Coat progress despite distractions

I've been sewing today ... honest!  I felt good when I woke up, so had my daily driver fired up well before lunchtime.  I attached to back skirt to the yoke, after putting "permanent pleats" in the CB deep pleat.

I wish I could take a good pic of how I do this permanent pleat/crease idea that my mom did on my slacks decades ago when I was growing up.  It has no hope of showing up with black thread on an almost black back of the fabric though, so y'all will just have to visual until I get light color thread on the machine to do a demo on a scrap (note to self: don't forget to make an example for this).

A while back ago in chat, gloria had mentioned doing this for her slacks ... after making me first promise not to laugh about it.  I did chuckle, but it was because my mom did this years ago, and I wish I had done it on my long pleated gaucho pants as well.  It's so simple: just edgestitch about 1/16th of an inch in along a crease you want to be permanent.  Since the mystery home dec stuff doesn't seem inclined to hold a sharp crease - I am considering a vague maybe hint of a crease to be the best I can get - I really wanted a way to make this deep pleat hold its pleated shape.  The vinegar trick of chemically setting pleats sounds like it only works on fabrics that will take a sharp crease to begin with (now why hadn't I used that on the linen gaucho pants either?).

Distraction #1 occurred when I had a thought (just one, don't be too shocked!) to put the coat outer layer on Mathilda, and realized the black dotted 80s style blouse was still on Mathilda instead of being washed and worn.  When I pulled my blouse off Mathilda, I noticed I hadn't topstitched the facing down around the neckline.  Well, there's black thread loaded up on the machine ...!  So I went around shoulder seam to shoulder seam, and it has now finally made it into my laundry pile to the washer.

Distraction #2 came in the form of a Hancock run.  I decided I have coupons and ain't afraid to use them, so today is a perfect day to go get a walking foot.  Err ... FAIL!  They have two slant shank feet and zero low shank ... guess which style my machines require?  It wasn't a wasted trip though ... as if I could leave Hancock's empty handed. 

First happy acquisition: some gridded "interfacing" to draw a new corset pattern via Lady Drea's Custom Corset pattern generator.  Y'all knew this would end up being about corsets ... right?  LOL  Once I get it drawn out for my measurements, then I'll tweak the Simplicity 2621 pattern I've used before and frankenpattern the two into a new Elizabethan with boned tabs this time.  If it works out as planned, I will use the white pearl silk brocade for the outer layer!  Ice storm or no ice storm forecast ... I am trying to resist the temptation to drop the coat idea and make a new corset right now.

Which brings me to one of the two new Kwik Sew patterns I bought today.  Along with pleated shorts, I also bought the new bustier pattern, KS 3850.  I'll test it out as a bustier first, using my fuchsia linen from last year :)  then see just how easily it will adapt to a more boned corset.  Judging from the line drawings, it looks like it will convert very nicely!  Oh, I want to drop all this winter coat stuff and start on this immediately ...

Edit: Hit publish too soon!  Of course, all my wanting to drop the coat idea for now and do corsets and a bustier may partly be inspired by maggie finishing up her Victorian corset in blush dupioni.  I think it looks quite good, and considering maggie says she's learning as she does it, I'll bet the next version looks better.  They're not mistakes, they're learning experiences!  And y'all can bet that I have been taking notes, so I can make different mist -err, learning experiences.  ;)

S2566 blouse in black

And here it is, the second blouse from the Simplicity 2566 pattern, done up in printed cheap cotton I've had for about a year:

Not only does it fit Mathilda better ... it definitely fits me better!  It's casual; it's cute; it's whimsical ... and boy did it turn out looking so totally 80s!  It also needs a wash and press, which it will get once I have tonight's ensemble dryer-fluffed.  My challenge for the next 5 hours: keeping my two lighter colored cats from shedding on the outfit!  Both hubby and I will be wearing black pants, which the fur monsters find irresistible ...

Now that I've worked out the side dart FBA idea, and gotten a casual blouse as a result ... onward to hubby's cotton flannel plaid long sleeved shirt.  I'm going to give McCall's 4518 for it, a casual camp shirt style with a facing instead of the collar band/stand.  I used the other Palmer/Pletch unisex shirt to make hubby's parrot shirt, and he mentioned he doesn't care for the dropped shoulder on it, so I'll try this one and see how he likes it (beyond the cotton flannel aspect).

S2566 blouse FBA WIN!

I know I mentioned a plaid shirt for hubby ... but I got the proverbial "wild hair" last night and went back to the side dart FBA on the Simplicity 2566 blouse.  This time I am using a cute $1/yd cotton print, black with little white dots.  The FBA failure has been bugging me, especially with the vest now finished.

Between my last two working brain cells, and discussions with sewists who know more about darts than I do, I decided to leave the dart legs as they were and start pulling the dart point towards the inside by an inch.  The dart started to look more normal:

It might look more normal, but it is still outside the strike zone on me - still low and outside, though not nearly as bad.  So this morning, I unpicked the dart and brought the dart points inside by another half inch:

This time, it was just right!  Now that I've discovered "right" via ye olde tryal and err method (Shakespearean spelling for effect) I will trace off the blouse front piece to the red dot stuff ... and while I'm at it, measure the width versus length, because I suspect there is a ratio at play here.  If I can nail down an actual ratio, then future side dart FBAs should be less trial-and-error and a little more methodical.  Plus, I am still a geek at heart ...

Some of y'all might notice the original darts ... they don't change shape at all.  Margaret over at PR pointed that out to me ... guess that is something to keep in mind when messing with darts in general.  Perhaps the pattern grading software thinks boobs get smaller as the body gets bigger?  HA!

Now, to top of the "I win!" feeling this morning - I finally got a good pic of the buttons on my vest!  These beautiful shiny buggers are a royal PITA to photo ... but after several deleted attempts:

I'm of the opinion these buttons elevate the vest and blouse from "really nice" to "AWESOME!" ... FBA mistake on the blouse notwithstanding.

Now to cut out the back, collar, and sleeves in the black and white dotted cotton for a cute whimsical blouse ... just for the fun of it.

S2566 blouse and vest

The buttons are on and the vest is finished!  I managed to persuade my teenage son to take pics, and he insisted I try everything on for Thursday evening.  Since I only have a little over 48 hours until the banquet, I won't get black slacks done up, so I will be wearing brand new black jeans with the blouse and vest ... but I am quite pleased with how this turned out overall.  Especially my first attempt at plaid matching.  First, the back view:

Hmm, little bit of pooling in the small of my back ... looks like I might need to learn the swayback adjustment next ... after I nail down the FBA idea, of course.  Now, about that FBA:

It buttons over my boobs without gapping or pulling!  That alone is a victory for me.  I'll need to refine my shaping skills, as I have a bit of gapping at the armhole ... but it's also possible I unintentionally pulled the fabric.  Guess who skipped the staystitching again?

I have plenty of room in the waist, even without curving my seams outward on the sides seams.  Since I had to wait for my son to finish his breakfast, I've been wearing it for a good 20 minutes and moved around and even tied back my hair while waiting, so I know for sure I have freedom of movement in this.

Overall, I like this pattern.  Once I get the blouse's side dart FBA just right, I'll trace this one off onto the red dot stuff so I can use it more.  I probably won't need too many vests like this, but a summer one could come in handy for son's end of year awards functions.

Next up in the "to sew" list: cotton flannel long sleeved shirt for hubby ... in plaid.  LOL

Vest finishing touches

Last night I sewed the lining to the wool, trimmed the seam allowances, and turned it ... but didn't snap a pic because I hadn't pressed it.  Now the vest is pressed after hanging on Mathilda my dressform all night, and I sewed the side seams together.  I was in a groove and didn't feel like taking a pic break, so ... on to the buttonholes!

My camera's auto-focus picked a different spot than the buttonholes to focus on, but you can see them decently ... and yes, I broke out my embroidery tear-away stabilizer to sew them in, even though the back of the lining is interfaced.  I didn't want to take a chance on my wool stretching any, but at the same time I decided against putting interfacing on the back of the wool.

I went with horizontal buttonholes, as this is a rather close-fitting vest and I don't want any distortion to show if it's one of my water-retaining days when I wear it.  All that's left is handsewing the shank buttons on ... the 7/8 inch version of the buttons I used for the blouse's cuff.  Hopefully the larger version will photo better than the tiny ones did.

It looks like a plaid vest now

Today I laid out the pieces, cut them out, and after a nap put the various plaid wool pieces together into something that now strongly resembles a vest:

Looks like I got lucky in the front with the vertical "mirror" image even plaid matching up!  The princess seams won't as impressive, as the wool shifted slightly while sewing ... plus there's that whole curve idea ... which I also did on the waist.

Now comes the fun part: pinning the lining to the plaid wool along all but the side seams.  This may take a while, but I did break out extra pins for the occasion.

Plaid matching ... sorta

I'm a bit slow to get moving this morning.  Maybe I need more coffee, or maybe it's because I sound like a bowl of Rice Crispies trying to move around.  My son celebrated his snow day off school by sleeping in ... and since he's finally up and moving I guess I should make an attempt at moving around myself.

I had to wait my turn for the dryer yesterday, and while I did get the wool run through the dryer with a hot wet towel ... I didn't layout the pattern pieces are do any cutting.  However I have started that this morning:

Maybe I'm just not feeling too adventurous this morning.  Or maybe my cheap gene is telling me the $1/yd cotton print plaid would be better to do full plaid-matching than this lovely $8/yd wool ... but I am only matching horizontally, using a very convenient shorten/lengthen line on the pattern that is consistent on all pieces just 1 inch above the waistline (which is only marked on the front piece anyway).  I've lined all the pieces up so that one white yarn is centered between the s/l lines on the pattern ... which also required a bit of gentle tugging on the fabric to get it as straight as I am going to accomplish this morning.  I even drew a blue arrow at the top of the pic to point out the lines and white yarn, but the tip of the arrow is a bit off.

I've read that plaid matching is best accomplished by cutting out single thickness, but my Thursday evening deadline is roaring up on me fast.  I have plenty of cheaper plaids to work out the details ... if I'm honest about it, I simply have plenty of plaids.  I do love plaids, so at some point in the near future I will get a better handle on matching these plaids both ways.

Caffeine, nicotine, and sugar are my usual methods of motivation in the morning ... and today breakfast was a piece of my birthday cake from last night, so it's definitely "one of those mornings".  If you have useful tips on plaid matching, feel free to leave them here ... and I'll refer back to them when I am in a more cheerful mood.

Another tip from my "Thank you, Sgt Obvious" file: spellcheck function catches typos.  Who'd've thunk it?

S2566 vest lining done

I just sewed up the vest lining, and tried it on with hubby's assistance to hold the side seams together ... and it looks like I not only got the princess seam FBA right, but my "curve the seams out on the princess seams" strategy to bring the waist out from fitting a 32" to fitting my 35" waist worked!  I've done my little happy dance, and dressed up Mathilda for a pic:

Check it out ... Mathilda is stylin' now!  Just a note, I didn't baste the side seams together since I had two extra hands when trying it on, so the sides are open in this pic.  Since black just will not photo properly, here is a different version of this same pic, run through GIMP and with adjusted levels:

Now you can see the seams, and where I didn't quite ease the curve right on the bust LOL.  For those with GIMP, look under "Colors" then select "Levels" and compress the input range to the left by quite a bit to get the same effect.

Time for me to take a deep breath, toss my Stewart plaid wool in the dryer with a warm damp towel ... then cut out the vest in it!  It's both exciting and scary.

Plaid wool vest with FBA started

Coffee ... this is definitely a "need coffee" morning, with evil white stuff on the ground when I woke up this morning.  I discovered I left my iron on overnight (eek!) so the braindeadness must have started last night.

I did snap an official "start" pic for the vest last night, and played with settings in GIMP until the plaid looked like it does in real life.  A dark plaid is so difficult to photograph properly!

The background of the plaid is black, with yarns of white, yellow, blue, green, and red woven though it ... so lovely in person, and the wool is so soft to the touch.  With the goldtone filligree buttons it should be just awesome ... or at least that is my plan.

Maggie bought some of this wool from FM after I raved about it ... then chided me for understating how it is!  She's done a review of her garment, but not blogged it just yet (that's a hint, maggie!) ETA: now blogged.  I know she spent a couple nights fussing with the waistband, and says she isn't quite happy with it ... but all she needs is a matching vest (or a straight red vest, if you ask me) and an untucked blouse and no one will ever know about her waistband woes.

Right now, I am declaring a tentative victory on the princess seam FBA idea ... I will wait until I have both front pieces and the back done up before declaring a full victory, as up until I got the body done on the blouse I had thought I had that FBA right.  I'll baste the side seams (probably in white for easy unpicking) and try it on to be absolutely certain before I go anywhere near the plaid wool with scissors.

Oh - I am not sewing this vest with black thread.  I know from my previous use of this linen/cotton (the short gaucho pants from the summer) that it ravels just from regular handling while sewing ... there is no way it would hold up well to much seamripping, especially not black thread on black fabric.  The stitches when done in black are really REALLY extremely difficult to see unless in direct sunlight ... yes this is the voice of experience speaking.  So, I am using a very dark green thread, which I can see by the Ott-light if any seamripping will be necessary.  Do I dare to hope for no further ripping other than the white thread?

Simplicity 2566 vest - princess seam FBA

Deep breath ... here I go on the princess seam FBA idea!  Since Simplicity 2566 also has a jumper that uses the same four bodice pieces as the vest .... and I'm still debating the idea of doing this jumper.  I first had to decide how to handle the cutting lines.  I decided if I do make the jumper, I will just tape the bottom back on ... so I cut along the vest's cutting line carefully and folded the rest up neatly.

Then, I held up the front piece to myself to find *my* bust apex and marked it, then lined up the side piece and marked the apex out in the side.  Subtract the amount on the front panel ... and (I think) that should give me how far out I need to extend the side piece, minus seam allowance.  Here's what I have so far:

Wow ... that's out there pretty far.  I tried to smooth the lines a bit, as it just looked funny on first draw.  A closeup:

If it's too big, I can always take it in ... but it's much more difficult to add to one that is too small.

Simplicity seems to believe that someone with size 18 shoulders ought to have a 40 inch bust ... mine wibble-wobbles between 42-43 inches depending on water retention.  Of course, Simplicity's measurement chart also says I should have a 32 inch waist while mine varies between 34.5 and 36 inches - again depending on water retention - so I may need to add to the waistline, which I had to mark on the side piece.  Oddly, there is no finished garment measurement for the waistline, although the bustline finished measurement is printed on both the pattern and the envelope.

If anyone more experienced at a princess seamed FBA sees a major mistake here, please post up a correction!  Meanwhile, I should root around for some lunch, then pull out my linen/cotton to start this experiment on the intended lining fabric.

S2566 blouse cuff detail

While still trying to pry my eyes open (with the help of coffee, of course) I decided to try to capture on pixels the buttons on my blouse cuffs.  I did resist the urge to add a button to the neckline, so this one has six small buttons on the cuffs, 3 per side.  It took me four tries, and pinning the sleeve up to try to catch the light ... but I not only have a decent representation of these goldtone/silvertone filligree buttons ... I have finally managed to capture the textured weave of this lovely fabric I rave about!

I have a feeling this is as good as it will get for trying to photograph the buttons ... and it isn't hanging right because the sleeve is pinned up ... but now y'all can see why I love this solid white dress shirting.  :)

Moving onwards to the vest now ... I've located all four pattern pieces.  This vest has princess seams in both front and back, and I am leaving the optional back waist belt off because the plaid should be busy enough on its own.  I shouldn't need to fuss with the back princess seams, but now it's time to review my notes on doing a princess seam FBA and give it a go ... on the lining first!

Speaking of the plaid ... should I try to match the plaid at the top of the princess seam, or the bottom?  Right now I'm leaning towards matching the lower part of the princess seam so it's matched (hopefully!) all around my midsection.  Feel free to leave an opinion, as I'll be busy with the pattern and lining for a day (or three ...) or so, depending on how successful I am with the FBA idea on this one.

Now, more coffee, then it's time to break out my colored ink pens.

Here she is ... S2566 blouse done!

Well, except for handsewing the shank buttons on ... but given how the cuffs sit they won't show in a regular Mathilda the dressform pic.  It could probaly benefit from another press, but I will be adding new wrinkles as I put the buttons on in all likelihood.

Except for the goofy dart "sidecars" I am quite happy.  I won't model it myself until after the vest is done because of the dart shaping issue (and a good dose of vanity) so Mathilda will have to do for the next 3-5 days.
Now, here's a gem for my "Thank you, Sgt Obvious!" file.  Irons heat up so much faster when they are plugged in.  I wouldn't lie to y'all  LOL

As I expected, putting the buttonholes in was a pain in the (*donkey*) due to how close-fitting the cuffs are.  I also discovered the fabric can catch the little lever-thingy on my 1-step buttonhole and make it change directions before it ought to.

The instructions called for slip stitching the hem ... errr ... that's hand sewing, right?  Something I don't care for, and don't have the patience to do.  Props to those who do, but that isn't me.  Especially with a deadline for this outfit.  There's no getting around the handsewing of shank buttons, but I'll skip on the handsewn hem idea.

S2566 blouse - one sleeve on!

Rolling along (despite the FBA failure) with my dress white blouse: I have one sleeve complete except for buttons and buttonholes.  I'll do those last since there is no easy way to put the buggers on with such a close-fitting cuff.  Here's the pic, pixels hot off the mem card:

I am very pleased with the sleeve.  The top seam where the sleevecap joins the shoulder hits just perfectly on me: about 1/4 inch to the outside of my shoulder point.  Yes, I tried it on in front of my mirror before dressing Mathilda and snapping a pic.  I had some qualms about how easy it would be to get on since the body is so close, but it slipped right on with no fuss.

Gathering my fabric - especially at the cuff - was a royal pain in the (*donkey*).  This lovely crisp dress shirting does not like to gather ... but once it does it looks great!  :)  I'm also pleased I managed to lay the cuffs perfectly on the (visible) grainline.  Considering how long I spent laying out the pieces, I guess they should, but there have been a couple projects where I didn't get the grainline right before.

The cuff opening is on the backside of the wrist ... not the seamline.  This is the first time I've encountered it (in my whopping 16 months of sewing LOL) and I am wondering if this will twist less than ones on the seam?

The dart "sidecar" is even more obvious with the sleeve attached, so this shirt will most definitely not be worn without the vest or a bodice.  Because everything else is perfect to my tastes, I will make this again ... once I get the side dart FBA idea wrestled down and right.

Now, on to the other sleeve ... cuff first.

FBA Fail!

I just finished up the neckline, collar, and resewed the side seam ... and tried my blouse-in-progress on.  Nope, not gonna take a pic of it.  My first real-world attempt at a real FBA has failed ...

I have enough room for my boobs, but the problem is the shape of the side darts.  They're ... pointy.  And they don't even point to the bust apex, directly.  They point to a spot about and inch and a half to the outside of the bust apices.  I will NOT be able to wear this shirt by itself, although I will still be able to wear it underneath the planned vest.  Bah!  It almost looks like my boobs have sidecars.  For the record, I am wearing the same bra as when I drew it a couple days ago.

My last two working brain cells are saying I made the dart too shallow, and while I can leave the dart legs as they are, I need to pull the dart point an inch towards the center.  You can probably see it on my dress form pic in the previous post ... which I had attributed to my dress form being less busty than I am.

One thing I have noticed is this blouse is rather close-fitting.  The pattern envelope doesn't show a pic of the blouse without something over it: tie, vest, jumper ... and this might be why.  From my experience with my Renn garb, I don't consider this a flaw.  I just thought it deserved a mention.

Another thing: I did not think this fabric would be semi-sheer, but the facing and darts show right through as even more white than the single layer areas.  Sleeves, cuffs, and hem still to do ... then I get to try my hand at an FBA for a princess seam.  Hopefully I'll have better luck there -- but I will definitely cut out and assemble the lining first!

Any tips or corrections on this side dart FBA error?

Simplicity 2566 blouse in progress

I finally got a pic of the in-progress stage of my blouse last night at about 11 PM, after I went ahead and pressed the collar and keyhole neckline.  I had a pic of it prior to pressing, but just couldn't bring myself to posting it.  Here's how she sits on my small-busted dress form:

I still haven't figured out how to pad out my dressform's (Mathilda LOL) bust without sacrificing a bra that fits.  I also need to figure out how to pad out her backside/derriereire before I can say she's a decent body double for me.

I was a bit steamed last night, cussing when I got to the keyhole part in steps 7 & 8 because in step 2 Simp has you sew the side seams.  Don't do this until the neckline is done!  I ripped out one side seam (it isn't resewn yet), saying quite a few bad words as I did because I did NOT want to do any seamripping on this fabric.  Thankfully, the fabric held up very well ... but the annoyance factor of needing to rip out a perfectly good seam always gets to me.

To finish this up today, I need to topstitch the keyhole area, finish the collar, tack the facing to the shoulder seam allowance on the inside, then do up the sleeves, cuffs, and hem.

It's do-able, but I'll need more coffee first.  This morning hubby went back to work after two weeks of leave, so when his alarm went off at zero-dark-stupid the big fat fluffy cat decided we should both wake up for the occasion.  It's (bleep)in' difficult to shove a 30 lb cat off the bed when he has you pinned under the covers and you're half-asleep.

Blouse construction begins

Not much to take any pics of yet, but everything is cut out for the fabric and the interfacing, and the interfacing is fused to the collar, cuffs, and facing.

I put this into my WIP over at PR already, but thought I would expand and wax poetic a bit here:  I LOVE this blouse design!  It is just a very basic collared keyhole neck blouse, but this allows the focus of the garment to be on other things like:

• Elegant fabric - and I have that in spades with this project  :)  I could also see a lovely or even wild print being effective here.
• Pretty buttons at the cuff - one of those subtle but nice details, and even though the buttons are as uncooperative as the fabric when it comes to my pictures, I definitely have this one to my satisfaction.
• A focal accessory - the pattern lends itself well to having a very nice scarf ... or the vest from the pattern, which is what I intend to make next in the Black Stewart dress plaid wool that is no longer listed at FM, with matching pretty buttons down the front.

As y'all can probably tell, I am very excited about this and the vest ... to be honest the slacks are just something to wear to avoid freezing and/or a public indecency charge.  It's easy to see why I switched projects.  If all goes well, I could be finishing this blouse tonight!  If I do ... that would tie my record for fastest blouse made.

I'm toying with the idea of adding a button and buttonloop to the top of the keyhole cutout.  I doubt it's necessary ... but this is most likely my innate desire to embellish in full gear.  I am so far resisting the temptation to use a decorative stitch on the collar, cuffs, and neckline ...well, I might use the faux quilting stitch that I used for topstitching the coats last month, but I am trying very very hard to not get carried away and to remember the main concept of this blouse: focus on fabric, buttons, and the vest.

White cotton dress shirting from Michael's Fabrics

I just pulled out my white cotton dress shirting I bought from Michael's Fabrics (not the chain craft store!) during their big Memorial Day clearance sale ... this is the first time in over six months that I've fondled this particular fabric and I still am firmly convinced this is the finest shirting I have in possesion.  Despite only paying $5/yd for 60" wide shirting, this is the primo stuff.

I had to unfold and refold it, right side out to help me with the grainline.  On the right side, the grainline is easy to spot due to the weave: it's ribbed, but still a woven, with the ridges/ribs parallel to the selvage.  How easy will that be to line up the pattern pieces?

I'm still failing to photograph this fabric in all its glory ... yeah it solid white, but even with the Ott-light on it I still can't get the texture to show.  You'll need to take my word for it, because I don't have the mad photog skillz necessary to take a proper pic.

Trying to line up the body front piece, I noticed I was a smidge off when I taped it this morning.  I'll keep to the original grainline for the center front, and roll the dice because now that I've pulled this lovely out I am not inclined to set it to the side.

So - why did I wait this long to pull it out and decide to use it?  Simple, I did not have the skill necessary to do it justice when I bought it in the late spring.  I knew this when I placed the order ... but I also knew I would work harder if I had really good fabric on hand for it.  One necessary skill I didn;t have when I opened the box that first week of June: doing a proper FBA so any blouse I make from it will fit better than what I can buy at the store.  If I want to look like I am busting out (pun intended) of my blouse, I can get something off the clearance rack at some discount retail place or at the mall.  This fabric - and the others I managed to get - is destined for better than that.

While I'm on the subject - every fabric I bought from that sale exceeded even my grandiose dreams.  I have two more shirtings and three suitings (guess what I'll be working towards for 2011?) that are absolutely breath-taking to see and feel.  If Michael and Sherri run another clearance ... jump on it!  This last one was a feeding frenzy, and I only got half the fabrics I wanted because the others sold out.  One of the shirtings I got, I got the last of (and not as much as I asked for).  Just don't wait on me to announce it.  I won't say a word to anyone until I've placed my order and gotten confirmation of the fabrics I'd be getting.

Until then, I have these fabrics to work on.  I'll probably use fabric I may have paid more for to mock up the suit idea ... replacing this fabric would cost me $11 to $25 per yard for the same quality.

Changing my mind - S2566 blouse

I have realized my dragging (*donkey*) on the slacks is a lack of enthusiasm, so with all the fabric cut - but not the interfacing - I am going to switch gears to something I do feel a lot of enthusiasm for: the blouse and vest from Simplicity 2566.  I'll start with the blouse, as the only thing new on this project will be a real FBA.

I've been productive this morning, reviewing the bust adjustment class notes from PR and trying my first real FBA (as opposed to cheater half-methods because I didn't understand why I was doing what and how).  I have to knock off to go pick my son up from the Crashville airport, but this is what I've accomplished on tissue fitting and redrawing:

Those of y'all who do this alteration regularly probably notice a minor problem in the first pic: I forgot to put some paper under the pattern piece to tape and redraw LOL  It worked out though, with me slipping extra bit of tissue paper in the gaps and taping it down.  Redrawing the dart was a bit of a challenge, but from folding the tissue and holding it up to my body I *think* I have it right.  I'll know in a day or so when I put this blouse together.

And now, a little snapshot of my button haul from yesterday.  The shiny globs in the lower right of the pic are the buttons for the vest and sleeve cuffs, and being shank buttons they basically laid every which way except the most photogenic:

They are goldtone filligree with the outer shell in silvertone, which frames the goldtone filligree so nicely.  Hopefully they will behave for the vest picture when I get to that point ... I would love to be able to show y'all just how pretty they are.  Each sleeve cuff will have three small buttons, and the vest takes six, if I recall correct.

The rest of the buttons are for my 2011 year-long coat project.