Modifications to the Pattern

Overall the dress pattern is awesome, especially for the first try. However, there are some things I want to remember when I make the next two.

1. The shoulder seams are off by an inch or so. The shoulder seam should be right at the top of the dress when on a hanger, but it isn't. The seams are about 1 inch to the back. This made the dress a bit shorter than it should have been.

2. We didn't factor in the darts when figuring the length the pattern. As a result, I had to trim about 3 inches off the back. The triangle for the bust was 3.75 inches.

3. The neckline is okay, but the dress we copied had a lower neckline. I don't wear any clothing which exposes cleavage, so the higher neckline is fine, but I would like to try the next pattern with a bit lower neckline. I like the look of buttoning the cardigan and then a bit of skin shows before the neckline.

4. I would like to research how to sew the slit seams on the lower bottom of the dress. I finessed it, but there is probably a better way.

Here's the new material, first the purple. This is the material I started out to buy, but my local Walmart didn't have it in stock. So when dh and I went into the big city on Saturday I stopped at a Walmart there and found it, as well as the rust. My local Walmart has the red. Maybe I'll get some of that one, too.

And here's a howdy from Daisy Mae.

I would really like to find a pattern that I like for a jacket for the dresses. It seems like it will be easier to follow a "real" pattern than wing it, at least for a jacket, which seems more complicated.

I think it would also be neat to make the jackets and then buy enough material to make skirts. Or another idea I have is to make a plain black long dress with sleeves and make a long vest using this material. Maybe not all the ideas with all the colors.

Until next time.

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Turquoise Tie-Dye Dress

Here I am modeling the dress by itself. I don't really like how the sleeves turned out. I believe there is a combination of problems. I think the pattern was off slightly and I hemmed the sleeves wrong. I didn't examine the original dress when it got to that part; I just folded the hem under twice 1/4" and sewed it - even though I knew it was probably going to make the sleeves curl from the tautness. But when it got to the neckline, it was obvious it would not work to do that. So I ended up sewing an additional piece around the neckline, then folded THAT piece under twice and sewed. I might take the sleeves out sometime and redo them. At any rate, I wasn't planning to wear the dress without a covering. My black cardigan works great.

Here it is with the cardigan.

Here is another picture of the front side of the dress. I just love the colors.

Here is the backside of the dress.

Here is a closeup image of the material. Even in this smaller image, you can see the threads running vertically which are rainbow-colored. If you click on this (or any of the above) image you can see the material even better.

This picture was taken later in the day out in the sunshine.

Now here is the dress I was attempting to duplicate. The neckline is definitely lower (not much once it's on me) and the sleeve tops are narrower than my copy.


I'm wearing my dress to church today. The last three Sundays I've worn the same dress. And now it's time for me to get ready to go to church. Maybe later I'll post some of the other issues I had with putting the dress together.

Until next time.

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My Husband The Tailor

I've been wanting to duplicate one of my favorite dresses for some time now. It is very simple. No sleeves, buttons or zippers. Just a sleeveless, calf-length dress that came with a sweater, similar to the one my friend here recently knitted. I decided that the time had come and picked out some material yesterday. It cost $4.97/yard. I bought one yard too much. At first I thought I only needed two yards, but I really needed three. But I thought I needed to double it, so I bought four. The lady cutting the material has worked there 20 years and she told me I needed three, but I thought she meant if I cut the material. But I wanted whole strips.

So yesterday, I'm sitting there trying to trace the pattern around the form of the dress turned inside out. I didn't want to gut the dress because it still fits and it is one of my favorites. I sat there puzzling and dh asked me what was wrong. I explained the problems I was having. I also mentioned that I was sure *he* could figure it out. We've talked about this before, the fact that sewing is very similar to sheet metal mechanics. We had to stop to do chores so we put it aside for awhile. Dh milked Little Screamer for me so chore time took about 15 minutes less than it usually does. (Usually about 45 minutes each afternoon). We came back in and I had to begin cutting up the meat for dinner, I was trying Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich again, this time leaving the onions off of hubby's portion. Ds2 trimmed the meat and tenderized it while we were out milking. We really have a helpful family. So dh starts looking at the pattern again, and I came over to show him about the "darts" the piece that is altered in the bustline. We looked over it carefully and thankfully my old dress had lines in the material which showed really clearly how some of the material was removed. Anyway, it was enough to indicate to dh how to measure to figure out the dart.

And he proceeded to figure out the rest of the pattern by measuring and figuring just as if he were working on creating something from sheet metal. His training was for custom sheet metal design, for example making sign cabinets that have fluorescent lighting (like you see at many businesses) but he also can do standard sheet metal and in a hot state like ours, lots of air conditioning related sheet metal. For example, elbows (shown at left). A complex design if you can imagine making something like that. I have seen him do it, and it always amazes me. He told me yesterday that copying this dress was easy, since he had a pattern to actually follow. He says usually when making a piece out of sheet metal, he would be given measurements, sometimes over the phone from the person out in the field.

I am trying to be brief, but as you can see it's not working. Dh and I have to go into town to buy a drinking fountain for his job from someone who offered it on Craigslist and we have to leave in about an hour. I had hoped to get the kitchen clean this morning so I could work on putting the dress together in the afternoon.

So I'll post a few more pictures, then hopefully back later with the dress.






Ds1 also helped by cutting some of the paper.

Until next time.

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Thank You, Margaret Edwards

So far every time I use my sewing machine there's something new to learn. I don't know if I've ever sewn a zipper into anything in my life, so there's that, then the fact that this machine is still new to me. I opened my little orange accessory box to take out the zipper foot. I found lots of feet, and began matching them to the Instruction Manual's images of the various feet. But alas, I could not find the zipper foot. I went through all three drawers, searching for the zipper foot. Thinking there HAS to be a zipper foot. The previous owner of this machine, one Margaret Edwards, bought all the extras and so the zipper foot HAD to be included, didn't it?

Finally, I came across a small bottle with some plastic pieces. I wondered what this could be?

And thank you Mrs. Edwards, for the little note! If you click on the photo you will see a larger image. The beige piece near the top to the right looks as if it has been used frequently. I don't know why a metal zipper foot is not included in my little accessories box... could Mrs. Edwards have lost the real zipper foot? This one says "Unique" on it and apparently there is some type of special zipper foot for sewing invisible zippers. Here's a neat article on zippers.

BTW, I managed to get the zipper into ds2's pants and he tried them on and pronounced them wearable. Oh, there were some theatrics about some missing stitching but eventually he managed to get over the horror of it all.

The chicken, bacon and cheese sandwiches (Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwiches) were a hit.

I worked a bit more on the hooded baby sweater. I've sewn all the seams together, except for the hood. After I sew on the hood I still have to sew the blanket stitch all around, sew on the buttons and make the button loops. I hope to have it completed by the end of next weekend. Then I can finally begin a new knitting project! Maybe some socks!

I am still planning to start a sourdough starter this weekend. Perhaps tomorrow. I'm going to use the procedure shown on this webpage, using rye flour and kefir whey to get things started.

Until next time.

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Washing Machine

Yesterday, while ds2 and I went to Walmart to pick up his glasses, dh sat and read our Major Appliances by Time Life Books book to see if he could figure out, once more, what was wrong with our washing machine. Well, come to find out the lid switch was broken. It's that little piece that is connected to the lid, and it sticks down into the washing machine and pushes a little button that tells the machine the lid is closed so the washer will spin. Which is a really good thing since we stopped at a yard sale over the weekend and bought almost $100 worth of tools. A handyman was going out of business and dh got a compound mitre saw for $50, a pipe threader kit and vice for $30, a pair of metal snips and a huge drill bit for $5. I got an Upwards game for $1 and a Glenn Doman "Teach Your Baby to Read" set for $5.

I was really happy that dh figured out what was wrong because now we don't need to buy a new (used) machine, and again since we spent half of the money I thought we'd have to spend on a used one.

I am replacing a zipper in ds2's cargo pants. I don't know if I've ever put a zipper into anything before. I removed the broken zipper last night, and basted the new zipper in place.

Dh and I went into work today to make up hours we lost from Wednesday and stopped at JoAnn's afterwards. I could spend ten hours in that store. I needed thread to work on ds2's pant's zipper. I got a color that is a close match, and nylon thread, in case I have to go invisible.

I looked at yarn. I am supposed to put that blanket stitch around the hooded baby sweater, but now that the buttons are the same color as the sweater, I wanted to make the blanket stitch a color other than white. I wish the buttons had been white. I was thinking a pastel varigated yarn, but couldn't find any colors that would match to my satisfaction. Then I remembered the button loops are in the "contrasting" color, so maybe it will work out okay after all.

I cooked dinner last night, I made this sandwich: Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich. Dh did not like it. Ds2 said it was the best sandwich he's had in his life. I thought the meat came out good, considering the round steak wasn't professionally tenderized. I did use our Deni 48 blade meat tenderizer, which worked very nicely. I also made this poisonous crap which I dearly love but try to make only once in a great while. Banana Pudding. But I don't really follow the recipe exactly. I just make some instant vanilla pudding, slice some bananas and layer in some Nilla wafer cookies. I love pudding. I especially love warm homemade vanilla pudding.

Tonight ds2 and I are going to try this recipe: Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwich. He's already cut up and pounded the chicken breast. I couldn't find peppered bacon, so we'll have to manage without.

I also made a batch of copycat Lawry's Seasoning Salt. I modified this recipe: Seasoned Salt. I left out the chicken bouillon because it almost always contains MSG. Also, I didn't see the point of using onion salt and garlic salt. I just added a bit more salt than this recipe called for. I have not purchased Lawry's Seasoning Salt over the years because I thought it contained MSG, but I'm reading on their website that it does not. However, it does contain the mystery ingredient "natural flavoring" which is often some form of MSG.

At any rate, I'm sure it's less expensive to make my own mixture.
2 tablespoons pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon dry marjoram leaves
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 cup salt

Two things to say about our beef. Both may be gross out things. One I love, one I detest. Let's see, how about my favorite thing first, which may be considered gross by some. I love raw beef. I stopped eating it in my childhood due to e.coli scares. (My mom used to get a roast freshly ground and we'd eat raw bites of hamburger). But eating one's home grown beef, especially after having been frozen for two weeks is said to be safe. It is so delicious. The other thing... I have found too much gristle in the hamburger, of which we have several thousand pounds. Okay, actually it's only 145 pounds. It is coarsely ground and I found one hunk of gristle the size of a pea. GROSS. I have got to call the processor and complain. Not that anything can be done, but he should know there is a problem. And next time we'll have to say something and hope it doesn't happen again.

So before I use any more hamburger, I'm going to be regrinding it. Thankfully we have the grinder piece that goes with our KitchenAid. Next I'm going to try this recipe: The Best Lasagna. I haven't decided whether we should just have it for dinner on Sunday night, or whether I should freeze it for a meal during the week. I mentioned this idea to ds2 and he didn't seem to care one way or the other.

Now I must go work on that zipper. Ds2 plans to wear those pants to church tomorrow.

Until next time.

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Sleep Mask

Kind of looks like a bikini top, eh? It's not, it's a sleep mask I made for myself. See, dh loves to sleep with the television on. Sometimes he'll mute the thing, but the light still flickers. I used to have a remote control on my side of the bed but someone removed the batteries and I've never gotten it set up again to turn the television off. So usually I have to get up, walk around the bed and turn the thing off. I bought the material several weeks ago, and over the weekend I finally had the opportunity to spend some time with my wonderful sewing machine (which I have never blogged about, but hope to someday soon). I found a pattern on the Internet, but I modified it and made it bigger and wider. I bought one foot worth of this cute kitty material, and one foot of dark blue flannel, which is the inside panel. I measured the material for the strap, but forgot to include more material so that it would bunch slightly, so the elastic could be stretched. But it fits my head perfectly.
I had a chance to try it a couple nights in a row. It works pretty good to keep out the flickering lights!

Until next time.

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