Bull’s eye?

I still have to trim off the serger tails from the narrow/rolled hem on the sleeves and bottom hem. No pix.

Lori gave me this fabric at a BABES meeting. It’s nylon with 4% lycra. It’s heavy in the aggregate. That is, it doesn’t seem heavy until you are holding a length of. I suppose it pulls the dress down, but since I want an ankle length dress and I’m tall, that seems to work fine on me. If you just pick up a swatch, the knit is almost sheer.

I’m a little concerned that I got a boob bulls-eye with the roses, but I haven’t tried the dress on me or ‘Tina. Oh, who cares, I will love it. How many of these can I make before people start to notice I’m making the same dress over and over?

So I decided to cut out another twist top dress. I wore this one yesterday, and Wowza! everyone (well, like 5 people) exclaimed on how great the dress is. Happy Dance!

I have a lovely navy knit with white roses on it. Lori gave it to me at a BABES.

I’m happily cutting away. I’ve got the back pieces and centerfront cut. I lay out the last of the navy knit and place the sidefronts on it. I decide to check to see how the front top piece will fit, and it won’t!

So what do I do? I stop. I put down the pattern pieces and my rotary cutter, and I leave the room.

I come back after I’ve calmed down. What to do? Hey, how about I follow the recommendations in the pattern instructions and cut the front top pieces out in a single layer? I’d like you to know that I had read the pattern instructions. Just because I rarely follow them anymore doesn’t mean that I don’t look at them.

So the side fronts and one top front piece are cut. I still have to cut the other front top, the sleeves, and the godets. I will probably have to piece fabric for the sleeves or the godets or both. We shall see.

My twist top dress progresses well. I chose a polyester knit. It’s pretty lightweight, but it has body. It feeds thru the serger very nicely. It isn’t easy to cut. The knit is floppy and stretchy, so I decided to cut the dress out in a single layer. It takes much longer, but with the linearity of the print, I had to get it grain on.

I decided to to have a centerback seam, so that I’d have sufficient room for my butt. That meant that the only piece that I needed to cut on the fold was the center front.

I did make alterations. I used the top pieces from my twisttop t-shirt, and I started with a 46 for the fronts and backs. I added to the sides at the hips and in centerback for my butt.

Instead of sewing the princess seams then inserting the godets, I prefer to sew the godets to the center piece, then sew the princess seams.

So my dress is almost complete. I’ve got the front fully assembled, and I’m sewing the princess seams on the back. Hopefully, I have a new dress, soon.

It’s getting there. I had this top cut out and sitting on my work table for months. I’m not sure why I got stalled with it. It’s a great style for me, and the charcoal is a wonderful color for me.

Is that an unflattering picture or what?

I don’t think that top looks that bad in person. It’s Butterick 4986. I modeled it at a BABES event, and they all thought it was great. It’s too small under the bust, and it’s too long in the neckline. Georgene suggested that I turn the neckline into more of a sweetheart neckline by adding little gathers at the side. We’ll see.

I’m not working on this right now. Instead, I have 3 t-shirts in the making. My tried and true (TNT) basic t-shirt is on ‘Tina waiting to be hemmed; it’s out of a lightweight white poly from Joann’s. My raspberry cheongsam is on the cutting table with the shoulders sewn together. I decided to put a facing on this one, where the fronts attach. I don’t like the little sew in snaps, so I’ll need support for whatever closure I decide on. I know, I know, I should have the closure picked out before starting, but I just don’t work like that. And my grey burda twist-top t-shirt is cut out and waiting for its turn to be sewn.

A bit of hemming

Creating a front.

I have both fronts completed. The back is sewn together; I like 2 piece backs. The shoulders are pinned. It’s getting close. I can no longer tell if I think it’s going to be too small or not.

Butterick 4986

After Debbie’s glowing recommendation (about 1/2 way down the page), I ran out and bought Butterick B4986. Debbie recommended using a knit, but I was initially attracted to this pattern because it uses wovens. I decided to cut it out of a poly silky. It looks really small. It’s cut on the bias, so I understand that it shrinks.

Last night, I reinforced the seamline for the front twist. I don’t have much time to sew right now.