I just had enough material to finish my crimson Simplicity 1609 – the 1960’s tribute shift dress mentioned in my last post. I didn’t quite have enough to cut out the facings as per pattern, which were drafted all in one piece. I had to redraft the neck facing and sleeve facings separately in order to use up all available material. I didn’t line it, I shall make have made a separate undershift/petticoat to keep the fluidity of the design. Rightly or wrongly I thought that perhaps a fixed lining would ‘ground’ the shift too much. I overlocked the facings and side seams and bottom of the hem and it looks quite tidy inside but I can’t leave it without a lining of some kind because the material is quite scratchy.

For such a simple frock I was taking no chances. I find that the simpler the design the more careful the execution has to be if it is not to look ‘home made’, so as shown in my previous post I tacked all the markings, the balance lines and the darts. I also made up two toiles to get the skim-fit just right. In the end I cut it out and my first finish was just a tad too loose, so I had to go back and take in the darts at the back. I toyed with the idea of undoing the front and side seams and taking them in, but I didn’t have to and was I pleased about that!

So there you have it. I have a few projects in mind next. I really love Sarah Gunn’s Vogue 8776 cape

[http://goodbyevalentino.com] and would love to do it in just that tweed. However, I have a long list of ‘want to’s’ and a couple longer list of ‘need to’s’. Disciplining my mind is the problem at the moment to concentrate on keeping on task – whatever that is. My initial relief on getting back to sewing has waned a bit and I am now getting a bit annoyed with myself. I have a lot going on in the background and sewing is really my relaxation and escape I suppose, but it isn’t quite doing its job at the moment.

Looking back over recent posts I saw that in one I had listed the makes that I had not photographed or posted, one of which was my dyed ‘denim’ short sleeved blouse. This is just a plain shirt type blouse made from some no longer white cotton sheeting that I put in with other things I was dyeing navy blue. The result was quite a pleasing denim colour. I put a white collar band on it to lift the colour a bit. It is a very useful little blouse and I wear it more than I initially thought.

Like most sewers I have to make myself strike the proper balance between sewing clothes I wear daily [such as underwear – on my ‘need-to’ list] more tops and skirts and those items where I feel I really need to stretch myself and improve my skills, coats and jackets – and yes, Vogue 8776!