The Muslin

I finished my muslin! I made a dress out of muslin (mom and I called that dress "the muslin") so that I could fit it to my shape without messing up my pretty fabric.  

I had fun sewing and watching my favorite TV show on Netflix. There are a good amount of mistakes in it, but it is just the muslin, so it is okay (the sleeve and the facing are sewn inside out). Every time I had to rip out a seam I keep say something my great-grandma says "It's not homemade unless you've had to rip some of it out."  It is definitely homemade.  It was so nice to say "done" and put it on. Then mom helped me with the  hated  fitting.    

It's inside out, but it's a good thing because it made it easier to fit it to me.    

pictures during the fitting.

And I now have a spinning wheel! A friend of my mom's found it for 5 dollars at a garage sale.  I'm still tying to figure out how to use it, but I'm so happy with it.

   

Next: cutting out the nice fabric with the new alterations made!

Let's get this party started!

I have finally started cutting out my pattern!  I'm so happy to start sewing. My pattern is so pretty (a little scary difficult).  This is the book that I'm using for the pattern and instructions.

The dress I'm making.  

The main dress fabric.

The fabric for the ruffles.

I had expected to have a thick paper pattern from which to trace my pattern pieces.  I wanted to trace them instead of cutting them so that I could save the pattern for different sizes.  I was so excited, but when I opened the pattern it was a tissue paper pattern. So, I used thin muslin to trace the pattern onto.  It wasn't easy because the tissue was so thin it was hard to see it through the muslin.  

First one done.  Second one I had to redo twice, but I still could not get it right.  By this time I was almost in tears.  Then mom goes "Oh baby, I forgot all about tracing paper.  It will make this so much easier."  So mom got me tracing paper.  Tracing paper is chalky on one side and clean on the other.  You put the chalky side of the tracing paper on the fabric and the pattern on the tracing paper, and with a tracing wheel go over the pattern.   God bless person that made tracing paper.  It done in about an hour or two.  

  

A picture of the tracing wheel.

Do you like my make-shift weights?  They work!

I have cut all the pattern pieces out of muslin, now I will cut the dress out of muslin.  The instructions said that was the best way to check your fit and make any alterations before the expensive beautiful material was cut.

I'm sorry about the crooked pictures.  I have worked on it for 2 days trying to get them looking right.  I've finally given up.  And I don't know why some of the pictures are on the left side and some aren't.  And I don't know why some of the font is different.  I have spent several days just trying to figure out blogging.  I begged my mom for a while to let me have a blog.  I'm starting to wonder, why.

Score:  Lizzie-0; Blogger-1 2 3!

From A Beginner to...

Hi, I'm Lizzie, and I am starting to sew for two reasons: 


First, the Proverbs 31 woman makes her own clothes, and I would love to be like her. (Who wouldn't?)


Second, I love clothes.  But I'm more modest than the everyday girl.  The clothes on the market are not the most modest or very cheap.  This way I can make clothes I want, with the fabric I want, the length I want, and the price I want.  I don't want much.


I love vintage patterns.  I am hoping to improve my skills enough to take old vintage patterns and give them a modern twist.


Follow me as I go from a beginner sewer to a expert better beginner sewer.
  
I'll start on my first project in a day or so. I promise to post a lot of pictures, my mistakes along the way, my victories, my hopes and dreams for the future (just kidding about that last one.)

PS-I'm also hoping to use this as a place to post about my knitting hobby and yarn spinning obsession.