Saturday, January 19, 2008

20. Never mind...

This is so weird. Susan and I did our "fitting" in the restroom at the climbing gym Wednesday evening. Using pins, I tried taking the extra width out of the bodice in different distributions across different seams - the princess seams (the ones that come up over her bust), the side seams and the back center seam. For each attempt, we checked the alignment of the side seams with my homemade plumb line and Susan evaluated the look, security and comfort.

In the end, she preferred having the entire amount taken out of the back center seam. Of course, that's where I had it originally - but without putting any real thought into it. So I am definitely glad we checked it.

I haven't revisited the actual pattern pieces, but I suspect that this isn't truly "legitimate". (The back center seam probably remains constant across the various sizes and all the adjustments for size probably occur at the side seams.) Still, it does look the most flattering - other options seemed to squeeze her so that she bulged over the top a little bit (one of those things that was much more obvious to her than it would be to anyone else, but she's the bride...) And it didn't really mess up the side seams like I thought it would. So, there you go... :)

I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has been following this blog and leaving comments for me. First and foremost, of course, is faeriekat - who has been encouraging me from the very beginning! :) Thank you so much!

More recently, some accomplished seamstresses, like Connie, aggietect04, and Emily have stopped by - your interest, encouragement and offers of help really mean a lot to me!

Knowing that at least a couple of experienced seamstresses check in here sometimes, I thought I'd throw out a question. This is my first time working with real silk - what am I in for? I read on one blog that someone leaves a generous seam allowance because silk frays at the edges. I read on another blog that it's difficult to work with, but I've heard lots of people rave about how nice it is to work with high quality fabrics (in general). What should I expect and are there certain techniques that I should consider - for example, would french seams be a good idea?

Thanks in advance for any information and advice you can provide! :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Aw, shucks, now I'm all embarrassed. I loved the dickens out of you and I'm so proud of you for taking on this challenge. I have no worries because I know you will give this project all the best you have, just like you always do. Mwah!