I’ve been trying to figure out how to make that delicate tissue paper last through endless pinnings as I make my new wardrobe, as well as how to use the same pattern piece to make a top and a dress.
The DUH! hit me. I can trace the patterns directly onto the fabric and just cut ’em out that way. I mean, jaysus, I’ve actually drafted more than one outfit directly onto fabric and not used a paper pattern at all! I know, you really experienced seamstresses (hem! hem!) can now laugh at me and ask what in hell pattern weights are made for in the first place. It makes the cutting out process a bit easier, really. Also, it’s keeping me honest in terms of marking my pattern pieces properly before I cut ’em out. I’m sometimes lazy about that, and then have to go hunting up the pattern piece to check out dots and darts. Of course I know better, but you know how it is! Cutting out is the part of sewing I tend to dislike the most. I’ll procrastinate for weeks on a project rather than cut it out.
I’m going to try to get a top and a skirt done today if I can. That sounds ambitious, but isn’t. This stuff is pretty easy to sew. The shell is just a tank top with bust darts and bias facing, and the skirt is really a tube with an elastic waistband. The link has a waistband technique I adore because it’s not that stupid casing trick where you get a bunchy, uneven twisted band. You know, it’s more like what they do for sweatpants and such. I’ve been using it for years. In fact, I think that article appears in the only print version of that magazine that I own.
I’m finding Excel a great boon in keeping track of this project. I’ve got a spreadsheet that figures yardage for the total project, yardage per garment, how many garments I’ve sewn and of what sort and how many I have left to go.