Monday, July 2, 2012

A Month of Sewing

All from the same piece of fabric.  Last November, I went fabric shopping in Philly with GMarie and my daughter.  One of the pieces I got was a very pale pink knit, suitable for summer.  So, winter being upon us at that time, the knit got set aside.  It turned out I bought 5 yards of it.  That's because the clerk at JoMar was very strange.  With the first piece I handed him to cut, I asked for 3 yards, and he said, "No."  Then  repeated myself, and he kept saying "No."  After the third refusal, I asked why he wouldn't sell me this fabric, and he said, "Because there's not 3 yards there."  Well, you could have told me sooner, doofus!  So thereafter, I just told him to give me whatever was left of the fabrics I selected.  And so I ended up with a bit over 5 yards.

First up was a practice dress for the McCalls 6462 I bought earlier this year.  I want it in a pink stripe, but I wanted to try it first in something I have in plentitude.

I like it well enough, but I need to tighten the sleeve substitutes, because they just slide down.  I also feel that it needs shoulder straps to make it more stable.  Last, since it's designed for knit fabrics, I don't understand the need for a zipper.  It just goes over the head without it.  So at least I know what I'll change when I make it from the pink stripe.

Next up was a V1250, the darling of the sewing world last summer.  It's still freakin' adorable.

Then a princess seamed summer dress.  Fluffy and fun.

Then a little bolero jacket from this fabric, which goes with all 3 of these dresses.  Evenings here are chilly, usually under 65 no matter the daytime heat, and if we go out, often the air conditioning is too much for me.  So this makes the perfect accessory for all of these dresses.

There was 1/2 yard left, just enough for a cami, shown with the jacket above.  That's a lot of stuff from one chunk of fabric, all because the doofus just said "No," instead of explaining why I couldn't have 3 yards of the striped fabric.


These were my projects in late May and June; there's more on the drawing board, but we'll see how life goes.  Hope you all had a great weekend, and are staying out of the blistering heat covering the country right now.

11 comments:

Diane said...

Gosh you have been working hard. The plans are in to finish our two offices and the spare room so by the end of this year I may just have a room all to myself where I can sew, paint and do whatever without having to put everything away all the time!!! Diane

Claire S. said...

As usual all lovely pieces. Nice to have them all in the same fabric, anything that goes with one, goes with 'em all !

It was a long weekend here in Canada so mine hasn't quite finished yet. Guess what I've been doing today ? Sewing !!! Now if I could get the tensions sorted on the HBO word serger, there's a 'quick' project cut and waiting in the wings.

gMarie said...

What a productive month. I wish I could cut a bunch and then do all the sewing - but with the exception of retreat - precutting takes the wind out of the sewing sails for me. I sewed up the Vogue dress in real muslin last night, made the pattern alterations on paper and will cut more muslin tonight and sew it up - even with 8 pieces, it goes together quickly. I have Wed - Sun off so hopefully something wearable soon.

g

~~louise~~ said...

My goodness what ambitious projects, Marjie. They sure did come out "purty."

I still haven't made it to Philly:) One day...

Thanks for sharing...

Sue said...

Wow, I thought I was doing a good job because I sewed up a couple of pillows.

Two French Bulldogs said...

Very talented!
Benny & Lily

SissySees said...

Impressive. It's getting closer to a time when I might have time to learn to sew. I hope V1250 is still in style when that time arrives.

Mickle in NZ said...

They are all so pretty, I especially like the way the skirt drapes on the McCall dress. I know you'll get the dropped/draped sleeves on it right

I'm using my creative time to knit - even during the 7.0 earthquake we had 4 hours ago. Zebby happily continued washing and was clearly puzzled as to why His daft human checked on him afterwards!

Hope you can stay cool in all that heat, Michelle xxx (and zzzzzz from Zeb)

Linda said...

YOU are the dressiest gal I know!!

Big Dude said...

I agree with SissySees - Impressive.

grace said...

what magnificent work, marjie! i LOVE that color, but i'm so pale i can't pull it off. :)