It’s time for TGIFF (Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday), a recurring linky party that hopscotches from quilt blogger to quilt blogger every week!
Link up your recent quilt finishes in the TGIFF linky party at the end of the post, and be sure to come back and visit all of the links for a little eye candy and inspiration.
the Hinterland Dress
Mostly, I sew quilts. Although I did learn to sew by making my own maternity pants, I seldom sew garments. Oh, I’ve made children’s clothes and plenty of Halloween costumes, but I’ve never had a lot of patience for the fitting process and thus haven’t made many garments for myself.
Well, there are just so many fabulous patterns out there from independent designers, and it turns out that I’ve purchased and stashed away an awful lot of them. Last year, in a fit of ambition, I decided to use that pattern stash to start building a wardrobe for myself. And thus I began stitching the Hinterland dress.
(Yes, it has pockets.)
Also, I’m not actually grumpy. That’s just how my face often looks.
I chose Essex yarn-dyed linen in Heather, at least in part because I could use my staple thread, which blends with that shade beautifully: Aurifil 50wt in Dove, which I purchase by the cone.
The Hinterland dress pattern is well-written and easy to follow. I lengthened the skirt, but that was the only alteration I made. Although I got almost the whole dress done in two days, my trusty sewing machine started skipping stitches like crazy as I was finishing up the final button placket and I had to take her in to the shop.
All that was left was buttonholes, buttons, and hemming.
That was all.
And almost a year later, I got it done in about an hour and a half.
Now, as I said up there near the beginning, I’m not crazy about measuring and fitting properly. I’m impatient, and truly self-taught when it comes to clothes. Also, I’ve lost a little weight since last year. So there are a couple of issues in the fit (the armholes are a little big and there’s some gaping at the nape of my neck), but I’m just going to call it a wearable muslin and throw a cardigan over it or something if I feel self-conscious.
Unlike many people with sewing machines, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve had to hem clothing. (Being tall, I typically need LONGER pants, not shorter ones. Alas.) So it was exciting to try out a couple of notions: a Hot Press Ruler and some seam clips worked great to help me achieve a nice and even hem.
Now that I’m feeling more confident, I’m going to try out the patterns in Ahead of the Curve, by Jenny Rushmore of Cashmerette. I learned a few things just flipping through the book!
