I usually find lots of sewing time on the weekends, tucked between chores and errands and spending time with my family. Last weekend was a busy one though, with not much sewing time. Instead, it was a fun weekend in Vancouver with my sister, who would like me to sew a MOG (Mother of the Groom) dress for her for her son’s wedding in February. We spent the day shopping for fabric for her. I thought you might like to see what she bought and sent home with me … I’ve got lots to blog about in the future!
I like this dress pattern, McCall’s M7084. My sister likes the top with the contrasting inserts shown in view C, but with the collar and sleeves of view D, so we have a blue made of 97% cotton, 3% spandex, with the white print for the inserts, again 97% cotton, 3% spandex.
This one is McCall’s M7169, view A, with view C sleeves, with the brownish flowers in the centre panel and the black for the sides. Both these fabrics are cotton with spandex too.
This one is a vintage pattern from 1978, Simplicity 8510. It must be a favourite of my sister’s for her to keep it safe all this time. The fabric is a similar beige as in the pattern photo, linen-like, 70% polyester, 30% rayon. (It is deceiving sitting on my bedspread so ignore the pink flowered fabric!)
Next, another vintage pattern, McCall’s 4408, and another pattern favourite from 1989. She would like the skirt shorter, just under the knees, than in the pattern photo though. The black print is a 100% polyester, the brown print and the “Clark Gable” print are both 100% cotton.
Unfortunately I have been sworn to secrecy regarding the MOG dress until after the wedding is over so that she can have the element of surprise! Even though my sister has assured me that she does not expect anything but the MOG dress by February, and I am to take my time sewing these garments for her, I plan on dialling in my sister’s measurements on “Dolly” so that I can start cutting fabrics soon.
And yes, I did buy fabric. My will power broke at the cutting table when a beautiful fabric was cut and the remanent just tossed to the floor like an old shoe. I bought it. Then at the next fabric store I bought two more lovely fabrics. Good thing we ran out of fabric stores. As I said my will power broke.
I did manage to get a bit of my Motor City Express Jacket sewn during the last week. This is the pattern I received when I purchased the Craftsy course “Sew Better, Sew Faster: Smart Construction”.
The construction order on this jacket is a little different than usual, but I like it. I’ve got the jacket lining completely sewn and pressed, some of my fashion fabric pieces are sewn together too and most of the zippers are in. This jacket has 7 zippers! Imagine my surprise when I sat down to sew one evening to find that I had only purchased 6 zippers! No matter how many times I checked my bags and supplies, it still added up to 6. Luckily the one that I was missing was the most common length so when I returned to the fabric store a couple of days later there were many still in stock.
This is the first time I have done a sleeve gusset zipper and surprisingly I found it rather easy. (Click on the first photo for the slide show with comments.)
This fabric is a soft woven and it was very difficult to mark my pocket placement, etc. I tried my usual yellow chalk marker and the fabric pulled and bounced so much my attempt at a narrow line ended up being 1/4″ wide mess!
I tried tracing paper and a tracing wheel and most of the markings landed in between the woven threads and therefore, were invisible.
I tried my black Pilot Frixion erasable gel pen, luckily on a scrap of fabric, and found that some of the line soaked through to the right side of my fabric. (It usually goes on and irons off. I didn’t want to chance it.)
Finally, I used Steam-A-Seam, and not as it is intended, but just as if it was tape. Steam-A-Seam is similar to Wonder Tape and has similar uses but it needs to be ironed on to permanently stick, unlike Wonder Tape which sticks on its own. So I used the Steam-A-Seam to temporarily mark my lines and then easily peeled it off after my pieces were sewn on.
I also started on my zipper pockets, like so… (Click on the first photo for the slide show with comments.)
Perhaps you feel the same, but it scares the crap out of me to cut a pocket slit in my fashion fabric – no matter how careful I have been! But now I have my sleeve gusset zippers and zipper pockets done.
I am left wondering – how many different ways are there to trace pattern markings on fabrics? I almost ran out of options with this soft woven fabric!
(I apologise for the photo heavy post, I find it easier to describe what I did with words and pictures. You should see me when I tell a story… my hands are flapping all over the place, drawing pictures in the air!)
As always, looking forward to talking with you and … Happy Sewing!