Dressmaking 2 - Mending 0

In what can only be described as a desperate ploy to avoid the enormity of my mending pile, the days following Christmas found me implementing my utterly self-serving sewing plans for 2015. It's a Mama's perogative is it not?  Afterall, just as is the case with dishwashing and laundry, there is always more mending that appears just when you think it a task completed.

The pattern I chose this year differs slightly from those of previous years...which is good - old dogs and new tricks and all that stuff.  It is "Dress B" that appears in the Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori.

Dress 1, was constructed following the rules, except that I left the sleeves out of the mix.  I am not a sleeve fancier since I almost always wear a sweater of some sort overtop, summer excepted.   The bust darts (a first for this Mama in the technique department) turned out perfectly.  The fabric is what seems to be a grey linen or hemp, but due to it's thrift store origins I can't say for certain which it is.  I took the liberty of adding a pretty little embroidered detail to make it my own.

Dress 2.  Same dress.  This time sewn in a brown cotton-linen blend from my stash pile (a pile that may or may not be the same height as my mending pile).  I thought that because the first round went so smoothly (followed the pattern exactly) that I could just jump in with the second (and pay not heed to the pattern).  Turns out there is a right and a wrong way to sew bust darts.  A new front piece was ultimately required, which led to a series of events that reminded me to always have the pattern instructions in front of me when sewing.  Lesson learned (again) and all turned out well.

Sometimes satisfaction comes from a menial task completed (mending).  Sometimes it comes from making new (sewing).  I almost always choose being satisfied by the latter.

Stay warm out there folks.  It's going to be a doozy!
 

Comments

[sustainablemum]

They are lovely. I love the embroidery you have added. I know what you mean about mending piles, my is looking at me longingly each time I walk past it.......

[Carlin]

Beautiful dress. I really love the gray color ~ also the embroidery and the hem. I have not heard of that book, I'll have to add it to my list.

[Karen]

It takes a special and extremely rare mood for me to reach into my mending basket...
Thanks for your kind words regarding the embroidery...it was a truly fun project to work on.

[Karen]

Thanks Carlin.
It is a great book but just requires a bit more prep time because of the pattern pieces. They cram many patterns onto two big sheets and it gets a bit confusing during the tracing process.

[Account Deleted]

Oh! The bird!

[Lynn Blair]

So pretty!

[Karen]

Thanks Lynn!

[Karen]

Hi Erin.
I realize that I put birds on a whole lot of things that I make....oh, and then there is the bird tattoo.
Birds it is.