Remember me saying that I wasn't going to take on any more sewing projects for people for a long, long time? I did say that out loud, right? Well, that lasted for a few months, right up to the point when my younger daughter looked at me with her big green eyes, and said, "Maaaaaaaaaam! Make me another coat for a costume!" I have never been able to tell her no. And this one is based on something so super cool, I would be a fool to turn it down.
She wasn't available today, so I had to conscript my foster daughter to go with me to the better fabric store down in Boulder. She has more sewing experience that my youngest, anyway. We were looking for a heavyweight material, preferably a wool or wool blend felt. There were several, but none in the deep blue that we needed. We looked around for a long time, and rather than getting a really cheap looking vivid royal felt, which would have looked cheesy, I went in a totally different direction with a soft-ish twill somewhere between indigo and midnight. The lining is a satiny fabric with just the merest hint of stretch on the bias, in the same indigo with a classic print image. I found some buttons that have an antique Mexican silver vibe to them, which will be perfect. And after all of that, I have absolutely no pattern or predetermined shape this will take. I'm a little nervous about that.
While at the store, I lamented that my foster daughter no longer had the dress form I bought her when she was taking sewing classes in high school. She moved too many times and had to pare down the things she took with her, so it was sacrificed along the way. While I was searching Pinterest for greatcoat ideas, I happened upon a DIY dress form method that seems so incredibly simple I am kicking myself for never thinking of it before. It just needs a close-fitting t-shirt that you'd be willing to destroy forever, a roll or two of duct tape, a big bag of polyfil, and a piece of cardboard to seal the bottom. Dress forms in the store are around 300 bucks. What does this add up to, 20 at the most? I'm going to make personalized dress forms for each of us. I can't wait. Maybe then I'll be able to repair the loose tunics I tried to make myself a couple years ago that were so misshapen I never finished them. It's hard to fit against your own body, putting in pins while you're wearing a work in progress. I never mastered that skill.
That is totally cool. Wish I had had one for each of us when you were in high school.
ReplyDeleteThat would have been amazing.
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