Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Back to V1239

Hello everyone!  A sewing post again.  My garden didn't turn out super great, I have a lot to learn, I think.  I got a few things out, but not the veggie bonanza I'd hoped for.  Anyway, I'm coming back to V1239, which I last posted about more than a year ago.  I had tried to devise a dart-free full bust adjustment, but I don't think it would have worked.  So, instead I used the full bust adjustment for cut-on sleeves in the fit-for-real-people book where you don't cut the sleeves off first.  I added an inch on each side, and I'm happy with the result.  The new muslin is much more comfortable to wear and doesn't have crazy gapping on the front neckline and collar.  
Old Muslin


New Muslin
I prepared my fabric, a stone (i.e., brownish grey) poplin with no stretch from Mood.  It's a nice yarn-died fabric with one direction of yarn in color and the other white.  Gives a great effect to the fabric.  I was inspired by some shoes I saw recently to go out and buy fluorescent thread for the topstitching.  I have all-purpose fluorescent yellow and topstitching fluorescent pink, so I'll do a test and then decide which to use on the actual dress.  

That silver rod in the galvanized steel bucket is my laundry line.  It's got a super handy cover so I don't have to wipe down the lines every week when I go out to dry my laundry.  The bucket holds the ground socket for the laundry line with quick-set cement.  About 200 pounds of cement.  Even if I load up a single side of my laundry line with wet towels, it still doesn't come close to being tippy.  

And, finally, a photo of the sweet outdoor kitties we take care of.  Tidbit is on the left and Squeaker on the right. 

2 comments:

Catherine Craig said...

Hi. I'm new to your blog, and I'm getting ready to start a muslin for this pattern. I'm having trouble finding a follow-up post to this one. How did things turn out? What are the major "danger zones" or pitfalls?

IowaHoodlum said...

Hi Catherine, I didn't manage to post a follow-up, so you're not missing anything. I ended up scrapping the full-bust adjustment I had tried, and so I just sewed according to the pattern and instructions as supplied by Vogue. Overall, I was very happy with how the dress turned out. I am not the straightest of top-stitchers, but I went slowly and managed to do well enough. I used a fluorescent yellow thread one one side and a thread the same grey color as my fabric on the other side, and so I was able to reverse the dress to wear it. I hope your project goes great! Catherine Daze posted about this dress on her blog, too. I know she's sewing actively (more than me, anyway!), so she might also be a good resource for you.