Looking Better

Thank you to all who read my blog and BurdaStyle Posting and left wonderful ideas for me to save my (non) ruffled top! I already feel much better about it. I washed it and tried it on again. The fabric did not relax much as someone suggested – that will just take time, but I did play around a bit. I took apart the side seams and pinned out a bust dart, which helped tremendously by guiding the fabric more toward my body than away from it as before. Then, as someone also suggested, I pinned up some of the length. You can see the results here:

Hopefully the changes are apparent on the photo, but if not, just trust me – on my body, this has made a world of difference! The only question now is the back. Though I like the pleating, I think to be really comfortable wearing it, I will have to cut a new, flat back. I have a jacket pattern I will use as a guide tomorrow and see how it goes.

On another front, I received a fabric delivery today from www.fabric.com. I LOVE fabric.com and had placed an order after I assembled my stacks for Self Stitched September to gather up the bits and pieces needed to complete the projects: linings, zippers, etc. Well, for the last few orders, I’ve had my eye on this jersey stripe:

I thought it would make a great 1 piece Kimono Teeand at $1.95 a yard, who could resist. Well, it came in the mail today and I was surprised to find it pretty stiff and rather unslinky, as I expected a “jersey” to be. It’s in the dryer right now in hopes that washing and drying it would make it soft & drapey. If not, I will have to go another direction with it…any ideas?

Finally, I spent my lunch hour today making my jean shorts better and less home-made looking (though that’s hard to do with denim in general). I’m happy with the results – I added a second row of topstitching wherever possible, and used some ready-made shorts I had to make a rear pocket pattern and added them to my self-stitched pair. With a top worn over the waistband, they look a lot more RTW than before the upgrades, seen here and here.

Already SSS has made me follow through better on my sewing. Knowing that I’m “stuck” with whatever items I finish for a whole month really challenges me to make them the best I know how, go back and rip it out, re-cut and re-sew. In the past, I would more likely set it aside, call it a wash, and move on to something more exciting. But I’m finding if I take the time to “do it right” I’m so much happier with the result…