Tale As Old As Time...
Last year my goal was to work my way through the Colette Sewing Handbook, which is a goal that is continuing this year. My previous sewing training consisted of 1 year of 4H, cut & sew JoAnn fabric vests & 1 semester of Costume Construction in college. The Costume Construction class was where sewing really clicked with me & I realized that I could actually make the clothing that I have been designing since childhood. But on the whole, I was more or less self-taught & lacking in some of the know-how that would make things a lot easier. I found the above book & it spoke to me. It was what I needed & I love it.
Each chapter had a main focus that is a fundamental. At the conclusion of each chapter is a project with pattern to complete & practice what was just read. I managed to get through Chapter 3's Precise Pattern Merengue Skirt alright, however, Chapter 4's Fantastic Fit is where I have been stuck since last February/ March. Life happened, minute projects popped up & general a lack of energy/ motivation simply got in the way.
The project initially began as the complete Pastille dress, that I had called "Peach Blossom." The fabric that I selected however was more of a knit fabric than a woven fabric. I didn't think I was ready to tackle knits just yet so I decided to save that for later.
At that point of time, I had already spent time working out what modification to do to the top of the dress to make it fit me like a glove. As mentioned in Chapter 4, what's the point of taking time to sew your clothing if you don't make it to fit you yourself perfectly. I also always knew that the top would be where my major trouble area would be compared to the skirt, which is why I decided to tackle that first. So I went through my sketches to see if any of my recent designs had the Pastille top and a simpler skirt, preferably one that I could use from one of the newer Colette patterns due to the expanded sizes in that collection. The design that I came across & decided on I entitled "Rose Petal." And what was great about it was that I had planned on using fabric that I had bought forever ago for projects that never got off the ground. With this design I could keep the Pastille top & use the Dahlia skirt version 1 with the gatherings & modified with a flared skirt compared to Colette's favorite pencil skirt style.
I wound up loosing track of how many times I attempted the top modifications, nothing quite seemed right. Spending time away from the project off & on did not help. I kept feeling as though I had to start from scratch. In the end I took the the complete Size 16 top & modified it for a Full-Bust Adjustment & a larger waist, which to be on the safe side I made it coincide with the Dahlia skirt size 24. I will admit that due to my weight gain over the past couple of years, I'm not really happy with my waist line. So i decide to do gathers on the top waistline "Darts" instead of proper darts. I only attempted the skirt mock-up once. Yep, I was out of muslin & low on time & just needed to get going.
Knowing myself, even though I want to wear this design or that, I have a difficult time sitting down to do it if I do not have a deadline. With this project going on for a year I definitely needed a deadline. So I decided to make the deadline for when my friend Samantha & I were going to go & see the new Live-Action Beauty and the Beast. It was near Spring Equinox, which appears to be easier to have Solstices & Equinoxes as deadline goals rather than bi-monthly. Also roses are essential to the story-line, rose petals even more so to the Disney versions. So the name of the dress was rather appropriate.
Fortunately for me, Samantha & I were unable to get advance tickets for opening weekend. We did manage to get tickets for this past weekend, which worked out better. I really did need this past week to get down and actually construct this garment. This project has been going on for so long that even with a deadline it was difficult getting myself motivated to work on it until crunch time. I took it to work when there was something that I could get away with doing like hand-stitching darts. Friday night I finished the back and the hem and called it quits.
I did have a little bit of a freak-out once I was done on Friday night. I was concerned that the dress was too big in the waist which it was. However, I would rather have it too big than too small. So I believe that the next dress I will make I will actually begin off with the skirt. This way I know better & for sure what waist size I should adjust for. The other freak-out that I had was that it was too plain for me. I had planned on doing a top-stitch design around the neck line at the very least. However I knew that there was no time left for me to do that before the movie, so I decided to post-pone that detail for the moment. Luckily my accessories of belt & jewelry helped ease my mind.
At this current moment in time I am calling this "Forever Project" of "Rose Petal" complete. At a later date I may revisit it to fix the waist size and to complete the detailing, but for now I can live with what I have. The whole point of this project was a learning experience on how to fit things to me so that I have a better idea on how to do this with future projects. This task has now been achieved.
This upcoming week I will be working a little bit on spring cleaning & getting reorganized with things, especially my sewing crafting things since "Hurricane Forever Project" has now concluded. After which, I will begin getting my ducks in a row for starting my next project that will have a goal date around the Summer Solstice, the event will be TBA.
That about does it for me. I hope you like the pictures.
Looked pretty regardless!
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