Abstract Floral Appliqué

Sometimes a project comes together even better than expected.

I will admit that I was disappointed when my first muslin of Vogue 9125 did not turn out exactly as I had hoped.

But sometimes having to work through a problem can really turn out for the best!

And I am quite pleased with how this dress turned out.  

Scaling up the design also made this one of the faster Alabama Chanin style projects I have worked on.

If there is anything that I would change about this garment, it would be the 100% cotton jersey, which stretched out slightly after wearing the dress all day.  Those many, many running stitches that created the appliqué certainly help to combat that problem, but the silhouette probably would have worked better with a little bit of extra recovery built into the textile. 

That said, I am not sure I would have enjoyed hand sewing through a fabric with lycra or spandex.  And I do not think that the issue is all that noticeable.

For the moment, I am going to keep my altered muslin.  I may end up adding some extra ease and trying to make this in a woven, or perhaps I will find a suitable knit that I really like.  I would love to get my hands on a heavier weight merino knit . . .

And now I need to think up another project with lots of hand stitching to keep my hand busy.  I keep meaning to play around with some wool felt as an appliqué medium, but I am starting to dream of Spring colors and fabrics, so that may have to wait until the Fall.  But I am sure I will find something else to keep me occupied until then!

Dress:  Made by me, Vogue 9125

Shoes:  Banana Republic
Earrings:  Banana Republic

Hand Stitched

I can only go so long before I need a project that will require a whole lot of hand stitching.

I made a stencil of this Alabama Chanin design a while back, but never actually got around to using it.  Until now!

And then a few months back, I made a muslin of Vogue 9125.  It ended up more snug than I like in a woven, but it seemed that it might work in a stretch fabric.  This just happens to be one of those designs that suggests both woven and knit fabrics which I really do not understand.  In this case, the dress appears to be drafted more for a knit than a woven.

Time for a change of plans!

Which meant that I would not need any extra seam allowance to play with, so they were trimmed off of the muslin/pattern pieces. 

I had just enough white cotton jersey stashed away for the dress, so it seemed like it was meant to be.   

Then I had to decide on a color scheme - and this is what I came up with.

The oversized stencil design made this a fairly quick project.

At least, quicker than my previous hand appliquéd projects!

For this particular dress, I decided to use a double strand of embroidery floss to appliqué the two layers together.

It is not the strongest thread option out there, but the massive choice of color options makes the embroidery floss very tempting.

And since this dress really does not have much negative ease, I did not anticipate a problem with my thread choice.

I did use a button and carpet thread for the seams, just to be safe.

The topstitching, however, is embroidery floss.  (I definitely have a tendency to choose difficult to match fabric!)

I was slightly concerned that the large motifs that would be cut away might make my fabric choice a little too thin for my taste, but it turned out just fine.

And then a whole lot of hand stitching later . . .

and I had a new dress!

I continue to love the raw edge look that the original Alabama Chanin pieces have, but I just cannot get used to the idea of leaving edges raw.  Especially with fabrics that curl.

I did, however, use a single fold, so those raw edges are on display from the inside of the garment.  What a rebel, right!  And I guarantee that this is just about as anti-seam binding as I am ever going to get . . .

Connect the Dots

There has not been much in the way of sewing happening around these parts.  I seem to have lost all my creative motivation.

But I did manage to get through the photos of this dress.  

The weather has started to turn cold which means this dress will get stashed away in the closet for a few months.  But it will definitely see some wear next year - these Alabama Chanin style clothes really are extremely comfortable!

And as to what my next project will be . . . I have absolutely no idea.

I have been meaning to make myself a new coat for the last couple of years, but never manage to get to it while the garment would be weather appropriate.  And working with heavy wool in the Spring just feels wrong.

A hand sewing project actually sounds rather appealing, but I think I want to take a bit of a break from cotton jersey.  Hopefully a few days of vacation will get me back in the sewing room.

Dress:  Made by me, Butterick 6129

Shoes:  Banana Republic

A Portable Project

It was only a matter of time before I jumped head first into another Alabama Chanin project.

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.