Ambitions redux

It's October! Where does the time go? (I think I've asked that before...)

Red Carpet Dress progress
I received the balance of the La Luz yarn from Chez Casuelle on Saturday and piece one of the 2-piece red carpet dress is done. I'm quite pleased with the results. Now on to the top. I've made a few false starts. I've decided to use Soleil for the shaping, using the original pattern (zigzag and eyelet lace). Soleil is knit in the round so there was the obligatory twisting the row (twice) - I frogged 10 and then 4 rows. After knitting the parasol lace for the bottom, I decided it would be too large so zip! went all 14 rows of the pattern. I reknit the bottom on one size smaller needles changing to the larger needles for the body. Next I had to figure out where to shift the sides, since the zigzag needed to start in the middle of a pattern repeat. But the decisions have been made.


Other crusiewear
Carolyn wrote in her blog that there seems to be a slowdown in sewing. She attributes it to striking sewing machines. For me it's pattern layout avoidance. I think it's due, in part, to the reluctance to cut into such nice clean pieces of fabric. It's also due to the knowedge that if I screw up on this step, that may be it for the project.

But time is slipping away and if I plan to fulfill my ambitions, I need to just do IT! A few weeks ago, I did start the cutting phase and got two shirts for Tom cut. Then I started on the chiffon for my dress and stopped. I'd pinned it to paper, but clearly not used enough pins or the right cutting tool and the first piece was very askew. So thinking it through (for a couple of weeks), yesterday I laid out the rest of the pieces with lots of pins and used the microserrated shears I bought in Scotland, and had at it.

The dress is now well and truly on it's way. I've got the top chiffon pieces gathered and pinned to their respective crèpe pieces. That just leaves the midriff and skirt pieces to underline. Next I'll hand baste all pieces together and then I can sew. I'm feeling more and more confident as I think this through.


Then I'll work on two tuxedo vests and bowties for Tom. Seems the ones I made in a previous life have found their way into a black hole along with my Threads magazine collection, so I extended my ambitions. I just figure that if I don't get to the shirts, Tom can wear the reunion shirt and an RTW shirt for the "informal" evenings.

Finally, there are the buttons on the sports jacket we bought for Tom that need to be replaced. Not a big project, but a project nonetheless.