Blue Dress Progress

Now that I have all the parts, I tried out my buttonhole attachment. It took me 20 minutes of bumbling to get it attached correctly, and then I busted out a perfect button hole in 10 seconds! Awesome! Why was I ever afraid of making these??????

Here is my menacing attachment. I love how shiny and black and cool looking it all is.

(I was just talking to my sewing machine telling it how pretty it is with its shiny blackness and fancy gold writing. Don't worry, I talk to the car and the dog too, comparing them to other cars/dogs and giving them compliments.)

Tonight I fit the skirt of my dress, because I didn't need any help pinning the back, unlike the bodice. It fit pretty well, but I lengthened all the darts about 2-3 inches. It had a weird poofiness between my waist and hips, and that fixed it. I also interfaced and made the belt. Since self-covered belt buckle kits are obnoxiously hard to find and don't meet my standards of "cheap", I decided it will just button. Which was an excuse to figure out this contraption.

My beautiful belt (don't look at the inside) and my perfect trial button hole.

This is my next project, which I blame entirely on Gertie's blog. She had a post about the necessity of owning a perfect blouse that buttons up the back. Thus, I HAD to buy one on ebay. It was preordained, meant to be, karmic. lol, excuses, excuses.

Isn't it cute?

Does anyone else have a Singer buttonholer and thinks it's awesome?

or

uses advice on other blogs to make impulse buys?

Blue dress update

This week has been stressful and work-filled, so I have made barely any progress. Most of this was done last Saturday morning. The bodice needs to be fitted on me, but I need my boyfriend to pin the back up for me. Then, adjustments can be made and then the process can be repeated for attaching the skirt..... then all it needs is a zipper and a hem!

This week has been stressful and work-filled, so I have made barely any progress. Most of this was done last Saturday morning. The bodice needs to be fitted on me, but I need my boyfriend to pin the back up for me. Then, adjustments can be made and then the process can be repeated for attaching the skirt..... then all it needs is a zipper and a hem!

Dress Update and Friday's Outfit

Here's the smidgen of progress I made this week. Basically, all I did was the neckline facing and the straps. It's all just pinned right now; after I make both parts, I will fit it on me and adjust it. It's starting to look good, I think.

Here's a scary picture where I look like a giant. Today's outfit, my zebra dress. More pix of it here.
Lots of the students really liked that I had made all my dresses this week. I also like talking about sewing, one of the other teachers sews crafty stuff, one of the secretaries quilts by hand.... Next year, I might see if anyone would join a sewing club....it would be fun encouraging young people to sew!

They did point out I wore a lot of green this week. It also made me realize i need more shoes and cardigan sweaters. The mall may be in my forecast for the weekend.

Dress Update

Look! My lemon tree is blooming! Too bad I can't upload the smell, it smells wonderful!

The bodice is almost like a camisole with a bolero over it. I have made the skirt and most of the camisole. It isn't sewn together at the waist yet, so that's why it looks weird.

I am highly suspicious of how it made me do tucks on the side of the boobs. Plus, I realized I haven't sewn a plain fabric for a looonnnggg time. I of course did them all perfectly, but on the wrong side of the fabric, so i got to pick out all my stitches and do it again. Hooray! Now I am using my tailor's chalk to make a big D for dull on the wrong side as soon as I take off the pattern piece. Live and learn!

Next up is the neckline binding and the straps. I'll work on it tonight or tomorrow night, depnds on how quickly I finish making my stuff for school tomorrow. And how many Law and Order reruns I watch.

I must say, I felt like an expert teaching my 7th graders the Bill of Rights, simply due to all of the Law and Order I watch. I could answer every question they threw at me! LOL :)

Birthday Spoils and Dress Update

My birthday was this week and everyone was very nice- family, friends and students! Unfortunately, I was also sick this whole week and had to get a sub for two days of school. Turns out it was strep throat turning into bronchitis, so I'm glad I didn't try to tough this one out and actually went to the doctor for once. Although it helps that I have heath insurance now, after several years of having none...

On to presents!

Andrew sent me these beautiful flowers at school, which I brought home.

He also got me a Meyer lemon tree, which is exactly what I asked for. As you can see, it's about to bloom, so we'll have lemons this year! I wanted this kind because it's self-pollinating, and the lemons are big and juicy with a thin peel. After so many years of slicing lemons for drinks in restaurants as a waitress, I have strong opinions on what makes a good lemon!! lol

My mommy also got me exactly what I asked for. I wanted new make-up brushes and she got me some fancy Clinique ones. Nice brushes make a world of difference in how make-up looks, especially eyeshadow, I am discovering...

She also got me a new cell phone. My old phone looked like a stone age artifact that had been bashed around pretty good, which it had been. Now I have a fancy touch screen smart phone- welcome to the 2010s, Molly!

Finally, my dress update. Since I was sick all week, I only have put together the skirt so far. It looks lumpy on the dummy, but much better in real life!

Last, but not least, Mary (you can see her blog here) a fellow SewRetro member kindly sent me the feed cover plate so that I can use my buttonholer! Yay! She is awesome and nice!

In conclusion, practically everyone was super nice and I had a happy birthday despite being sick. Hooray, I'm 26! Where's my "quarterlife crisis"? LOL (I think it's ridiculous and melodramatic, but decide for yourselves here)