Thursday 1 May 2014

Mod Dress - Practice Makes Perfect (or close to it)

In the runup to STF2014, I desperately needed a break from exercisewear. I mean, come on. GIVE ME A PRETTY DRESS AND GIVE ME ONE NOW.

So I made one.


Meet my mod dress. I love this fabric.


I bought it from some tiny alley, just after I started sewing in late 2010. I knew it was fabulous, I knew I needed to make something from it. And I came up with this:


It was not good. My vision was poor. I was ashamed, ripped it up and mourned the loss of something so beautiful. Never again would we cross paths.

Then 18 months ago I was in the same dingy alley. The shopkeeper somehow still had 2m hidden away in some forgotten corner. You don't hesitate when an opportunity like that comes along. A second chance passed down from the Saints of Seamstressing. It would be a mod dress. I confess it was always destined to be a mod dress.


And I still stashed it for a year.

I finally made it in time for Stockholm as a reminder that hours of practice will eventually make perfect.
 
Front, mid-boogie

Back, mid-boogie
 
I traced a base pattern for which I've already done the work perfecting the fit and balance, drafted some modifications, then cut, stitched and finished the dress in 3 hours. Guys, 4 years ago...hell...18 months ago I could not make this in 3 hours.

Everything hangs straight, I added my favourite shoulder crossover detail, all the edges are enclosed. It's not going to ride up and show off my booty because I told the bloody pattern it wasn't going to show off my booty. Ha.

So when I'm struggling with something tricky in tap, I can look at this dress and know to crack on with it. Keep working at it, and one day you'll wake up and it will be a breeze. You won't think twice. It might just take a few years.

But let's move on to a different kind of eye candy...guys, meet B:

B, short for Jumping Bean

B is cool. B patiently takes photos, taps, calms creative fury, crochets and happily takes part in random sewing challenges. B is also a fan of the mod dress. He and I have created a new sewing challenge for each other, but you'll need to stay tuned to hear more...right now I have a project to finish.


Toodle, Oodles and Doodles,
Katrina

2 comments:

  1. I suspect B has had many years of practice, calming creative fury... He has certainly met it somewhere along the line...

    but he could hide that tongue...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's certainly very diplomatic in these affairs!

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