I Did It!

I finished my dress at exactly 9:45 this morning. The awards dinner was at noon. I got less than 4 hours of sleep last night but it was well worth it. Everyone commented on my dress.

Whew! I can't recommend the class enough. You might want to give yourself a week or two, though. Completing a couture level dress in a week is pushing it. I'll spend all of next week catching up on my housework.

Yesterday I sewed in the lining. Sewing linings is not my favorite. Don't look too close.

Is That A Light I See?

We're coming to the end of the tunnel. Yesterday was crucial to the success of this project. I had to insert the sleeves and the zipper. The sleeves went in fairly easily. I pin basted the first one in place but had some shifting when machine sewing. I hand basted the second one in and it went more smoothly. The time consuming part was cleaning up the sleeve seams, pressing them, and catch stitching them neatly down. The end result is worth the extra effort. I need a bit of stay tape in the shoulder seams and I will also fashion some sleeve head tape from white fleece fabric. I think the sleeves will benefit from that additional detail. It will give a bit more structure to the sleeve cap which is looking slightly droopy right now.

The sleeves took most of the day to complete but I also needed to get the zipper inserted. I was up until 11 pm finishing that. I am thrilled with how it turned out.

I am nearing the finish line and am optimistic that I will be wearing this dress on Saturday. Today's tasks? Clean up the interior of the dress with more catch stitching, work the hems and get started on the lining. I am not sure I have enough lining fabric so may be making a quick run to JoAnn's.

Keeping The Hope Alive.

I made some good progress yesterday. Mind you this is getting my undivided attention. Sorry, honey. I need to live in couture land for another few days. I'll be back on Saturday. Pay no attention to those piles of dishes. You knew I was OCD when you married me. Meanwhile you can gaze at this lovely pile of fabric.

Yesterday I finished the bodice and attached it to the rest of the body of the dress. This required more of the same; seam sewing, basting removal, seam trimming, pressing, catch stitching, etc..BUT I also learned something new. How to make stay tape from organza selvage and where and how to use it. It is super awesome stuff. You use it in places (mostly bias cut areas) where you don't want the fabric to stretch and distort. Here is some basted in along the neckline.

And these pieces are tacked in along the midriff seams. The waistband is the focal point of this dress and I want to make sure it stays looking nice.

I am still clinging to the slim hope this garment will be ready by Saturday afternoon. On wards and upwards. Today's mission? Set in the sleeves, insert the zipper (by hand, of course) and possibly work the hems.  The one tricky parts of this dress, for me, are the shoulder seams. I am not sure how to make them snug.

Skirt Nearly Finished.

Do you know what takes almost as long as hand basting a dress together? Removing 3 sets of basting stitches after you've finally machine sewn the seams. Especially when you are trying to be accurate and follow the basted seam lines with your stitching. The basting was a booger to remove. Here is the skirt portion of the dress.

Couture sewing is to regular home sewing what Julia Child is to Betty Crocker. Today I sewed the vertical seams, removed all the basting stitches from them, trimmed and pressed them, then catch stitched them to the underlining.

This method of sewing is very time consuming, which is why I doubt I will complete the dress in time to wear it this coming Saturday. It took most of today to get the skirt ready. Now to attack the midriff, then the bodice. There are a lot of seams in this dress. I will need to make a couple of small alterations based on today's fitting. I must have mutant shoulders because I need to take about an inch out of the shoulder seams at the neck edge.  I also need to angle the sleeve darts upwards about 1/4". That's all for today. Back I go.

Reality Check

I spent all of yesterday meticulously hand basting the dress together. That was a LOT of basting. My fingers are sore. Here it is. Keep in mind that the dress is basted with huge seams and has not been pressed. It is ready for another fitting. I am concerned the shoulder seams may need taking in. I may also have to adjust the elbow dart.

At this point I am not sure I am loving this dress. The herringbone is way too subtle. From a distance the dress appears to be gray, not gray and white herringbone. I was hoping the bias herringbone design would add visual interest to the otherwise bland, neutral color. Now my plan is to use the decorative top stitching, shown on the pattern cover, to accent the bodice and midriff. The plain dress will really show off the statement necklace I plan to wear, though. I am now accepting the fact that there is a good chance this dress will not be finished in time. I do have a back up dress, just in case. Today I will begin machine sewing the seams, pressing them, trimming them down and catch stitching them to the underlining. The dress will look much better once that is accomplished.

Guess What I'm Good At?

Basting! I finished all 24 pieces by 10:30 this morning.

I happened to have this spool of vintage silk thread in my stash. It went through the fabric like buttah.

It was just barely enough to finish basting this project. Now the spool is empty. I'll have to be on the lookout for more old silk thread. I think of adding the underlining as a marriage between the two fabrics. When they are pinned (before cutting the fashion fabric) they are meeting and getting to know each other. Once the fashion fabric is cut and you steam the 2 sides of the fabrics they get much closer and are now engaged (you definitely need glass head pins. Yes, the plastic ones really do melt). Once they are basted together they become wed. The two become one, so to speak. Next step? Basting the dress together for my final fitting. I hope to have it all basted together today so Rick can help me fit it tomorrow.

Point Of No Return

Well, I did it. The fabric has been pinned and cut. Here it is all laid out on my nice, clean kitchen floor. That's one way to get me to mop.

Today was the perfect opportunity for this job. My husband is working this weekend and my little dog was napping on my bed. No distractions. I did have one helper, though. He thinks he's helping. 

It should be fairly smooth sailing from here. There will be a lot of hand sewing but it should go pretty fast. At least now the fabric will be in manageable pieces. Today I visited JoAnn's to use my two 50% off coupons before they expired. I bought myself a bolt of 90" wide by 10 yards of un-dyed muslin. Regular price would be $60. 

I used the other coupon to buy this bottle of sewing machine oil with a telescoping point. Last month I sent my husband on a mission to find an oiler that could get way down inside my sewing machines. He looked all over at hardware stores and finally found one called a precision oiler. It was pricey, too. Who knew they had what I needed at JoAnn's? They must've just recently started stocking them.

I also got some of the quilting pins that my instructor uses in this course. She swears by them for matching stripes and plaids. I want to match the stripes up the side of my dress. ALL quilting notions are currently 50% off at JoAnn's, in case you need to run and grab anything.