Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:6-7



Thursday, June 14, 2012

with needle & thREAD


needle and thREAD




I woke up this morning with the intent of making myself a blouse. I have had the fabric cut out since the weekend and I thought I might actually get around to sitting at the machine today. I had a project I absolutely had to work on, however, so I made myself a deal. The project was altering a bridesmaid's dress for a friend's daughter. I have until the end of next week to get it done, but I just wanted it done, so I told myself if I worked a little on the bridesmaid's dress, I could work a little on the bouse. Do you do that? Make deals with yourself?

The alterations on the dress involved shortening it about 5 inches, but because it had a pretty embroidered design at the hemline, the bottom of the dress had to come off the top to be shortened there. No big deal, right? Well, then I realized I had to disassemble the zipper and the dress was made in such a way that I had to shorten the zipper by about three inches to do all this.


C'est fini


First, I reassembled the zipper using the machine (thank you, St. Anne -- it went well), then I began taking apart and putting back together the waistline. I ripped a few inches and then sewed them back. I felt I had more control not taking the whole thing off, and sewing it by hand. The lining had to be gathered a little bit, and the black tulle a bit more. As it turned out I was afraid if I put it down I'd never want to pick it up again, so I worked straight through -- Faith did some school work in the living room near my chair -- and got it finished. I then went over my hand stitching with the machine to make sure those stitches held, and then had to hem the inner lining, which I also did on the machine. All in all about 4 hours of sewing. And no blouse.



But you can see the new skirt I made in this picture. I made two last weekend -- this pattern, one in this tiny dragonfly and one in the yellow floral seen here, both from Lisette. That pretty turquoise embroidered fabric never did make it into a skirt. I need to buy another yard and it was all gone. Maybe it will be a sundress for Faith next year.



I might be able to get to the blouse this evening.



I am listening to a book during the day and reading a book at night. My day book is Cold Sassy Tree, which is light and entertaining (a good summer read), though I had to turn it off while I was hand-sewing today because I really had to focus. My evening book is The Seamstress, which is a very good and very serious book and I wish I had more time to sit with.

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5 comments:

  1. Hi Barbara, good for you for doing those finicky alterations! Great confidence boost to finally finish, right? I have been sewing a prom dress over the past several weeks, a little at a time, concurrently with projects I love, so I totally get the making deals with self :). Thanks for sharing.

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  2. That's so great of you to do those alterations. Maybe someday I will have enough sewing skills to be generous in that way. And yes, I do make deals with myself...all the time. :-)

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  3. Wow, that's a lot of altering! I'm sure you did a beautiful job on the dress, and you surely deserve some pleasure sewing after all that!

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  4. I DREAD!!! doing alterations, but once I begin I'm okay with it and don't stop working until the job is done! :) And yes, I wheel and deal with myself all the time. So happy you have two new skirts!

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  5. Oy - I use to work at a bridal shop and that dress is a nightmare! The seamstress would have charged an arm and a leg :o). Hope you get a chance to sew for yourself soon.

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I appreciate your comments -- sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!