I joined Julia Bobbin's Mad Men Dress Challenge III with 2 weeks to sew. I've not started from scratch with a pattern and completely finished any garment in such a short period of time. It's a real challenge for me, and I'm feeling it.
The deadline was yesterday, 4/1/14 - April Fools Day, but since this is my first challenge & I only learned about it a couple weeks ago, I'm not going to allow myself to feel guilty over missing this deadline. I still want to love sewing and love this dress. That's most important to me at present. I'm sure that what I'm learning now will help me better plan for my next challenges and help me when deciding to join a challenge with such a short period of time. Project management if you will. Always learning.
As you can see from these first 2 photos, I'm nearly done. It's the little things that stack up and make a difference in completing. And I like things done right on time. So given that, I'm focusing on doing a solid job and making sure that I'm learning from what I'm doing.
You might be thinking, "Hey, that dress looks pretty great! What's the problem?"
Well, I ask you, "What is special about the 2 photos you see below? Can you guess?"
You might be thinking, "Hey, that dress looks pretty great! What's the problem?"
Well, I ask you, "What is special about the 2 photos you see below? Can you guess?"
Upon first glance, you see that the front looks great, the back looks like it doesn't fit my form. But as you look at the photos of me wearing the dress above, it all looks like it fits properly. What is obscured by my arm is that odd gap / dart needing area right at the top of the side seams. If you look at the back of the dress while I'm wearing it, you'll also notice it fits me.
What does this mean?
I'VE LOST WEIGHT or INCHES RATHER!
Hello!
This means that my long, frequent walks and yoga are paying off!
So if you've felt like your exercise isn't producing results, take heart. It might be happening in an area of your body that you're not yet seeing!
Yes, since I took Jan Bones Dress Form class last June, I have gotten smaller in the high bust and around my back. I'm stunned, because I haven't noticed an increased ease of wearing my same clothing. And here I've been beating on myself for my food choices and my weight being at a plateau. But, this tells me that I am likely building muscle, which is even better than just dropping the weight. Yay, athleta me returns.
What does this mean?
I'VE LOST WEIGHT or INCHES RATHER!
Hello!
This means that my long, frequent walks and yoga are paying off!
So if you've felt like your exercise isn't producing results, take heart. It might be happening in an area of your body that you're not yet seeing!
Yes, since I took Jan Bones Dress Form class last June, I have gotten smaller in the high bust and around my back. I'm stunned, because I haven't noticed an increased ease of wearing my same clothing. And here I've been beating on myself for my food choices and my weight being at a plateau. But, this tells me that I am likely building muscle, which is even better than just dropping the weight. Yay, athleta me returns.
Now that I know the dress fits my actual body, but my form will be a wee bit too big, I'm solving the fitting challenge, which now tips into the world of alterations - queue big sigh. I do not alter. Not my thing. And most people ask me to hem their pants when I tell them I can sew. I redirect to a good local alterationist. Get one. I use one.
But, I need to do the fitting on this dress. I'm not going to take it to someone. That means I have to
Monday night, I tried to do this on just one side. I was so ridiculously tired that I sewed the flap fronts together (as if they were the front to back) and likewise with the backs. I had this weird pokey point at the armpit. Oh God. I haven't sewn wrong pieces together in YEARS! Years I tell you. I gave up, went to bed.
Last night, I ripped more seams, started over. Because it's such a cramped area to sew, I decided that I would just have a seam showing on the back of the flap. I'll hide it and the likelihood of anyone looking at my underflap, under my arm is practically nil. As I learned from my Dad and in engineeirng school, use the roughest acceptable tolerance to get the job done. Basically, decide what is most important and critical and get shit done instead of wasting time on minute details that will not impact the final results. Thank you Dad.
I did also make a point of contacting Julia to let her know I will be sending in photos late only if it wouldn't cause her more work. It's a lot of work to host a challenge or an exchange. Having helped with them, I've learned how important it is to communicate and much an email like this is can be appreciated.
More sewing tonight after I excercise.
How is your dress coming along? Are you sewing any summer or spring wear?
But, I need to do the fitting on this dress. I'm not going to take it to someone. That means I have to
- rip out the flap (which is top stitched)
- rip out the side seams
- dart the flap and side seams (the flap isn't just a straight fwd dart, you have to think inside out on this one because the way you'd dart you're actually working over the fashion side of the fabric be it front or back of flap)
- stitch it all back into place.
Monday night, I tried to do this on just one side. I was so ridiculously tired that I sewed the flap fronts together (as if they were the front to back) and likewise with the backs. I had this weird pokey point at the armpit. Oh God. I haven't sewn wrong pieces together in YEARS! Years I tell you. I gave up, went to bed.
Last night, I ripped more seams, started over. Because it's such a cramped area to sew, I decided that I would just have a seam showing on the back of the flap. I'll hide it and the likelihood of anyone looking at my underflap, under my arm is practically nil. As I learned from my Dad and in engineeirng school, use the roughest acceptable tolerance to get the job done. Basically, decide what is most important and critical and get shit done instead of wasting time on minute details that will not impact the final results. Thank you Dad.
I did also make a point of contacting Julia to let her know I will be sending in photos late only if it wouldn't cause her more work. It's a lot of work to host a challenge or an exchange. Having helped with them, I've learned how important it is to communicate and much an email like this is can be appreciated.
More sewing tonight after I excercise.
How is your dress coming along? Are you sewing any summer or spring wear?
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