Finally...

There's been a lot sewn since my initial post, but I've been so busy/lazy that I haven't posted anything else. So, I'm pretending this is new year's and I'm initiating a resolution: at least one post a month. Seems easy enough. Here's April's:

Recently, I've given up sewing for myself to sew some costumes for a theatre group I belong to, and I'm almost done the first costume assignment. I'm a slow sewer, or more like, it takes a lot to get me motivated when I'm not sure what I'm doing, because I don't like making mistakes and having to do things more than once (can you say "type-A"??). RESOLUTION #2: enjoy the process more. As I learned on our ski trip back in February; less thinking, more screaming—I'm really going to have to make a poster for that.

Not only was my procrastination dragging this project out, but take a look at the pin tucks I had to make on this baby:

Much drama to get this done. First there was the issue of the pintuck foot that didn't fit my machine... or my mom's machine... or my sister's machine... sigh. But, since the twin needles I had were fairly wide anyway, I tried just sewing with a regular presser foot spacing the tucks the 1/4 inch, or to the edge of the foot. This worked out, except that I was supposed to adjust the bobbin tension, which was an impossibility on my machine. So I sewed those sonofabitch tucks anyway, and just got them done—eventually.

Now, all I have left is the buttons and a serged hem on the skirt:

Which I swear I will complete today.

Next up, besides a couple of couch pillows I've also been putting off, is this delightful blouse I've had my eye on:

Many reviewers on patternreview.com have noted the boxy shape, and I'm not sure what it will look like on me, but I'm planning to add some sort of waist shaping and hoping for the best. I've already picked up a couple of fabrics. One as a practice, and one as the final, but as I usually do, I've picked up two lovelies that I'm not really willing to give up on a wadder, so I'll just have to find some other muslin. I'm leaning towards the purple for the finished blouse, and no, that's not the fabric that's distorting the print, that's the actual print. I thought it would lend itself well to the drape from the knots. 

One more thing... I also picked up some great vintage patterns:

I don't think the two sixty's dresses will be particularly flattering to my more athletic body type, but I'm itching to make the seventy's dress (Simplicity 8025) as either a short dress or a shirt with no sleeves (the green version). 








UPDATE ON THE RACHEL COMEY BLOUSE: 
What a wadder!!! I was going to try to see if I could somehow make an sba, but the drafting here is way beyond my experience. I recently came across a blog that featured a similar design, and the drafting behind it. If I had more time/patience/interest, I'd research it further, but I don't, and I'm fine with that. At this point, I'm sticking to a philosophy of creating more success than failure with my sewing.