Triumph! I finished the first dress I've ever made for Mary!The whole project was fraught with difficulty. I made innumerable mistakes and learned much. ("Oh, that's why they said to use rolled hems . . .") After having my sewing machine serviced, I came home and the stitches were exactly as problematic as when I had taken in my machine. A phone call to the repair technician revealed I'd simply have to bring it back in, so I went on Saturday so I could leave the children with Chris. A sixty-second lesson taught me how to thread the machine properly. Problem solved and ego still attached by a few shreds.
I sewed over all the seams again now that my thread tension is correct. Then I shirred the bodice, neckline, and arms (and there were mishaps involved in that as well). A finished product!
John insisted in being in some photos. It is quite clear he wants me to spend some laborious time sewing him something special. He kept asking questions and clarifying, "Are these all for Mary?" I asked him if he wanted me to sew him something and he leapt at the idea.
Miss Mary was all grins when I showed her her new dress.
A peasant dress is actually not my favorite style. But I fell in love with so many fabrics at the sewing store, that I needed to make another dress just so I could have an excuse to buy more fabric. I chose the peasant dress because it was described as being easier and a good initial project before doing the dress that interests me more. Maybe my second dress will turn out a little bit better!
It's adorably sweet!!!! And fits her so well! I think the style really flatters her. And she looks so grown up!
ReplyDeleteIt's adorably sweet!!!! And fits her so well! I think the style really flatters her. And she looks so grown up!
ReplyDeleteThat is so so beautiful! I would buy that if I saw it in a store!
ReplyDeleteI think the dress is adorable!!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's just darling! I love it.
ReplyDeleteSure wish I knew how to sew.
It is adorable, just as everyone else said! I love the different fabrics. They look so good together. Congratulations on sticking with it and getting it done!
ReplyDeletebeautiful dress! What would you say your skill level is overall? I'm a complete novice, hope to someday learn to (machine) sew (clothing) when I have more time... whenever that may be. So sweet!
ReplyDeleteEverybody: Thank you for the compliments! I am doing my best to resist my melancholic urge to list for you all the faults of the dress, which you would see if you looked closely enough.
ReplyDeleteChristine: I'm not sure what level I'd be considered. Perhaps "beginner" or "advanced beginner," which was a label I saw on a pattern the other day. My training consists of: one formal sewing class eight years ago (we made a pair of pants over six weeks), then some sit-down teaching time with my friend Sarah Faith at her house four years ago. Other than that, I am self-taught, asking many questions of Sarah and my Aunt Stella, as well as looking up videos online for particular sewing techniques. I think I am fairly slow. I sewed a nightgown for myself before Mary's dress and I took two hours simply to decipher the pattern. I read it over and over and over, so that it slowly transformed from being like reading Greek to my understanding it mostly. I had to read sentence by sentence, look up what terms meant, look up videos so I could get a visual example, and so forth. And my projects go slowly because I don't understand all the tools I will need, so inevitably have to return to the store once or twice.
ReplyDeleteThings I have sewed: pair of pants in class, a purse in class, a skirt three years ago, Halloween costumes for children last year, my nightgown, and now Mary's dress.
Sewing clothing is not necessarily cheap: it's hard to compete with seamstresses in the third world! Mary's dress cost $25 for the fabric alone, not counting the pattern, the gas to drive back and forth, servicing the machine, etc. But it's important to me to learn how to sew so that when she ages out of modest clothing easily available on the market, I can sew her some items, or modify store-bought clothing. I want to be good enough by then that my homemade clothing isn't embarrassing. Right now she's one, so she doesn't realize how bad my seams are!