I have ideas bursting in my head and I need more practice translating them to paper!
I am pleased with the way my last two projects came out…fabric to paper to clothing. I’m finding I need to take more time to document finishing steps as I go. I’m learning a lot from a book I have recently devoured, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing, not the least of which is “write it down!” I learned more reading that book than I have in the past 10 years regarding business and sewing.
I know I’m not a stellar patternmaker, but I am trying to realize my designs as I dream them. I also come up with changes and improvements each time I sew something new, so I’m working really, really hard on writing down my changes.
I have always marked my patterns clearly, but I’m going to really track the development of my designs more….sometimes being methodical in practice can open up new pathways to creativity.
Coming soon I’ll have a cape and a yoked, scalloped edged wool jacket based on this:
The pattern I used here was from Ottobre Designs Winter ’07 Magazine.
I had to make some changes to it already, but it’s not my design. A size 92 is the smallest available so I tried grading down. I still had to take a pretty large tuck in the back to make the collar fit Ella. I used a single button from my Grandmother’s button stash. The original design has buttons down the front, but I really like the open look here. I also found the perfect button and didn’t have any others to coordinate. Maybe I rationalized myself into the single button?
Then I simplified the scalloped edge in the pattern by using the pre-scalloped stitch on my machine and then trimming it away. I didn’t trust my own sewing skills on freehanding larger scallops, even following a traced edge! I love the technique I learned to cut out the lace, and I will definitely employ that one in my own design! I also love the jewel neckline, but this could be fantastic with a bit of a collar too (and possibly more useful from Autumn to Winter as an actual Jacket and not just a sweater).
I made Ella’s Birthday “Party Dress” out of stretch corduroy and Anna Maria Horner’s Garden Party fabric in Polka Line. I just happened to have tights that match perfectly that I picked up in Amsterdam last year on a bit of a legwear-purchasing-spree! Here are pictures of Ella in her Party Dress and Teatime Pinafore…tomorrow I’ll try to get them together.
Those adorable fairies came from Aunt Stephanie and she got them here. I don’t know who loves them more…baby or mommy!?
Speaking of fairies…I did make Ella her requested fairy costume, but she refuses to wear it (yet)….maybe I should place it on Formella and entice her that way! *sigh* Here are the two layers of the underskirt. The overskirt is a gorgeous flower print georgette, and I whipped up a little peasant top to go with it, since the whole thing did not go as planned. Mostly because it wasn’t planned.
So, coming back to writing things down, planning projects on paper, and making conscious design changes….the fairy costume was one accident after another…if nothing else, I learned to make notes on my sketches. Let’s hope that lesson learned translates into more productive time and even better design work!
my dharma...work in progress 
