Hey Look at ME! I've got Sleeves

So what ever happened with the dress?

Well two weeks ago, (the Saturday before Halloween), I had a 5 hour sewing session and felt really good with the progress I made. These were the steps in my head when I started Saturday Morning:

1. Sew together bodice
2. Sew together lining
3. Sew lining and bodice together
   
4. Put together sleeves with flounces
5. Sew sleeves to bodice
6. Gather and sew skirt to bodice
7. Attach zipper (Mom's department - I don't know how to sew hidden zippers, not yet at least)
   
8. Sew/Attach ribbon decoration to dress
   
9. Measure and sew hem.
   

My aim was to get to step five, hey it would be really great to have the skirt attached by the end of Saturday. That would only leave steps 7-9, which could so be done by Thursday, Saturday at the very latest. I even figured one hour for the bodice, one hour for the lining, and 2 hours for the sleeves, leaving about 2 hours for the skirt. Well that sounds good in theory. And it did work out that way, sort of.

I got the bodice sewn together. The lace on the center panel was my idea. The pattern calls for ribbons, to make bows. In the original discussion of this, we decided .... well I'm not entirely sure what we decided, because as I looked at it further and further, the ribbon step needed to be done before the bodice was shown together, and we were thinking it would be done at the end with the other ribbon decoration.

Honestly I didn't want to a) make ribbon from the fabric or b) go to the store and try to decide which ribbon to choose. When I'm at this kind of a crossroads, I usually do a lot of staring at the fabric and the pattern and whatever supplies I might have on had and then back to the fabric. Yes, sometimes this involves chewing nails, and running fingers through my hair. Which makes this a good spot to make sewing confession number 2:

When I sew I play music. And the music of choice is classical, preferably opera. I've tried county/rock/ etc, but it doesn't work for me. That type of music actually makes me more irritated and shuts the brain down. So it's classical and what's really great is if there are lyrics involved, (yes I sing). So most of the time I have The Marriage of Figaro playing loudly, but for some reason I couldn't find it so I had to settle for Julia Andrews and her singing of some famous musicals and the Messiah. Both were good, although after a week of the musicals, I had such phrases like "just you wait Henry Higgins, just you wait" repeating over and over in my head. I really need to find Figaro.

The music really helps me focus and ignore everything but the task at hand while opening me up to creative inspiration. And honestly it worked, cause I'm really liking how the lace looks and think it will really pull together the dress. I believe when the skirt is gathered and attached to the dress, the panels will line up and look so awesome.

So here is the finished bodice.

And the finished skirt with the lining on top to the side.

At this point I determined step 3 - sew lining to the bodice was dumb. I understand the pattern's reasoning but I think I know better. Of course I won't really know if I know better until the end. I just think the lining should not be done until the sleeves are attached, skirt attached and zipper is in. This way, the lining will hid all the unfinished seams (including zipper, sleeves, and skirt) and make it really nice and finished. The pattern figures you can just hold the lining out of the way when you sew the zipper or skirt on. And of course I beg to differ.

Now sleeves - that's where my nice little time schedule got off. The sleeves took about three hours and that was just to get them assembled. It was the lace flounces that ate up the time, of course here again was where I ignored the pattern's instructions and I was right to. For the lace hem, I sewed a thin white ribbon along the edge, then I used French seams instead of regular seams. French seams look so awesome, and with the transparency of lace, they hide the raw edges really well. Now there are two flounces per sleeve and the instructions say to gather them separately. I don't think so! Can you image the swearing that would have come from such a task? I put the two together and treated it as one. Three rows of gathering stitches (instead of 6), gathering once (instead of twice) and sewing once (instead of twice). Repeat for second sleeve.
Oh so nice and so much better. Don't they look awesome?

Six hours sewing, with three hours on those sleeves and I still had to attach them to the bodice, I was beat. So I called it quits for the day.

Well it seems it was quits for the next two weeks, cause that's where those sleeves sat till last night. I do have good reasons, at least for not doing anything last week, it was a headache week, meaning headaches everyday. So a rest was needed.

But last night I finally sat down and attached those sleeves to the bodice.
Now .... doesn't the bodice look awesome?

I can't wait to see how the skirt looks when it's finally attached. I can't say how soon, cause the skirt has 5 seams that need to be finished. If they aren't finished, the fabric will ravel like crazy. I don't have to worry about the seams on the bodice, cause it's lined, but the skirt isn't. I would love to serge them, but the serger is at the repair shop. So I either wait for the serger or I use another method. Makes me wish I had thought of French seams before I had sewn the skirt together. Oh well I'll figure something out.

Now you're up-to-date on where I'm at with the dress. Sorry for the long post, but what can I say, I love this stuff!!!

Thoughts from some people I've come to Admire

Last night I was looking through some boxes and came across a notebook where I had written some quotes I really liked. When I'm reading I like to take note of passages that speak to me and then I write them down, usually on any piece of paper I come across. So in this little notebook I found the following:

Madame Curie by Eve Curie (Marie Curie's daughter)
Marie Curie stated:
"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing at whatever cost, must be attained"

On the same page I have written: 1 Corin. 2:9
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

Exploring with Byrd (Admiral Richard E. Byrd - I've read a few things on and written by him)
(While in the academy, he was seriously injured and finished his courses from the hospital bed)
"The struggle I had made to graduate taught me a great lesson - that it is by struggle that we progress. I learned concentration during that time I never thought I possessed"

Washington Irving said:
"For my part, I endeavor to take things as they come: with cheerfulness, and when I cannot get a dinner to suit my taste, I endeavor to get a taste to suit my dinner."

Hope you guys are having a good day.

Tagged

For what it's worth:

8 Things I am looking forward to:
- Finishing the Marie Antoinette Dress
- Finishing Rachel's quilt
- The return of a more cheerful attitude (I've been such a grouch this weekend)
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8 Things on my wish list
- See item #3 on last list, if I could get that back, I could answer this.
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8 T.V shows I like to watch
- Exteme Makeover - Home Edition
- The Biggest Loser
- MacGyver
- A-Team
- Mission Impossible
Have I aged myself yet?
- 30 Minute Meals
Honestly, the first two are the only ones I watch consistently, I'm more of a movie watcher then a T.V. Show watcher

8 Things that happened yesterday
- Woke-up
- 30 - 45 minute tangent on a subject that I am highly allergic to and why I should see someone about that
- Read
- Showered and got dressed for church
- Reviewed the Sunday School lesson (just in case the teacher who's suppose to teach today doesn't show)
- Convinced my anxiety ridden personality to leave the SS lesson manual home. "Give me a break sister, he's always shown up to teach his lesson. Will you just chill out!!!!!"
- Went to church and enjoyed it immensely
- Chill pill wore off and ended the day on another tirade (shaking head, some people!!! - ie:ME)

Now I'm suppose to "tag" 8 additional people, but having forced you to read such a bad attitude tag post, I will just end with a sincerely apologize that I didn't just erase my entries and say Hi.

(Sheesh, this is what happens when some people don't stay in their room where they grounded themselves)

Sewing Update:

Ok, just so you don't think I haven't been sewing this week, I have. Actually last night would be the only night I haven't touched the project. I had enrichment to prepare for and go to. So there's my excuse. Tuesday night was spent cutting out the last remaining pattern pieces and fabrics. Wednesday was a lesson in underlining and overlay. Attaching the underlining to the bodice pieces, and then overlaying the lace pieces to the skirt and bodice. Fun Fun. Lace is such a delicate fabric, it's always interesting to see how well it can stay in place. I do like how it looks against the satin. Very cool.

After attaching the different fabric pieces, I sewed the skirt seams together. I figured with limited time, the skirt would give me a fast win. Let me just tell you, that is alot of skirt. Oh boy is it going to be fun to gather.

I don't have pictures cause I don't have a camera anymore. Sorry, it's being borrowed by a photographer who needs it up for some mountain pictures. Hopefully I get it back in time for the finished product.

So how are we doing? Well I'm not entirely sure. It's quick and simple in theory, but the actually doing? Well their is just so many little steps you have to take to insure it looks nice. So who knows. I don't think I'm aiming for Halloween. Mainly because just looking at the different pieces, even if I finish in time for Halloween, the dress will need a professional pressing job. Talk about wrinkled!

Oh well, just taking it one step at a time and really trying not to dread the steps still left to do.

Day Two

A Sewing Confession:
Now the first confession was I'm a terrible project procrastinator. Now the second confession is when I sew, I like to wear a baseball cap backwards. It keeps my hair out of my face and helps me focus. It's not the most attractive look, but I always feel in the sewing/designing groove when I place the cap on.

It's Monday Night and after making a couple of alterations to the pattern (only needed 1" of length, not two, and shortened the shoulder length a little.) I began cutting out the fabrics. First the lace, then the satin. I had to cut the bodice pieces twice - one for the fabric and the other for the lining. I still have a third time, cause it requires underlining.

Now it may not look like it, but cutting out the pattern pieces takes a long time.

I'm getting kind of tired, but I still have the skirt pieces.

Oh, boy. What do you do when the pattern piece is so big, not all of it fits on the table?
Start pinning one side and roll as you go.

Another question: How do you know when it's time to quit?

When you run out of pins?

Guess Not

How about when there is definitely no room on the cutting table for the last skirt pattern?

Nope, just keep rolling.
(By the way, my sewing professor taught me to never let the fabric hang over the table when I am trying to cut out pattern pieces. Oops, well I've already broken my #1 rule about not sewing after 7p.m. What's another one?)

So when do you stop?

Well, when you get to the top of the last pattern needing pinning and find you're 1 1/2 inches short of fabric and will have to unpin the whole thing and re-adjust everything.

Ya, that's when it's time to walk away girl
just let it go and go to bed.

Two weeks till Halloween ... So do you think I'll make it .. I've got my doubts

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe my first mistake was opening up the envelope and pulling out the instructions. Labor Day weekend, my Aunt and Uncle brought their daughter up to BYU. And with them came 20 yards of fabric and request to make a costume for my cousin. She's always wanted a dress in this style. (think Marie Antoinette) and they got an awesome deal on the fabric. So would I? Now in all fairness, I was forewarned before they arrived and I thought, there is no way I can sew a costume at this time, every Saturday in September is booked. I'm really busy. And when I was shown the pattern (not the one shown in picture) I really knew I couldn't do it. It called for 20 yards of fabric, and it had huge "walk through doors sideways" hips. You know the style. And the instructions didn't make sense at all, Hook and eyes in the front and laces in the back?? Ok, going for authentic are we? Can you start to see how I got pulled into it. Yep, I started analzing how it could be done differently and easily and ... I should of known I was getting into trouble when I went online and found a McCalls pattern that was the same style but so much simpler.
Now I only have two weeks left, I knew if I didn't get it started today, I would never make it by Halloween. Even now, with two weeks, it's a big question mark. I knew my cousin was long in the torso so I added 2" to the length of the bodice pieces. I wanted to make sure the bodice fit, and also to make sure the neckline wasn't too low. So I cut the bodice pieces out of muslim to make a fitting shell.


As I was sewing this together, I kept saying, it's a costume, it's a costume, don't over anaylze, or try to make it completely perfect. It's a costume, it's ok if it's not completely perfect. So I'm posting today's results. Not very far, considering what I have ahead of me. Oh, well she knows I may not get it done in time for Halloween, so I shouldn't be stressed for time. Except having it around for a month already, I don't want to have it hanging over my head for another month. I'll try to keep you updated with the process. Hopefully it will make me stay on track.

Anyway, getting the bodice done will be the hardest part, right??? it has the most details, the rest should be pretty straight forward ..... I hope

Oh why didn't I stick to my "no" answer, I'm sure I said "there wasn't any possible way" at least 5 or 6 times. The problem was I was saying it to them, next time I should say it to myself and then DON'T OPEN THE ENVEOPLE!!!!!

A Little Purse for a Little Miss

I tried out a new crochet pattern a couple of weeks ago. I worked this up in a couple of hours. It was fun, although I expected it to turn out bigger then it did. It's size is about perfect for a 2-4 year old girl. It reminds me of a strawberry.