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dragonlady7Rrgh. I finally, finally, finally finished the front fasteners on the blue silk twill dress I was supposed to wear to Illinois. Yes, Illinois was two weeks ago. Yes, I know.
Anyway. I tried to have a hook-and-eye front closure, but NO DICE on that. So it had to be eyelets. I know of no cheater way to do eyelets; hand-binding it is. So I did a nice job, though the spacing is atrocious-- i thought criss-cross would look less weird to a modern audience, but it was nigh-impossible to line up. So it's an uneven criss-cross. And when I finally finished it and went excitedly to lace myself in, I realized... I need two tapestry needles instead of the one I need for spiral lacing. Because ribbon doesn't go by itself through, well, anything, particularly not smallish hand-bound eyelets. (My awl is not big enough. Buying a larger one seems sort of indulgent, so I haven't, and I deal.) Argh. Fortunately, I scrounged a second one.
I got the thing on, inspected myself in the mirror, and began taking notes on the fit. There is a *lot* of strain on the shoulder straps, I noted with some surprise-- apparently I finally took them in enough in the pattern! Hm. I went on to note a tiiiny bit extra fabric at the armholes, which I had taken in slightly in the pattern but not enough... maybe a titch in the back... CRAP, one of the shoulder straps just let go!
So annoying. I don't want to have to unlace myself to sew it shut and lace myself back in again! Rrgh. But I can't really tell the fit with the shoulder strap flapping. And I don't want to pin it-- the silk twill is prone to snagging, and while I've managed to fix all the other snags my antique needle (I need a new one but I can't tell which kind to get!) put in it, but I don't want to wreck the shoulder now with a big honking safety pin hole.
Anyway. The whole point was that I have to finish the front fastening first, and only then can I do anything else at all on the dress.
I come out, holding up the shoulder strap, and do a twirl for Z. "Whaddaya think?" I asked. I don't know why I bother, with him. His answer? "The hem's pretty uneven."
"Um," I said, "it's not hemmed at all, that's why. I got the fastenings done so I can tell how it will hang, and then I can trim it evenly and hem it. What do you think of the overall dress?"
He shrugged.
I really don't know why I bother. But I am determined to finish this in time to wear it to something.
I have the materials to make another project-- this one an actual paid project! Though I doubt I'll charge much, as a) it's very simple, and b) I've never made anything for anybody so obviously I'm not much of a professional. I will keep strict track of how long it takes me and note how hard it is, and in the future I'll take that into account when I decide whether to take commissions. Which is, I figure, the only way to do it. In the meantime, I can't possibly know what's a fair rate to charge, so I'll err on the are-you-kidding-me low side. I'll figure it's kind of an apprenticeship. Yes, I know how freelance work works-- you always have to remember to pay yourself-- but I'm not even seriously considering being businesslike about this, so I won't worry yet.
I've just remembered that we have an awards banquet for roller derby, which ought to be coming up... sometime? So I'll see if I can get this one done for that! It's coincidentally blue-- I almost ordered olive, but at the last moment went with the blue since I couldn't really tell the color online and figured a wider range of blue shades would actually be pretty as opposed to olive, which can go wrong really easily.
And I wasn't disappointed-- it's a slightly grayish soft deep blue.
It's nice I got drafted to the Knockouts, because I have an awful lot of blue in my wardrobe already, and don't mind having more. ;) I'm a bit disappointed our uniforms ended up being navy instead of royal like we originally wanted, but it's impossible to find royal blue anywhere. And we need sizes 0 to 22, 4'8" to 6' 0", so the cute cheerleader sites are out.
W-evs. I will have a pretty blue dress to wear. And Lorelei will have her purple dress as soon as ever I can get it sorted out. But I wanted to finish the eyelets and pin out the alterations on this one, and tonight was a good night for it-- I'm feeling oogy and hivey and cold and sleepy, so anything requiring a lot of concentration is right out.
Ugh, i wish this shoulder strap hadn't popped. I am very annoyed. At least it doesn't look damaged. I'll fix it. And hopefully taking in the underarms will work to fix the odd bust shape, because I am NOT moving those eyelets!!! Uneven as they are, I'm not moving them at all. (Maybe I can take in a tiny bit at the back too.... hmmm...
I should repeat that poll about the facing stitching being matchy or contrasting-- this is a sleeveless, cross-laced-front, knee-length twirly party dress, so there are absolutely no historical concerns. (I'm even considering making a pin-on front panel that would hide the lacing, if I can figure out a design for it, unless I decide that the lacing looks ok on its own. The problem is, of course, these dresses are meant to be worn over a chemise, so if there's a little gapping, say at the lower part of the bustline, you're not seeing bottom-of-boobs cleavage through the tiny gap. It is... well, not revealing-- my nipples are like six inches away, sheesh-- but it's really not a body part you see. Ever.)
Yes, I have a photo, but it's on the camera and the battery died, so... Later.
Anyway. I tried to have a hook-and-eye front closure, but NO DICE on that. So it had to be eyelets. I know of no cheater way to do eyelets; hand-binding it is. So I did a nice job, though the spacing is atrocious-- i thought criss-cross would look less weird to a modern audience, but it was nigh-impossible to line up. So it's an uneven criss-cross. And when I finally finished it and went excitedly to lace myself in, I realized... I need two tapestry needles instead of the one I need for spiral lacing. Because ribbon doesn't go by itself through, well, anything, particularly not smallish hand-bound eyelets. (My awl is not big enough. Buying a larger one seems sort of indulgent, so I haven't, and I deal.) Argh. Fortunately, I scrounged a second one.
I got the thing on, inspected myself in the mirror, and began taking notes on the fit. There is a *lot* of strain on the shoulder straps, I noted with some surprise-- apparently I finally took them in enough in the pattern! Hm. I went on to note a tiiiny bit extra fabric at the armholes, which I had taken in slightly in the pattern but not enough... maybe a titch in the back... CRAP, one of the shoulder straps just let go!
So annoying. I don't want to have to unlace myself to sew it shut and lace myself back in again! Rrgh. But I can't really tell the fit with the shoulder strap flapping. And I don't want to pin it-- the silk twill is prone to snagging, and while I've managed to fix all the other snags my antique needle (I need a new one but I can't tell which kind to get!) put in it, but I don't want to wreck the shoulder now with a big honking safety pin hole.
Anyway. The whole point was that I have to finish the front fastening first, and only then can I do anything else at all on the dress.
I come out, holding up the shoulder strap, and do a twirl for Z. "Whaddaya think?" I asked. I don't know why I bother, with him. His answer? "The hem's pretty uneven."
"Um," I said, "it's not hemmed at all, that's why. I got the fastenings done so I can tell how it will hang, and then I can trim it evenly and hem it. What do you think of the overall dress?"
He shrugged.
I really don't know why I bother. But I am determined to finish this in time to wear it to something.
I have the materials to make another project-- this one an actual paid project! Though I doubt I'll charge much, as a) it's very simple, and b) I've never made anything for anybody so obviously I'm not much of a professional. I will keep strict track of how long it takes me and note how hard it is, and in the future I'll take that into account when I decide whether to take commissions. Which is, I figure, the only way to do it. In the meantime, I can't possibly know what's a fair rate to charge, so I'll err on the are-you-kidding-me low side. I'll figure it's kind of an apprenticeship. Yes, I know how freelance work works-- you always have to remember to pay yourself-- but I'm not even seriously considering being businesslike about this, so I won't worry yet.
I've just remembered that we have an awards banquet for roller derby, which ought to be coming up... sometime? So I'll see if I can get this one done for that! It's coincidentally blue-- I almost ordered olive, but at the last moment went with the blue since I couldn't really tell the color online and figured a wider range of blue shades would actually be pretty as opposed to olive, which can go wrong really easily.
And I wasn't disappointed-- it's a slightly grayish soft deep blue.
It's nice I got drafted to the Knockouts, because I have an awful lot of blue in my wardrobe already, and don't mind having more. ;) I'm a bit disappointed our uniforms ended up being navy instead of royal like we originally wanted, but it's impossible to find royal blue anywhere. And we need sizes 0 to 22, 4'8" to 6' 0", so the cute cheerleader sites are out.
W-evs. I will have a pretty blue dress to wear. And Lorelei will have her purple dress as soon as ever I can get it sorted out. But I wanted to finish the eyelets and pin out the alterations on this one, and tonight was a good night for it-- I'm feeling oogy and hivey and cold and sleepy, so anything requiring a lot of concentration is right out.
Ugh, i wish this shoulder strap hadn't popped. I am very annoyed. At least it doesn't look damaged. I'll fix it. And hopefully taking in the underarms will work to fix the odd bust shape, because I am NOT moving those eyelets!!! Uneven as they are, I'm not moving them at all. (Maybe I can take in a tiny bit at the back too.... hmmm...
I should repeat that poll about the facing stitching being matchy or contrasting-- this is a sleeveless, cross-laced-front, knee-length twirly party dress, so there are absolutely no historical concerns. (I'm even considering making a pin-on front panel that would hide the lacing, if I can figure out a design for it, unless I decide that the lacing looks ok on its own. The problem is, of course, these dresses are meant to be worn over a chemise, so if there's a little gapping, say at the lower part of the bustline, you're not seeing bottom-of-boobs cleavage through the tiny gap. It is... well, not revealing-- my nipples are like six inches away, sheesh-- but it's really not a body part you see. Ever.)
Yes, I have a photo, but it's on the camera and the battery died, so... Later.
