Sewing...the next chapter.

Who would've guessed there'd be a "next".  Well...I'm like a moth to a flame.  Sewing is my Achilles heel.  My kryptonite.

A friend of ours, from way back, offered to help me learn to sew.  It's funny, actually, because this same friend helped me and her daughter sew cheerleading outfits for our Cabbage Patch Dolls way long ago.  I'm sure I still have that thing somewhere around here.  It turned out perfectly, despite my most fumbling efforts.  But that is what a true teacher does.  Makes straight lines out of crooked ones.

So we made a plan.  Tuesday afternoons.

I ran to the store in a mad dash last minute to find some material and a pattern.  I think we learned in chapter one of this saga that you should never plan on dashing in and out of fabric stores.  But there I was again. 

I had decided on a dress for Kayte.  This was a good idea for several reasons.  First, Kayte is tall and very slender, it is impossible to find a dress to fit.  Secondly, she's entering that infamous tween stage where designers aren't sure whether they are women or girls and so decide upon a category that is neither....but far worse.  And thirdly, and most realistically, it was extremely possible the dress would come out not fitting at all, either too big or too small.  If it was too big, she'd grow into it.  If it was too small...well, it was always meant to be a dress for Sara, after all.

I'm flipping through patterns in the Simplicity book.  I never look at any of the other books, like McCall, etc...(look at me name-dropping!).  I've learned somewhere, probably the internet, that Simplicity only makes simple patterns.  Hence the name, of course. 

So with confidence, I choose a cute dress pattern, and I'm patting my back as I know exactly how to use the fancy Dewey decimal-type system to find just the one I'm looking for, and then I head in search of a fabric.  I'm also proud of the fact that I know better than to use anything with lines, what a headache that could be!  Dodged that bullet.

I did need some help with the interfacing...and after a good look-see at the back of the pattern I found how much material I needed and thought, "Might as well double it!  Save me time!"  Look at the forethought!  (And yet another reason that sewing is much more expensive than buying off the rack.  At least for the novice.)

I remembered to express wash the fabric and dry it before I raced off for my first lesson.

Connie took a look at my pattern.  There were box pleats, and darts, and zippers, and buttons...with real button holes!!  The "simple" in Simplicity was just a bait and switch!!  What??!  But Connie pulled out some stuff that she had made and it was absolutely exquisite!  I knew I was in good hands...even so.

Step by step, every little detail meticulous.  Towards the end I was sewing on my first zipper ever and for a moment...well, if I could just close my eyes until I was done!!

Finally, after a handful of sessions, the dress was complete!  Final step, take it home and try it on Kayte before hemming it up.  The moment of truth!

Did I mention she is 12, and growing like a weed?

The dress was too short!  Two weeks ago it might've been fine, if we didn't have to still somehow hem it!  Thankfully, I had way over-bought the fabric and we had plenty to add, and really, a big piece around the bottom finished it quite nicely!  It was done in time for Easter!

There's a good reason why I have not yet taken a good pic of her actually wearing it...but I can get to that later.

Feeling high, like I do whenever there is any little successes, I thought I had enough fabric left over to whip up a quick skirt for Sara, to match!  Haha.  This project I was doing on my own.  I called another savvy friend for a quick no-pattern tutorial and set to work.  Just a quick A-line, she said I could get it done in 20 minutes, hurrah!

I don't have the fancy gear, so it looked a little like this:

 

It was definitely an hour and mounds of thread later, that I sent my husband a text with this:

"Ta Da!!" said the caption.  "Look at me go!!"

Of course, that was before we tried it on.....I managed to forget to measure the hips and instead had just measured the teeny bit that makes up her waist.  So the little thing was much too tight.

Sara, ever gracious, was super-impressed anyway, until I shared with her my concern that it might split down the middle with any kind of movement.  So again, she graciously agreed that would be "majorly embarrassing".  So back to the scrap pile it goes! 

And back to real lessons for me!  But we are coming along!  What could possible be next??