Snakes and ladders

OK maybe more snakes.

I should be showing you a picture of me in a Stylearc Slip on Suzie, a pseudo wrap dress I worked on today. 

You are going to have to do with the pattern picture only.

I can't show you any more than that owing to the fact my dress in in the garbage can in my sewing room, and a keen mind would be able to detect that one side of it appears to have been gnawed by scissors.

It is a great pattern. 

I have had this one for ages but was reluctant to try it since some of the versions I have seen looked pretty tight and low and seemed more suitable for walking around with a round tray with swizzle sticks on it than what I actually do in my life.

My compromise was to make it in a smaller pattern size than I usually buy to make the neck and shoulders smaller and to add to the sides, about 1/2" each seam or  2" total.

I had some really beautiful periwinkle blue knit I got locally and I followed the instructions for part of the way.

I say part because I am too smart to read directions on how to arrange the front pieces and twice ended up with the crosses all mixed up and in one try with the seams on outside on one side.

This was the point at which I referred to the instructions which I really suggest you do if you make this dress.

I did do as instructed, which I should not have done, for the neckline which I stablized, turned and cover-hemmed however.  Doing this only revealed to me, once again, that the fabric at the bottom of the street tends to be crap whatever the price, this wasn't inexpensive at all.

It was a rayon/lycra but working with it I soon figured out it was one of the flacid cheapo rayon knits with no recovery that pick up every crease going and need to be ironed which flattens them out even more and kills whatever life it might have had in it.

You know the kind.

This was too bad since it turns out the dress as altered fit and looked great, but I knew as I sewed with it that the fabric was just not worth the work. So I cut open offending seam, read the words. I then figured out how it was supposed to go together which will be useful knowledge in the future and decided that next time I will just bind the neckline edge.

This pattern deserves better fabric and so do I.

So I am going to pack this pattern away until I do a fabric shopping afternoon in a stop over in NYC  the end of February.

Bad news - I wasted money and time today

Good news - I made a non wearable muslin and have a great pattern for a faux wrap dress in the repertoire. I really can't wear a real wrap. Think about it. I am born to unwrap, just that kind of person.

All that said though to be honest a success would have been nice.

It is still grey and slushy outside and I have had enough of that thank you.

Also, and this is where the real snake comes in,  it appears when I finally decided to declutter my closets (you know there are a thousand articles/blog posts/ pins about this) and as instructed to make three piles - toss, donate and save - well it appears I saved the toss and gave away the save.

All of my favourite summer dresses are gone. As in gone, gone, and gone.

The ones I love and look forward to every year because I love, love the fabric. 

Yup.

Gone.

I have spent some time going over and over the house but to make a long story short, the off season clothes I put in plastic bags while I was emptying drawers for visitors got taken to Value Village about two months ago instead.

I may pass those dresses on the street some day but I can't have them back.

Today's dress was meant to be me climbing back on the horse - but this is where we came in.

On the up side I now have a lot of real fabric shopping to do and that pretty much cheers me up.

I'm thinking I may make a T shirt tomorrow and plan.