This project had been living in my closet for about a year,
needing a zipper re-do (I am really beginning to distrust those invisible zippers) and a hem. In honor of the Sew Weekly's UFO challenge, I
decided it was time to finish it once and for all, even if I never wore the darn thing.
And look - it seems that other people had blue on their
mind! Why is it, exactly, that everyone over at The Sew Weekly was feeling blue?
I am not terribly happy with the finished result, but it is
a relief to have one less unfinished project making me feel guilty. (Yes, I will admit that there are quite a few abandoned items living in my sewing room, and I really need to do something about it.)
What really gets me down is that I feel that I have ruined a
truly lovely length of washable silk/rayon velvet that I was lucky enough to find at
a warehouse sale for Bella Notte Linens.
How did I manage to make a mess of the project? Well, I was in a rush – it gets me in trouble
every time. Now, don’t get me wrong,
deadlines are fabulous things. However,
working with a challenging fabric, in a pattern that requires a bit of grading,
in a style that may or may not work is just no fun when you only have a couple
of days.
The first problem I had with the pattern was the size. This was one of the first Vintage Vogue
patterns I purchased.
The Simplicity and
McCalls that I was familiar with had ridiculous amounts of ease built in, so I
assumed a size 10 Vogue would be fine.
However, this particular dress is very fitted and I needed to add width
throughout the entire dress.
I started this dress about a year ago, with only two or
three days to complete it before an event.
Well, after quite a bit of hand basting and fighting with my seams, I
decided that the whole thing was a lost cause.
I even managed to crush the velvet right at the center front seam of the skirt
while applying my seam binding - FRUSTRATING FABRIC! I hung
it up in the closet to keep from destroying the pile of the velvet (if I ever
had the chance to re-use the fabric at some point).
When the Unfinished Objects challenge came along, I knew
that I would pull this dress out and do my best to finish it. But my first choice for the challenge was another
dress entirely – one that I had previously cut out and then abandoned when I realized I would not have enough fabric. I decided to piece together a couple of
different patterns and add a contrasting color, but it is back in the UFO pile once again, to be finished at some point in the future. Oh well, two projects in one week was asking a little too much.
At least I finished something, right?
Dress: Made by me,
Vogue 2610
Shoes: Seychelles
Fishnets: Simply Vera
Snood: Made by me,
Perky Snood
Necklace:
Grandmother’s, borrowed from mom
Earrings: Made by me
(originally buttons from Britex)
Clutch: Banana
Republic
