Days X, Y, and Z

So little was accomplished in the past three days that I can't give them proper names. Well, you know, sort of. Really, though, my plan was to get Joanna's pattern done by the end of Monday, have the dress cut out by the end of yesterday, and begin construction today. The skirt would be done today, the bodice tomorrow, and the dress Friday. As you can see from the pictures, things have not gone according to plan.

Katie's dress at the end of Day X. All ready to be sewn together at the neck I wanted to be done by the end of this day.

A couple of sleeves ready to be turned and pressed.

Trash at the end of Day X.

Day Y saw so little done that I didn't even take a picture of it. All I managed to do is start Joanna's pattern and quickly realize that I needed to compare the pattern to her because according to measurements, I ought to shorten the bodice by two inches.

Joanna opted for the D&C yesterday morning so she was not able to drive. All that meant is that as soon as Seth and Joseph were done with school, we went to see Joanna. We took some soap and the labels for it, the papercutter, and the bodice pattern. Sure enough, if I shortened the bodice by two inches, it would be almost two inches too short. What on earth were these pattern people thinking? Once I get the skirt pattern pieces done this morning, I'll be cutting out a mock up for the bodice and will finalize that part of the pattern. Still ought to be able to have it all cut out today and have at least part of the skirt done by end of day.

Can you see how much shorter I'm making it? The orange lines on the right are for the new bottom, the black line on the left is where it was supposed to join with another piece. Of course, the pattern we are using was for a skirt like Kim's which was poofy and got tacked up so the over skirt was much longer than the foundation. I still just think it's funny that on all but one of the skirt pattern pieces we're cutting it off before the join.

Joanna wants a full skirt. Even though this is just half of it, I don't think it quite qualifies so I'll be adding probably twelve inches to the top and whatever looks good to balance that out to the bottom. And then I'll be cutting out and sewing skirt pieces for about ever. Luckily, Joanna isn't that tall so these pieces aren't all that long.

And that's all she wrote for these past days. There will be more next time. Really.

Days Nine and Ten

Well, Day Nine did not see accomplished as much as I'd hoped; neither did Day Ten. Still, I wasn't planning on getting any sewing done today and as soon as I'm done here, I'll be getting to sewing.

When setting the pattern aside, it is best NOT to place it over a burning candle. Just FYI.

Yesterday was a crazy day. The previous day two stuffed animals were washed with some sheets and at least one of them lost many little hard plastic pellets. I could hear them in the washing machine making funny noise and I debated just rewashing the load and decided against it. If I made things worse, I didn't want to be responsible for incurring cost if it might be avoidable. Instead, I asked Jessica A., a friend who is able to fix older, more mechanical rather than newer, more electronic washers if she might have some time to take a look. She was able to but hasn't got a car so I had to go to Fitchburg to pick her up and then to Fitchburg to drop her off.

Alterations on this pattern took lots of adding and subtracting and dividing and multiplying. Rather long project, really. The pink lines were places that needed to be sliced and space added. So much faster and easier to shrink a pattern but at least I have the skills.

Julia came over to paint Seth and Joseph faces. She wanted models willing to have their faces painted and photographed so she can show people what their options are. Since she was also willing to pay a dollar per paint, Seth and Joseph were willing.

This is the chair (aka garbage) at the end of Day Nine. I was hoping there'd be a bunch of red there as well but as you can see, it didn't happen. I did take another picture in the middle of Day Ten showing such a thing but it seems to have disappeared--can't find it anywhere.

On top of everything else, Joanna called and I could tell she was upset. She'd been to the doctor and while there, they were unable to get a heartbeat for the baby. I don't remember what all she said they did, but it was determined that the baby died about three weeks ago. What a blow for my sweet Joanna and Lincoln.

Had to engage in some creative cutting out to get the sleeves to fit. I unfortunately did not properly account for the correct size of this last dress. It's all good now, though. You can see from the pattern to the top right some of the modifications. It's a little harder to see on the sleeve, I think.

With everything that was going on, I was feeling worse than I had since Monday. I decided that I've got to slow down and take care of things so I pared my plans for today. Seth and Joseph and I did go to sell popcorn at the Post Office this morning and that was okay because all I had to do was stand there and talk sometimes. Seth and Joseph and I did still go to Seth's game and that was okay overall. I did have to use the bathroom once we got there so I walked down the hill to do that and was seriously wondering about walking up it again at the end of the game. It was a good game with Hubbardston winning 5 to 4. It was tied at the half but the boys were hot. Hubbardston scored in the second half and then Holden scored again almost right away. Then Hubbardston scored again and Seth was able to save the game as goalie and not let more in. Excellent game!

I found it! This picture was hiding away in Pergatory. So, this is what the chair (different chair, I know) looked like once I was done cutting out for Day Ten. No, I don't save absolutely every scrap like I used to. I don't have a bunch of little girls to make doll clothes for any more (although it is possible I will get a granddaughter who wants some or a grandson interested in such things) and I'm not as interested in making quilts. My interests are diverse but right now they do not include making quilts. Maybe someday. Anyway, I do keep the larger pieces so

Anyway, I now need to get this wrapped up and get on with sewing so I can have done today what I wanted to yesterday. Day Eleven will be a good day.

Day Eight

I don't feel like I accomplished much in some ways but in others I do. Laura's dress is the most finished currently. It just needs to be hemmed and have seam binding around the sleeves. I'm waiting until she is here for the hem to make sure it fits okay and doesn't need to be let out or taken in. The seam binding I'm not sure about because the stuff we got was too wide; not sure where my brain was when I grabbed it.

Getting ready to sew the lining around the zipper. Oh my goodness! The difference a smaller needle made! My finger still has a red spot from Amena's zipper. No new wounds from Laura's. This is one happy mama on that count.

Laura's dress at the end of the day. It's going to look much better on her (which isn't to say I don't like it now--it's just kind of lifeless and boring).

Still, Joanna and I were able to get everything (or at least so we thought) that I need to finish up. Now I'm really ready to get these bridesmaid dresses done to work on Joanna's because it's the real point of the whole project and going to be the most fun.

Up close of the left sleeve.

And the garbage at the end of the day. I thought it might need to be thrown away but I squished it all down so we've got another day of stuff left, maybe two.

I wanted to get Katie's pattern done last night but I've been pushing too much already so I did not push to get that done. I did get everything else put away so I have the table to work on but it's currently looking like after school. The good thing is that there is no practice or any reason to go out (other than a quick trip to the bank) until this evening so I should be able to get lots done.

Day Seven

Day Seven was productive. It saw Amena's dress as complete as possible (I need hooks and eyes and red seam binding and I'm making the belts when the dresses are done because I need black interfacing for them) and hanging in her closet. Laura's dress saw much progress and could quite possibly be done sans the belt by the end of today. I also would like to have Katie's pattern done by the end of today.

I like to draw the sewing lines on the side I'll be sewing--makes it easier for my visual brain.

It does look different. Lots of sputum; probably good you can't really see it.

We will see how that goes as I think I finally figured out that I have bronchitis. All the symptoms fit and guess what I should be doing to combat it? Rest and reduce stress. Yeah. You can probably guess how that's going to go over.

On the mannequin at end of day. It really was end of day. After 11:00. So why the heck am I up now? It's 5:59 and I've been up for more than half an hour.

Up close on the inside of the lining. Good thing it's the lining, eh? That right side (left in the picture) looks like I did a terrible job with the iron.

Speaking on the iron, I need to go wake it up so I can use it and get to work. Joanna and I are going shopping for the rest of the necessary items for finishing up these dresses and getting hers going. I guess I shouldn't stress too much, really. We do have two and a half weeks and barring any unusual circumstances. Knock on wood. 

Day Six

Finally made it to Day Six and about time. In spite of feeling like proverbial crap, much was accomplished. 

This is Amena's dress. It only needs three things. Can you guess what they are?

I had Amena try the dress on before I set the sleeves and, wouldn't you know it, it needed some adjusting. I wasn't going to do it last night because I was so tired and feeling a bit loopy but I went ahead and it turned out alright. The sleeves were amazing. The first one was almost perfect--I only had to snip a couple of stitches because I'd started sewing with the dress on top and decided it would work better with the sleeve on top. Where the stitches joined there was a little bubble. There was another minor catch that required the snipping of two stitches and sewing a couple dozen. I was almost afraid to do the second sleeve but it turned out even better--I didn't have to do anything to it other than admire it.

I don't know why I like pictures like this. They're just cool. What will it look like at the end of Day Seven? Only time will tell. Like about thirteen or fourteen hours.

By the way, huge thanks to Margaret Armstrong for the loan of the dressmakers dummy.

Days Four and Five

I am sorry to say that I have no picture from Day Four. I am also sorry to report that there were so many days of no sewing between Day Three and Day Four and again between Day Four and Day Five. At least there will be no no sewing days between Day Five and Day Six.

This is a pile of pieces of dress all marked and pinned and ready to sew darts. As soon as a couple of boys get their work done, the table will transform from school to sewing.

Day Three

Day three was not very impressive. I knew I had to do SOMEthing so I did start transferring marks. What a fun chore (read that in monotone). There are entirely too many darts for this pattern so my thinking it would be a breeze considering each dress has only ten pieces (that's including the lining but not the belt) has changed. Once it's marked and the darts are sewn, it'll be a breeze. Not that darts are hard, mind you, just time consuming.

Got to take the pattern off and then put it back on one piece at a time. Yes, I know there are other ways to do this but this is the way I do it and if it takes more time, it yields consistently good results which is why I do it this way. So there. Notice the chunk out of the side of the pattern. I swear they make tissue paper thinner than they used to.

Sometimes I use a pencil but since this isn't going to be washed and a pencil didn't really work, thread it is!

That's white thread I used, by the way. The red just kind of soaked in.

And that's all she wrote. I didn't even get Laura's dress completely marked. Today should be better.

Dresses for Joanna's Wedding, Day 2

Time to get busy making dresses for Joanna and Lincoln's wedding. It is October 10th which means I've basically got five weeks to make three bridesmaid dresses and Joanna's dress. Not impossible by any means but no time to dilly dally, either. This is what day two looked like in part:

Lots of red. And have to have something going on the laptop. 80's pop on Pandora for yesterday. Interestingly, lots of Billy Idol kept playing so we had White Wedding and Dancing with Myself which were both appropriate I thought.

Laura's had to be lengthened and Amena's shortened. Actually, I had to take a quarter inch from Laura's above the waist and add two inches below. I had to take half an inch from Amena's above the waist and one inch below.

Just FYI, day one included altering the pattern for Laura's dress. Day two included altering the pattern for Amena's dress as well as cutting out both minus the black belt.