Romancing the Dress - Periwinkle Blue Anjelica Cotton Knit Cutie

Laurel in Anjelica at San Francisco Legion of Honor

Did You Make That? 

Yep!

I 'm pretty pleased with this new periwinkle blue cotton knit dress I sewed, using one of the many  patterns included in my recently purchased  Famous Frocks: The Little Black Dress: Patterns for 20 Garments Inspired by Fashion Icons. I'm pretty cautious about buying books with included patterns (what if I only like one?) , but I find the entire book very inspirational, and I'm envisioning sewing several of the other dresses.

This romantically styled frock is the "Anjelica Jolie" dress. I used the darts and no-sleeve styling from the top variation, and the straight of grain and cotton knit from the dress version. I tried wearing a narrow belt at the true waist, but it looked awful on me - it just didn't suit my H-shaped figure. Also I think, maybe, it's too blousy at the top to suit a woman with more bust if it's belted too low. Emphasizing the bosom with a wide belt worn just below the bust line looks better. Sometimes I just have to try every belt and waistline in my wardrobe to get it right. This is the belt I created for my peaches and cream shirtwaist dress. It's 3 inch wide black elastic with a simple slider no-tongue belt buckle.

I felt very Cinderlla-ish wearing this dress to the San Francisco Legion of Honor museum this last week, especially since I was going to see a fashion exhibit, High Style, The Broklyn Museum Costume Collection. I got a nice compliment from the young woman who rented the audio head set. She liked it that I had dressed up for the exhibit. I enjoyed that being dressed up feeling, and I was really comfortable too. I'm thinking this light frock will be nice for travel, what do you think?

Yes, this book is inspiring me to make more. I've already begun making a muslin for the princess-seamed Princess Diana sheath dress and I have my eyes on the Grace Kelly dress, based on one she wore, and I loved, in the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rear Window. Do you remember the scene towards the end, where Lisa (Grace) hides her Vogue magazine inside a very studious looking hardback book to fake Jimmy Stewart into thinking she's getting serious about important issues?

If I sew each of these, that's three patterns. I interested in trying the variations on them as well - some of which aren't typical of what you'd find in a pattern envelope. I'm going to try the top variation for this Anjelica pattern (in a woven) as well. I'm attracted to a couple of the other patterns, particularly the Coco Channel jersey dress, in the sleeveless variation. My guess is that I'll be sewing at least half the patterns in the book, if not more.

One thing I found great about using patterns from this book,versus buying an individual pattern, is that there  is an extensive part of the book that covers sewing techniques. These are different than just following directions from a pattern instruction sheet, because they help me to better develop my overall sewing skills, and I'm not blindly following steps that I might not understand. Once I've used two or three of these patterns, the cost of the book compares favorably with the purchase of the same number of pattern (even with pattern discounts), and the educational sewing skill-building advantage makes it worth more to me, than buying those individual patterns.

                               

Technicos: Ruffling those Scales

My beruffled sample
Looked nice, crisp and flat after a final seam allowance trim

I'm back from my unexpected family medical visit, though I will be making regular return trips for a bit. Good thing I put the Enchanted By Sewing podcast on hold until next month, so I can play catchup. During that visit I got behind in my samples for sewing class. It's tempting to hurry through the pile, but I found that careful work was a bit of a tonic after the stress of dealing with emotions and multi-tasking of the past week-plus.

I wasn't expecting the ruffles to be a big deal. Ruffling was the first sewing skill I ever learned. (I described my experiences in the 'cast as a little girl with a great big needle, a long thread and dolls that wanted dressing back in Episode 2: Romancing the Dress.) That's probably why I chose to get this sample done first, easiest first right?

The ruffles weren't a pain to sew, but I did focus on a few things I hadn't learned in my long unstudied sewing career. This ruffling experience reminded me of learning versus practicing piano scales. Every pianist learns to play her scales, she gets the idea of the relationship between one note and another just as I long ago learned the basic idea of sewing ruffles by pulling a thread. But it's aware practicing and  attention to details, that turns the pianists pressure on the keys into a thing of beauty.  I realized while working on this sample that it wasn't enough that I knew how to gather fabric on a thread. It's repeated practice with this basic skill, and attention to what makes them look crisp that improves my sewing performances.

While I was sewing, pressing and trimming, I found myself singing a little tune from one of my daughter's favorite Disney movies, the "Aristocrats"

Do mi do mi do so mi do

Every truly cultured music student knows
You must learn your scales and your arpeggios
Bring the music ringing from your chest
And not your nose
While you sing your scales and your arpeggios

If your faithful to your daily practicing
You will find you progress is encouraging
Do mi so mi do me so mi fa la so it goes
When you do your scales and your arpeggios

Do mi so do

The goal was to create two ruffles. The top one (shown on the far left) is a self-faced ruffle, pretty on both sides. The lower (rightmost ruffle) is a narrow-hemmed embellishment.

Narrow-Hemming Trick

In order to turn a very narrow hem I've learned to run a row of stitching along the hem before pressing it under, then under again and pressing. My narrow hems now come out a lot straighter.

The pen is pointing out the midway little clip spot I used to help me align the ruffle as evenly as possibly.

Getting those ruffles to fill more evenly

I laid the little clip in line with the midway point on my supposed garment (imagine the yellow material is an apron skirt that I'm going to embellish with a fuffle on the hem. Then I pressed the ruffles. This is a new-to-me trick. It sure helps get them in place so I don't get too much ruff in one spot and too little in another

Nearly there, But Kind of Thick Behind

Removing Ruffle Bulk 
The ruffles are sewn down and pressed, but they look kind of thick, don't they? I flipped them over and trimmed the seam allowance for a nice improved flatter look.

Flatter and Crisper


Do mi do mi do so mi do
Every truly cultured sewing student knows
You must learn to trim and press your ruffles-Oo
Keep those folds from bulking up the seam
And on thy clothes
While you trim and press those lovely ruffles-Oo

If your faithful to your steady practicing
You will find you progress is encouraging
Do mi so mi do me so mi fa la so it goes
When you trim and press those lovely ruffles-Oo

Do mi so doi