Oh For the Love of Pete!!!

Are you kidding me?  Once more, my progress on this dress has been halted by stupidity on my part.  Grrrrrrrrrrrr-ness to the highest extreme!!  Wanting to stick to my resolution of only using stash fabrics, I decided to use scrap blue fabric for the skirt lining...Great!  It worked out fabulously!  But...and here is the rub, I only had enough of the blue fabric for the skirt.  So, I used scrap white fabric for the bodice.  Great!  Right?  OH HECK NO!!!

As you can see in the below image, the white of the lining of the bodice caused the bodice to literally GLOOOOOOOOOOW!!!  Ok, so maybe you can't see it too clearly in the image, but please believe me when I say it literally glowed.  Like a lightening bug on a swampy, humid Illinois evening!  ACK!!!!

When I discovered this, I was so despondent.  So incredibly down in the dumps.  I tried to ignore my OCD brain when it screamed, "Remake this you twit!!!!"  I tried to make myself ignore the fact that the top of the dress would glow like a brilliant sun on the darkest of nights.  I tried I tell you!!!

Alas, my attempts at ignoring were in vain.  My OCD finally won out and the night before Greg and I were to leave for Canada, (departure time was o'dark hundred....) I rose from my nice comfy bed, made my way downstairs with seam ripper in hand and proceeded to rip out ALL of the work I had done that day.  Never in my sewing life have I been delighted with the fact that my serger doesn't work.  I had used a zig zag seam to marry the fashion fabric and lining fabric together.  Thank you Lord!!!  Many hours (I finally made it to bed at 1:30) and thousands of miles of ripped out seams later, I was finally able to start again with the bodice.  I sacrificed some baby blue dupioni silk that was very similar to the skirt's lining on the alter of necessity.  Who needs powder blue dupioni silk anyway?  I'm not going to be making a robe d'chemise anytime soon and that was what I was saving it for.

Ugh...anyway, problem solved, sanity preserved, grouchiness still a bit intact.....I'll take pics of the remade bodice tomorrow....Right now, just gaze upon the epic fail number 2 of this dress....

Hopefully, you will be able to see how the top is glowing here....grrrrrrr...

On the right side of Emma (left side of picture) is the white lined silk.  On the left of Emma (right side of picture) is the blue lined silk....Biiiiiiig difference   

So lesson learned?  Always, always, always line your everything with the same color lining!!!!

Sewing Room....We Have A Problem....

One of these days I will stop saying, "This should be easy to do!"  Those are possibly the stupidest words I can say when thinking about doing a project.  Why?  Because in my world it is a curse.  Somewhere in the whispy recesses of Costumeland, resides an evil witch whose sole job it is to hear these words.....joyfully, hopefully and erroneously muttered by every seamstress.  When these words reach her boil covered pointy ears, she extends forth her withered bony hand and in an ancient language long unheard, casts a spell on EVERYTHING that I feel "should be easy to do"!  Gah!  She is an evil crone I tell you!!!  Then her psychotic twin, the Queen of OCD gleefully takes the reins of insanity and won't rest until I have re-constructed an entire garment....sometimes up to 3 times.  

This was the case with the 1912 Sailor Suit.  Last weekend I thought I had the skirt of the dress all squared away.  I posted pictures here and was so excited about it.  I went to my Mom's house to get ready for Colton's birthday party and joyfully showed Mom the pictures and the inspiration...then I noticed that the side button placket at the bottom of the skirt was on the back.....not on the side as I had done....

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-ness!!!!!

After Colton's party, we came back home where I proceeded to employ my seam ripper to the offending skirt.  While the seams were out, I decided to add two more panels to the skirt as it was very hobbly in its existing state.  I tried it on after I got everything back together and the sides were really weird.  They stuck waaaaaaaay out as the pattern was intended to be a hobble skirt.  So, now I had straighten the side seams out.  This I had to do 3 times before the thighs ceased looking like jodhpurs.  Then I had the insane idea to put the hook and eye opening on the right side and not the back.  Fine.  Are we finished yet?  

I sure do hope so.   

Bottom button placket moved to the back....looks much better.

Side opening on the right instead of the back...

Now for the bodice.  I think maybe I'll say, "Man, I just know this is going to be a colossal pain in the rear!!!"  Let's see what that gets me!!

1863 Dress Project: Fixing the Soutache..

Sometimes OCD is a good thing...sometimes it is just a pain in the rear...sometimes it is both.  Like when I noticed that the soutache surrounding my velvet tabs was off.  When pinning the soutache to the bodice, I measured out from the armscye to make sure that it was even from the outside in.  Then for some reason I thought that I needed to make the soutache on the right side one "square" shorter than on the left side.  I do not know why.  Sometimes the workings of my brain totally fail to make sense.  But after looking at the bodice with a critical eye, I noticed my mistake....

Weird thinking made the soutache off....

Fixed soutache....much better!!!

Update on Mom's Navy Winter Wool Suit....

It is with much sadness and devastation that I say the following.  After much wailing and gnashing of teeth and visions of dousing the whole thing in gasoline and setting it afire....I, with the blessing of my sweet Mama have decided to pack the whole affair up and put it away until next year.  I started out with great anticipation and excitement, knowing that Mom would look fabulous in her new suit.  The reality of the sad situation set in when after working for 8 hours on the collar, I found out that it was ALL WRONG!!!  UGH!  The notch in said collar was waaaaaaay off.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!   I sat at my sewing desk with the collar, complete with velvet, lace and soutache accents lovingly administered, and went through several emotions.  First came disbelief.  Then came fury, rage, disgust and horror.  Followed lastly by sorrow.  Then came the visions of fire and crazy lady laughter.  After recalling Lamaze breathing and putting it into practice I called Mom and proceeded to burst into tears.  She immediately let me off the hook and set me at ease.  "Stop it you crazy kid!!"  No, just kidding.  She was actually so sweet as she is always is.  "Put it in a box, put it in the closet and don't even look at it until next year."  I love that woman!!!  So, it will go away until I can look upon it without animosity.  Maybe my friend Josie can help me with it when she comes out in July!  Maybe by then, it will be safe!  hahahahahaha.....