Speaking of getting things out of the way I have finally got the nerve up to cut the fabric for my dress, had thought I might not have enough fabric due to re-sizing the pattern. It's true I don't but the pattern called for using the same fabric to line the bodice, I had thought it would be too heavy so had planned on lining it with something lighter.
Still need to buy the lining, zipper and a better colour thread, the one I chose is too different when viewed under better lighting than the store. Going to go to Lincraft at Parramatta to get those things as well as find a suitable fabric for the jacket. They have a better range than we do.
In the picture above I used books to hold down the pattern, didn't want to pin just in case they leave marks in the fabric. Reminds me I need to check if I have any Microtex sharps machine needles. I only use this type on satin fabrics as I find standard machine needles tend to leave a pulling mark on satiny fabric, these are very sharp so pierce the fabric cleanly without pulling. Just checked, I have them in 80/12 which will be fine for the fabric I have. I am a stickler for using proper needles, it does matter. Wrong needles can ruin an outfit.
Machine needles only have a sewing life of 8 hours, they get blunt with use. Blunt and bent needles can damage fabric, cause havoc with tension and damage your machine. When needles break they can cause real physical damage, bits fling anywhere including into eyes. Changing needles regularly can help prevent this. Needles are relatively cheap. My own personal rule is when making a new garment I always use a new needle. Better stop here I could go on for hours.
In the picture you can see my cheating way of increasing the size I just added an extra inch to the centre front, there is no real shaping in the pattern and I am sure I'll get away with it. If there was a dart I would be able to do it this way.
The only thing I had to worry about was that my niece mentioned the other day after I bought the fabric not to get purple. The bridesmaids are in purple. I asked what sort of purple, she told me Cadbury Purple, whew my is more plum like, my Damart catalogue calls it Amethyst.
Edit - since writing the above things have changed, I went to Lincraft and bought lining fabric and zipper. Didn't find anything I thought suitable for the jacket. On the way back to the car I checked out a stall selling shawls and scarves, found an organza shawl that went really went well with the dress fabric. It cost me $15 (plus $2 because they didn't accept cards, I just went to the closest ATM instead of searching for one from my bank). I'm really pleased because it saves me panicking over trying to find fabric and making the jacket. I have extra shifts next week so won't have much time.
The colour shown here is close to being true, when I used the flash it came up as Cadbury purple. I also re-acquainted myself with an old work friend while there, we hadn't seen each other since I left my last job, now we find we again are working for the same company just in different suburbs.
No comments:
Post a Comment