We have a winner!
Thank you to Debbie and Heather for helping me out (Heather sent me a ton of links by e-mail). In the end it’s gorgeous fabrics.com that wins out.
These were some contenders:
Pattern is too light I think.
Cute design but not classy enough and I don’t like the dots on the fabric.
This one is the winner:
It’s not linen it’s cotton batiste which is very soft and drapey but I can starch it up to give it some body. It will certainly be cool. I already have some lovely white cotton batiste that I will line it with.
That’s it– I’m done looking before I go bug eyed! A HUGE thank you to the fabulous Debbie Cook for steering me in the right direction. Now I’m going to go sew!
Subscribe to the comments for this postThe search continues
So I can now cross JoAnn’s off the list as not having the fabric I want. But I did get some great deals there today. ALL their notions are 50% off PLUS today through Sunday there’s a 10% off your total purchase coupon that even applies to sale items. I bought $100 worth of notions (yes I really did) but because they were 50% off they only totaled $50 and because I got an additional 10% my total was only $45.
Mind you while I did buy things like needles (Schmetz thank you very much) I also bought rotary blades and another cutting mat (the same one I already have so I can now double my cutting space) which was the bulk of the cost. I needed new blades last week but waited for the sale. I have to say I really like using the rotary cutter and mat. I rarely use my scissors for cutting out, nor do I use pins anymore. Once I got the hang of it I found rotary cutting to be my preferred cutting method and without pins (I use weights to hold the pattern in place) my speed and accuracy have increased too!
Anyway, I am still on the hunt for fabric. The two in the post below are close to what I want but not quite.
The first one has too much of a pattern (see here - same fabric larger view) and with the lines of this outfit (bias skirt, princess seamed top) I don’t want to risk it coming out looking strange. And the other fabric, well it’s $17/yard and without seeing it first. . .<sigh> I don’t think I can do it.
What I WANT is a white linen (or linen “look”) with black embroidered flowers in a random, vine sort of way. KWIM? If you happen to come across anything like that –please let me know!
Still trying to decide
I am a bit bug-eyed from spending a good bit of time online this morning looking at fabric.
Here are two options I am considering:
The black and white is a nice cotton - the black navy and white is 60% silk 40% cotton
Too much white? I like the contrast and I have new white shoes that would be perfect. . .
I did get fabric for the baby’s dress yesterday - a beautiful white eyelet. It’s washing right now. I can’t wait to lay it out and see how it looks.
Time to run errands and stop at JoAnn’s to see what they have. Their 10% off total sale starts today.
What to wear update
I said I was going to try the mall first and I did. I had to go there yesterday for something else so I figured it was a good time. What a nightmare! Lots of dresses and no good options. They ranged from hoochie mama to matronly with pretty much nothing in between. I found ONE dress that I thought might work. It was even a lovely deep blue. The beading seemed a bit much for a morning wedding but I was willing to deal with it as there wasn’t a lot. The price tag was steep, over $100. Yes I know it’s my son’s wedding and I would be willing to spend far more on something for him or one of the other children. But a dress I am going to wear one time. . . I can’t see it. Still, I reasoned I might be willing to pay it (hoping for a sale or coupon) if I LOVED the dress.
I most definitely did not love the dress. After standing in line for the fitting room for at least 10 minutes (seriously), I remembered why I hardly ever buy ready to wear clothes anymore. It didn’t fit well in SO many ways. It had so much promise with those princess lines but it puffed out at the hips and narrowed at the top. I do not need extra puff at the hips and I am not at all narrow on top. The dress was made for a different shape, not mine. But the clincher for me was that it was made in China. Nope. I hung it back up and left the store thanking God I can sew. Really and truly.
I am going to go with the McCall’s pattern. I didn’t stop at the fabric store on the way home because I had gone the day before when I was at the dairy buying milk (for $2.90 a gallon, thank you very much –it’s $3.95 in the stores now!). But I am going to the fabric outlet today to see what they have.
Time to get a muslin made!
Another idea
I found this OOP pattern in my stash.
It’s simple but with the right fabric could be very nice. I also think it would work well with the hat.
The top is princess seamed and the skirt is bias cut. I like both of those elements and they should require minimal fitting.
I know a lot of people shy away from bias but I have found them to be very flattering. The trick is not to make them too snug. At the right size for one’s body they hang very gracefully. Princess seams are always flattering.
I still may check the mall –but at least I have a back up plan.
Rethinking 3530
One of the nice things about the Project Runway patterns is that they come with a Designer Croquis Kit. (Cro-quis {kro-’ke} is a French word that means a rough draft or sketch.) The kit is sort of like a paper doll and you can take the various elements of the dress and rearrange them. So I did. I traced the model, added a few pounds here and there to make her more akin to my shape, and then proceeded to add the dress elements I wanted–including lengthening the skirt. Looking at it that way gave me a better idea of what the finished product would look like.
Frankly, I’m not loving it. Lengthening the skirt is going to make it quite full and with those pleats in the front well. . .let’s just say it looked like a house dress. The dress is cute with a shorter skirt but cute isn’t really the look I am going for, not to mention that that length of dress (the original length) does not flatter me. Yes I could alter it but I know from experience that could be a big undertaking (read: time eater) and in the end I may end up with a totally redesigned dress that I don’t even like.
So I decided to sleep on it and this morning felt the same way. It’s not going to work. I’ve started looking at other patterns but I haven’t come up with anything yet. And I decided that given my time constraints, and the fact that I still have 3 other dresses to finish (for the girls), I am going to look at the mall for something.
I know. 
But you never know, I might get lucky. I am only going to give it one try. And if I don’t find anything I will stop at the fabric store on the way home. 
