Operation New Dress Success!

Guess what!!! I did it!!! I am so happy to say that I have successfully completed "Operation New Dress (revisited)!  I put the finishing touches on this afternoon (finishing touches being buttons - everything else was already done).

Love this print and look what arrived in the post last week?!?!
My new Lottas!!! Yippee!!

I ended up choosing the Sew Over It's Doris Dress.  I love the easy feel of it.  Because there's more ease in the silhouette there was a lot less fitting to worry about in the bodice.  I did sew up a muslin because I wasn't sure and didn't want to waste any of my good fabric by messing up, but I didn't make any changes to it other than to add an inch to the bodice and take an inch off of the hem of skirt to compensate. Otherwise this baby fits right out of the envelope (or off the printer as is the case).

The fabric is an easy care, easy wear rayon from Fabricland in the city and after sewing Doris and wearing it I want to make a closet full of rayon dresses.  It was beautiful to work with! I was a wee bit nervous about how I would like the print because it does veer off quite a bit from my usual florals that I gravitate towards, but I really like it quite a bit!  Thanks Agnes!! (she's my go to gal at Fabricland.  She never leads me astray on fabric choices!).

Doris is a fairly straight forward sew and even more straight forward because I opted to leave the concealed side zip out.  I know!  I live on the edge...

I did test it out first of course by basting the side seam and then pinning the front bodice closed and it was easy enough to get on an off  unpinned so whoot, whoot!!!  No concealed  zip for me!  It's an upside of having a less than huge bust/waist ratio. Also an upside of me not liking my clothes to be super fitted as a general rule. Anyways.  I was pretty pleased to skip that step even though it meant I couldn't skip the button holes because they needed to be functioning now.  Lesser of two evils and all - especially given my buttonhole function on my old new to me Pfaff works a treat.

Doris Dress, Vianne Cardi and Low Braid Lottas 

I am so thrilled with this dress and have already started envisioning another.  I have a few other projects I want to do first but rest assured another Doris dress will be appearing here sooner or later!

And would you look at that!  N's pop up restaurant is still three days away and my new dress is DONE!!!

 I am just this happy about my new dress!
(apparently my excitement causes me to take weird angled selfies!)

"Operation New Dress"

Emery Dress with Vianne Cardigan

A few months ago I took a notion into my head that I wanted a new dress to wear to N's pop up restaurant I was going to on February 8th.  I wisely took my brand new Anouk cardigan that I'd just finished knitting for Untangling Knots Selfish Sweater KAL along with me to the fabric store on February 1st and selected a nice weight charcoal grey/purple fabric.  It matched beautifully under the shop lighting and I can sew a dress in a week easily.  No problem!

Spoiler: There were problems.

Gathered shoulder yoke pattern hack

I had dress woes from the start on this one!  First off I chose to do Colette's Peony.  I had won it in a sew along last year and thought why not?  I blithely ignored all the comments and complaints about how hard it is to get Peony to fit.  Perhaps in arrogance?  Maybe in delusion?  I figured, how hard can it be?  I did decide to make it easier on myself and do the gathered yoke hack they have on the Colette website.  I loved the look and thought two less darts to worry about.  Sweet.  And it could've been, but then I made my muslin and OH DEAR BOB!  What the heck?!?!

Not sure what body type Peony is drafted for but it is definitely not mine.  It was laughable.  Gaping at the neckline.  Bust darts no where near the right spot.  Too short in the bodice.  But the worst offender by far was the back.  Oh the back.  I should have taken pictures.  It was the most ridiculous thing imaginable.  I had a huge poofy balloon of fabric going the entire width of my back from the middle of my back on up.  I could have used it as a papoose to carry a small child in.

The Peony disaster was on Friday.  My dinner out was Monday.  I didn't have time to start messing about.  So I consulted the inter webs and chose Christine Haynes' Emery dress instead.  Everyone loves Emery.  There's nary a complaint I've read about it.  Awesome!  Just what I need.  A tried and true pattern.

Emery printed off, assembled and cut out.  Please be good to me!

I decided to do the straight muslin first and then once that fit do the gathered yoke hack from Colette. My first muslin did not go too badly.  A few minor fit issues.  Take in the shoulder darts, take in 5/8" on either side of centre back and things were looking fine.  So I did a new front with the hack.  Things were still looking fine although I was getting a bit suspicious about those armholes.  They seemed pretty low and gape-y.  I decided to sew in the sleeve and assess from there.  WOE IS ME.  I could not move my arms.  The sleeves themselves were fine, but that armscye?  Disaster.  So back to the drawing board.  I raised the armscye by about 3/4" thinking that would help, but then could for the life of me get my little brain to figure out how to adjust the sleeve pattern that obviously would no longer fit.  Out of frustration and not just a bit of laziness I decided that sleeveless probably looked a little better anyways, so moved on.

Sailing right along and feeling good about things I cut out my good fabric and set to work.  I pleated the skirt so as not to have poofiness of gathers at my midsection.  Then  I painstakingly did my first ever in over 30 years of sewing invisible zip and it looked good!  I was so pleased with myself!  All that was left to do was hem and facings.  Easy peasy.  By this point it was Monday afternoon and I had an hour and a half left before I needed to leave for the dinner.  I tried on the dress so I would be able to see how much I needed to hem it up.

First problem.  Threw my Anouk cardi on to get the "full picture" even though the neckline and hem were still showing unfinished.  It looked ridiculous. Remember that aforementioned matching business?  It so did not match.  But all was not lost.  Grabbed my Vianne.  Looking much better cardigan wise!  Awesomesauce!!!  Problem one solved.

Second problem.  Oh what the hell?  I lengthened the bodice by about 3/4" because on my muslin it felt a bit short.  This is not an uncommon problem for me, so I didn't even hesitate to blithely add that length in.  What I forgot to take into account is that the weight of the skirt would pull that bodice down a bit.  Damn.  Definitely starting to look school marmish and matronly instead of cute.  But it would be ok.  At least for that night.  My cardi would hide the too long bodice.  So phew!  No problem two for the time being!

Third problem.  Something is still off on the armscye.  Really off.  And what the heck!  My neckline gapes.  Still Vianne could hide a myriad of fit sins.  Third problem could wait until after the supper.

Fourth problem. I turned around to look at the back view.  My painstakingly done invisible zip had a bit of a weird buldge right at the base of it that I swear I didn't see when I ironed it all nicely.  Worst than that though?  I did my blasted pleats on the back the opposite of the pleats on the front.  And as it turns out pleats that face towards the side seams are a whole lot more flattering than ones that face towards the centre on me.  I had what appeared to be a giant ol' bubble butt.

At that point "Operation New Dress" became Operation Damn it All to Hell, I'll Just Wear Jeans. There are days that I honestly feel I should just toss out the sewing machine, fabric, all the patterns and give up.

A welcome distraction of deliciousness.  

So, I wore jeans and my favourite red Itch to Stitch Irena Top and I sulked about my lack of a new dress.  I didn't sulk for too long because the food was too yummy to worry about what I was wearing.

After a few days in the time out corner, I hauled the dress out again and set to work taking it apart.  I did a new muslin of the bodice in a size smaller (graded out at the waist) and tried it on for fit.  It was so much better, but there was still some funky armscye excess fabric happening since I wasn't using sleeves.  I pinched in a dart in the front armscye, then transferred that to my pattern, rotated the dart, reshaped the armscye and redid the bodice muslin.  Things were pretty close at that point to a fit I liked.

Next, I was still fixated on the gathered yoke hack, so with a good fitting bodice I did yet another muslin to test out the yoke.  At this point in the proceedings I figured I might have a new dress by the time I was 90.

Gathered Shoulder Yoke

Not so invisible, invisible zip -
 I think it's pulling a bit due to how I'm standing

Which finally brings us to today. Almost two months later. No, I'm not 90, but I do feel I've aged considerably through "Operation New Dress" hell.  But, at least I  have a dress to show for all that work. And I even learned some new tricks - making continuous bias tape from a square of fabric and using my Clover bias tape thingy as well as re-learned some tricks - moving and repositioning darts. However, I don't even like it anymore.  It's drab. It's dreary.  It's boring as all hell.  BAH.  I want flowers! I want birds!  I want quirky and fun!  C'est la vie. Least it's done and perhaps someday I won't dislike it quite as much as I do right at this very moment.

A new to me technique for making bias tape for my neckline and armholes.
Also the first time I've ever used my Clover bias tape gadget even though I've had it for about five years...
This is a game changer for me.  It was so easy!

Now, even though Mother Nature doesn't seem to be wanting too,  I'm setting my sights on spring. A Wedgwood Skirt, another Emery, a Susie and I've got some nautical fabric en route from an eBay purchase...  How about you?  Any exciting plans for spring crafting?

Outfit Along and Sundress Sew-a-Long

I'm pretty excited to say I'm finished my 2015 Untangling Knots Outfit Along!!  As an added bonus my dress component fits right in nicely with the Sundress Sew-A-Long hosted by Heather of Handmade by Heather B!

I got Little Man to take some photos for me this morning.  Between the mosquitoes and the heat they're not the greatest to show the outfit maybe, but to be fair, it is 28C / feels like 36C with the humidity and there's a heat warning in effect today.  Great day to pick to take photos of a BLACK sweater, wouldn't you say?  By the time we got a few shots I was pretty much eaten alive and wilting from the heat, so I decided it was good enough and we fled back into the house for a cool glass of lemonade.   Apparently there are limits to what I will endure for the sake of my project pages and blog.  LOL.

As you may recall from my earlier post at the beginning of the month I was taking part in the 2015 Outfit Along hosted by designer Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots and Lauren of lladybird.com.

The great thing about the outfit along is that while there is an official cardigan and dress pattern, you don't have to use them to participate.  The goal being to end up with an outfit you love and will wear, you're free to choose any combination of patterns.  One of the participants is doing a sweater and a pair of jeans, so it really is whatever you want so long as it makes a complete outfit that has a sewn and a knit component.  So I chose to do the official cardigan pattern, which is Vianne, but chose Violette Field Thread's Ginger Dress instead of the official McCall's pattern.

The sweater went together well, although very slowly (only because I seemed to lose all knitting mojo).  I did enjoy the pattern when I was knitting it though.  The mesh panel in the back and the lace kept it interesting.  I did my usual mods for Andi's patterns and did fewer decreases in the body, so that while it's still fitted there's not quite as much negative ease across my midsection. Other than that I knit the pattern as written.  I really enjoy Andi's patterns (evidenced by the fact that this is my fifth cardigan pattern I've knit of hers! I've also knit Miette, Hetty, Myrna and Marion) and this was no exception.

The Ginger Dress was the first pattern I've ever sewn from Violette Field Threads.  It was fairly straight forward and the sizing pretty good for the most part - I did have to make some adjustments, but that's not unusual.  I did make a few changes besides the ones for fit.  I swapped out the centre back exposed zipper for a side seam zipper, so as not to be dependent on anyone zipping up my dress for me.  (How does the rest of the world manage with back zippers?!?)  I also swapped out the halter straps in favour of shoulder straps.  I felt that the dress would be more comfortable that way without the constant need for adjusting and tugging at straps, or tying it so tight I gave myself a sore neck.  The third modification was to add a bit of elastic along the top of the back bodice.  I do wish I'd modified the pockets.  The pockets sewn as drafted are seriously tiny.  Too bad I didn't notice their petite size before finishing the dress.  I much prefer large, fit everything but the kitchen sink, pockets. Oh well.  C'est la vie.  I'm not about to start undoing seams at this point!!

Wrapping up, once again this year the Outfit Along was a really great experience.  I've got another outfit that I think will get lots of wear and I had lots of fun along the way.

I'm not 100% sure what my next project will be.  The knitting mojo is still lagging although I've been working on a pair of socks and I picked up some gorgeous yarn (thank you Mom for the birthday money that I used to purchase it with!) to knit an Antrorse in the upcoming Summer Sweater Knit Along in the Very Shannon group on Ravelry.

I've got quite a few sewing projects lined up that I want to get done so I'll probably try to focus on those for the next while, probably starting with a Sis Boom Jamie Dress using my Gertie Tropical sateen that I ordered from JoAnn's earlier this summer.  It'll be another pattern that fits perfectly into Heather's Sundress Sew-A-Long.

2015 Outfit Along in Progress

We're at the halfway mark of the 2015 Untangling Knots Outfit Along and I thought I'd post a bit of an update on how things are progressing for me.

Yarn and fabric choices!

Slower than molasses in January would be one way of summing it up.  I feel like I'm usually a whole lot quicker with knitting Andi's cardigan patterns, but to be honest, I've just not had much energy or time for knitting.  By the time the boys have gone to sleep for the night after a rousing round of jumping in and out of bed six billion times each, I've found that I'm scrambling around doing everything I need to get done and by the time that's taken care of I'm at the point of sitting and staring at the wall rather than relaxing and knitting.  But I am chugging along, slowly but surely.  Yesterday I took the boys to the splash park and was able to work on it while they played.  I was making some good progress on the sleeve cap, but I like to do sleeves two at a time once I'm past the cap (that way I know they are going to end up the same length and all decreases occur at the same spot), and once I finished the cap on the sleeve I was working on I realized I'd forgotten to bring a second ball of yarn to start the second sleeve cap.

Splash park knitting - making slow progress!

I think I am going to love my outfit once it's done, which is keeping me plugging away bit by bit.  I chose to do the "official" knit pattern, Vianne, which like a lot of Andi's patterns, is a sweet, retro vibe cardigan with lace detail on the front and a mesh panel and more lace on the back.  I'm not in love with the yarn I'm using, but it was in my stash, so it'll do.  I was having a bit of a hard time justifying yarn and then fabric for a dress all in one fell swoop so, black Sirdar Silky DK it is.

My pattern choices!

For my sewn component I've chosen to do Violette Field Thread's Ginger Dress, which is another pattern from the Women's Bundle Up Sale I snagged back in May.  I scoured all locally available fabric sources as well as a few online Canadian shops in search of the perfect black with red cherry print fabric.  I'm not sure how I got fixated on the idea, but I did and there it stuck.  I knew nothing else was going to do once I had the vision in my head.  Unfortunately my search was in vain. One shop in Alberta did carry a cute cherry print, and the price per metre wasn't bad, but then shipping killed it.  Why Canada Post?  WHY?!?!?!  So then I started perusing online shops from the US.  I found the perfect print on JoAnn's website and then bid my time until I could use a 60% off coupon.  I was able to buy four metres for less than I could 3.5m here even with shipping and exchange factored in so  was pretty happy about that! (of course now I'm frighteningly addicted to JoAnn's and their coupons... my second order - Gertie's tropical sateen - just arrived in the post today.    I'm justifying that one, by the fact it was on sale for 60% off and then JoAnn's kindly had sent me a 20% off coupon for creating an account for my first order. I'm so easily persuaded...)

Anyways.  I'm getting off track here.

I've not done anything but the muslin of the bodice for my Ginger Dress, but I'm hoping after the weekend to find some time to get it done. (it's birthday weekend here - both Little Man and I - and Little Man's "family" party is on Saturday so no hope of sewing a new dress before then with cakes to bake, a house to clean and a birthday crown to make yet).  I think it's going to be a fairly easy sew which shouldn't take a lot of time once I get going on it.  

So that's what's been happening with my 2015 OAL so far!  Hopefully in the next week or so I'll be back to show you a final outfit.