Dreaming in polyester

Okay, so I finished the muslin for the bias cut dress. That's hanging in the closet for whenever I get the urge to finish it. On to the things I wanted to do: tops for spring!! I cut the fabric for this butterick top while I was home sick with the allergy flare-up from hell (started about 2 weeks ago, I'm feeling much better today, but I'm also a temporary alto. I'm very squeaky...if you can imagine a husky squeak.). I would post a picture of the fabric but I'm in bed and the camera/fabric are in a different room. God bless laptops. And laziness.

Which brings me to an interesting point. I didn't give a darn about the dress when I was making it. Maybe because it is a muslin and I'm not a fan of making muslins. It's a waste of time (not really, as any sewing book will tell you...you get to iron out all of the bugs in the fit/pattern, etc). It's a waste of fabric (again, not really, as any long term sew-ist has at least a couple of cuts of fabric that were, ahem, not a good idea). I also didn't care about the dress because I my latest sewing fixation is on spring-y shirts. Let me just tell you...I was so not in love with that muslin project that I actually did house-cleaning rather than finish it. Housecleaning. Like doing the dishes or even worse, going through my "important paper stack" and shredding all the old stuff. I filled a whole garbage bag by the time I was done. And I'm talking a 30-gallon garbage bag. Like I said, I wasn't in the mood for the dress. In my five-ish years of sewing, I haven't made one dress. Possibly because I have fitting issues and I know that I need to spend time firguring those out. I think that's the entire reasion. Also because...well, i just don't wear dresses. Which is Sad, because I have like, 30 patterns for dresses. Well, maybe less than that...but more than enough. It's like of like my craze for fitted jackets (#1 in the Holy Grail of fitting in any sewing list). I have like, 15 patterns for jackets. How many have I made? 2. One of which had to be retired because it didn't actually fit. Argh. I do in fact, wear fitted jackets. They are more versatile than dresses. If I owned more jackets, I would wear them everyday. But, I have a jacket that I wear at work, it's machine washable and goes with everything, so because it's just plain easy, that's what I wear everyday. Getting back to the point of this paragrah...it's interesting how a project can really change my sewing mojo. The level of excitement about this top is...well, way more than the dress mojo. I couldn't wait to get home from work today so that I could work on my top some more. That should be in italics, because italics would fully convey my desire to sew this top. Really. Despite the fact the the fabric is a sheer polyester and I hate sewing with that stuff. (The fabric came from my mom. I don't turn down free fabric. Especially when it comes as a Christmas present from my mother. Sewing is one of the very few things we both love. I try to encourage that as much as possible.) Why do sheers suck in my book? Well, the seams show through on the fashion side. So you have to do special seam treatments and those take extra time. Time that I'm not willing to spend (see my treatise on making muslins, above). You also have to line the garment or live in NYC or LA where a transparent garment is acceptable. So's going without underwear, see Britney Spears...or not... I don't like lining garmets, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it takes time and I'm not that good at linings. One could argue that I just need more practice... My solution...my collection of 101 camisoles. Despite these reasons and MUCH MORE, I still love this top. I hope it loves me back.

Did I work on it at all when I got home? Nope. Entirely because I have a stitch in my side from coughing so much over the past week (please God, give me the necessary inspiration to invent a cough medicine that works.). So I came home and lay down on the couch. Then it was time to go to choir practice ( I didn't sing, it's a short but wholly unrelated story). Then I came home and lay down some more and now it's time to go to sleep. And in my dreams I will fantasize about my new Spring shirt.