A Christmas Party Dress - Early!

I went on a Sewing Retreat the weekend of November 11th, but haven't been blogging because my computer wouldn't turn on.  At all.  And I'm not talking about the blue screen of death, I'm talking about the black pit of darkness that was my lap top screen.  I finally submitted to the ultimate fix - I took my lap top to work.  I don't know why this works, but as soon as I got it to the office and pushed the power button, it fired right up.  I guess my lap top just likes to get out of the house from time to time.  It's evil that way.

I really don't need to go on a Sewing Retreat to sew - The Carpenter lets me sew any time I want to, but my friend Maria really wanted to go, and Maria is like so many quilters - to really sew all weekend, she has to run away from home and let her family fend for herself.  Maria is a new sewer (which I like to believe I somehow helped inspire), so I joined her at a 4-H camp about an hour and half from home.  It was very productive and I met wonderful women, all quilters.  I was the only garment sewer.  I decided to spend the weekend making my dress for my company's annual Christmas party, which was renamed the Holiday party, for political correctness.  I still call it the Christmas party because if it wasn't for Christmas, we wouldn't been having it.

I normally make my dress every year but I never blog about it because it is the busiest time of the year, plus my dress is usually not my best work - I cut major corners sewing it.  Mostly because I don't have a lot of time.  And I am fine with that because the dress is going to be worn once, maybe twice, three times tops.  I don't worry about finishing seams or any imperfections.  The party is large, dark, and most everyone there is at least slightly tipsy.  No one is noticing whether my hem is perfect.

But this year I set aside an entire weekend in November to focus on the dress.  I like to make my Christmas dresses with circle skirts so I can wear a big crinoline underneath because if it ain't poofy, it ain't a party.

I was inspired by this book by Mary Adams that I bought this past summer when I wasn't sewing but I was reading about sewing:

I love her designs - she makes my kind of dress.  Poofy, feminine, and dramatic.  I was particularly taken with this one:

I love the white/dark blue combination; it looks very classy and chic.  The book comes with patterns for three dress variations, so I used her circle skirt pattern which I traced.  For the bodice, I decided to go with the Kwik Sew pattern 3760 I love so much:

The pattern has the waistband that I added to the circle skirt, and I knew the bodice would fit me well.  I made the skirt and waistband from some royal blue/violet taffeta someone in my sewing guild gave me several years ago.  I don't know the fabic content (although I am pretty certain it isn't silk), but it is stiff and rustles like taffeta.  For the bodice I dithered for weeks about what to use.  I thought that silk shantung would be too sheer (something I learned while sewing my wedding dress), and I didn't want to try to wrangle something like silk charmuse for this dress.  I finally went with a man made fabric I found at Joannes that shimmered a little, even though I usually hate working with synthetics.  The Joannes fabric ended up being very easy to work with, although it  raveled like crazy.  By the end of the retreat, I had a completed dress that only lacked a hem:

Sorry about the poor quality photos - the lighting wasn't great.  But you get the gist.  Here are some photos that show the fabrics a little better:

 I ended up binding the armholes with silk shantung bias strips (silk was leftover from the wedding dress project):

I have found that silk shantung is awesome for binding armholes.  It is thin, presses well, and is very strong, but flexible.  I cut my bias strips 2 inches wide, then folded them in half, wrong sides together, and then I sewed them to the armholes using a 5/8 inch seam.  I then trimmed the seam allowances to 1/4 inch, and pressed the bias strip to the inside of the bodice.  Because I had the time, I hand sewed the binding to the bodice.

So I took more time with this Christmas dress than I usually do - I finished the seam allowances.  When I have the time, I can't NOT do it.  : )

Once I got home, I hemmed it.  The taffeta is very stiff, and because I had such success with the silk shantung in binding the armholes, I decided to use the same process to hem the circle skirt as well.  I used hot pink silk because I had more of it (and the hem of that skirt is yards and yards long).  After I got the pink silk on the skirt, I liked the way it looked, so instead of pressing it up into the skirt, I just pressed it down so it shows.  So now I have a thin strip of hot pink at the bottom of the skirt and it made me so happy I had to dance around in my dress.  I love it when that happens - it is one of those happy accidents that makes my design better.

I'll post a good photo of me in the dress taken at the party, which is on December 8th.  But next up:  I'm working on McCalls 5972.

Back to Sewing!

 Not only did the Carpenter and I get married, but we bought a house.  And renovated it in ten weeks.  And I put my townhouse up for sale.  My real estate agent recommended a stager, who said, "You need to pack up and remove all your sewing stuff.  And store all your quilts."  (Buyers aren't excited by decor that includes quilts.  Who knew? )

I followed her advice because she's sold way more houses than I have.  My townhouse sold in four days.  (Whoopee!)

What this all means, of course, is that I haven't been sewing, due to everything being in storage, and, you know, moving.  But now we are in the new house and I will now have my very own sewing room, as opposed to sewing all over the house.  I had my new sewing room painted pink because I like pink, and if you can't have your sewing room the color you love the best, where else can you do it?

Right now it is a colossal mess: 

I can't figure out where to put everything because I'm overwhelmed by choice. At my old townhouse, I was limited by space so I made do.  Turn me loose on a clean canvas and I am discombobulated.  I'm confident, though, as necessity is the mother of invention, I'll pull it together eventually.  Friday, the Carpenter installed four recessed ceiling LED lights that light up the room like a Christmas tree. 

I've also been wrestling with a lack of inspiration.  I knew I needed to go a different way on my sewing, but I wasn't sure where.  Should I just stop garment sewing and return back to quilting?  I finally figured out no, I just need to try new patterns and techniques in my garment sewing.  I usually just use the same old patterns because I know they fit, but I was inspired to try a totally new pattern, Kwik Sew 3760, that I saw on a blog whose name I can't recall.  I really liked the green version, but I decided to try the orange version first:

I used a rayon/polestery linen-looking fabric that I bought at Hancock's for $ 4.99/yard.  I love this fabric; I've used it before.  It sews beautifully, it takes high heat during pressing, and it a breeze to wash and wear (no ironing required).  Ignore the wrinkles in my photo above; it was taken after a full day of work.  

This is a wonderful pattern.  I've shied away from Kwik Sew patterns after trying one nine years ago where it seems that it was drafted for someone with a large bust and small hips, and most women aren't built that way.  But this one fit perfectly.  The pattern contained the finished garment measurements on the pattern pieces, which is crucial for figuring out what size to make; I made the size Small straight up, no alterations.  The pattern went together wonderfully; all the seams and notches lined up exactly the way they were supposed to. 

(Again, ignore the wrinkles, this fabric really is nice and wrinkle-resistant.)  Normally I am a natural fabric snob but this very reasonably priced fabric at Hancocks is a pleasure to sew.  This pattern miraculously renewed my excitement in sewing!  And then I decided that I needed to pick another brand new pattern for my next project:  no repeat projects, is my new rule!  (But if I do, I'll dispense with the armhold facings and just use bias binding instead.)

I saw McCall's 6503 dress on Gertie's blog and went out and bought it the same day:



Moving has allowed me to be reintroduced to my stash!  I found a Libery of London print that I bought in Glasgow, Scotland probably around 2004.  I decided it would be perfect for view A. Fortunately, enough time has past that I have forgotten how expensive this fabric was or I would be afraid to cut it.  But in my renewed interest in sewing, I've also decided that the time has come to use the "good" fabric rather than saving it for some mythical perfect project.

My progress:

Can't wait to get this one finished so I can pick another new pattern!