Owwwww. My hands hurt. My brain hurts. I hate knits. I hate pins.
I finished my first dress (ever!) and it has some issues. The bust area is a little tight and the hips are a little loose (I always have the opposite problem, so this is weird). I think I can fix it… another day.
For now, I’m going to stick to dresses with flared skirts–I have too much junk in the trunk to deal with fitted patterns right now. And now I’m going to take a relaxing bath. Oof.
I am absolutely determined to finish this dress before the end of the month. It will get done.
Butterick 5554, view A
I’m making view A, the sleeveless version. And of course, I’m making it in leopard print (the middle section) and jade (the outer sections). I showed the fabric to Mr. Something and he said, “Well, that’s perfect for you.” This is something that I love about sewing my own clothes; I can make them in my size and in my favorite colors.
I hope (hope hope hope) to have this done by this weekend so I can wear it out. Photos to come!
Let’s be honest: May was busy and rough. Now it’s June and by the end of this month, two things will have happened. I will have turned 30 and I will have finished a dress.
Keep me accountable, friends! Shoot me an email to keep me going: gainfullysomething[at]gmail[dot]com.
Guys. This dress is proving to be pretty annoying. Bias tape can bite me, and sewing buttons is the worst.
I might not get it completely done by the end of this month, but it’ll get done eventually. Ugh.
The other thing I worked on this month was an adorable tiny tutu for my friend’s 3-year-old daughter. It is so itty-bitty! Working with tulle is heinous, but once I figured out that it’s a pain, it got slightly easier. Just another thing to add to my sewing resume.
There’s another dress pattern I want to tackle… once I find it in my sewing table monstrosity.
I’ve been battling a spring cold, so I haven’t been super productive the past few days. Despite that, I’ve managed to put together my dress!
For my first dress, I’m making a Butterick pattern from 1952. It slips on over your head, and the back skirt pulls forward to snap at the bodice. It gives the effect of a sheath and overskirt. It’s so cute.
I had to learn how to sew darts, those lines sewn into clothes to give them shape; in this case, boob-shape and waist-shape. This tutorial was very helpful!
The rest of the sewing has been very easy, which matches up with the “Very Easy” labeling on the pattern. Slightly curved seams and straight seams. Piece of cake.
The next thing I did was… take (nearly) the entire thing apart. I slipped the dress over my head and tried to close the front, but it wasn’t overlapping enough to add the snaps or be worn comfortably. I took the skirt off the bodice and separated the two skirt sections, then cut a small piece of fabric and added another panel to the skirt. If you’ve got a big booty and wide ribs, sometimes you need to swallow your pride and make your dress bigger. Whatever. It fits really well now!
The next step is to hem the skirt and add the bias tape. I’m holding off on this for a few days because I’m waiting on the delivery of my new narrow hem foot. It should make hemming a breeze.
More updates soon!
I thought it would take me the majority of the year to build my skills to Dressmaker Level. However, I think I found a pattern or two that I can try now (even though it’s not May yet).
My first attempt is Butterick 4790. It’s a retro pattern from 1952! I love retro dresses, and ones from the ’50s usually have just the right shape for my curves. This dress is really neat; it goes over your head and then the back snaps at the front waist, creating a sheath and overskirt look.
Of course, I chose bright, bold fabrics because I can’t bring myself to wear neutral colors.
The feathery fabric (L) will be the back and overskirt; the floral will be the bodice and front skirt.
I cut my pieces out today. There are only three pattern pieces (a total of four fabric pieces) to this dress, so they are all huge and obnoxious to cut. Tomorrow I’m going to tackle darting! Stay tuned.
Gainfully Something 