In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

That's what this dress makes me think of, anyway. After a couple of months of not getting much done, and just wanting a project I could sit down and sew while hanging out with my boyfriend (i.e. not the jeans muslin, with all of the fitting involved), I knocked this one out in about 3 days-- I cut it out on Wednesday, assembled most of the bodice on Thursday, and sewed like a crazy woman until about 11:30 on Friday night to get this one done. I was originally thinking of wearing this for my Saturday day trip to Washington, D.C, which is why I rushed through the end just a bit (don't look too closely at the lining hem, k?). But then I ended up not wearing it. Which is probably good, because I would have blended in too much with the bamboo and such that was scattered around the National Zoo (where we spent most of the day). So here's the review...

Pattern: Butterick 5642

Pattern Description: Lined to edge A-line dress has fitted bodice, empire waistline and double fold bias tape finish.
 
Pattern Sizing: 8-14. I made the 10.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, it did!

Were the instructions easy to follow? I thought they were pretty simple. It probably helps that, for once in my life, I didn't overly complicate things by deviating from the pattern and think I could construct it better.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked the style of it--the slimmer-cut skirt meant that I was able to (barely) squeeze a maxi-dress out of limited fabric. I had just under 3 yards of the batik, and all that was left was a few scraps large enough to cut some quilt blocks out of. (So I gave those to my mom, since she'll have a better chance of actually being able to use those.) And though it has a deep v, the inset is a good length and kept it from being too low-cut for my comfort. I do personally wish that the skirt was just a teensy bit fuller around the hem, but I take big steps when I walk so this probably wouldn't be an issue for most women. I do also wish it had pockets, and I probably could have added them if I'd wanted to take the time to do so, but I didn't.

Fabric Used: A cotton batik that's been in my stash for a long time--I think my mom passed it to me as a possibility for this quilt, since I'd been planning that for years before I actually made it, but it didn't quite work with the colors I was planning my room around. I lined it with a cotton sateen.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Rather than take the time to make a muslin--I wanted a quick project, remember?--I fit as I went. I cut the size 10 because the finished measurements indicated that there was a lot of ease in the bust, and I didn't want this hanging off of me. I'm glad I did, because if I'd cut even one size larger, I would not have had enough fabric to do this! But I did make some tweaks:

1. I sewed the bodice to the skirt in a 1/4" seam instead of the called-for 5/8" as a cheater FBA, which worked beautifully. I also didn't gather that bit quite as much as it called for.
2. Since I therefore needed a little more room in the front, I sewed the side seams in a 1/4" seam, and let 1/4" out of the inner pleats in the front.
3. After that, I had a little too much fabric in the back, so I added a second dart, about 3/4" away from the first one and towards the center.
4. I also sewed the zipper in a 1/2" seam, I probably should have curved it in just a bit at the top, because it does gap away a little, but it's not terrible.

So that pretty much covers that. I still might go back sometime and add a slit to the back or a side for ease of movement, but aside from that, it's very comfortable and I think I did pretty well with the fit! 




Also, check out the bottom of that zipper in the back seam. See a bump? Yeah, me either. So I think I can say I've finally gotten the invisible zipper down--check!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? If I do sew it again, it won't be for a long time. I did a quick check in my closet this morning, and seeing as how I have about a full week's worth of dresses that I didn't get to during MMM, plus a couple that were thrifted or otherwise purchased, I don't really need more dresses at this time. Truth be told, I have very few pieces of fabric left in the stash that have the yardage to make a dress, anyway. But this fulfilled my long-standing goal to make myself a maxi-dress. So I think I'm going to allow myself 2 or 3 more dresses to stay in the queue (the Butterick pattern I want to revisit from MMM, my SSS project for this year, and perhaps one more), and otherwise focus on sewing up jeans and pants and knit tops and layering pieces, since that's what I actually need. 

That being said, I would recommend this pattern. It was just the thing to make me feel better about sewing again!

And now, for the next thing...

 

Thank you Ali, Alessa and Sarah for rethinking this in such a way that I can actually participate without feeling too overwhelmed!  One project sounds totally doable. As I mentioned above, I am going to allow myself to make one more dress for this sew-along, and the winner is the Lonsdale dress. I've had the fabric paired with this pattern ever since it came out last year, and I think this one would be a great opportunity to try one of the techniques on my list that might otherwise not get tackled--I'd like to try adding some boning (and other support) to the bodice and turn it into a regular halter top dress. I saw a nice version of that here, so I know it's doable. I cut out a muslin of the bodice this afternoon, just to check the fit there, and then we'll see how this goes!

Something old, something new, something gifted and something blue

No, this has absolutely nothing to do with weddings. But it fits.

First of all, the something old/gifted. I started these handwarmers (also from the Constellation pattern) waaaaaaaaaay back in April. But I didn't finish them until today, mainly due to the Odyssey tank. I actually got the knitting done on Monday or Tuesday (spent a good chunk of Hurricane Irene working on these, since I didn't want to get involved in sewing in case the power went out), but I had to weave in the ends. I used the same type of yarn (the chunky-weight Deborah Norville Serenity in "Majesty"), though I was more careful about lining up the stripes this time when they're next to each other. I also actually remembered to do the ribbing on smaller needles sometimes, so I think it'll end up fitting better. The thumb holes feel a little tight right now, but I'm hoping I can stretch those out a bit.

I made these for my friend Shantelle, who was threatening to steal mine last winter! (She's from Trinidad, so she has a better excuse to get cold easily in the winter than I do.) So hopefully she'll like them and they'll fit ok.

And for the something new/blue:

My first time doing an exposed zipper. Not what I would normally go for, but I had it on hand, and I figured it would be good to try one out before I do the Vogue dress. It specifically calls for an exposed zipper, and I'd rather do my first attempt on a stretch woven than a jersey knit! So this is the sneak preview of the reconstruction project I'm currently working on, hopefully to be finished tomorrow.

Ah, my sewing nemesis, we meet again.

Do you ever run into a technique that you just don't seem to get, no matter how you try? I've been sewing for most of my life, and I still have trouble with zippers. By this point, I've gotten regular centered zippers and invisible zippers down pretty well, with special thanks to handbasting. Lapped zippers are a little trickier, since I don't use them very often.

And then there's the fly-front zipper. I don't know what it is about them, but they just are ridiculously hard for me for some reason. It must have something to do with my horrendous lack of direction.

The last time I tackled one of these was about 2 years ago, with the ill-fated jeans. And admittedly, it wasn't the best zipper job ever. (None of my fly-front zippers have been so far.) And it was very, VERY tempting for me to just stick with the side zipper that the original pants pattern had. But I wanted those welt pockets, and wasn't sure if a zipper would interfere with those. Or the fit at the side, for that matter. And since a successful pair of well-fitting jeans is pretty much my search-for-the-Holy-Grail project, I have to learn it sometime, right? The most annoying thing about it is, it seems like I always make the exact same mistakes.

So my process today went something like this:
1. Sew the facing that's supposed to go on the right side on, trim excess fabric out of corner, and press.
2. Realize that I actually sewed this onto the left side, despite having held the leg up to myself to double-check before sewing. (Which is "mistake I always make" #1-- apparently, I still can't tell left from right.)
3. Re-cut and re-interface the piece, repeat with the opposite side.
4. Realize that I don't actually have a zipper that's the right color. Grab the closest one I have anyway so I don't have to run out to Joann's while I could be sewing. (Truth be told, I think this might be the zipper I originally got to go with this fabric anyway--my original plan was the Nichola pants. Guessing the right color just wasn't there.)

5. Start sewing in the zipper. Wonder what on earth possessed me to follow Burda's instructions for doing so, since it involved trying to accurately stitch the zipper from the wrong side for half of it.
6. Be pleasantly surprised at how well the zipper went in, and proceed to sew the left side backing piece in with renewed confidence.
7. Draw in and then stitch the fly front topstitching.

8, Realize that, once again, I've done "mistake I always make" #2: Stitch the entire opening closed. Face, meet palm.

I did rip it out and restitch it with better results. But this is the other reason I wanted to make a full wearable test version of these pants first!

Aside from that, I did get the waistband sewed on, as well as getting the facing partially sewed in. I was hoping to get a little further today, but the zipper slowed me down quite a bit. Oh well-- assuming all goes well with the buttonhole, I should be able to knock the rest of these shorts off in an hour or two!

I did another quick project yesterday as well, this one a refashion. On my last Goodwill excursion, I found this top:

(Picture lightened quite a bit to show what's going on.) This top had a lot going for it-- it fits great, I really liked the print mix, and I found out belatedly that it's silk instead of polyester like I thought. Of course, the way I found that out was that after I took it out of the dryer, I found out that the outside had shrunk about an inch shorter, while the synthetic lining had stayed the same length. (Thus the lighter brown band at the bottom in this pic.) It also had some awkward flutter sleeves--I do like interesting sleeves, but these were just a little weird. And then the little panel in the front of the V-neck was still too low-cut to really function well for hiding cleavage.

I got the urge while I was at work yesterday to have something new to wear for going out to a local festival with some friends last night, so I pulled this one out and got it all fixed up just in time. I didn't really feel like rethreading the machine, and didn't want to mess up the outside with obvious stitching lines so I did it all by hand. I took the sleeves off, cut the panel out, and then hemmed up the lining about 1 1/4":. And ended up with this:

Not the best pic-- I was hoping to get one at the festival, but it didn't happen. So this was me using the self-timer with the camera sitting on the trunk of my car just after it got dark. Anyway, I think it's much cuter as a sleeveless shirt, and will function much better layering over various tank tops, like the brown one I'm wearing here.

Me vs. the Zipper*

I had all these grand sewing plans for this week-- after rehearsal on Sunday, I stayed home from Bible study (both because I was dead-tired from the weekend/feeling antisocial and I wanted time to sew) with the plan to finish this dress, which is my most recent reconstruction which I'm hoping to have done in time for Easter. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men (and seamstresses, apparently), and this was a prime example.

I've been sewing since I was 7 or so. I've probably put in at least a hundred zippers in that time. Most of them being these ordinary centered zippers, since I didn't have access to an invisible zipper foot until somewhere around college, or possibly grad school. So it's ridiculous how much trouble this zipper has caused me. I don't know if it's because it's a recycled zipper (I salvaged it from the original underlayer of the dress-- it was a 2-layer deal with the solid stripe being the underlayer and the butterflies being a jacket of sorts over top), or if my mostly switching to invisible zippers has left me rusty on this style, but I swear I must have started and then taken out this zipper at least 10 times over the course of the last 4 days. I tried every different technique I could think of--hand-basting it in first, basting the center seam closed, pinning it so the center seam overlapped slightly without basting it closed, putting the needle on either side of the zipper foot...no good. What I finally ended up doing for this attempt (which I've deemed "not great, but good enough and I'm sick of this zipper and want to move on to the rest of the dress so who cares?") was basting the center seam shut/hand-basting the zipper on/sewing it from the underside. So, I may need to reacquaint myself with this particular sewing technique!

And yes, I know the new blog colors are a bit, um, dark for spring. I don't have any good pictures on hand of spring flowers or anything of that sort (particularly since the weather's still rather chilly here, and all I have access to are a couple of daffodils next to the part of the driveway where I park my car, and no one wants to see a background of Honda wheels), so I decided to go with a sunset. At least for the moment. Not totally satisfied with this color scheme, but at least I don't have to look at snow anymore. Pastel springy colors aren't really my thing anyway. (I say as I post a picture of a somewhat pastel-backgrounded green fabric...)

*a nod to one of my favorite shows, Chuck, and its habit of using these sort of titles for every episode. Examples: "Chuck vs. the Gravitron", "Chuck vs. the Wookie", "Chuck vs. the Suburbs", and my personal favorite, "Chuck vs. the Imported Hard Salami". XD