Finishing touches

It took me a couple of days, but I finished prick-stitching the front edge to the piping, giving a neat, flat edge that runs precisely up to the piping.  I also graded and pressed the seams.  And what a difference!  Check it out:

See how flat the section to the left of the pin is, and how puffy the untreated section is?  Huge difference.  I will have to remember this for my next piece.

So now I am embarking on the last few pieces: adjusting sleeve length, putting in piping around the sleeve edges, and applying the sleeve lining.  But first I need to get the snaps sewn on correctly, which is giving me conniptions: I can’t seem to get the snaps sewn on so the stripes hang straight and there are no unsightly bulges.  I spent several frustrating hours fiddling with it last night, and will tackle it again this morning.  I got it working on a dress form…but then as soon as I put it on, found out that it didn’t work on a moving figure.  More testing, I guess!  Fortunately I am only basting on the snaps so removal is quick and easy.

And I have started exploring ideas for the next project.  I’ve spent several hours poring over the haute couture collections from the last few years (Style.com is a great resource there), and have been snipping all the interesting-looking photos into Evernote, my favorite (electronic) note-taking system.  Over the next week or two, I’m going to look through them, identify the design components that appeal to me, and try to come up with something that will look good on me, as opposed to an impossibly tall, skinny model.  I will probably only wear it a few times (for photography, and maybe for one or two fashion shows) but I want it to look good when I do.

I do have to scale down my visions somewhat, though.  I am missing a lot of basic skills needed to create the piece – for example, my pattern drafting skills need significant work before I can draft the pattern myself.  So I will have to ramp up on those before I’m prepared to tackle this project.  It also takes a long time to sew a couture garment (shades of the wedding-dress!), so if I want to finish the project in the next year, I’d better not design something too complicated.  There will be time for that once my skills improve.

And, finally, I am starting my shibori workshop this week!  Our first assignment is clamped-resist shibori.  I plan to tackle that on Sunday, after I finish modifying the jacket.