At a recent visit to Ally Pally - AKA the Knitting and Stitching Show, I bought a couple of patterns from a lovely (fairly) new company called Sew Over It. Including the Joan Dress. I posted a photo of my pattern and fabric on Instagram and before I knew it I was joined by Alix and Becky and we had a SAL. I'm actually more used to Knit Alongs but the idea of a Sew A-Long sounds fun so here we go. Please feel free to join in, I shall post my progress on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with a little more detail on here. No rules or time scales, I am not sure how fast I shall work on this, although I hope to get the dress cut out this week. But look out for and use (if you wish), the hash tag #makingjoan then we shall all be able to pool our experiences
Pre-wash or not pre-wash? I'm not a fan of pre washing fabric, I love to feel crisp new fabric under my fingers as I sew. But Raystitch, where I bought the fabric recommends preaching and I have had some recent disasters with shrinkage. So I cut a small piece of my fabric and gave it a gentle swish through some Soakwash (I buy mine from here in the UK) as this will be how I wash my dress when made.
It's clear I shall need to wash the whole length! If you are joining in please let me know in the comments or social media - whatever way you prefer. We would love some company and to learn from each other
Pre-wash or not pre-wash? I'm not a fan of pre washing fabric, I love to feel crisp new fabric under my fingers as I sew. But Raystitch, where I bought the fabric recommends preaching and I have had some recent disasters with shrinkage. So I cut a small piece of my fabric and gave it a gentle swish through some Soakwash (I buy mine from here in the UK) as this will be how I wash my dress when made.
It's clear I shall need to wash the whole length! If you are joining in please let me know in the comments or social media - whatever way you prefer. We would love some company and to learn from each other
xx
c
Becky here- Some shrinkage! Reminds me of my first Burda, no pattern seam allowances? That dirndl was tight. Good for you for testing. They say these tend toward close fitting already.
ReplyDeleteHow about drape? Does yours have wrinkle memory if you crumple it? It looks like it will have the body they recommend. Hmm...time to think of my stash and possible candidates. I love that this is lined- that will help!
Anybody tried printing as a single page from a print shop? Sometimes that is an option. I don't see that here, standing at the print shop while they play with the file...
ReplyDeleteYes, I have taken a pattern to my local print shop (in the UK) on a USB stick for printing. It was when Becky and I were involved in The Titanic Project. The chaps there had never been asked for something like that before and were amused but did a good job. In case bglad doesn't revisit the comments here I will repeat this comment in my next post
ReplyDelete