Summer Dress For This Year???

Last Saturday, I decided to work on my summer dress.

I laid out all the pieces I've cut. Looks nice, no?


I read the instructions again. Very confusing still.

Then I walked to the machine to start sewing, but I realized that I was going to use polyester thread for this dress, I think it's supposed to be sturdier than 100% cotton? And because right now, the wedding quilt takes priority, I decided against switching threads and threading bobbins and that was the end of my dress making for the day...

Some people have indicated I need a second machine. I pointed out that I don't even have a good table for my first machine, nor do I have the space for said good table. So the answer is: The dress has to wait!

I am planning to wear this dress this summer, though! :)

My Summer Dress

I'm making a dress - my first dress, and my first piece of clothing following a pattern.
I think the sun out there nudged me enough to tear open this pattern I bought in January - actually it was free because I bought so much fabric ;) -and start reading the instructions - there are so many of them!


I got out the pattern paper and unfolded it. I bet even if I had tried, I could have never ever put it back into the envelope.


First of all, I was told to iron the pattern before cutting. Iron paper? Like it's not enough that I'm ironing meters of fabric every week because I can't stop buying, now I'm ironing paper too? I felt a bit weird during the process. :)


Then I had to cut. A lot of pattern pieces. Why do these things not come pre-cut??? I cut out the largest size anyone, and will just fold over the edges, because what if I gain weight before the next time I want to make this dress? Sigh. I bet THEY (at the pattern factory) could stamp out the pattern pieces en masse and in no time at all.


This is my most precious piece of the pattern, because most of the instructions are already confusing me. I'm not a pattern/recipe person, I even cook by dumping stuff in a bowl and tasting it occasionally. Hmmm, definitely a new experience, this pattern-sewing...


I then went about laying the pattern onto the fabric for cutting - a scary process: different shading means the pattern must face up or down, on the pattern it says how many pieces to cut - but this didn't correspond to the layout shown on the instructions, hmm, tricky.


I cut anyway, and have a nice accumulation of pieces now. I peaked at the sewing instructions and *freak* they've changed terminology and instead of saying: sew piece 1 to piece 2 it's now midriff this and that. I don't know what half these terms mean - I already looked up "nap" in the dictionary. Gosh, it'll be daunting, good thing I have a seam ripper :)

Stay tuned for the next installment of the summer dress!