April 2015 – make think go

So, it’s three-and-a-half months later and the only thing I can write about is something I’m not very happy with. This was a project full of firsts, so I guess it is okay, but it would have been nice to be able to share a perfect garment with you. I am talking about the Cynthia Rowley Simplicity 2406 dress.

The process: I worked out some sort of pattern matching, cut the pattern pieces and then realised I really didn’t want to sew this dress using only a regular sewing machine, since the fabric I chose has 4-way stretch. As this was my first project sewing knit fabric, I decided to take the pattern pieces with me on a visit to my parents’ so I could use my mum’s serger. (I realise I am mixing up American and British spelling really badly here, but I’d like to think of it as poetic freedom…) This meant that I did things in a different order than I was supposed to, but it worked out in the end.

The fit: Deciding what size to cut out is always very tricky due to my stupid waist-belly-hip ratio, which resulted in a dress that is too big at the top and only okayish in the middle. It’s a shame.

This is one of the less awkward pictures…

The fabric: As I said, a knit with 4-way stretch. Quite heavy, but also very drapey and comfortable. As I was sewing, I tried it on a few times without the sash and it kept feeling like I was wearing pajamas. Wearing it with the sash actually turned it into a dress that looks quite sophisticated, and isn’t that the best? Nothing beats comfy pretty dresses.

The result: This dress is supposed to have an open back. I always have a top underneath everything I wear, so I liked the idea. It’s different from any other dress I own. Except, because the neckline turned out to be way too wide, you don’t notice it at all. I made an overlap, so it wouldn’t keep falling off my shoulders, but it made the facing wobbly too and the effect is lost. I made pleats instead of gathering the fabric at the front and I really like that.

The dress had pockets too, but they made my belly even more bulky, so I cut them off and sewed the skirt back together again.

So, all in all, I do like the idea of the dress and I will probably make another one, but I will really have to make the top a size, or even two sizes, smaller and grade out towards the size I used now for the bottom half, and even then I think it’s just not going to be very flattering…

On to another new pattern first, me thinks! Something summery, because temperatures reaching 25 degrees Celcius mid April call for pretty summer dresses!

I know. I am very aware of the fact that my last post was written over three months ago and this means I have failed terribly at being an aspiring sewing blogger. I don’t see myself that way though. When I started this blog I named it make.think.go because I wanted to be able to write about other things as well. So, great! I kept my options open. I could write about all the exciting stuff that was happening in my life and it was all good.

However, I forgot about one little thing. I would need time to sew, time to go out into the world and experience amazing things, time to write insightful articles about how social media has changed us all (since my degree in new media and digital culture supposedly makes me an expert on that…). Instead, my days are filled working, walking the dog and trying to keep this house tidy, which is failing miserably, because we got a dog that turns this place into a beach every day.

I need to organize my life somehow, but I went to IKEA and it didn’t help anything. I decided that one evening a week would be spent sewing, but that was before I decided I needed a change and we started moving furniture around and now sleep in the attic, which used to be our work space. Which in turn meant I needed to organize a new work space, which took time, and the wheels of the bus go round and round, round and round.

I did, however, finish organizing that work space and I started work on a dress, which could have been finished if I hadn’t left it at my sister’s yesterday. She lives too far away to pick it up, so I’ll get it next week and hopefully will finish it soon after. I already know it’s not perfect, but I tried a new pattern and I got to borrow my mum’s serger which was heaven! I was really intimidated by the knit fabric I wanted to use for the dress, but the serger made it so easy! (So now I need one, too.)

In other news, my dear husband bought me a digital piano last year because I needed a hobby (this was before I started sewing dresses) and I finally signed up for some lessons! Better late than never I suppose. Now I need to find out soon whether I have any talent, because I was about ready to sell the thing. Learning to play the piano is something I have wanted for a long time, but when life is not going according to plan as it is it’s really hard to start something that might turn into a disappointment. So let’s hope I pick it up soon before I turn into a sobbing mess every time I look at that piano.

I will end this rambling with some pictures of my new sewing space. I share the room with William, so the idea was that he could work and I could sew and we’d be social together, but in reality he’s just not home a lot and when I’m alone I’d rather keep our dog company downstairs. We need an open-plan house!