If At First You Don't Succeed.

...Dust yourself off and try again. 

I completely missed the boat on the Hollyburn skirt sew-along deadline. It had nothing to do with the skirt. Rather, the blouse I had planned kept me from completion. Then, there's the small matter of finding time to take photographs between the hours of 9am-3pm while the sun is out. And, yeah, you know how it goes. 

You may notice, the blouse photographed here looks strikingly different from Vogue 7820. The reason is, it is. 

As I previously mentioned, I bought this fabric as an end of the bolt cut. There was 1 and 1/8 yards. I was over the moon when I laid out my pieces and managed to squeeze out the long sleeved version of Vogue 7820.  I cut my pieces. I started to sew. Everything was rainbows and unicorns. Then, I realized I had two left fronts. My heart sank. 

Total rookie mistake! You see, because the front of the blouse pattern is asymmetrical, the pieces are cut separately. And, because Vogue 7820 is an un-printed pattern, I completely overlooked the fact that I had laid one of the pattern piece the wrong direction. It was devastating. I would have taken photos to document my unfortunate mishap, but I was too upset to even think about it. 

Determined to forge forward with my original blouse plans, I attempted to cut a right front from a solid black piece of fabric I had in the stash. What I had hoped would work in as an interpretation on colorblocking looked a lot more NKOTB than cool, and in a really bad early 90's sort of way. 

Back to the drawing board. I rummaged through my patterns to find a different blouse that could be pieced from the fabric I had.  Slim pickings. I have a decent number of blouse patterns but none that shared similar lines with the original pattern. Ultimately, I decided to sew the underblouse to Vogue 4092. Again, you may look at the pattern in comparison to my finished blouse and notice some variation. 

So, what happened is.... I machine worked my buttonholes. Seam ripper in hand, I started splitting the fabric between the stitched lines to create the opening for my buttons. Then, I got to the top button, the final hole. And, I totally ripped right through the line of stitching and split open the front edge of my blouse. F*CK!  

But, Lemons, lemonade, and all that jazz. I came up with a simple fix to "make it work".  V-neck.  A little trim here, a tuck there, some pressing and stitching...TahDAH! I'm not completely in love with the blouse I created. But I am pretty pleased with myself for not tossing in the towel, pleased enough to stand outside in 14F weather to take pictures. :-D 

Now, the skirt. In direct contrast to the difficulties I encountered with the blouse, this skirt was a BREEZE! 

I know there are a lot of you who have mentioned your desire to start sewing. I would absolutely recommend Sewaholic to you. This was my first time working with one of Tasia's patterns, and I couldn't be more pleased with my entire experience. First, the customer service is outstanding. I got email updates regarding the progress of my purchase and received my pattern within days of placing my order. That's a big deal to me. 

Then, there's the pattern and instructions. If this sewing pattern was the instruction manual to an airplane, and I, a person who has never flown an airplane, sat in the pilot's chair using it as my only guide for operating, I'm pretty sure I could get airborne. The instructions are that clear. So, don't be scared (of sewing, or the thought of me attempting to fly an airplane); you can do it. 

I did opt to line my skirt. It's my preference to do so. I feel a little too naked without one. I also did my hem by hand, adding a little touch of lace, because I'm fancy (HA!).  The fabric is a gorgeous  100% wool crepe. It drapes and moves beautifully and was a dream to work with. 

I hope that you never make the same mistakes I made with my blouse.  If sharing my stupidity can spare even one soul from similar heartbreak and spikes in blood pressure, publicly humiliating myself is totally worth it. :-D  

If you missed it, February's giveaway is posted and open for entry until the end of the month!