The Day After (In other words, I'm done!)

I don't have any photos of me wearing these garments. I forgot to give my camera to someone. However, I know a couple of people who were taking photos and hope to get some from them. Also, Peggy Sager's said she will have the entire ETAC fashion show as a webcast on her site. I'll give you the link when she has it uploaded. When looking at the garments, keep in mind that I have a smaller waist than squishy Judy does. The garments really do look better on me.

It was a really fun evening. I found that every one of us used the fabrics in different ways, which was very interesting. In fact, only a couple of patterns were shared by the contestants. All of us hated the gray polyester gaberdine. I got a different quality silk from every one else. They told mine was the hand woven type and it was very, very slubby and textured. I didn't like that at first, but then I think it had better drape for my cape than the other kind did, so it worked out great. Two or three of the women made pants from their dupioni, so the machine woven silk worked out well for that use.

This is my Friday Night Get Together outfit. On Friday, I still had three garments to get finished for the Saturday night ETAC Fabric Challenge Fashion Show. This made me very nervous since Saturday morning I had promised the Pasadena ASG Neighborhood group that I would teach them how to make the flowers for t-shirts. Luckily, Friday I got the jacket finished and the shawl done.

I'm not sure I like the jacket. It's made from Silhouettes #915 Meagan's Jacket pattern. The color is more a pink and the fit isn't quite right and I'm not sure it really goes with the skirt. I had used the D cup pattern pieces and I should have used the C cup but since I was doing this at the last minute, literally,  I didn't want to go back and trace the other size. I also think it needs a high round back alteration and I added too much fullness for the back flounce. I had some problems getting the collar on the jacket, her construction is something like I've never seen before. It's quick and easy, but the results aren't nearly as nice. I had to shorten the collar by an entire inch and there are some other collar issues that I had to make work as well.

On Saturday morning I got up at 5 am after going to bed at 2 am the night before. I had to make the alterations to this skirt pattern and cut it out before getting ready and driving out to Pasadena to the ASG Meeting. I spent an hour and a half getting ready and driving out there, and then only one person shows up. WTF? After waiting 25 minutes, I turned around and drove back home. The good part is that now I was already showered and my hair was dry and ready to be flat-ironed.

Anyway, back to the skirt. I got it finished when I got home from Pasadena. It only took me a couple of hours to make since it's not lined and I didn't use the drawstring. It's Silhouettes #4300, Paula's Dress, but I used only the skirt portion of the pattern. The pattern has a drawstring waist and is a bit more hippy than I am, but the fabric has enough body to make it work. I actually like this skirt and might sew it again in some fabric that would work into my wardrobe.

It comes to just above my knees so I might even wear this skirt styled with a black cowl neck, some black tights and flats. Since it has an elastic waist, I can keep wearing it as I lose weight. Win!

The top was my reversible garment and the garment I wore with all three outfits. The rules didn't say that only one garment had to meet both requirements, but it worked out that way for me. I used LJ Designs' Margarita Tank Top pattern. Here it is shown with the black side out. To finish the seams I trimmed one side and topstitched down the rest of the seam allowance for a mock flat-fell seam. The neckline and armholes are finished with a scallop edged elastic. I made two muslins of this top and got the pattern to fit nicely, but this fabric didn't have nearly the stretch I thought it did once it was sewn up. Because the bust wasn't fitting, the armholes were gaping horribly. I pulled the elastic to get the armholes to fit more closely. I'm really glad there was the jacket to hide this horrible fit.

This is the outfit for the Memory Lane Photo Shoot. I like the added boots, which is what I might have worn with it back in 1979. The pattern is Silhouette #615 Cathy's Blouse. I shortened the bodice by 4 inches and added a 20" gathered tier to the bottom to make it into my Stevie Nicks inspired dress. I wanted to give it full long sleeves, and more than one tier but I was limited to the fabric I was sent. I sure was happy that I'm short when trying to fit this onto the fabric. Since the fabric was see-through, I put the tank top underneath and wore the skirt for the next outfit inside-out as my slip.

The biggest challenge to this challenge was trying to figure out what to do with the gray polyester gaberdine. I tried to spray paint it without success. That's the sort-of brown at the back end of the fabric. You can see the original color in the middle. Since the spray paint didn't work, I settled on just using fabric paints. First I painted the fabric while wet. It did turn brown but was very uneven and the fabric got a bit stiff. Once I cut the pattern pieces out, then I went over them again with the fabric paint. I finally got the color I wanted but the fabric was much too stiff to do anything with. I wound up just stitching trim to the edges of the bolero since there was no way I was going to be able line it.

The pattern for the bolero is Silhouettes #850 No-Gap Vest. I shortened it 2" and cut the shoulders in to give it a shape that would work with the dress. There was no was this very stiff fabric was going to turn under with a lining so I picked a beaded cotton lace trim from my stash and bought the narrow trim and tea-dyed it to match the beaded trim.

This was my outfit for the Big Outdoor Dinner Dance. I think I was a bit showy in the silver and red, but in my opinion, it really worked.

The top of this outfit is the Margarita Tank Top, just the reverse side from the previous outfit. I was so pleased that the back of this horrible silver printed knit was a solid black. Instead of hiding from the silver, I just with with it. The purpose of this outfit was for dancing, so I chose a swishy swing skirt to go underneath the tank. Silhouette #2010 Three Piece Yoga Skirt worked out nicely for my outfit. It had just the right amount of swing but not too much for the amount of fabric I had. Again, being short really came in handy here. You can't really tell, but the shoes I styled this outfit with are a black strappy sandals with a silver sparkle and a clear 2 1/2 inch stilleto heel. I found them brand new for $10 at the Goodwill Store. 

I think this was the most popular pattern in the fashion show. If I remember right, three of us made it. It's LJ Designs' Sensational Shawl. The pattern calls for a fabric with lots of drape. While you don't normally think of silk dupioni as having lots of drape, the silk was soft enough, especially after washing it, that along with the lining, I think it drapes well. I really love the way it looks like I'm wrapped up in a big bow. My son said all he sees is Little Red Riding Hood, but since it's short and has no hood, I don't know what he's talking about.

I can't believe I got all this done in only 6 days. Not quite like making the entire world in seven days, but pretty amazing none the less, if I do say so myself. Now to clean up the sewing room and decide what I'm going to make next. It feels good to be able to sew what ever I want next. I wish I knew what I wanted to sew. Don't worry, I'll come up with something!