Decisions, Decisions...

Lady Gray:

vs.

McCalls 5525:

Keeping in mind that the final version will be ivory French lace backed with champagne colored silk charmeuse and lined with Oyster Silk Habotai.

I have a definite opinion, but I'd love to hear yours.

Happy sewing!

Lady Gray Muslin

You know how I feel about muslins, and this demonstrates clearly why I feel that way. I made a muslin of the Lady Gray coat to test the fit. I've never used Colette patterns before and I have no idea how their sloper compares to the slopers other patterns use. I'm very glad I decided to make a muslin. Check out why. Here are a couple of pictures of the muslin on me.
Front:

Right shoulder:

Left shoulder:

I made a size 8 straight out of the package. Looking at these pictures I know I need to do several things.

• Lower the bust point
• Adjust the shoulder in front
• Add a little to the waist
• Change the sleeve to a less voluminous style
• Use a size 10 (sigh...)

I may also want to take a bit of the flare out, though I haven't entirely decided on that yet. I think I will also convert this to a shoulder princess seam.  I like those better and for my body type, a shoulder princess is more flattering and easier to fit.

More later!

Working On...

Lots of stuff. This is the last weekend before the kids head back to school (Halleluia!!!!), so we've been out enjoying the last little bit of freedom before we all get back to work. I've cut out the muslin for the Colette Lady Grey trench coat:

I'm going to make it from a French lace that has been aging in my stash for several years. I bought it wanting to make a Burberry-Prorsum style trench, but all the patterns that I've found for trenches just didn't do it for me. Then I saw this one and was intrigued. I have never sewn a Colette pattern, so I'm making a muslin of the size 8 to check it out. I'll post my progress.

Speaking of this pattern, there is a sew-along starting up using this pattern on Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing. I'm not going to officially participate in the sew-along. I can't commit to sew-alongs because I can never tell if I'll be able to finish it in the timeframe, but I will be following it and maybe even contributing a little bit here and there!

I've also been working on doing some preliminary editing on a book (not mine - I'm really just helping the author out). But as soon as I can tell you about it, I will, because it is going to be amazing!

Also, did you know that there is a Huge Labor Day Sale going on at Gorgeous Fabrics? Well there is! Every fabric, except muslin and swatches, is marked down until next Monday (Labor Day, September 6). So get your bad self over there and snap up some bargains! We're selling out a bunch of the new fabrics; don't wait if you've been eying them. They aren't going to last.


Parting Shots - Sewing Machines on Newbury Street
Today we took the kids to Newbury Street in Boston. Newbury Street is the high-end shopping street in town. Though it's disheartening to see how many shops are closed up and how many "For Rent" signs there are. I hope this recession ends soon.

Anyway, we were walking down the street, between Dartmouth and Exeter Streets, when we came upon a store whose windows were chock full of GORGEOUS antique sewing machines! I had to snap pictures from my phone. Sorry for the reflections off the glass. I tried to get pictures at angles that would minimize the reflections, but it was impossible with the phone. But still, this was amazing display. I want to call the store tomorrow and find out if they would be willing to sell any of the machines!

Le sigh... Happy sewing!