Swiss dot considerations

Okay, I'm not stalling on my Violet project, I promise! I just have to figure something out before I cut my fabric and really dive in. The fabric I chose for my adventures in Violet-making is ...you'll never guess...polka dotted. White and green swiss dot, actually. It is lightweight and rather sheer and I'd figured I'd end up wearing an undershirt of some sort with the finished product.

Poorly lit vintage swiss dot & little vintage clear buttons.

another fabric shot?

After seeing this and then lladybird's underlined swiss dot Violet today, I started to doubt my plan. I think I need to underline this baby...but with what? I'm not sure if I have enough fabric to underline with the swiss dot and I'm not even sure if that would be a good idea. The dots would surely show through and could potentially look odd. I don't have anything else white and lightweight, though. Any recommendations? Cotton batiste? Bah, I don't know! (Okay maybe I'm allowing myself to be paralyzed by indecision a little bit here...not purposely stalling, per se.)

Coming soon: Violet

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! I just got back from a last-minute long weekend trip to Richmond. We stayed in a cute little bed & breakfast right by the VMFA, in the museum district. It was a fun place to visit and we got to check out a few vintage/antique stores and I managed to pick up some little goodies (unfortunately represented here with poorly lit bad photography ...sigh).

Some cute vintage buttons I found.

More sewing books! "Embroidery," "Clothing for Moderns," and "Sewing Made Easy." No, those are not blue rubber dish-washing gloves.

A peek inside "Sewing Made Easy" - tips on measuring and figure flattery.

Inside "Clothing for Moderns" - display of "Prints either poor in design or lacking character." Unfortunately these were all polka dots! Looks like I need to work on my fabric choices.

Cute pattern transfers from "Embroidery." Can't wait to try these!

Before I left town, I'd been on the right track with my latest project -- Colette Pattern's Violet blouse. Well, at least on the right track preparing my latest project. I'd picked out my fabric, washed it, ironed it, laid it out on my nice new IKEA folding table (side note: I'd been searching for this - my dream sewing table - for months, once I'd learned of its existence. I managed to find it on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago and have been hyped to use it. It gives me so much space for working and laying out fabric and then folds up so small when I'm not using it, and it has drawers! - no more need to convince the boyfriend why I need so much computer room/office real estate for potential sewing. Yay!!), cut out and pressed my pattern pieces, arranged them on my fabric, and then... went to Richmond. Now that I've returned, this afternoon/evening, I have a cold or some persistent allergy problems and no energy to do anything other than post this.

I do expect I'll be back in action soon, though. I've got my pattern pieces all set up waiting for me to cut them out...taunting me, and the dread joy of agonizing over those seven buttonholes on the blouse, once I finally get to sewing. Wish me luck!

Round two

So, you know how I got that lot of patterns through Craigslist earlier this week? Well, today I lucked out again! I'd had this on my list of books to keep an eye out for, so I was ready to jump on it as soon as I saw it.

©1976 Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing

Funny thing is, the seller ended up being the same girl I bought the patterns from. (If you're for some reason reading this, Katie, thanks!!!!) I told her to just call me before she lists anything else! Anyway, I'd heard this book was a great reference guide, but when I actually got my hands on the thing, I was kind of blown away. In the first little section, this bad boy covers essentially every type of sewing tool and accessory known to man, and the different variations on them, plus how exactly to use 'em. You may think you know all about those things, but you might be surprised. I found myself saying, "Oh! that's what that thing's for," more than once. Hooray for learning! On top of that, the pictures and illustrations are so very clear and detailed, I'm already ready to try some new techniques -- and I'm only a few pages in! I'm sure this book is going to be a great help to me as I try new things and expand my sewing skills. Yay!