Project 25, re-branded

Project 25 was a dress from a grey crinkle fabric that I had in my stash.  While looking for something to sew I kept coming across the fabric, and kept on looking for something more inspiring to sew.  I recently pulled it out of the stash and looked at it.  The reason I kept ignoring it is that it was a truly boring, cheap synthetic fabric, and I can’t imagine wanting a dress made out of it!  When I put it on the list of 52 projects I was allocating fabrics from my stash while I was away from home, so couldn’t actually see any of the fabrics.  My idea was making a plain dress then adding embroidery or embellishment to make it something a little special.  In reality, a plain grey dress is going to struggle to be in the least bit special and the nature of this fabric makes it pretty close to impossible. 

While I was in the stash I did come across another grey print that I had forgotten about; it’s a very light weight knit with a small print of black white and grey.  Again, it’s never going to be a stunner, but I can see it being a very practical dress in a shape that flatters my figure.  I attempted this style in a blue, black and white lycra a month or so ago, but I rushed the project and made a few fundamental mistakes because I was rushing it.

The plan was to use the top from a wrap-effect top from Butterick 3344,

adding a full skirt and black bands to accentuate the wrap over effect.

When I made it before I ended up with the waist too high, so I added a plain black panel at the waist.  Although it was a mistake, I decided that the black waist panel actually worked, although it was too wide last time.

 

 I was a little more careful about calculating the waist measurements this time, so ended up with a circle skirt with lovely movement.  It is thin enough that the vast amount of fabric hangs well without looking bulky.

It’s not a show stopping dress, but it’s super-comfy and practical (and doesn’t need ironing)as a work day dress when I really can’t be bothered matching separates.  I’ve already worn it a few times and liked it. 

Project 8 - Vogue 1352

This is a full length maxi dress that I bought when Vogue was gaving an on line sale.   The postage  to New Zealand for vogue patterns means that their sales are only worth it if we buy several patterns.  I thought that this looked like an interesting pattern, and immediately thought of project 8 on my 52 projects for 2013 – a grey and lavender strach fabric.  It’s quite sheer so I lined the skirt and the front bodice pieces with a similar fabric in grey. 

I made it up in a size 14, which is usually a bit snug round the bust, but since I was using a stretch I figured I’d get away with it.  In fact it was still rather generous round the bust and the wrap effect was sort of lost.

Apart from that it did look like the picture.  It was an easy pattern to make up.  I did the whole dress on the overlocker as soon as I'd had my lesson on how to use it properly.

Unfortunatley the only interesting thing about the design was the wrap effect at the front, so I felt it was a little sort of blah blah as a dress. Also, it’s not dreadfully flattering to a larger bust. The skirt pieces don’t really have enough flare, so the skirt kid of just hangs.

 

I’m not widley enthused by the dress.  I don't feel it does a great deal for me.  I do like to wear maxi dresses, especially in the summer so I will wear it, but probably won't use the pattern again.

 

Personal Development

Not many pictures or finished objects in this post. 

A few months ago my overlocker died - L  I was faced with three choices:

a.    Go back to zigzagging the edges of all my pieces before I start sewing a project.

b.    Look for another older three thread overlocker like the one that had just died.

c.    Invest a little bit extra and buy a second hand, but newer, four thread overlocker with a few fancy functions.

The thought of going back to zigzagging was just too hard, so I approached the second hand market with either b or c in mind. 

It took a while to find one but this Babylock Protégé came into my life about two months ago.

She didn’t have instructions, but I sort of managed to figure out how to thread her up from the diagrams on the machine.  Although I’d got her working, the stitches formed a loopy finish on the edge and if I tried to use it to sew a seam if sort of stretched out and the stitches were really obvious.

I eventually found a manual on line, but still didn’t seem to really get on with her.  I carried on using the overlocker to finish and trim edges, but felt that I wasn’t really using her to her potential.  At around the same time I took a long hard look at a few of my recent projects with dissatisfaction.  There were a couple of areas that I felt that my lack of skill had let me down.

I was picking up some supplies in my local Spotlight when I noticed leaflets advertising a sewing tutor who did home visits and claimed to be able to teach any machine at a reasonable cost. 

I checked her website, and rang her up and had a chat, after which I booked for her to come to my home on a Saturday afternoon and teach me to love my overlocker and give me a hand with my button holes and zips on biased seams.

True to her word Diane obviously knows her overlockers.  Within half an hour I knew exactly what I had been doing wrong and was confidently threading and unthreading the babylock.  It was actually something soooo trivial that I wouldn’t have even thought about it, but she explained why it was mucking my tension up so badly.  She went through how to adjust the tension, and then moved on to rolled hems,

Beautiful rolled hem

flatlock stitches and special finishes with the overlocker.  We just had time at the end for her to give me a few useful pointers with my zips and button holes. 

Her minimum session is three hours for $85 and 25 per hour after that.  I found that three hours was about as much tuition as I could handle.  By the time she left I was busting to try all the fancy techniques that she had taught, as well as re-do all the garments I've overlocked the hems of in the last few months.   

If you’re in Auckland I can recommend her, not just for learning a new machine, but also for mastering a particular aspect of sewing.  She’ll even take two or three students for no extra charge.

In the meantime, I see heaps of overlocked projects on the horizon for me.

NB - I paid full price for this lesson and this post is an honest review of my experience for which I have received no reward.