It’s a breakthrough!

Hello lovely sewing bloggers, or is that lovely blogging sewists? This post was started yesterday, with an entirely different tone. It was titled “So Many Questions”.

I still have some questions to pose, but….

…there has been a major breakthrough! It was brought about by this bit of shiny goodness, which we will get to in just a minute.

Yesterday I felt stuck and in need of some information. Why? I have plans, and ideas, and thoughts – but nothing in the works. How do you all push forward when nothing seems to be coming together?

Some obstacles:

Fitting. So much to learn – slopers, blocks, muslins…. 

A dress form seems necessary. But what kind? My research shows that the adjustable ones may have uncooperative dials. The DIY’s made with tape are lumpy, and not good for pinning. There are endless examples – some made with paper, chicken wire, or plaster. Yikes.

Fabric choice. Am I ready for stretch? Wool? How are my skills coming along? Why does everything take me so long? Can I move up to higher quality fabrics?

Pattern choice. How long with the easy to sew patterns? When can I graduate to something more complicated? Do I even want to attempt that?

That was yesterday. Today is a new day, and now you’ll learn about the aforementioned breakthrough.

My mother-in-law’s birthday was yesterday. I bought her a bouquet from the supermarket, and took it home to arrange in a vase. I unwrapped and trimmed the flowers and placed them in the vase. No big deal, right? But wait! I threw away the wrapping, and picked up the piece of gold sheer fabric that surrounded the bunch, and nearly tossed it out also.

Wonder of wonders, my old sewing brain kicked in. The gold sheer piece is not trash and it must be saved. In fact, I will use it in my next project – the “stolen from Anthropologie” skirt. The sheer will become practice appliques!

See the close up of skirt below.

I’m thinking of using a soft wool fabric for the skirt (if it’s not too heavy) and just a few appliques in subdued colors; not quite so fancy, but still nice. This is the vintage-style pattern I’ve (almost) decided upon. I saw Tanya modeling hers on Mrs. Hughes, and it seemed to fit the bill, Do you think it has enough “swish”? Will the wool be suitable?

My next two projects after this skirt, will be

1. this pair of pants, made from Simplicity K1620, coming from Teresa of Navybluethreads via her giveaway,

and

2. this dress, pattern designed by Tina of GavannaSewing.

So there ya go. Plans! Pattern and fabric stashes soon to come! Can you believe it? All is not lost. My inner sewist is beginning to resurface.