Carrie worked diligently for the rest of the afternoon putting the finishing touches on her new green velveteen dress she was making for winter. from "The Fields of May"
(Take a look at the pictures at the bottom of the page to see what I did on my Thanksgiving day!)
Welcome to my sewing room! Today I started a dress I've had in my 'design mind' for quite some time--ever since I wrote "The Fields of May," to be exact. I have wanted to make myself a dress similar to the one Carrie wore to the Christmas banquet in the book. Here is my attempt. This first picture is my dressmaker's dummy modeling the finished bodice over her "regular dress!"
The second picture is of the bodice back under construction. My main sewing machine sits by the window. It's great that I can look out while working. It keeps me from feeling closed in. Mom found this wonderful old machine for about $25 at Goodwill. It is green and matches the room!
In the third picture you can see the pattern laid out on the fabric waiting to be cut. I re-drew the pattern altering both the size and the style. Tricky, indeed. So far all is well. I cut the bodice pieces apart and added a "princess line" that the pattern didn't have plus a rounded hemline in the back bodice.
The final picture is the pattern that I made with muslin test pieces. Last summer I got a nice, large piece of muslin at a garage sale for 50cents. I knew right then that it would serve me well as a cheap piece of cloth for practice garmetns. The first muslin I made last night didn't fit right and so I had to re-draw the pattern today. Thankfully I have a huge roll of newsprint paper that I use for such things.
I hope you like my sewing room. It used to be JT's bedroom before he got married and moved out! As you can see, I turned it into what looks like a Victorian ladies' dress shop. He was horrified at first that I made it so feminine! I got very inexpensive wallpaper and border then added all the antiques. Notice the really ornate lamp behind the dummy? They were a gift that was given to me. I love them. There are two and they have dimmer switches. They are absolutely gorgeous when lit. The black chair by the sewing maching was a family heirloom brought from Pennsylvania with some of my family that first settled in Michigan. My grandma gave it to me when I was just a teen. The fan behind the dressmaker's dummy is from an auction as well as the antique wedding picture. Our old dining room table serves as my cutting table. Today being Thanksgiving, one thing I'm thankful for is my very adequate sewing room. It hasn't always been this way and I really appreciate a whole room for fabric pursuits!!!! Hope you had a great holiday, Blessings, LORI
It's so nice to read that kids do actually move out one day. :) I'm kidding mostly. I am not in a hurry for that day at all.
ReplyDeleteThat's a wonderfully inspirational sewing room.
Yes, they do move out. However, I'm still so glad Rhi's here! She is a huge help to me-- like today when I had to bake! Thanks for the sewing room comment. More pictures to follow with other "angles."
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