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Last night Mom and I took the plunge and headed for the fabric store.
I had spent a good portion of time sorting through patterns online and had settled on a u-neck tailored vest, long straight skirt, and a scoop-neck blouse with full sleeves. I hadn't quite figured out which pattern I was going to do for the blouse. There was one that had these beautiful blousy 3/4 length sleeves that I really liked. The other pattern was a tunic style with a faux drawstring neckline. It seemed much more casual but easy to make. I had this image of a dark skirt, a cream colored silky chiffon blouse, and a dark purple velvet or suede vest. This is the image I went to the fabric store with.
Within a few minutes of our arrival, it became apparent that I would have to revise my vision. There were no dark purple velvets, suedes or otherwise textured fabrics available- at least not a color that would blend with the purple of the wedding party. Grape...not so much for this wedding. Ok, so we just had to look for something in dark purple. It's a little trickier to get a lighter weight fabric and still have the right structure for the vest but hey, I know about interlining! So I put on a brave face and sallied forth. We finally found a faux dupioni in exactly the right color. Right next to it was this interesting silvery purple, which we discovered, was actually the fabric for the wedding party. I'd never have guessed it was so silver looking. But the dark purple was much better for me and it blended nicely.
While we were looking, we stumbled across this beautiful sheer in the same dark purple but shot with metallic threads in a redder purple color. We oohed and ahhed over it but couldn't quite figure out what to do with it. But we hugged it and put it in the cart to think about.
We found a black sueded fabric for the skirt and started looking for a cream chiffon. Oops...well not so much. They had lots of sheers but in that stiff bridal material- not a good match for the type of blouse I wanted nor is it nice to wear against the skin. The one chiffon with a nice hand to it was polka-dotted. By this time we'd figured out that I could put the striped sheer over the dupioni on the front of the vest and didn't figure that polka-dots would be the best complement to the stripes. We searched high and low and were starting to get concerned when I found what I wanted in the drapery section. It's silky with a bit of crinkle to give it texture and very light weight.
Now we went to the patterns. I know this sounds backwards but since I had a good idea of my plan and copies of the patterns with numbers, it wasn't so backwards. I already had a straight skirt pattern but we'd forgotten to check the yardage so we did that on a similar pattern. The vest pattern was quickly retrieved as well. But then I pulled out the pattern for the blouse with the sleeves I liked and discovered that rather than buttoning in front it had a wide shear lace panel which, when the blouse is tucked in, doesn't show (hence not visible on the online pattern photo). That wouldn't work. But I pulled out the directions to get a general idea of the shape of the sleeve. Looking at the tunic top pattern in combination with the fabric I thought it would be dressy enough but they didn't have my size. We perused other patterns but that truly seemed to be the best choice. Fortunately, when the sales clerk called Springfield, they had a copy which they put on hold for Mom to pick up today.
Total bill for fabric, notions, and one pattern- $95. With the second pattern we will be closer to $105. Did I mention my mother got her dresses at the JC Penny's 60% off sale and paid $75 total for the two. *sigh* No great bargains for me.
At home was started washing fabric- all of which has to be carefully washed. Then began drafting patterns. Oh yes, I told you we purchased patterns...The sizes on patterns are about 12 inches smaller than the commercial sizes. So while I usually wear a 20-22 in womens, the size 24 on the patterns have to be sized up an additional 7 inches. Doesn't that sound like fun? *snark* Since we didn't have the blouse pattern, I cut out a pattern for the skirt out of muslin for Mom. I'm going to do the vest since it's probably a bit beyond Mom's skill level with the combination of fabrics and the changes in the pattern for fitting and lengthening. Mom thinks she can do the shirt. We'll see. She doesn't understand how widgy that fabric will be. I still have to do a mock up of the pattern to check for fit anyway.
Why no, I have no idea when I'm going to have time to do all of this, why do you ask?
I had spent a good portion of time sorting through patterns online and had settled on a u-neck tailored vest, long straight skirt, and a scoop-neck blouse with full sleeves. I hadn't quite figured out which pattern I was going to do for the blouse. There was one that had these beautiful blousy 3/4 length sleeves that I really liked. The other pattern was a tunic style with a faux drawstring neckline. It seemed much more casual but easy to make. I had this image of a dark skirt, a cream colored silky chiffon blouse, and a dark purple velvet or suede vest. This is the image I went to the fabric store with.
Within a few minutes of our arrival, it became apparent that I would have to revise my vision. There were no dark purple velvets, suedes or otherwise textured fabrics available- at least not a color that would blend with the purple of the wedding party. Grape...not so much for this wedding. Ok, so we just had to look for something in dark purple. It's a little trickier to get a lighter weight fabric and still have the right structure for the vest but hey, I know about interlining! So I put on a brave face and sallied forth. We finally found a faux dupioni in exactly the right color. Right next to it was this interesting silvery purple, which we discovered, was actually the fabric for the wedding party. I'd never have guessed it was so silver looking. But the dark purple was much better for me and it blended nicely.
While we were looking, we stumbled across this beautiful sheer in the same dark purple but shot with metallic threads in a redder purple color. We oohed and ahhed over it but couldn't quite figure out what to do with it. But we hugged it and put it in the cart to think about.
We found a black sueded fabric for the skirt and started looking for a cream chiffon. Oops...well not so much. They had lots of sheers but in that stiff bridal material- not a good match for the type of blouse I wanted nor is it nice to wear against the skin. The one chiffon with a nice hand to it was polka-dotted. By this time we'd figured out that I could put the striped sheer over the dupioni on the front of the vest and didn't figure that polka-dots would be the best complement to the stripes. We searched high and low and were starting to get concerned when I found what I wanted in the drapery section. It's silky with a bit of crinkle to give it texture and very light weight.
Now we went to the patterns. I know this sounds backwards but since I had a good idea of my plan and copies of the patterns with numbers, it wasn't so backwards. I already had a straight skirt pattern but we'd forgotten to check the yardage so we did that on a similar pattern. The vest pattern was quickly retrieved as well. But then I pulled out the pattern for the blouse with the sleeves I liked and discovered that rather than buttoning in front it had a wide shear lace panel which, when the blouse is tucked in, doesn't show (hence not visible on the online pattern photo). That wouldn't work. But I pulled out the directions to get a general idea of the shape of the sleeve. Looking at the tunic top pattern in combination with the fabric I thought it would be dressy enough but they didn't have my size. We perused other patterns but that truly seemed to be the best choice. Fortunately, when the sales clerk called Springfield, they had a copy which they put on hold for Mom to pick up today.
Total bill for fabric, notions, and one pattern- $95. With the second pattern we will be closer to $105. Did I mention my mother got her dresses at the JC Penny's 60% off sale and paid $75 total for the two. *sigh* No great bargains for me.
At home was started washing fabric- all of which has to be carefully washed. Then began drafting patterns. Oh yes, I told you we purchased patterns...The sizes on patterns are about 12 inches smaller than the commercial sizes. So while I usually wear a 20-22 in womens, the size 24 on the patterns have to be sized up an additional 7 inches. Doesn't that sound like fun? *snark* Since we didn't have the blouse pattern, I cut out a pattern for the skirt out of muslin for Mom. I'm going to do the vest since it's probably a bit beyond Mom's skill level with the combination of fabrics and the changes in the pattern for fitting and lengthening. Mom thinks she can do the shirt. We'll see. She doesn't understand how widgy that fabric will be. I still have to do a mock up of the pattern to check for fit anyway.
Why no, I have no idea when I'm going to have time to do all of this, why do you ask?
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