This was my first two days of dressmaking, at the end of March 2010:
On Saturday, I visited the dress shop to return the two patterns I decided not to use. I bought new 8" Gingher microserrated dressmaking shears, 4" embroidery shears, boning, hooks/eyes, hand needles, silk thread for basting, 14 yards of muslin for the test dress, interfacing for the bodice, zippers, glass head pins, and machine thread. When I got home, I laundered the muslin fabric and purchased some more materials online. Online I purchased 8 yards of natural white silk organza (which later turned into 16), 8 yards of natural white silk charmeuse, 6 yards of silk crepe de chine, bridal button loops, spiral steel boning, hand needles, and petersham grosgrain ribbon. Previously I had ordered a dress form and a couple of bustiers for my "bridal foundation garments." I am still waiting for all of those to arrive.
Today, I put the leaf in my dining room table to use as a sewing table--my ironing board isn't anywhere near big enough! I am using the table pads as an ironing board. Last night I ironed my ironing board for 15 minutes or so to make sure all the water is out of the iron. Today I used a squirt bottle to help remove wrinkles from the muslin fabric. I ironed the paper pattern on low heat and then cut out the pieces. I drew stitching lines on each piece, because there is 5/8" seam allowance on the paper pattern, but 1" or more is used on "couture" work (I'm learning here, and figured I might as well start with the fancy stuff). After I finished, I figured out how much muslin I would need for the first set of pieces and cut that amount off of my roll. I then straightened the grain by pulling a thread (time consuming!!), aligning, pinning the edges, and then ironing the center crease. I then pinned on the pattern pieces and finally cut out the fabric! Next I will use tracing paper and a wheel to transfer the marks from the paper pattern onto the fabric pattern. Then I have another set of pattern pieces to cut out.
On Saturday, I visited the dress shop to return the two patterns I decided not to use. I bought new 8" Gingher microserrated dressmaking shears, 4" embroidery shears, boning, hooks/eyes, hand needles, silk thread for basting, 14 yards of muslin for the test dress, interfacing for the bodice, zippers, glass head pins, and machine thread. When I got home, I laundered the muslin fabric and purchased some more materials online. Online I purchased 8 yards of natural white silk organza (which later turned into 16), 8 yards of natural white silk charmeuse, 6 yards of silk crepe de chine, bridal button loops, spiral steel boning, hand needles, and petersham grosgrain ribbon. Previously I had ordered a dress form and a couple of bustiers for my "bridal foundation garments." I am still waiting for all of those to arrive.
Today, I put the leaf in my dining room table to use as a sewing table--my ironing board isn't anywhere near big enough! I am using the table pads as an ironing board. Last night I ironed my ironing board for 15 minutes or so to make sure all the water is out of the iron. Today I used a squirt bottle to help remove wrinkles from the muslin fabric. I ironed the paper pattern on low heat and then cut out the pieces. I drew stitching lines on each piece, because there is 5/8" seam allowance on the paper pattern, but 1" or more is used on "couture" work (I'm learning here, and figured I might as well start with the fancy stuff). After I finished, I figured out how much muslin I would need for the first set of pieces and cut that amount off of my roll. I then straightened the grain by pulling a thread (time consuming!!), aligning, pinning the edges, and then ironing the center crease. I then pinned on the pattern pieces and finally cut out the fabric! Next I will use tracing paper and a wheel to transfer the marks from the paper pattern onto the fabric pattern. Then I have another set of pattern pieces to cut out.
I used my waxed tracing paper and a marking wheel to transfer the paper pattern markings onto the fabric pieces. After that I laid out, straightened, and ironed the piece of fabric for 4 more pattern pieces. That's the picture with kitty the assistant. I cut those out, much to the amusement of kitty cat, and that was about 10:30 PM. Next I will cut the rest of the pieces, transfer all the patterns with the tracing paper and then baste the pattern lines onto the fabric with thread. I was surprised to notice later last night that my tracing paper lines had faded! I looked at the tracing paper lines and it turns out I used disappearing ink tracing paper. :-) Arrgh! But, the tracing wheel left marks, so I am hoping that I will not need to reattach the paper patterns and then remark the pieces.
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