First up was a dye job. This time around, I had a slightly streaky outcome using Dharma’s Fiber Reactive Dye. I cannot explain what I did wrong, except perhaps I was trying to squeeze too much yardage in my kitchen sink? Because I was not happy with the color, I cut the yardage in two and sent one half back in the dye bath. I actually like the darker color better, so all is well!
The polka dot stencils from the Alabama Chanin website were not quite right (mostly because I was paranoid that my
periwinkle leftovers from this top would not be enough to cut the number of appliqué pieces needed). In the end, I just drew a grid and traced my own dots to create my own stencil.
Since I love
this dress so much, I thought it would be worth
it to make another version. The
skirt pleats seemed like a bad idea with double and triple layers of cotton
jersey, so I swapped it for Sewaholic’s
Hollyburn Skirt.
A running stitch did not seem like the best option for the
appliqué. Instead, I pulled out some
scraps and re-familiarized myself with how to work a blanket stitch. I am hoping it will also keep the fraying at a minimum.
Because I knew that I was going to travel with this project, I tried basting my polka dots in place on a couple of pieces. This did not work well at all. The jersey started to curl at the edges, and the hasty basting started falling out when I handled and stitched things together.
What ended up working best was pinning as I went.
And although I did not get as much sewing done on my trip as I hoped, it was certainly nice to be able to work on something without needing a machine!
The many layers of jersey was challenging at times, and my fingers are still recovering, but I sure do love me some hand sewing!
I did manage to ruin three needles on this project. Top-stitching those seamlines required the use of jewelry pliers, and my tiny needles were not up to the task. But sacrifices must be made!
I would like to say that these projects have made me less fearful of knits, but I was just in the fabric store today and those super stretchy fabrics still make me very nervous.
Until I get over myself, I suppose 100% cotton jersey is a nice substitute without the crazy stretch.
Except for the finishing . . . look at those raw edges . . . the
Hug Snug is getting pretty jealous of all the time I am spending with this knit fabric!
But this process is pretty addictive, and I have a feeling there will be more of these projects in the future.
