Day 1: Simplicity Vintage Dress Pattern

I love the way vintage dresses look. LOVE them. So when I found this pattern, I knew it must be mine. It's been sitting around gathering dust for a while, so I finally decided to get a move on already. The last 2 garments I attempted turned out so god-awful that I didn't bother trying to fix them. I just said screw it and hacked 'em up for the fabric.

This time, however, I'm gonna do it. I am going to, in the immortal of words of the man I desperately want to hire as my life coach (Tim Gunn, natch), "make it work." So I have even decided to make a quickie muslin for the body to make sure I'm close. I swear that I follow the measurements on the package when I pick which pattern size, but somehow, I always end up with stuff that is waaay too big. The last skirt I was SO careful with - I took all of measurements, did my little math tricks and sketched it all out on paper to make my own pattern... and wound up with something that could fit Mama Cass. So, either my math is terrible (well, I am a product of Ohio public schools), or... I am just bad at fitting. Which is the long way of saying, this time I'm going to play it safe.

And of course the most fun part of a new sewing project (well, the most fun other than snipping the threads of the last stitch, that is) is picking out the new fabric! So this past weekend, my friend D and I jetted off to the new Super JoAnn's. After much ooohing and aaaahing and daydreams of rolling around in big piles of fun retro prints (and $75 later), I walked out with some really good stuff, including my new dress fabric: a turquoise-y linen with beige embroidery. Really pretty - and strategic on my part: the embellishment is included with the fabric so I don't have to screw around with trims. Which is good, because I am terrible with picking out appropriate trim. I live in a ric rac world, my friends. And while ric rac is definitely the most fun you can have without booze or drugs, I must concede that it doesn't quite go with everything (unfortunately). So... the less thinking I have to do on that point, the better.

However... I probably should have checked the pattern before I flounced off to the fabric store because naturally, I am a yard short. I forgot that the dress was a bit of a wrap, so I needed more fabric than I thought I would. But, no biggie because of my sacred muslin vow. First things first, yes?

The Plan: I have a hot date cutting out the pattern and muslin pieces on Wednesday night. Do stay tuned. This is usually about the time that New Project Euphoria wears off.