You've got me thinking of a blouse...

Duchesse recently wrote in her blog about tailored blouses, and I commented:

Tailored blouses are problematic--yes, there's the fit issue but I also have a hard time with the maintenance they require. Even if you have them laundered, they still require touch ups before wearing. I'm tiring of knitwear too, but I'm not certain tailored blouses are the remedy for me.

Of course, that got me thinking of tailored blouses and why I don't wear them--sloth, gaposis, fear of ironing? Then Duchesse responded to my comment with this observation:

Nancy: From what I have seen of your sewing, you prefer more relaxed styles. Tailored blouses are more formal- but you have the skills to make them!

Hmm, interesting. I hadn't really thought that was the image I was projecting from my humble blog. IRL, especially at work, I do tend to a more classic, tailored look, but most of those clothes are RTW. Classic takes more time and precision than I have right now, and I've been focusing on fun, nonwork sewing projects. Face it, my wardrobe has a split personality!

I actually have a prototype blouse in the sewing closet, this one that I blogged about several years ago. I never wore it much, probably a function of the fabric I used and a little extra weight that I was carrying at the time.


However, the basic lines of the pattern are good and there are plenty of styling options. I think I'll pull this one out and consider revisiting it. After all, I've already done the hard work of altering the pattern. A blouse would be a nice thing to wear for a change.

A Full Day of Sewing

I've spent most of the day in the sewing room (aka the "Girl Cave" per DF), working on various projects.

Vogue 8241: I started prototyping the wedding dress, about time since I have only 2 months to get this puppy made! I'm using some blue floral poly charmeuse for this, since the drape is similar. For some reason, I had 6 yards of this stuff in the stash!! Anyway, I made up a sample of the bodice and wasn't too thrilled with the appearance even after altering the pattern for my bustline. Then I the got idea of using My Hearts a Flutter instead, since the lines are somewhat similar. So I made another sample bodice from that pattern. Only a little tweaking was needed and I'm much happier now. Next, I'll make the skirt portion, join it to the bodice and see how it looks all put together.

Hotpatterns Bossa Nova Skirt: next, I cut this out of a large scale black and white floral I recently bought at Hancock Fabrics. FYI, this is a free download that you can get at the Fabric.com website. It's a simple 8-gore skirt that should go together quickly, even with the addition of a lining. The fabric is fairly substantial, but you know white always has a little bit of show-through. Now it's all ready to be sewn up.

TSW Mixit Tank: Linda just posted a double layer version of this top over at the Sewing Workshop site, so I was inspired to give it a try. Ready to go whenever I decide to make a tank top.

Alterations: I had a couple of rayon skirts that needed shortening and since they had flounces at the hems, I worked from the waistbands. They aren't the best looking waistbands, which I blame on working with bias cut rayon. But since they're elastic and will be covered with tops, they'll do. I also did some ripping on the TSW Trio Pants I made last summer. They're baggier than I'd like so I'm taking in the side seams. But first, a major portion of the waistband needed to come off.

That's more than enough for one day! Now I'm having a glass of wine while DF puts together dinner. It's nice having a man who cooks.

Fabrics for the BIG Project, Plus Others

The fabrics from Gorgeous Fabrics came yesterday, and they are indeed gorgeous! These are the wedding dress fabrics, first the mesh:



and this is the ivory twill. Not much to see in a photo but it really is beautiful.



The color is lighter in real life.

Duchesse asked how the fabrics will be combined in the dress. I haven't read the instructions all the way through, but my first impression is that they are basically layered together and treated as one fabric during construction. That means I need more ivory silk in a lining weight, oh well.

Of course, I saw some other pretties that I had to have. The next two have nothing to do with the wedding, I just thought they were too nice to pass up. Both are silk chiffon.

The ecru and lavender is actually a border print with a gradient band of lavender along one selvedge. It's very sheer so I'm not exactly how I'll use it, but I do love it.


This one is cheerful and pretty, not as sheer as the other one.

A BIG Project

DF and I are making plans to get married in June! We've been engaged for a while, and he moved in last August, so we've been progressing towards this for a while. We're going to have the wedding festivities in Vegas because it will make traveling easier for our guests. It's much easier to fly there than Albuquerque, plus there are a lot of fun things to do in addition to the ceremony.

Of course, there's a dress. And I'm planning to make it. I've been acquiring candidates for several months, but this was the pattern that DF liked best:


I'm making the short version. It's simple but I love the lines. It actually makes sense, because this is wedding #2 for me and the ceremony will be outside. At the volcano waterfall at the Mirage, believe it or not.

The fabric has been ordered from Gorgeous Fabrics and should arrive this week. Ivory silk and sequined mesh, baby!! I'll definitely be making a muslin, followed by an actual dress as a dry run before cutting into the good stuff.

Simplicity 9570 View B, OOP

I started another project today, this one is a repeat of a skirt I've made several times before but don't currently have in my closet. This is very similar to the Loes Hinse Swing Skirt:


However, I found the Simplicity version first, so it's the flounce skirt pattern I always use. The Simplicity is long out of print, so if you feel inspired to sew one from my example, the Swing Skirt is still available.

The fabric is some type of polyester that I acquired from JoAnn's in 2006.


I had it saved for another project, then I realized that it would be a PITA for a dress, but perfect for a skirt! The fabric is relatively thin and it's wiggly to cut out. Best for something simple that doesn't need precise matching. I wear all the colors in the print so I'll have plenty of tops it'll go with. I probably should line it but I'm considering wearing a slip at this point. We'll see how I feel when I get into the construction phase.

Edited because this paragraph made no sense before--thanks Susan, for commenting so I noticed. I modified Simplicity's design slightly when cutting out. I deleted one of the flounces. It's a simple enough change, and really, is a double flounce really necessary? I think not, even though I have a bunch of fabric left. But let's KISS, shall we?

Q & A

I'm going to try and be a better blogger by responding to my questions on the site. Not everybody reads comments (I know, hard to believe!), so I hope to answer some questions that others may have and feature some other bloggers as well.

Duchesse said...(re: TSW Urban Pants post):

I heard from a tailor that the waistband really determines the hang of the pants. Is this true, or a "tailor's tale"?

That's one I haven't heard before. But the waistband is typically the anchor point for the pants, so that makes sense to me. Can anyone else help us out?

Eileensews said...

I'm a regular follower of your blog. I am actually in NM visiting friends and lo and behold today I went to an apparel fabric store in Santa Fe that has, according to the owner, been open about 2 months. It is called Santa Fe Fabrics at 533 West Cordova.

I was traveling in this area over the summer and I only saw JoAnn and Hobby Lobby.
You may have already seen this place or not live in this part of the state.
Anyway, just passing the information along.

Thanks for reading my blog and for posting a comment!

I've heard of this store but haven't had a chance to visit yet. I'm in Albuquerque and haven't had an opportunity to do a road trip to Santa Fe in a while. Hopefully, soon.

Duchesse said...(re: My Hearts a Flutter--Version 1 is Complete)

Help a non-sewing sister, what's a 'wearable muslin'? I get that it would be a test piece but does the term imply one is not using good fabric? Then why wear it?

Excellent question. To me, a "wearable muslin" is a mythological beast. To me, muslins are prototypes that are run up quickly to test the fit. Once you're comfortable with the fit, then you use your nice fabric. Typically muslin is a white or ecru fabric that you can buy for this specific purpose at the store. I would never wear a real muslin anywhere but the sewing room, and wouldn't spend the time making a muslin nice so I can wear it. And if you start with the nice fabric, why sew quick and dirty?

In this case, the fabric was left over from an earlier failed project and I had already been told that the fit was similar to another shell I'd made from the same pattern company. So I had a pretty good idea it was going to fit--and if it failed, then no great loss, since it was from a ruined project. By the way, this is a good quality cotton, it was just cut up and partially sewn already.

PS I'm glad you liked it! Since it's cotton, I think it'll soften up over time. And now I can make some out of fancier fabric!!

My Hearts a Flutter--Version 1 is Complete

I've been working on this one in dribs and drabs. If I were a person who makes "wearable muslins", this would have been one. As I mentioned before, I cut the pieces for this top out of cotton that I'd previously used in an unsuccessful attempt at charity sewing. So objectively, the fabric is a bit too stiff for this pattern.

However, it did come out well. I traced a straight Medium and it's definitely wearable as is, even with the fabric I used. I do think I'll be adding a tiny bit of ease next time but it'll be an incredibly minor tweak. 1/8" per side seam is about as good as it gets, don't you think?

So yes, I 'll be making this shell again.