eve11 | Off to Home Depot

Sew-in interfacing and a lining is basically the sewing world equivalent of "complete this form in triplicate." I had the pattern pieces cut out already and yesterday consisted of a lot of cutting out fabric: 3 back pieces, 3 front pieces, 2 shoulder straps; cut those and you get everything doubled except for the one front piece that was done on the fold. So that's fifteen pieces. Cut those out for three different fabrics: front fabric, interfacing, lining for everything except the shoulder strap. Then for each of those fifteen pieces, baste the interfacing to the fabric piece. Then finally you can start pinning and stitching, which goes a lot faster unless you are trying to match up princess-style boob seams. Every time I do this, it feels like trying to put together a puzzle where none of the pieces actually fits into each other. But I have the front together, and this morning I got the back pieces pinned and then the lamp on my sewing machine died when I turned it on. Hence the title of this post. I should also get a good work light for the craft room. I have a few lamps but they aren't doing the job once it gets dark outside.

The front side pieces are not on the same grainline as the others; I had to be a little imaginative on getting everything to fit on the fabric I had. I'm not too worried about it though, since in the end all of this is going to be covered in the cover buttons. The seams are a bit wrinkly but I'm not too worried about that either. They are still 5/8 not trimmed in the wrong side of the garment (all of them are double thick too because of the interfacing fabric I used) and I did manage to get all of the edge stitching in. I should be able to press it better once the seams are trimmed. Though then I'm putting in featherlight boning when I put in the liner, and I will not press that on account of not wanting it to melt. So far though, so good.

Having the dress form is great because I set it to my measurements and I'll be able to check the fit on it as well as on me (adjusting for me having a little more 'give' than it in the waist etc). I am thinking of relaxing the seams a little bit at the waistline for the back pieces; less 1/4 inch or even 1/8 inch all around on the seams will go far to gaining that inch+ I'm likely going to need for the waist. I can ease it up to the usual 5/8 seam at the bust since I won't be needing more on that measurement.

Oh I also should adjust the front line a bit since Nefertiti's is a bit more plunging. Or maybe I will wimp out and leave it as it is.

Right, the Home Depot lighting department calls.