Seams Enjoiable

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Hot Dresses

I have been anxiously awaiting a sale so I can purchase these McCall's dresses! Aren't they awesome?

How cute is 6553 from the new Fashion Star line? It happens to be the $2.99 Item of the Day on the McCall's site, in case you can't wait. Beware of the $4 S&H.
M6553

Honorable mention to 6552! It feels a little like KS3856, which is a knit, and S2031. This pattern is for knits and wovens!
M6552

6555 makes me swoon! The color blocking is wonderful. Talk about drama!
M6555

Next up is 6558. Hoping I'll be blessed with the ingenuity (skill and the spirit of completion) to turn it into something like this.
M6558

Last, but not least is 6557. Simply breezy.
M6557

Monday, April 9, 2012

Vogue 8723 -- In Progress

I've been working on this dress, V8723, forever. And by that I mean maybe an hour on some Saturdays :-) I was really excited at first. That streak of warm weather put a dress in my spirit. I picked this one because it already had cup sizes and it seemed really simple. I have since been reminded that sewing is not intuitive for me, so nothing is as simple as I first think it is. The warm streak has since passed ...

I still needed to adjust the bust and deepen the dart, which I muddled through using the pivot and slide method. What I found extremely hard was adding to the waist. I know you're thinking that the bust should have been the hard part. For some reason, that side dart kept throwing me off. I ended up using the seam method.

Working with the side bust dart has been quite an experience. I probably made four rounds of adjustments on tissue paper before I was confident enough to trace the pattern onto Swedish tracing paper. I still had to pin adjustments to both darts. I think I forgot to true the dart legs. I did have lots of fun sewing the Swedish tracing paper.

Before cutting my fashion fabric, I want to make a muslin. I think I may need a round back adjustment, but I want to see how the fit in fabric before taking the plunge.