New sewing project: pink check dress muslin #1

I have decided that I would really like to get back to sewing as my next focused endeavor, and so in the company of Steph crocheting a hat and Rachel studying anatomy, I began work on a project to make a dress.

The very first time I ever tried to, very early on I made a cutting mistake that threw off the whole project. Pissed at myself, I kind of bulled through to keep going, and my impatience lead to more mistakes. So this time I'm taking it slowly and carefully, checking my work and making sure not to go too fast.

I have a pattern for a simple sheath dress, not too many seams and probably not too complicated a fit, that I figure is a decent place to start with dressmaking. I am making this dress out of some cotton fabric I got cheap on eBay, a pink and white check that really isn't my style but is fine for a muslin. I was originally planning on using it to make placemats, but it was the only ream of fabric I had long enough pieces of. This time I laid out the pieces very carefully, making sure to iron everything and match up fold lines and be certain of proper layers.

You'll see it has only four pattern pieces: a front that is cut on the fold, a back which is done in two pieces, and front and back facings to reinforce the neck and shoulders. The self-facings needed to be interfaced, so I ironed some plain white muslin I had in my fabric box and laid out out on top of the pink check. I checked everything carefully to match how the front facing needed to be cut on the fold, but the back facing needed separate pieces, all of which needed matching interfacing.

As I said, I want to take this very slow and carefully, so the one other thing I did last night was try to pin in the darts that go on the sides of the bust and down the center of the dress. The instructions on the pattern were not great and I only know how darts work in a theoretical sense; while I've pinned them into the backs of costume jackets, I've never actually sewn them before. I looked up a tutorial this morning, so I may redo them, but here's what they look like for now. I will certainly check them before I sew them. At least they seem to have ended up more or less in the right place; transferring them from the pattern proved tougher than I thought.

Only the good

Yesterday I:

- read a good book

- accomplished a lot of housecleaning

- did a little work on a piece of theater I'm writing

- spent a nice chunk of the day with good friends

- said "I love you" and heard "I love you too" in return

- called my parents for a chat

- ran some errands in town by way of a long walk that was really good exercise

- bought a pretty new pashmina for six dollars

- drank a Mexican Coke and ate a small scoop of ice cream while still keeping within my daily calorie limit thanks to the exercise from the walk

- orangized the dresses in my closet

- cooked dinner for people I love

- began work on a new sewing project

If only I'd patted a nice animal and got to do a little acting or roleplaying, it would have been a perfect day.

Today I saw that phoenix_rinnamentioned that she is going to try posting one positive thing about every day. I think this is a great idea, because focusing on that sort of thing helps keep me out of the holes I fall into. I am going to try it myself.

Old-fashioned wedding gown

This is another awesome thrift store find that I wanted to show off. It's an old-fashion wedding gown that I found in the Halloween section of Global Thrift.

The material is heavy and silky with a subtle floral brocade pattern in it. It has princess seams down the bodice and a sort of sweetheart neckline. The sleeves are long, slightly puffed at the shoulder and endind with a long row of covered buttons at the cuff. The skirt is full but heavy enough that it doesn't have a lot of volume, and in the rear there is a three-foot train. It is unlined and has no tag inside of it; it doesn't look handmade but I would not be surprised if someone commissioned it or at the very least had it altered by a wedding dress retailer. It even has a great old-fashioned metal-toothed side zipper. Here is a closer shot of the front: 

Note the interesting waitline. Each panel of the bodice has its own separate hem shape to form a large sort of scallop. And here is a shot of the train in back:

Very simple, very elegant. I find the whole thing to be an old-fashioned beauty. The style is dated enough that I would be shocked if this dress was less than forty years old, and probably even older. It reminds me a lot of my grandmother's wedding dress, particularly the puffed shoulders and long rows of buttons, which dates back to the 1940s. It is also petite in dimensions, made for a woman maybe just a little bit bigger than me, which suggests to me that it was from an era when the average woman was on the smaller side. I couldn't even get into Grandma's dress when I tried; she was shorter and slimmer even than me. Seems a real shame that somebody would want to get rid of something that was probably a piece of their family history, especially a piece as beautiful as this. There is some very minor staining on the lap of the skirt, but it is otherwise in good condition. I really love it, and cannot wait until the right larp or stage role comes along that I can use it for something. Even more so than any pretty but impractical thrift store dress, this has even less opportunity for applicable wear. :-)