…What is it with Burda and in seam pockets that are stitched to the dress fronts? Like these from recent issues…
Sporty / funky patch pockets I get. Discreet lady-like in-seam pockets I also get. These I don’t get. It rather ruins the drape of otherwise classy / funky dresses.
“Home made” comes to mind. And not in the flattering sense of the word 🙁
Tacky or Edgy?
Having riled against cheap fabrics what do I then do? Order some potentially tacky snake-skin print jersey over the internet of course! 😀
So the deed is done. In a few days, my stash would have gone up by 6 pieces or 18 meters. Three more and it’ll tip over. (If only the stock market is doing as well!)
At least none were over £2.99/m, and a couple even £1.99/m. And luckily I found the shop’s own website (www.minervacraftsandfabrics.co.uk) so was able to get free delivery as well. I had originally found the shop on eBay and would have paid at least £15 in postage. But the shop was very helpful. They helped me cancelled my eBay orders so I can order direct and save. Whether they can help me with tacky fabric choices or not is a totally different matter!
Here’s a couple that could be duds or gems:
Don’t ask. I always seems to fall for muddy colored fabrics that look interesting in themselves but terrible on me! }:-) I’m hoping these will look more Vivienne Westwood or Jean-Paul Gaultier than, erm, cheap club kids?
Vogue 1159
As for next project, I’ve settled on Vogue 1159 Donna Karan dress. Like a few others I’ve decided to go for a plain knit, but in a mid- to light-tone to better show off the drapes. At the moment I think it’ll be either one of these new acquisitions:
At £1.99/m, the dress will cost me a mere £4 if I succeed. Amazing. I’m not sure what to do for skirt lining though. Presumably it needs to be stretchy. But stretch lining come in such limited range of colors. I might try to do without the lining. Need to study other’s attemps more.
And I will definitely do something about the low armhole, see if I can raise it a bit at the pattern stage. Thank goodness for Pattern Review (though website-design-wise I like knitters’ Ravelry much better). I’m also not entirely sure I like the back sleeve view. A bit too sporty looking for me. One to sleep on.
The weight of the next project hangs around my neck. Sigh, sewing shouldn’t be so stressful! So I’ve decided to go fabric shopping. Again!
You see, since I’ve started reading other people’s sewing blogs, I’ve realised the errors of my way. I get my fabric fixes mostly in NYC. So splashing out on expensive fabrics is the norm. In fact, on my last trip the cheapest was $7/yard. And that was for China Silk, good mostly for expensive lining or lingerie. Most are at least 3 times that. Hence my reluctance to make anything, especially as fitting is not my forte.
So I got three options on the table at the moment.
Option 1…Finish the T-shirt block that’s a bastardization of Burda 2011-06-120. I chickened out with the pattern. Comparing the pattern to my store-bought T-shirts the pattern always won in bagginess, even with the looser-fitting store-bought T-shirts. So I’ve decided to take 4+” off at the hip and waist, 3+” off at the bust, raise the underarm seam / shrink the arm hole, shorten the bodice, and scoop out an U-neckline. So by the end, it bears little resemblance to the Burda original. I’ve got a fabric picked out – actually a tiny scrap I got from someone else. As expected, it curls a bit at the edges and grain isn’t straight. I’ve just got starch to sort out the curling. So it is ready to go. But rather uninspiring.
Option 2…Perfect a basic sloper with the aid of Connie Crawford’s Patternmaking Made Easy, then figure out what modifications I’d need to make for each of the pattern brands. Once done I imagine I’d be able to churn out projects after projects like a well run Chinese Sweat Shop!
But gosh, it seems like an awful lot of effort to get there, and I’m not sure my web-conditioned attention span could cope.
Do as all you lot do – pick a pattern and just check the fit with really REALLY cheap fabric. That would of course require shopping for more fabrics!
So much for whittling down 191 pieces of fabrics. All of my recent projects bar one failed to diminish that pile. Frugal me managed to use the bare minimum so that I can squeeze yet more projects out of the scraps. So the current count remains. Maybe minus one – it’s awfully hard to keep track of that many pieces!
I’ve got a couple of patterns in mind already. Both Vogue Donna Karan. Both inspired again by you lot…
So why these two despite everyone saying the patterns are rather difficult to understand, let alone alter? Well, that’s precisely the point. If it’s almost impossible to alter I’ll have no choice but to just make it without fretting about perfecting the fit first. But that of course hinges on using cheap fabric that I won’t regret messing up. Hence the need to go fabric shopping again.
See there is always method to my madness!
So I’m tending towards Option 1 while finalising plan for Option 3. I’d imagine it’d take me a while to figure out where to get dirt cheap fabric in London / UK that isn’t utterly revolting. (Sorry, I can only go so low, the NYC snob that I am at heart! 😉
Gingham Dress Inspiration
So, disaster struck.
I was about to go out in a recent creation – take 3 of a black & white gingham dress, inspired by this old clipping…I think it was NY Times Sunday Magazine. The proportion is better third time around with slightly lowered waist. But the fit is still rather dodgy – fitting is not my strong suit. Neckline gaps rather scandalously. But I digress… }:-)
Gingham Dress Take 3
So going out…I had no coat to match. I have only 4 of different weight – lack of closet space discourages hoarding of coats (though not of fabrics & clippings apparently!) And they’re brown and brown and green + brown and one coffee stained beige trench. Shock horror. No black coat. Who’s ever heard of that. I really needed one in black.
That’s when disaster really struck. You would think with a hoard of 191 fabrics there would be something suitable. But no. Nada!
So, dilemma: do I shop for yet another piece of fabric?
(As it turned out, I didn’t really need a coat after all. It was boiling hot. File this under crazy London weather.)
