SEW PARALYZED
Good news…darling daughter decided she didn’t need me to add a slit to her lined sequined prom gown. Whew! But I still had to hem it…both the lining and the dress itself. Easy enough, I thought. Wrong again.
See, I have a habit of “imagining” I have these advance sewing skills. In my mind, I tell myself, “No problem. I can easily do that.” But then reality sets in (usually the night before a deadline) and I panic. Often I am paralyzed with fear of screwing up. I have thoughts of ruining the fabric with a slip of the rotary cutter, hemming something too short, or any number of things that can’t be fixed. Truth is I’m usually winging it…trial and error (with mostly errors). But last night, I had to suck it up and get it done.
The satin lining had a scalloped rolled hem. I needed to take off about an inch. Being that I’ve never perfected the rolled hem, I opted to finish the raw edge with a 4-thread overlock stitch, press up the hem and do a simple edge stitch. It came out decent enough for a slip (no one is going to inspect it, I hope).
Next dilemma…trying to mark a cutting line on the sequin/beaded gown. You simple cannot mark this fabric with anything…I tried chalk (which just made a mess of my cutting table) and tape (I couldn’t curve it). Neither solution worked.
Then I got the bright idea to baste the cutting line on my sewing machine. I used blue painter’s tape to mark the 4 inches distance for the basting. Basting such thin fabric just ended up making it gather randomly. I tried doing it on the sewing machine, but kept breaking needles (even metallic/sharp needles). At this point, all I wanted to do was stick a needle in my eye.
I decided to just “eyeball” it. Not perfect, but good enough. I cut away all the sequins and beads in the path of the needle and did a 3-thread rolled hem on the serger. Worked pretty good. And she’ll only be wearing the dress for 3 or 4 hours. Then the gown will be thrown in the bottom of her suitcase never to be worn again.
I have to spend today cleaning up the mess the darn sequins and beads made. They are everywhere! Never again will I sew with this type of fabric. I detest it.
But really…it could have been so much worse. Originally, she wanted me to alter this teal sequin gown (pictured above) from my wedding (20 years ago!!!). It’s fully sequined, lined and has boning. Thankfully, she picked out the brown sequin gown and it’s done! I’ll post pictures of her in the brown gown tomorrow after prom.
SEWING AROUND THE WEB
Here’s an easier way to sew an elastic casing: Elastic Casing
Luvininthemommyhood posted about How the Heck to Buy and Choose a Sewing Machine
Wildflowers and Whimsy has a great Bustle Back Dress Tutorial posted.
Pam Enry (one of the most talented shirt makers around) shows us how to sew a designer elasticated casing.
Laurie Anderson shares a great Lace Insertion Tutorial.
Check out Dawn’s (Olabelhe) new sewing room!!! WOW!
Happy Sewing!
With friendship,
Lisa
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