KS 3760 - F@#$$*!!!!

If you don't like cussing, you probably shouldn't read this post.

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Fuck!!! Why do I always do this with sheath dresses? EVERY time I make one I do it wrong and end up ripping out the zipper. I can sew almost everything else without a sew ripper handy. Why does the sheath dress get me??? And what makes me even more mad is that I even thought about the steps today knowing that sheath dresses trip me up. I declined to look at Marji's tutorial because I already knew how to do it. Uck! Nothing pisses me off more than being stupid. I vow from now on the actually read that tutorial from beginning to end before I start the damn dress. Dammit!

So what did I do? It's the same damn thing I do every damn time I make a sheath dress. Marji wrote a fantastic tutorial on attaching the lining and zipper to a sheath dress that makes it very RTW. In order for you to turn the dress right side out, you must leave the CB seam and side seams open. Well, what did I do? I put in my invisible zipper (perfectly, I might add), attached the lining, and sewed up the CB seam! Arrrggggggg. I had to rip it all out and now I'll have to put in the zipper again and make sure all the black lines match up again.

I will start reading directions. I will start reading directions. I will start reading directions.

KS 3760 - Moving Along . . .

It's coming along. I have the dress put together and am working on the lining. I hope that I'll be able to put it together today. It's always the finishing things (pressing, hemming, etc.) that take me the longest. I decided on black wool gabardine for the neckband and the wasitband. I interfaced the entire bodice and the gabardine. On the skirt, I interfaced all the seam edges. I'm excited. I really like it so far.

KS 3760 - Alterations for the dress

After trying on the dress, I realized that it was just too wide in the bodice. I pinched out a half an inch at CF and a 1/4" on each side back piece. Here you can see the dress when I pinched out the excess. I pinched it out from the shoulder to the waistband.

Here you can see the adjustments for the back. I'm glad that I'm writing this post because I realized I did not alter the waistband piece. Thank goodness I haven't cut it yet. I added an inch to the waist in length. I often find that KS patterns are a little short in the waist for me. And then I usually do a petite adjustment and that makes it even shorter.

Here's the front alterations. I snipped a 1/2" off at CF. I did it on the neckband too but that's not shown. I cut off a little of the princess seams curves so it wasn't so pointy there.

I also altered the armhole facings.

Several of you asked about my petite adjustments with a sleeve. I use this Burda Workshop to petite my patterns. I only do one tuck between the shoulders and bust. I sometimes add back that 1/2" below the bust.

I plan to cut this out this weekend. I am going slow on this dress because I really want it to be a knock-out.

Yes, ladies, I have bolts.

I hope people don't think this is tacky but here goes . . .

Most (maybe??) of you know about my side business. I have decided to get out of it because I am too busy and I don't want to sew for others. I'm taking a page out of the Selfish Seamstress's book here. I did use it to support my habit but I don't want to do it anymore. Baby slings were trendy when I started the business and I quickly grew to a point where I either had to hire people to sew for me to squish some of advertising and promotions. Well, I squished it because I didn't want my business to get too big. So, I still have my site up and I'm still selling them but I'm planning on closing up shop soon. I still have a lot of fabric that never made it to baby sling stage. Do you guys want it? I buy it wholesale so it's super cheap. Several of you said you liked the blue one I used as a muslin. I'm selling it for $4 a yard. All of my fabric is cotton/lycra twill, sateen, or pique. It either has 3% or 4% lycra. It is all 60" wide. It's top notch fabric because I only use quality fabrics for my business. At this point, though, I just want to get rid of it. I am only willing to ship with Priority Mail because I can do that from the comfort of my basement. For 1-3 yards, the shipping is $5 because I can squeeze that in a Tyvek shipping envelope. For 4-6 yards, the shipping is $10 because I have to use a box. Right now, I'll put these three up for sale. It is not blouse fabric! It's perfect for dresses with body, skirts, pants (with these prints, yikes!), shirt-dresses, etc.

Here's a smaaaaaallllll selection of the fabric I have. You can see the blue I used for the muslin, the red I used for my Amy Winehouse dress, and a green that's the same print but a different colorway.

I can't figure out how to do multiple yards with one click (stupid PayPal or stupid me?). For now, just click on the "Add to Cart" button, another screen will pop up, and you can just type in the quantity of yards. I'll ship within three days and shipping from Alaska is amazingly fast. I've had packages go from here to the East coast in 24 hours.

Blue Dots Stretch Twill

*Sorry, it's alllllll gone!!*

Red, Orange, Purple Stretch Twill

Green, Purple, Yellow Stretch Twill

*Sorry, it's alllllll gone!!*

KS 3740 - Cowl-neck Top - Another one . . .

I am still working on the KwikSew dress but whipped this up while I alter the pattern pieces. It's another KwikSew cowl neck top. I made this one from a Gorgeous Fabrics fabric I've been stashing for a year or two. It's a rayon and it's fab-u-lous. It was really hard to use because it's a border print. Forever I tried to use it to make something symmetrical. I could never find anything that I really loved. But, I think this cowl-neck top and the print is a winner. I was careful with pattern placement so the print wrapped around one side of my body. The black sleeve is actually the "wrong side" of the fabric. ETA: I did add two inches to the sleeve length at the elbow. I like my sleeves looooong. Otherwise, it's the same as the other one.

 

 

The only part I don't love is where the back cowl connects. It's pretty abrupt. But, I'll never see it and I don't think there was any way to avoid it.

 

 

 

I wanted to show you the two sides. I really like the asymmetry.

 

 

 

 

I'll wear this a lot. I wore the striped cowl-neck top yesterday.

 

Have you guys seen this post by Lisa over at Sew Random?? This top is for Ann. I'll be holding her in my thoughts all day and sending positive thoughts her way. :) Rock on, Ann! I don't know if I have enough of Ann's fabric to make it 12 weeks but that just means I'll have to buy more. Shucks.

KS 3760 - Dress Muslin

Here's my finished muslin. It turned out way cute. This is a stretch twill and I have an entire bolt of it. Yes, I said a whole bolt. Yikes. The pattern itself goes together very easily and quickly. There are a few fitting issues I need to work out.

The front fits okay although it is wide throughout the bust. The armholes and neckline will be okay once the facings are applied. I have already done my petite adjustment for the two front pieces and the back. You can't really tell from the front photos but the princess seams are kind of pointy over the bust point. I'll smooth out that curve next time because I don't want it pointy and it's a tad too boobilicious for me. I really like the contrast yoke and waistband. It's just the "wrong side" of the twill. I am thinking that I'll do the same thing for my silk suiting. I'll get some black wool and use that for the waistband and the yoke. Don't know . . . still debating.

Here's the back. There are more fitting issues here. It is also too wide in the upper area and way too big in the waist. The hip area is okay although maybe just a titch snug. I'll add 1/4" to the sides of the front and back skirt.

Here you can see what I'll basically do. I'll take a 1/2" out of the bodice width from and back and snug up the waist by about two inches. For reference this is a KS size XS.

You can see that pinching out the inch at CF makes the princess seams line up over the bust like they are supposed to.

KwikSew 3760 Boobilicious . . .

I decided to make a muslin of the KwikSew dress. I am using a stretch twill. I used the reverse side for the neckband and will use that for the waistband too. So far, it's looking very busty. I should be able to get the rest of this sewn up tonight. I'm hoping that the fit is spot on and then I'll go back and really sew it up. I love this twill. I didn't realize that the bodice was so empire-y. It doesn't look like that on the model photos. Odd. Things do tend to look different when on the body though.

I should have known the bust might be an issue after looking at these pieces. See that really rockin' princess seam curve? Yea, I'm not so rockin'. But, we'll see what it looks like after the back and skirt are on.