Hello! An introductory post

[jamethiel]

Hi everyone!

I hate shopping. I don't have enough money to buy really good stuff and so I tend to buy cheap stuff when my clothes are falling apart to keep me from nakedness.

But I love fashion. Good quality. Flattering cuts, good materials. The gorgeousness of a well-fitted jacket. What the right pants can do for you. But I don't have the time or the money to spend hours sorting through stuff and then there's the issue of the fact that nothing made now fits me. Not really. I have an old-fashioned figure--hourglass (44 33 43, which is less glamorous than it sounds given that I am 5'5") and clothes are made for women without waists.

But there are clothes out there. So, I'm making a committment right now.

I will not buy a single garment unless it a)fits me and b)is fabulous. I will not buy disposable fashion. I will buy good quality stuff and treat it well and it will LAST ME.

(There is an obvious exception to this. If I have a function or something else and I have nothing to wear, and also band tshirts and workout gear. Also, I'm not giving up my cotton undies.)

This is going to involve making some of my own clothes. If it doesn't fit me, I will damn well MAKE IT. The trouble is, finding the time or energy to do this.

I was talking about this with channonyarrow today. Both of us suffer from the thing where you put something aside for a couple of years, and then by the time you pick it up you don't remember what it was for or where you're up to and it no longer fits you. Or it's not the style you're into. So we've both decided.

PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. That both of us will strive towards our ideal wardrobe. That every single week, we will do some thinking or planning or doing. This may involve merely searching for patterns online and providing links. Or going to fabric shops and not finding the perfect fabric, but showing photos of the search. Or sewing one damn seam, or (for me) knitting another row on that scarf.

We will do this. And it will be fabulous.

SO. Tonight I finished cutting out my Red Dress of Awesome Parent Appropriateness (it hides my tattoo). I've spray glued the lining to the front (look, it wasn't lined in the designed and the main material is a tad see through. So instead of just making a shift lining and have it go all bulky at the gathers at the waist, I've decided to just spray the layers together and treat them as one piece) and I've set up my sewing machine to sew. I've stay-stitched the neck and sewn the darts in the front bodice. I've sewn the pocket facing to the skirt and the skirt to the front bodice. I have 7 less pieces. WOOT!

So, photos!
Starting off

Fabric. Inna bag. Mostly cut up, minus a couple of pieces. I finished the cutting up but didn't take photos

Now what I did tonight!





I'll probably do a progress post each week with pics.

What I will do next week. Double the length of my scarf. Sew the side front onto that dress. Make a duct-tape dummy.

As a comment on the dress, it's silk-cotton. I'm using silk thread to sew it and OMG BEST DECISION EVER. The gathering at the waist was SO EASY. It all just slid on the thread... like silk!

Because I have a question, I come bearing links.
Great Pattern Review is AMAZING. Real people talking about how a pattern actually was to sew. There is an emphasis on historical and costume stuff, but as I'm sort of going for vintage with a lot of stuff, that's completely fine. I've found folkwear through there and they have SO MUCH STUFF I WANT TO MAKE.

And secondly, a request. Does anyone in Melbourne, Australia, know how to get a sloper made for yourself? Or where it might be possible?