The Summer Series: Five in Five, Take 4 (Finished)

I'm really glad this is over:

 Vogue 1027

Bizarrely, as I was finally finishing it off (trying it on), Scott saw it and freaked out (in a good way). He was all like: That's really nice! Apparently he thinks very highly of this colour. I don't, so much, but I have to admit it complements my blond fairness.

A few things:

• Roni - sorry but I had a lot of trouble with this pattern and I didn't have the wherewithal to take pics of all the places on this dress I interfaced with knit fusible: the entire neckline/surplice, the armholes, the sides of the dress where I attached the pockets and the pocket bag fabric (where it attaches to the side), maybe I'll interface the hem (it's hanging right now to allow the bias drape to settle before I hem it, if I hem it). It's very easy to do and Sunni has a few great tutorials on it (go through the Sewing School link). 

• In the end, I didn't use either the serger or coverstitch to work the armholes because my fabric was really unhappy in that area and I didn't want to tax it with anything I might have to rip out. I opted for finished garment rather than perfectly finish. Can't tell you how that irks me.

• If everyone but me finds this pattern easy, then it must be me. Am I off my game? I feel so wretchedly bad at sewing right now. I end up having to redo everything (despite the fact that I'm paying attention). A bobbin runs out. Or I sew something together inside out. Or the shoulder seam elastic decides to eat the fabric (almost) where its seamed in. It's really no fun.

• Mind you, recent end products are turning out to be very wearable. Is it much harder because I'm working that much more consciously (while yet I still lack experience and many skills)? I have to admit, my fit is really improving lately, especially with knits (which are so forgiving).

• My alterations in this pattern were pretty on, gotta say. I managed to give more ballast to this dress by adding an inch to the neckline and the bottom of the front and back bodices. It works very well. Next time (and I will do this again, despite the challenges I've had - because I think those challenges were circumstantial more than anything), I will add another half an inch to the front (tapering at the sides). The front on this garment pulls up very slightly. It's wearable though.

• Keep in mind that, even if I'd cut a size 16 in the bodice, it still would have been too small (except in the sides). And the skirt is marginally too big. So, what, I'm like an 8 in the skirt and an 18 in the bodice? (Even though I'm not entirely of one Big 4 size, unaltered, I'm not a range of 6 sizes between bust and hips.) This thing was cut for a body very different than mine. I managed to make it work and I'm proud of that.

• One of the Pattern Review reviews I read showed a great pic of how the waistband affixes at the back waist. It's actually only attached on the topside. The back band (a double layer of fabric with wrong sides together) floats on the back body between the side seams. You can actually lift it up from the bottom. I would not have been able to figure out, from the instructions, how this works so I'm grateful to the writer for the photograph. I really find Vogue patterns (especially the knit ones) to be INCOMPREHENSIBLE. And I'm not horrid at reading and interpreting instructions. I mean, I'm not great at it, but I'm fine. All the independents write totally clear instructions that I have no issue with. It's a combo of Vogue's horrid technical drawings and its mediocre descriptions that throw me off. They seem to contradict each other.

• In the end, as mentioned, I interfaced with fusible interfacing. (It's the kind that's cut on the bias and rolled into a tape). It was better than the fusible web I used which competed with the fabric for drape.

• Oh, I should mention that I cut 6.5 inches out of the bottom of the skirt (on the paper pattern, prior to cutting fabric). It's still long on me and, though I'm short, my legs are not. Don't waste the fabric unnecessarily. You may end up cutting the bodice 3 times. :-) Mid-calf is almost universally dowdy (whether it works with your proportions or not). If you are over the age of 40, do not make it much than an inch shorter than the knee or it will likely age you.

The final garment for Summer Series: Five in Five is this one:

Vogue 1287 (Photo from the website)

I'll write more about this soon but, I have to say, I'm a bit concerned. This dress has relatively few proponents. I can't find many reviews and those which I have found are not overly complimentary.

Of course, everyone's problem is that the bodice is swimmingly huge. Hmmm, I wonder about that.

In truth, I can't see how my next project will be any easier than the last. And this pattern is Average (aka Vogue-speak for Advanced).

The only settling influence is my belief that my mind doesn't see "easy" and "hard". It's all a bunch of instructions to me. If I can figure out what they're saying, generally I can do it. Sure, not necessarily so well (the first few times), but with increasing skill.

Today's questions: What do you think of V1027? If you've made it, do you wear it? And V1287... Do you think I'm crazy for taking on something potentially tricky at this juncture?

The Summer Series: Five in Five, Take 4

I've got to let go of the idea that it is going to be easy on the sewing front in the next while. Apparently, reality is curing me of the illusion (albeit slowly).

So, as you might imagine, sewing after having been up all night is not likely to result in the smoothest path. Add to this that I was learning all about a new piece of machinery (still very much in play), and you can up the challenge factor. What I didn't count on, with V1027, is that it would be too small in the bodice.

Don't get me wrong. I suspected, even as I looked at the pattern and cut out a size 10 (my standard size in big 4 knits). I suspected, even as I read 80-odd reviews on Pattern Review (90 per cent of them urging one to size down drastically and shouting from the rooftops that alterations or FBAs are unwarranted because the pattern is magic.) I suspected, even as I was sewing it up for the second time (having fucked up the coverstitching the first time).

I compared the flat front pattern piece against my altered Tiramisu front piece and the Vogue one looked bigger. (Intriguingly, for all of their similarities, these surplice bodices fit totally differently IMO.) I thought about it a lot and opted to cut the straight 10 with no alterations.

What I figured out, second time out (I've just cut out an altered bodice unit, maybe third time's a charm?) is that it's cut for a shallow bust. Look at the model in the cover art. Her breasts are shallow and that neckline is very low (front and back). On me, a combo of the bodice being slightly too short (it comes fully under the bust but it's just shy of being too short)  and too open around the neckline left me in danger of utter immodesty. My bust is very deep, even as my torso is narrow. I know that the skirt (which is heavy) will give ballast to the fall of the bodice, but I've worn a lot of bodices like this. I sense the unaltered version ain't gonna work.

I should also mention that I'm using a 2-way stretch knit, not 4-way (which limits the drape). Interestingly, I think this is a small size 10 for Vogue. I make their 10s all the time. They're good because they tend to fit in the shoulders (or to be just slightly too big but alterable). This one's snug. I'm sure that the fabric is contributing to the issue, but how is it that I'm so against the pack with this experience? And I think it's actually verging on too small in the shoulders??

So here's what I've done (and I don't know if it's going to work, but let's hope so) to the front and back pieces:

• Front: added 1 inch of width to the front neckline, added one inch of length to the bottom
• Back: added 1 inch of width to the back neckline, added one inch of length to the bottom

I hope that this will give more coverage at the back as well as at the front neck - both of which seem flimsy and overly open to me. The inch of length may be overkill, but I figure I can always serge off any excess when I attach the skirt, as necessary.

On the plus side, I think that Heat n Bond iron-on adhesive is very good (maybe a bit too firm but easy to apply and strong). I can't believe I've never before tried it. I will be using it again! It seems to work well on neck-stabilizing this fabric. It's neat and it's no trouble for the coverstitch machine.

The machine, well, that warrants its own post. It's coming along, in brief, but I'm no savant. I sense it's a trickier machine to get to know than my serger was, but maybe I'm being revisionist. Once you've had a Babylock, everything else seems a bit more complicated at the get-go. I've not worked on a coverstitch or a Janome before (except briefly on a regular machine) and stands to reason that it may take a few projects before I really understand the tension. I did have tunneling, which improved with tension changes, but didn't go away (even after steaming), probably because the raw edge of the underturned hem kept getting almost sucked into that area between the two rows of stitches (hard to explain).

One things for sure, I'm getting a 1/2 inch feller foot so that I don't have to "cheat" the hem. I sense that this will align my fabric to discourage that raw edge from moving which will improve my tension in its own way. I should say, that a truly lovely element of this experience is that the topstitching is beautiful and straight, and the underside of the fabric is strong, flexible and tidy. So I'm very optimistic.

Anyway, everything is still very in process. I hope I might finish this dress tomorrow but I'd settle for a slow completion if I only knew it was going to fit.

Today's questions: Do you know what I mean about the raw edge of the hem getting sucked between the two rows of top stitching? How do you find the tension on the Janome CoverPro 1000CPX? Are you one of the 3 people who ended up needing an FBA of some sort on V1027? Let's talk!

Urban Scourge

Where do I start. I'm going to make this brief because I've been up since, well, yesterday. If you ever think to yourself: I so wish I lived in a bohemian urban neighbourhood in a large city, let me disabuse you of the glamour.

These fuckwit morons, living across the street, (and I know this sounds incredibly prejudiced but I'm SURE they're renters) have been hosting parties (should we call them live-music concerts?) that start at exactly 2 am.

You read that right. I now go to bed at 9pm on Friday nights, in the event that I'll be woken on the nose of 2. Cuz you never know when it's going to happen.

I've got the police on fucking speed dial. Alas, last night they were too busy with actual emergencies to get here before daylight. The party was still happening at 5:30 am.

And the worst of it: They blare fucking House. OMG, I've hated House since I've had words to describe that droning, misery of a torture they try to call music.

You'll have to forgive me. I'm mentally screaming right now.

But wait, it gets better.

I decided, like the increasingly old-person that I am, to get my ass up and actually do some work. And by work I mean sewing. I mean, what's the point of lying in bed, freaking out about how I won't have any energy to craft tomorrow, when I can just get started.

All was well - I'm bizarrely focused at 3 am, apparently, after 5 hours of sleep that ends at 2 am - until the hugest fucking scary insane monster of a centipede came out of nowhere and started 30 minutes of active terror-warfare.

You should know that I am legitimately phobic about insects. I have been since early childhood. I've even had behaviour therapy to help me with the issue cuz, bugs, they tend to be everywhere and I find it hard to function knowing that. I can tell you about numerous experiences (some closer to now than I'd like to admit) where I was traumatized by discovering a particular insect. I check my sheets before I go to sleep and I live in freakin' Canada.  (Side bar: Parenting has done more to help me with this phobia than anything else because my urge to ensure that my kid doesn't feel afraid has insprired me to keep it together in the presence of crawlies. Over time, I've been able to model her calmness.)

Hilariously, my husband is all hippie about killing insects. And by hilarious, I mean WTF?!? We have this gizmo that traps them and then he releases them back into the garden. Great.

Anyway, last night, well, at 3:30 in the morning, as I was listening to a house-thumping litany of stupid dance music, I was also trapped in the sewing room with the biggest fucking prehistoric-seeming bug of all time. And I was trying to throw things at it so that I could either kill it, or just move it out of the sight-line of the door. Those things are particularly good at avoiding rulers and boots.

Eventually I trapped it by the ironing board and ran to get Scott (praying that it wouldn't scurry somewhere else in the meanwhile). To say that Scott (who could, himself, barely sleep through the music but is very live and let live - apparently) was not impressed at being compelled to deal with a centipede in the middle of the night, is a small understatement. To his credit, he didn't much argue. He knew it was pointless. Somehow, he managed to catch the lightening-fast bug in the re-release gizmo, on the first try (even he was amazed by this) and that story, she was done.

I have no energy right now to tell you about V1027. Do wish me luck.