thats what moms are for

so i bought the pattern and thinking myself savvy individual took my first crack at making a dress.

let me say the learning curve was sharp.

i opened up the envelope and took out the paper instructions. my online guide said to not even look at the pattern itself until i had read through the instructions. so i read, and read, and realized i was out of my league.

so i emailed my mom, she's been sewing clothing since i was little. she made a lot of clothes and costumes for my brothers and i.

here was my email to her:
sewing patterns. question? i opened up my dress pattern, the thing
takes up an entire room unfolded!!! am i supposed to trace the pattern
on the sheet or can i cut out the pieces i need....cause i'm not sure
what i'm doing ^^

her response:
OK you need to cut out the pieces you need with paper scissors (do not mix fabric and paper scissors as acid in pattern dulls the fabric scissors). Some purists leave a bit of border around the black line. I just cut on the outside of the black line. Put the remaining pieces back in the envelope as you may want them for another dress. Then with an iron on very low (no steam!!), iron the wrinkles out of the pieces you need before pinning them to the fabric. It will make the layout easier and a bad wrinkle may actually affect the size or look of your dress.

suddenly years of excess guilt came up...i had been always sneaking into her sewing box to use her scissors for cutting up stuff...because i knew there was a set of scissors in there. sorry mom ><

well the first question was answered, i only needed to cut out the pieces i needed for this dress.

Making a dress from scratch

So after playing around with a variety of increasing better quality sewing machines (started with the Sewing Genie, worked up to a $99 Walmart Omega, to my awesome Singer) and just randomly sewing stuff without any pattern, i decided it was time to actually learn to sew using a pattern.

I am not a newbie to sewing. i've done pillows, cosplay costumes, slip covers, repairs and other odds and ends. But i've never used a pattern.

So with an accommodating hubbie in tow we head off to Fabricland to get material and a pattern (and some advice).

i ended up with a New Look pattern by Simplicity 6557, hey it was marked easy.


the plan was to make two dresses, the red and white one the model is wearing and another one, the blue one in the middle. the manager was quite nice and walked me through the whole thing; i had brought my own tape measure but after reading the back of the pattern i needed help. so after working out sizing, how much material i would need, and finding out that what and how to use interfacing (interfacing is an ironed-on semi-sheer material used to stiffen up the material your dress is made of), getting zippers and thread i headed home.