Hooray!

No pictures yet, but I can inform you that the Glee dress is finished! Only a year in the making, and 8 blog mentions later..

RW day 5 - working on the shifting skies skirt

Roswell Week day 5

Well, OK, I said I would post a lovely item everyday, but I haven't finished anything!

Glee Dress  - I had finished this, but the back seams, gathers and zip were all wonky. This was mainly due to the stretch of the material, and I just couldn't get it straight. After putting it back on Charlotte to see how much I need to alter it, it turns out she has also lost some weight, so it was even worse than it had been! I have unpicked the back now, and will pin it all back together on her, possibly basting everything in situ so that I can try and beat the stretch fabric! I just keep missing her in the daylight though, and I need it! It was back enough unpicking it in daylight. I hate black on black.

Shifting skies skirt
This was one of the big jobs, and it continues to be a bit of a trial. I have finally finished french seaming the joins on the ruffles of the underskirt, (horrible job-dont even attempt this on slippery lining). Frankly its a mess, I have caught different bits along each seam, and this rucked up all the levels at different points. I pulled some of it out again and redid it, but the fabric just wasn't having any of it, so after a certain point I just carried on. I did this so many times that it is now fairly level as all the errors have ended up canceling each other out (ish)!. I think if I could go back in time I wouldn't try this again, even on better fabric, I have now made 3 petticoat like skirts, and all of them have been a nightmare to make, and been underwhelming when done. (a white muslin underskirt for a Red Riding Hood costume- I kept attaching the pieces inside out so all my seams were the wrong way round, and a net skirt for Charlotte that drove me mad with jamming my machine and then turned out to be too small!) I may just buy them in future!

I have also got round to cutting out and assembling the outer skirt. It is made out of the soft cotton I was going to make my Weeping Angel costume out of before I accidentally dyed it too dark and too blue! It is just a basic circle skirt, and I pinched out a back seam and have (half) put in a zip. I seem to have put the waistband on wonky somehow (think I got carried away when working with a sensible fabric!), but I shall tweak the back seam to fix it easy enough. They are now both hanging up to stretch out. I am NOT looking forward to hemming ether of them, but particularly the stupid underskirt, which has 3 hems, all about 10 m long, and super frayed. sigh.

So progress.. if not anything actually finished... Its not looking hugely like all the list is going to get done.. but its getting there.

Glee bow construction

Well its been about a million years, but I finally got round to finishing the Glee Dress (I think-I still have to check it on her as its been a while!)! I had tacked it all together for Charlotte to wear to our Christmas meal party, but then got distracted and hadn't finished it. The main thing to complete was the bow.

In case you've forgotten, here is Rachel wearing one in Glee

Now I had to make mine up as I went  along and consequently its a little scrappy from the back! It could also do with an iron now I've finished it-but never mind-time for photos.

Firstly I ironed some fusible interfacing onto the back of my fabric. Then I cut it into three pieces, two pieces about twice as wide as the finished bow should be, and twice as deep, and one twice as long and wide as the middle part of the bow. Then I sewed them into long tubes.

For the main part of the bow, I took one of the long tubes and sewed the ends together to make a loop. I then wrapped the small tube round the middle, arranging the folds, and then sewed the ends down.

For the ends of the bow, I cut the tube in half on a diagonal, to end up with two pieces, which I turned inside out, hemmed the pointy ends, then turned back out and hemmed the other end that wont be visible. . 

I then worked out the folds with pins (not very symmetrically as it turned out!) and sewed the folds in on the back by hand. 

Then I sewed them onto the back of the bow by hand. I initially sewed them on the wrong way round (thats what comes of not looking at the picture!). 

So that the bow can be detached from the dress for washing (and if Charlotte wants to wear it without it) I sewed on three brooch back pins.

And there you have it. In an ideal world I would have made it far more symmetrical!

Progress on the Glee dress

I hadn't got round to much sewing last week so blogging about nothing seemed a bit foolish. But I'm back. due to a cold and lots of snow cancelling all my meetings, I had a few days off this week so some sewing actually happened! I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed sewing in daylight, all the colours look so much more beautiful. 

so.. progress. 

Charlotte's been jumping up and down a bit in impatience for this so I took a proper run at it over the last few days. Firstly I cut out the pattern in her size and then tissue fitted it on her using the Fit for Real People method. I'm not sure what is going on with this pattern but it seemed to expect her to be at least 6 inches wider across the back.. very odd. I then cut out the bodice and tried that on her with the straps. The material I selected has a bit of stretch, which I though would be useful but mainly so far has been driving me mad! Despite my 6 inch reduction the bodice was still 2 inches too wide across the back! Alterations made, I cut out the same in lining and sewed it all together.  I then cut out the skirt. Its got some pleats at the top but I made it a little more flared as well, the fabric's quite heavy but has a really nice drape. The pattern only calls for a bodice lining, but I hate it when skirts ride up and Charlotte looked slightly blank when I mentioned slips so I thought I would line the skirt too. I went for a slightly bodgy more interlining approach, sewing the lining on before assembling the skirt. This turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as sewing slippery lining to stretchy fabric proved tricky, but it looks fine now its assembled. 

The front is now almost finished but I need to try it all on Charlotte before I put the zip in. I was completely confused by the instructions as I assembled it, until I realised that was just as I assumed it had a back zip when its actually meant to be the side.. not a problem, but initially confusing! 

So, dress almost done-now it needed to be a Glee dress-the bow...here's Rachel wearing hers in the show.

I made mine out of about half a yard of white fabric. It needed to be quite stiff so I ironed on some interfacing which worked very well. Then Is tarted to fiddle around with it-Charlotte had said she wanted it just right so I studied the pictures for a while. Mine is made in 4 pieces, one tube which is sewed into a ring and then flattened to make the main bow, on small flattened tube which wraps round it. and two flattened tubes with slanted ends which are folded to make the ends. I've yet to sew it together but its all pinned and I'm pretty pleased with it. 

Here is the half assembled dress. 

addiction to pattern buying..

Worryingly I realised the other day that it is less than 5 weeks since I first looked idly at the vintage patterns on ebay.. I am astonished that I could have accumulated so many patterns since then and slightly horrified! This realisation has prompted me to try and focus on which ones I should actually try to make rather then just collecting more. I have to try and move the satisfaction from buying them to making them!

So...a plan (I do enjoy making plans)

Firstly someone I know will be getting a silky lingerie set for Christmas and so I am going to make one for myself first to test it. I will be making the Madeliene mini bloomers from Collette Patternsas they are so cute! (and a free pattern-OK so this isn't exactly working with my stash!) and I will frankenpattern a top from a combination of two lingerie patterns from my stash. I might also add a short skirt slip if I can find the elastic, I was going to use the simplicity pattern but I've just noticed Gertie's amazing tutorial so I shall probably use that instead.

A request from my other flatmate is also a little overdue, Charlotte wants a Glee dress, based on the black dresses with white bows they wear to sing Hello Hello

Luckily I have a current pattern that should do nicely, Simplicity 2417. I bought it after Green Apples made the long cardigan from it, and I have had the purple jersey sat around for months! So that is also definitely on the list as well.

The Glee dress should be reasonably straightforward-the bow is probably going to be the problem, getting it the correct shape and stiff enough. I think I'm going to make it detachable, mainly for washing purposes. Charlotte looked a little horrified by the pattern-the print on the picture is insanely loud and quite hideous but I reassured her with the line drawing!