Isn't she lovely ? (happy sigh)

Current Mood : So tired. So very tired...

Current Image Notes : Here's what Roller Maze Ghoulia looks like with her hair down ! I'm in love ! Is it just me, or does she have that Farrah-vibe goin' on ? 

Oogh. What a day. I’m surprised I haven’t given m’self a migraine !

Made up my mind to sew today, and I did. The same dress. Three times. One fits. (sigh) Luckily, I used some scrap fabric and not the new stuff I bought yesterday.

The bag of fabric I had reserved for the VA took several hits and was in the way again. So I moved it to a cardboard box I’d emptied last week, making it much easier to store and maybe even use. I gotta get off my butt about this service project already…

But anyway, sorting it all again showed that  some pieces were just too small or thin to use for the bag project. So I put ‘em aside and used some to sew that dress today. Maybe I was cursed from the start, I dunno. What I do know is that the dress I bought the Kristine Anne pattern for – a simple sleeveless A-line with a princess-seamed insert panel center front – didn’t work. The shoulder seams were less than a quarter-inch wide, but nearly as thick, thanks to the princess seams and a full lining. And the front lining piece didn’t match the sewn front piece. I cut it as given, making sure my copy and hers were the same size, in case my printer pulled some ‘scale to fit’ trick I didn’t notice, but decided it would work out when I stitched it up. It didn’t.

Now, the first go-round on a new pattern is a crapshoot, most of the time. You either create something really good, or you’re left holding two hours’ worth of trash-can fodder. Either way, I give it my best effort regardless, like everybody else. Although sometimes, I don’t really bother to dig around enough to find some scrap fabric that’s still good enough to keep, just in case. I got plenty of readily available ‘scrap’, so I used some nice but kinda messed-up fabric.

First trial had some not-very-good sewing, but I was willing to toss it, just to see how the finished item might fit. It didn’t. The back pieces didn’t come close to closing, and they were supposed to overlap. Instead, they underlapped by a bit over a quarter-inch, and no manner of stretching would change it. I even made sure I was using the right seam allowance. I thought maybe the lining material I used – a nearly transparent piece of white cotton – was too thick, so I got some tulle. And had the exact same problem with the second version, but the sewing was better. It looked a lot nicer, but still came nowhere near closing in the back.

OK. I’ve wasted nearly four hours and got nada to show for it but two dresses that might fit a fork. Or a Novi Star. Time for me to abandon ship and fix the pattern m’self. Always ranks when you buy a pattern and still have to alter it – and it’s not like Carlin’s gained weight since it was originally drafted. But there it was, I wasn’t gonna waste more time on another effort I’d end up tossing out.

Since it was the back that didn’t close, and the front already fit fairly well, I kept things simple and added a quarter-inch to the back piece. Then I sewed it all over again, but this time, I hemmed the collar and armholes. I’m still a bit off on my stitches, but it fit and even looked pretty good, I think !

What’s hilarious is, I never was able to sew a decent princess seam on a Barbie dress. Had the worst problems with ‘em, but when I tried it for My Size Barbie, Crissy, and Elphie, it was as easy as ordering takeout. And today, I sewed even smaller princess seams, without much of a problem, although I admit, I need some practice since the ‘good’ one isn’t quit parallel.

So. Here’s hoping tomorrow’s efforts go better ! Wish me luck !