Giraffe dress! (Show your working.)

Here's the progress update I promised, complete with pictures and a sort-of explanation of how I did things. I copied the bodice pattern from the red dress I'm wearing in the post from a couple of days ago, and altered the front a little so it looked more like this.

As you can see my drafting methods are exhaustive and highly technical.

I cut out all the bodice pieces first and sewed together the outer fabric, then did an initial fitting. I tried to take photos but apparently I failed Bathroom Mirror Photography 101, so no blank expressions from me as I awkwardly fit the front pieces.

Fun fact: I'm too lazy to wear a bra at home, but I couldn't do a fitting without one. Enter me, sauntering around my house with a bra on over my shirt because I couldn't be arsed getting changed. Pfft. Expending effort, what?

Anyway. Then I started attaching the lining:

To be honest, I sort of winged the skirt. What else is new? I also lost my tape measure (and by
'lost' I mean 'carefully put away somewhere so safe I can't find it'.) Bummer as. It turned out pretty ok though. Lots of hand finishing: the cross over front is handsewn, and I ended up turning and handsewing the lining at the waist seam:

To be honest, sewing chunky gathers like that in a heavy fabric without a walking foot was a bit of a task. I might see if I can commandeer the walking foot which Mum claimed a few years back when I head home next month. Sewing in an invisible zip without an invisible zipper foot (I had one, but I can't see where it went! Hurr hurr) went quite well though, so you know, go team me.

Here's the almost finished product:

It's wrinkling a bit funny under the bust on the right hand side of the photo, so I'll probably tweak that tomorrow, and the ribbon still needs to be sewn on, but otherwise I'm quite pleased with it. I'm still vaguely thinking of making a self-covered belt for it, but I might be too lazy for that. We'll see. Now I'm off to find pictures of HIGH FASHUN capes, because I have fabric left over and this bad boy is just crying out for a wee little caplet.

Musings and Procrastination

Instead of *actually* sewing something I've been thinking about stuff a lot today, and lazing about in my pajamas. I'm about to shower and start drafting up a pattern, but in the interim I have a couple of questions for anyone in the audience who wears high heeled shoes or petticoats.

1. When people say 'oh, they're really comfy' about high shoes, which of these things is happening? Have they, a) found a truly comfortable pair of high heeled shoes which love their feet and never give them blisters, have they b) found a pair of high heeled shoes which are comfortable as long as you don't walk anywhere in them or c) are they lying through their teeth?

I have a secret love affair with really really stupid shoes. I am also really bad at standing still. If I get to a bus stop and the bus isn't due for 10 minutes I will walk to the next stop, just for something to keep me busy. Even in my more sensible shoes I seem to wind up with feet that are grumpy and covered in blisters. Is there something I'm missing? Is the secret to wearing these shoes without my heels bleeding just to not walk anywhere?

Serious question, is there some giant high heeled shoes secret which I am not privy to? (My asking this may be motivated partly by a holographic red pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes I would love to justify buying.)

My second, more fun, question is if you have petticoats: how do you store them? My wardrobe is too small to fit them easily, is there some ingenious storage solution you have come up with? Spill! I am all ears.

(Proper update with photos and progress and such things later on tonight, promise.)