Lonsdale Dress

I saw this pattern over a year ago and absolutely loved it. It's been sitting in my stash for a while and I finally had a chance to start working on it. I made a resolution this year to start making muslins of every clothing item I intend to sew for myself. I've been lazy and haven't been in the habit of doing that and as a result have been left with many disappointing projects that didn't fit and piles of ruined fabric.

I'm so glad I decided to make this pattern the right way! Fortunately, with a few tweaks it essentially fits me right off the pattern. I'll shorten the hem significantly, fully line the skirt and add an invisible zipper instead of a lapped one, but those are pretty much the only changes that I need to make.

I'm so impressed with the design of this pattern. It's simple to sew, the instructions are clear and concise and you can tell someone spent time on making the details perfect. I also used the muslin as an opportunity to try out my new invisible zipper foot (my new favorite tool) and testing out how I want to finish the seams.

I intend to use an Amy Butler orange dots fabric for the actual dress and will definitely be underlining the bodice for added structure. The dress sews up fast so hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have the real deal to share pictures of just in time for Spring!    

Serger Love

I finally bought a serger.

 

How did I ever sew without one? I should back up though....I actually got it about a month ago and have been terrified of it ever since I saw the threading diagram. I took it out of the box, set it on my sewing table and then eyed it suspiciously for the next 4 weeks until I a) finally had enought time to work with it and b) gathered the courage to confront the thing.

 

After one small hiccup with some threads getting stuck, I figured out which way was up and there is no looking back. The thing is awesome. I had a tank top pattern lying around and some nice knit and decided to see what would happen...I've almost finished a wearable prototype and it only took about 30 minutes with finished seams and everything.

 

I hardly know anything about the full capabilities of the machine yet but I know that my knit sewing will increase exponentially, I will not have to tediously french seam everything anymore and I wish I could take off work and go on a sewing binge.