Friday, May 19, 2006

Less talk, more vegetables

If there's one thing I really hate about sewing, it's hemming. Poor Todd knows this from experience: he's waited months, sometimes even a year, for me to hem his pants. I procrastinate as long as I can, even when it's a simple little task like mending part of a hem that's come out. If it weren't for the strong desire to finish a project, I'd probably never do any hems at all. But when you've put all the work into making a pattern and sewing the rest of the dress or skirt, you can't really let a little hem stop you from finishing, can you?

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DSC_0064This little dress was a brainstorm I had last weekend. I whipped out the pattern, spent a few naptimes sewing it, and then the dress hung in the dining room all week, waiting to be hemmed. So I finally finished it last night and couldn't wait for the weather to turn nice for a photo shoot. The model's mood was a wee bit grey as well; we managed a trip to the library this afternoon, but apparently someone needed a longer nap.

Anyway, I'm happy with the dress but, as always, the pattern needs some tweaking. I was sure that the buttons would sit further in front of her shoulder rather than on top, so the straps need to be adjusted forward about an inch. And I think the curve of the waistline is a bit too extreme. You can't tell from the photos, but there are princess seams on the skirt so that it flares all the way around rather than just at the side seams. I'll be making this pattern again, once the adjustments are made. I think I'll add piping at the princess seams next time, just for the fun of it.

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By the way, I don't think I spend very much time on the phone, but I'm getting a few hints that I may be wrong on that count. First of all, I had to get a new cell phone plan because I kept burning through the four hours (!) of time on my old plan. And now a certain someone walks around the apartment with a cell phone glued to her ear with one hand. Perhaps I should start eating jars of Earth's Best Summer Vegetable Dinner baby food, since I'm obviously being imitated very closely.


whipup

23 comments:

  1. Love the dress. I bought a few yards of the orange floral print last month and it is still waiting to be made in to a skirt. I'm with you on the hemming. I have a maternity dress that I never wore because I didn't finish the hem!

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  2. Um, dear, your old cell phone plan had five hours per month, not four. And that didn't include nights and weekends.

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  3. Anonymous10:13 PM

    Ha! Nice post from Husband...That dress is adorable.

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  4. Such a gorgeous dress!

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  5. Anonymous12:48 AM

    That dress is so cute! It really did turn out great with the flare and the curved top. I'm very impressed. :)

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  6. That dress is adorable!

    And the kid's no slouch either. :-)

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  7. Oh husbands, that's so funny!

    I really love that dress. Wish I had been as skilled and patient when my girls were that little.

    As for the imitation thing, it only works on bad things. For imitating all the good stuff you have to wait 'til she's a mother herself...

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  8. Anonymous9:31 AM

    Liesl,
    I love it! Beautiful.

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  9. Anonymous6:50 PM

    I love that dress it's so cute. I just read an interesting article in M.Stewarts Living about aging those cute floral prints. You don't even want to know how many hours on our plan it's embarrassing!

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  10. !

    I just bought that fabric and used it in a skirt! I love it when this happens. :) The dress is very sweet.

    Here's the skirt I made with that fabric:
    http://flickr.com/photos/ohbara/148508507/

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  11. Anonymous9:19 PM

    I love the orange floral fabric - seems lots of people have bought some. Can I ask where you found it? Love the two teeth on your little girl - so cute! And yeah for naptime sewing projects!

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  12. Hmmm, can anyone tell us where that fabric is from? I can't recall for sure, but I think I may have purchased it at JoAnn fabrics back in November or December of last year. I really should keep better records of my fabrics, since I always wish I had purchased more...

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  13. Anonymous1:05 PM

    Liesl, Little is BEAUTIFUL! And I love the dress -- I'd pay big bucks for a dress like that for my daughter (in pink -- my Lala will only wear pink these days)! And that you just whipped it out: impressive.
    Groetjes, Deb

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  14. Anonymous1:05 PM

    Liesl, Little is BEAUTIFUL! And I love the dress -- I'd pay big bucks for a dress like that for my daughter (in pink -- my Lala will only wear pink these days)! And that you just whipped it out: impressive.
    Groetjes, Deb

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  15. Anonymous7:12 PM

    That little dress is utterly adorable

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  16. wow. thats all i can really say right now. wow. who just "whips up" something like that???

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  17. Anonymous4:37 PM

    My son picks up anything with buttons he can get his hands on and pretends it's a cell phone, too! "Blah, blah, blah" he says into it, so I'm getting commentary not only on the amount of time I spend on the phone, but on the tone of my conversations.

    The dress is almost as adorable as your daughter and that shot of her two new little teeth is wonderful.

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  18. I hate hemming so much that I have invented ways to avoid it all together. First trick is to make everything reversible such that you get two outfits in one and thus don't have to hem although I usually sew along the edge so it lies flat but so much easier then hemming and the second great hemming escape is to use bias tape or fold velvet ribbon in half and sew along edge. It looks really fancy and is still easier then the hemming.

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  19. The dress is adorable. I can't see the "flaws." I think we are much harsher on ourselves and our projects.

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  20. Anonymous7:30 AM

    that last picture with the 2 little teeth is adorable. love the dress and the fabric, too. sooo sweet.

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  21. Anonymous7:44 PM

    beautiful dress... got the pattern whipped up for a 4T?!? really lovely!

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  22. Anonymous1:58 AM

    Seeing the little orange dress made me think of all the years I was a seamstress. I made so many little girlie dresses to sell at craft shows.I made prom dresses, mom's summer wardrobe,my wardrobe,everything you could think of. I even made the clothes for a big chain fabric store. Now, I'm a quilter. I still have tons of patterns though.

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  23. Anonymous12:54 AM

    Absolutely lovely ... oh and with hemming even! An absolute delight!

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