it--but I really never did.  Another thing is that unlike the Slenderette/Simplicity 2847, this one rolls back on my shoulders.  That is a problem I often have with tops & dresses I buy readymade, but I've never had it happen with a dress either I made, or Mohammed made.  So that's a bit weird.

Hopefully some of these questions will be answered as I take some classes at Bits of Thread & online with Gertie.

Oh my gosh, I haven't been sewing & can't think of anything to write about

Okay, reading public.  I know there are a few of you out there & I appreciate your time.  Just to let you know I'm not lost in the mess that is DC politics--I wish my life was that glamorous.  I'm actually extremely busy.  I think I may have to go back & read Tilly's blog post about her Sewing Productivity Project Survey, because I cannot figure out how my online sewing friends have jobs, friends, roommates, clean houses & manage to exercise and play with pets, while making zillions of amazing, well-tailored, lovely outfits.  I only work 9 days every 2 weeks, so that means I commute 1 day less than a lot of people (45 mins each way), and of course I get that extra 8 hours.  So where does it go?

If you're wondering what's occupying my mind at the moment, we're going to re-do our kitchen this summer.  See this American Standard ad from 1946 to get an idea of what's inspiring us (our house was built in 1937).  We have stainless appliances, and will have white cabinets & blue-ish counters.  We haven't picked out the floor & backsplash, but hope to do that this weekend.  But this is all pretty time-consuming--though it's REALLY fun!  What's funny is that we are about the quickest decision makers around, and still, it's time-consuming.

Some fun sites I've come across while thinking about our kitchen are Retro-Renovation, lots of great ideas, photos, old advertisements (like the one above) and even places to get antique items (there's a link to a tile factory that has a bunch of stock from the 1950s & 1960s).  Another is DalTile, which has a mosaic designer tool--hours of entertainment!  On the tabs across the top, click Be Inspired, then Tools, then Mosaic Designer. 

Second, you may remember my problems w/ trying to get my tiny extra room (10' x 6') turned into a sewing studio.  I bought a cabinet, am using 2 old tables (one a gateleg), and got it arranged in what I thought was a good way...but after 4 months or so using it I realized it's a) not light enough and b) the arrangement is just rather weird.  So, this weekend (it's a 4 day weekend), I plan to finish the dress.  Yes the dress!  That I started on in October?!  Then I am going to take everything out of the sewing room & the Roommate & I will paint the walls and rearrange the place.  After that, I'll have to find some more lighting and I'm thinking of putting up some additional shelves.  But that will be after sew/remove/paint/move back in...I will draw before/after plans to show you once that is finished.

Another time-user-upper is we've been slowly decorating the new addition.  We spent about a zillion hours putting a lovely late 1960s free-standing Danish modern bookcase together.  The man who sold it to us warned us--and he was correct--it wasn't easy to put together, but it was SOOOO worth it.  And then last weekend it was putting the new bed together.  Oh, and the perfect helpful Bella knocked down a shelf in the brand-new closet, so that must be dealt with this weekend.  And then there's yoga class on Saturday mornings!  And and and...

However, if nothing else the dress  has taught me that I want to improve my sewing skills.  So first, I'm taking an in-person class at Bits of Thread in DC in late March.  It will be the perfect skirt class...so I'll make a pattern & then a skirt over 2 3-hour classes.  And I'm seriously thinking of signing up for Gretchen Hirsch's class (of Sew Gertie Sew fame) to make a Starlet Suit.  It's online, and I think I'll learn lots of good techniques, and taking another class will motivate me, too.

Those are my plans for spring 2012...the next time you see me, I promise I'll be wearing 7051, if it kills me.  If it does, I can wear it to the crematorium!

Music?  How about a classic from 1936...
Come On in My Kitchen - Robert Johnson

Extreme Pattern Modification (or, 4th time is the charm?!)

Just to give you an idea of what I HOPE is going to be the last time I show you these pattern pieces..and an idea of what I've been working on...a bunch of made-up & super-modified pattern pieces.

This first one, you've seen.  It's what the Bonus Basic Pattern recommended I do to modify the pattern so it fits better.

The 2nd shows how I had to move the point of the bust dart down.  And up close you can see that I added close to an inch along there to hopefully ease in enough fullness.





The 3rd photo shows what I think the new neck facing should look like (front & back) based on the modifications to the bodice pieces (you'll notice in photos 1 & 4 that it's gone from a round neck to a V-neck).  Also in this photo is the pattern for the collar.  On the other 2 or 3 versions (I've lost count!), this was actually the one thing I made up that worked quite well (here's one example).

However, in that first version, the collar looked great & the facing worked well, but the neckline was quite big (lots of skin showing--not really what I wanted for a cozy winter dress). It's quite cold out at the Reference Desk--there's always a stiff breeze from the A/C, winter or summer, so I really didn't want direct air-to-neck contact, at least not in my cozy thin-wale corduroy dress.


And in the 4th photo you'll see up close how I modified the front neckline.  Then I just used this to create the facing you see in the 3rd photo.

Do I know what I'm doing? Not at all.  Am I going to get to the dress before we leave on vacation?  Probably not.  Will I have a ton of free time when we get home to finish it?  Again, probably not--we'll be moving into the new south wing, a friend is visiting from the Netherlands to do research at the Library of Congress and we're headed to California to celebrate the Roommate's birthday w/ his family.  Hmmm.  But I've heard the winter is going to get quite bleak come Jan/Feb here on the East Coast--so that might motivate me to finish.

Wish me luck in the new year!  And thank you for your kind attention this year...I'm mostly enjoying blogging, but do find it a chore to keep my sewing up in order to write about it! Not really, I love sewing, but am starting to pine for the days I only worked part-time!

Music?  B.i.l.l.i.e H.o.l.i.d.a.y by Warpaint

Breaking News! Sewing machine freezes as latest version of Simplicity 7051 is begun

I think this may qualify as an epic fail! I was all ready to start sewing my 2nd try to create Simplicity 7051 out of Simplicity 7501, and my sewing machine went berserk.  The bobbin holder moved, a lot, and I cannot get the screws out of the needle plate!  This actually came up a few months ago, and right after I got it (15 months or so ago), as I usually clean out the machine when I start a new project.  I couldn't get the screws out--they don't budge a bit--and thought, well, they'll loosen up.  I've tried a few other times over the last year+, to no avail.

Two months later...they are so amazingly tight that the Roommate, with all his brute strength didn't have any luck either, even after leaving some WD-40 on for 30 minutes. We're going to try a few more times (knocking on the screwdriver lightly with a hammer and trying with the screwdriver bit on the power drill).  And if nothing works, I'm going over to Sun Sew & Vac, as tomorrow is my day off, and see if they have any luck.

I had already taken a photo of my pattern additions, as part of my I Just Can't Make It series:

As you can see from above, I had to make a collar, and then make front & back facings as I changed the neckline a bit.  (I made it a V-neck to accommodate the collar, and wanted the back to not be quite so high.) I had just sewn up one of the 2 collar pieces when the machine stopped working.  Egad--will I ever get my narrow-wale corduroy dress?  Waaaaaaa!  That is a very wide-wail you're hearing!

As Ms. Sewaholic had her readers write in about their favorite online fabric shops last week, I just wanted to mention that I bought 2 more yards of the fabric you see above (remember this is at least my 2nd or 3rd try on this dress), which was on sale for 1/2 price at joann.com.  I had checked the store, but they were out of it.  It came quickly, and I was pleased with the service, but then I'm not a real test-case as I had seen the fabric already in person.  I'm not so sure about buying fabric completely online, though many Sewaholic commenters seemed to have quite good luck & have done it often.

Instead, today, the Roommate & I went to see 2 Warhol exhibits that are on the Mall right now & are closing soon.  It's one of those, "We'll get over there soonish" things & that was 6 months ago. Last weekend when we were in DC to go to the Kuba/Kasai fabric show at the Textile Museum, we happened upon a brochure reminding us that if we didn't get to the Warhol exhibits at the NGA & the Hirshhorn we'd be out of luck as they are ending in early January--and we're going on our xmas trip soon. (A hint: the only place in the world where you can see Darwin's finches!)

So the Warhol stuff was great & great fun, especially Shadows.  And certainly distracted me from the broken sewing machine!  Not really broken, just frozen...

And the fish tacos we made when we got home?  That totally took my mind off winter corduroy dresses!

Music?  Since I mentioned an (English) Beat album in the earlier, I feel compelled to use one of their songs, which fits quite well with this post, too:  Save It For Later!

Reader, I gave up...or not!

It's been a day and a 1/2.  I am still trying to get this vintage 1967 (too large) Simplicity 7501 to fit correctly. (Here's the original blog where I explain how I mixed up 7501 & 7051.)  And here's Scruffy Badger Time's post about her cool pattern that I just had to have...

I thought I had it on this version, then I had a horrible time getting the back to fit.  You can see on the left what the piece I was using looked like when I started (and that was after many adjustments), and on the right is what actually works & fits!  After what felt like a zillion more adjustments.

I finally got the  back looking okay and realized that, perhaps because of the large darts, that the front was about 2" shorter than it should be. (I figured this out when it didn't match up at the side seams.)  So I had to start w/ new fabric (the green is #3, after the purple & the red).  I could have gone on with the shortened front bodice, but because I was worried about darts, I decided to use up some cheap fabric I bought a while back.  My other thinking was that if it works out, I might actually wear the green dress...

You can see that Bella is very supportive.  She likes supervising me when I'm working.  She especially likes the warm light & the warm computer & playing with thread.  She gives lots of head bumps so that keeps me going.  

So, I got it fitting fairly well, so decided to move on to modifying the neckline & adding a collar.  That took lots of pattern drawing & redrawing, believe me, to get the curves to match at the sides & back of the neck.   But I felt pretty sure that I'd changed the darts enough that it would be pretty close.  Not so.  :-((

I finally got the collar & facing done & tried on the bodice again, and I'm pretty fed up.  Now the front isn't fitting right anymore, though I think the collar & back look good. What the heck is up with that?  I played with it a bit, but can't quite figure out what to do to remove that bulk & get it to fit correctly.  You can see the 2 arrows I drew toward the problem in the picture to the left.  I started ripping out seams before bed & will give the darts yet another look. I'm quite pleased with the collar, though...but am almost thinking the neck is too big for a winter dress.  At the reference desk there's a vent that is always blowing on our necks, so I'd have to wear it with a silk scarf or something.  I do have a ton of jewelry, so a neckline like this is a good way for me to display that collection.  (Ah, yes, there's another collection; this house is full of them, which is why we need the new South Wing that's being added.)

I am going to give it another try.  Or maybe not.  I will see how I feel in the morning after yoga class & a trip to Heidelberg Bakery!

I took a look through some other vintage patterns I got from my mom.  I found 2 that might work, not exactly what I want, but that will work with the fabric I bought.

And I'm rather under the gun on this.  I know once I really start it won't take that long, but I've only got thru this Monday, really.  I just don't have that much time and we'll be away for Thanksgiving and Xmas & then again to California in January...so if I don't get it done soon, it won't be done before spring & won't be much use to me then.  I'll be thinking about spring colors by then!

In the meantime, you'll find me on Bonanza or Ebay looking for a Simplicity 7051 or something similarly cool in my size!

Later...
I'm wondering if a belt would take care of that waist bulkiness?

By Jove, I think I've got it! Well, half...

Finally...I think this may be it.  See what you think.  I don't know how many time I've re-done the darts, but it sure looks like it's just about right now.  Some way or another when I was taking up the pattern, I ended up w/ too much at the shoulder seam, and not quite enough at the side seam.  But that's easily fixed.

I've cut out the back now & marked the darts.  But when I sewed up the first little waist dart, I didn't do it right; that's usually how I know I need a break, or am too tired to continue.  Generally I find if I just keep going I end up making all sorts of mistakes & the next time I sit down to work the first 30 minutes or so are un-sewing.  So I took the hint from that messed-up dart & went downstairs to deal w/ the laundry & to finish up a fruit salad the Roommate had started.

Back - needs work

Back - uh oh

With any luck I'll get the top finished tomorrow evening (when the Roommate is at a class).  I've decided rather than sew up the side seams for the fitting (this is a muslin, remember), I'll sew up the back seam & leave one side seam undone.  This way I can pin it on myself.  The Roommate is good & patient with these things but I'd rather be able to do it myself, if necessary...

Back - not quite there yet

Update...well, maybe not quite.  The back wasn't quick either.  I had even taken out a bit from the center of the pattern (with a fold, like I did on both sides of the front), but that wasn't nearly enough, obviously. And the darts don't sit right at all; almost as if I've got a bust at the back, too! They are also not quite at the waist.  Onward!  But I'm going away for the weekend so it will have to wait 'til the holiday weekend (11/11) for more work.

Here's a hint where we're headed this weekend!  We'll be waking up in the City that never sleeps...

Those Darned Darts! or The Saga Continues

This looks to be a never-ending project!  Hope you're either a) learning something or b) amused by all this.

So where am I now?  I used the original pattern & drew the darts onto my now new piece of muslin (it's that special kind of red & white muslin!), pinned the darts, put it on Helen.  It looked okay, so I sewed up the darts; and re-fitted it to Helen & it didn't look so good...

I took out the darts & tried again--essentially I moved them out about 1/2".  Pinned, put on Helen.  Looked okay. Sewed them up, put on Helen--did NOT look okay.

If you're wondering what that white triangle is in the photo, it's a dart that I just keep moving around to trace onto the pattern.  I figure it's a normal size person bust-dart, so once I get the angle correct it will be the right size & shape.  It probably doesn't show in the photo too well, but I just pinned the neck & the side seams to the dressmaker's friend and marked the fullest part of the bust.  Then I laid my paper dart and pointed that right at the fullest part.  Then I drew on the darts.  I will sew them up later; I have to go pick up the car which is getting new tires for the (supposedly bitter) winter that's got started last weekend.

Later...

I think I've adjusted & re-adjusted about 8 times now!  I do feel I'm getting close.  I finally put in the waist darts, trying to make them a bit wider so they made the waist fit better.  Then I went back to the upper darts, trying to get them the right width at the side seams & at the right angle.

I'm really hoping this pays off in me being able to use it over & over...if not, I'll be pretty upset to put in all this work!  Or maybe it's character building?!

I didn't need to gain respect for pattern designers, but boy, is this difficult.  I'll have to pay more attention at they gym when I watch snippets of Fashion Project Runway.  I have to go to work tomorrow, & we're going to NYC this weekend, so I was hoping to get it done today...not sure whether I'll get back to it before next week.  But at least I feel like I might actually figure it out at this point.

The Battle of the Pattern - Getting Warmer!

Well, this is at least the 3rd version of trying to make Simplicity 7051 (from 1967) into not only a smaller pattern (38 vs. 44), but also to change the neck from a jewel neckline to a V with a collar!  (See Scruffy Badger Time's Simplicity 7501 to see where I'm headed.)

So you saw the purple version.  I played with the original pattern a bit, retraced it onto newspaper, re-cut the purple and played a bit more trying to fit it to my dressmaker's friend.  That did not work and of course I'd cut it too small by then to re-use it.  So I went back to the original pattern again and took out a bit from the shoulder to the bottom with a narrow fold.  I also made sure to shorten it a bit.  Then I found some more scrap fabric (I got a bunch free from freecycle.org a while back) and re-cut one more time.  I drew on the darts, but only pinned them for this photo.  I will sew them tomorrow & try fitting again!  This is a lot of work & is trying my patience, but I think that once I get this done, though, I think it will be so useful--between this & the bodice for Simplicity 2847 I'll be ready for anything.  (Hopefully...)

Round Two: Pattern 2, Karen 0

Well, I adjusted & re-adjusted & fiddled with darts & played & played with the fabric version of this pattern (I took out an inch from the center front, for example)...and finally realized that it's too big. It's a 44, and I think I'm a 38. It doesn't seem like that much, but it is.  And why didn't I pay more attention to the size?  I'll tell you why...because I'm one of those lucky people who mostly fit into things:  I'm average height, average width, etc.  So I just assume things will fit.  For example, the slenderette dress (Route 66), I didn't do any adjustment at all, just cut it out & sewed.  I never even held up the pattern to see if it sort of looked right!  And that fits perfectly...so I'm spoiled.

However, this too-large pattern is definitely going to take some work to get this down to the right size.  And I want to add a v-neck & a collar to this.  Hmmmm.  Am I even capable of that?! You can see from the photos (taken w/ my iphone--so no flash) that I've already taken out an inch in the front center, I also took out the darts in the front (I even had one on the armhole on the front) to try to start again.  There are so many problems that I'm really rather stuck...for example, it hangs like a sack at the back waist.  I'm guessing this is just a length problem?

I think it would be good for me to learn this, but I'm not sure I'm up to it.  I'll try to find a book tomorrow to help me thru that.  So, along with a trip to the hardware store to pick out tile, paint, lights, etc. for the south wing, I guess we're headed to the library, too.  I think this is my official excuse about why I don't finish as many projects as some of the other sewists in the blogosphere!

In the meantime, since I often can't sit & just watch a movie, I've been doing some surfing & discovered this page about re-sizing vintage patterns from So Vintage.

Here's another problem...after a pretty gloomy day of rain & snow & darkling skies, it's gorgeous out now, cold, but beautiful, clear & sunny.  Do I really want to spend the day inside fighting w/ a pattern, when the pattern may well win?!  Helen help me...

Music?!  Well, how about Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo?

Round One: Karen 0 - Pattern 1

Okay, so I pinned & fitted & fitted & pinned the pattern (you saw those pics when I introduced Helen a few posts ago), and then I transferred my changes to the pattern tissue, and cut it out, put in the darts (only doing a few changes at a time--this based on reading I've been doing about using a dressmaker's friend & adjusting pattern pieces).

And I'm not sure it's much better than the original pattern!  I'm trying to figure out if I was too wimpy, or if the material I'm using for my muslin is the problem--it has a bit of stretch as it's poly-cotton.  It's left over from a skirt I had made in Abu Dhabi, but it didn't work out too well:  it had a lining, which always scooted way down, while the skirt scooted way up whenever I sat...leaving about 3-4" of the lining showing at the bottom.  Very weird.  But that explains why such pretty material is now a muslin for the Simplicity 7051 pattern.

Another thing I wonder is if I should add the back, too.  It's so hard to tell if I've pinned it all correctly, but adding the back would take out the seam allowances & let me see how it's pulled when there's a back on it.

Anyway, one go is not going to be enough, obviously; a bummer because I'm a one-try type of gal.  I think I may leave it all the same, more or less, but just take up some around the waist.  More long darts anyone?!  Which would mean adding the skirt, too!  Which means finding more fabric to use as more muslin...

I'd love some comments with your muslin-fitting savoire faire!

An Introduction: Helen, a Sew Perfect Dressmaker's Friend

First, this is the medium model, but she's almost too big for me. I'm 5'8" & a size 8 or 10 (in modern sizes; probably 12-14 in old sizes) and I had to put all the dials to the smallest possible to get her to fit into my Route 66 dress. I decided that making her fit that dress, which fits me well, would be a good way to adjust my new dressmaker's friend (or, my imaginary friend!) without help from another seamstress.

I named her Helen.  Now I know Tilly doesn't approve, but I kept calling her a 'she,' and since I've decided she's a dressmaker's friend (not dummy) I really needed to name her.  I told a friend at work & she said, "Well, give her a name of a guardian angel so she will be a protective force & won't go around killing people after dark." Great idea!  I named her Helen...which was my grandma's name.  My grandmother sewed a little, but quilted a lot & was great fun to have around, so it's a perfect name for my new friend.

You can see that pattern 7501 (Simplicity) size 44 fits her pretty well, but I did have to make some adjustments w/ the darts & waist.  But I'm stuck on the armholes.  See how they do not seem to lay right?  Is that okay?  I will definitely make a toile/muslin (they are the same thing, right?!) for the bodice of this dress as a test...

Later...
I did a bit more adjusting and believe I got the sleeve right.  I took off the front pattern piece & marked all the adjustments on it, and will definitely cut it out & try it with fabric before I go any further.

A question, though.  With these fake bodices, do you put in a zipper, or buttons? How do you know it truly fits if you don't put the fasteners on it?!  Thanks...


And finally, we are having a bed/bath added to our new home, so there are lots of contracting-type gentlemen tramping around our house, both inside & out.  The first day I left her unclothed!  I bet I scared a few of those guys!  So I put my old hapi coat on her--I guess I learned more about modesty than I realized, living in the middle east for so long!

7501 vs 7051 - Details Shmetails!

Okay, so you heard about my vintage pattern mix-up with SBT's lovely 1967 dress pattern in my last post.  I remain undaunted, though, because I know I'll get a cool dress from 7501, and I may end up w/ 7051 anyway.

I went to Hancock Fabrics today to try to find some dress-weight wool.  They don't have much (they have more suiting-type wool for men & women), but I ended up getting a wool-poly blend.  I think this will look great with my brown suede shoes!  Very dressy.  The lighter color is almost a peach, which doesn't show too well in the photo.  It was hard to find something that wasn't plaid!  I would have even taken a small-patterned plaid, but there were very few and none of them in a color I'd want to wear (I don't wear black--stopped at age 40).

But then, I thought, well, why not make this pattern twice..and use this amazing narrow-wale all-cotton corduroy that's on a really good sale?!  So here it is...I think it will be great; sort of dressy, but fun, too.  It's also happy & brightly colored, but I think has lots of fall colors, so it works for the coming season quite well.  I got extra because I may try to put on a collar similar to the one on 7051!  I'll have to work up my nerve first.

I also broke down & got a cheapo dress form.  They were on sale and I've given up getting a Lady Valet to the US.  I'll give this a try...I can always take it back if it's a real disaster.  I'll show it when it's set up--maybe--she has to wear a bra & I don't want to embarrass her (or me).  I'm refraining from naming her at the moment so I don't scare Tilly, especially at Hallowe'en time.  At this point it's just an imaginary friend...you'll see her/it soon; I want to get her adjusted first!

Simplicity 7051/7501 Vintage dress mix-up!

You may have read Scruffy Badger Time's post about Simplicity 7051 from 1967.  I decided I needed that pattern, too.  So I found it & bought it from Bonanza, and what a deal (about $8 with shipping). Looking more closely, I realized that I didn't have 7051, I had 7501!  Yikes.  Old age is hitting hard.  So then I went back to the original post and realized that I didn't really like the pockets that much (well, I like them, but they will end up emphasizing my tummy--which is not a good thing).  They're both great, and both from 1967...there's no way I would have got 7501 w/out Winnie's help, and I'll just have a different great vintage dress to make from light wool.  And Winnie doesn't have to worry about me copying her! ;-)  However, looking at 7051 again, I realize that I do love that  neckline/collar...and the double darts in the front are so flattering.  I will either have to try to modify 7501, or keep looking for 7051.