Princess Seams

I finally made myself make myself a top.

It didn't start well.

I bought Ellie & Mac's Tres Belle  wrap top drees pattern.  A lot of indy designers have been extending their size range,  and the pictures showed some ladies of a similar size to me.   I decided to make a muslin of just the bodice, to see if it would work, before I committed to the dress.

It was a disaster.

I'm experienced enough now to not get disillusioned by this,  but it did remind me of how I felt when I first tried to make an item of clothing (and then didn't try sewing clothes again for years).

I dug out my own cross over top pattern, made using my SureFit Designs body blueprint.  I wanted to compare the pattern pieces to see whether I could make some adjustments to one of the other.     As I contemplated the two patterns,  I thought about options.

And I decided to put away the cross over front for now,  and to make a princess seam blueprint instead.    I've been thinking about doing this for a loooong time,  I've just never been motivated enough.

I watched Glenda's videos on designing a princess seam,  and decided to try one from the armscye.  (I've done a princess seam from the shoulder when I made a jacket at Judith's Jacket Retreat) .

I also watched Glenda's video on sewing princess seams,  and that was a real godsend. it made stitching the curved bit to the straight bit relatively simple.`

So, I made my pattern pieces,  I quickly cut a muslin and stitched it together, and.... it wasn't bad at all.    I kept the blueprint,  and made another version with a lower neckline and a shorter shoulder seam.   I made this in reasonable fabric,  and it looked OK.       I was pleased with it. 

It's not finished.  I need to do the neckband, and I need to hem it.  I did put sleeves in though, so I could test the whole pattern before moving on.

And then I did another version of the pattern, with a still lower neckline.   I've cut it out (apart from the sleeves) and it's sitting on the cutting table waiting for me to get on with it.

I had some other bits and pieces I needed to sort out, so it'll be a little while before I can complete it.

time's nearly up

So we're already 2/3rds of the way through November!

The Littlees are no longer little.   Emotionally they are still little chicks,  keeping out of the way of the Big Girls, and dancing and flapping about.    Astrid is the boldest, and she'll eat from my hand without hesitation.  She won't let me pick her up easily though.      She's currently the front runner for staying with Sylvia (the Silver Laced Barnevelder) when everyone else goes off to the Allotment.  Sunshine,  the timid but ewxceptionally pretty golden leghorn,  is the other contender.   She's a little sweetie too.   Blondie and Summer, the two Silver Duckwing Leghorn girls,  will both go to the allotment. 

We're trying to make a final decision on the Boys at the allotment.   They are now the oldest we've ever kept table boys.  Teh Barnevelders are fine,  but the Leghorns are pains in the prioverbial.   Junior, Bertie's son,  is just starting to become interested in the girls, so it won't be long before he starts being a darned nuisance as well.

Bertie also has to go,   and he will be replaced by one of the Silver Laced Barnevelder boys.  It's time to choose which of the 3 stay.

Do we keep just one (in which case 2 girls will go down to keep him company the day the other boys go)?   Or do we try and keep two, and see if they will coexist? .  We have a flock of 13 ladies, not counting the girls from this year,  and that is too many for one boy to manage, so I'm thinking that 2 boys might make a better job of it.  Or it might be a disaster waiting to happen.     I don't want to be in the position of having to cull a boy later.


We need to make a final decision,  as I then have to start thinking about how to introduce the boy(s) to the flock.  The process is likely to be different if I have one boy vs having two boys.

  

Makes for Miss Tween

Miss Tween came to stay during Half Term,  and she tried on the new sized clothing I'd made for her.  I wanted to check fit before final sewing of waistbands and doing hemming etc.

Of course I only have pics of the unfinished items, but here they are

The tops are a little big, especially the pink one,  but I'll carry on with that size as she's growing.