Now I do like to test myself and I think this project was a test of not only my skills but my sanity!
The pattern was a birthday gift from my husband who for some reason thought vintage 70s was my thing. Having studied the requirements of the pattern it needed something lightweight and flowing, so Chiffon was the obvious choice.
I've never attempted to sew with this type fabric before purely because, and if you've ever worn anything made of chiffon, you know how slippy it can be, but also if you catch it how easy it will pull. So again cutting this pattern out was a tad tricky to say the least, as I needed to weigh it down so it didn't move when I pinned the pattern too it.
A friend advised not to pin in the conventional way, as the pins will not stay in place, put the pin through twice as this will hold it firmly. Also you'll need a to use a fine point needle something like a 70/75 so you don't catch the material when you sew. Something I do remember was you could also use some lightweight pattern paper and sew with the fabric, but as pointed out it would be a nightmare trying to pull this off without pulling the stitches or the fabric.
I think all in all, it took me a full day to cut this pattern out. The skirt alone was made up of 6 or 8 pieces all of which were flared at the bottom so you could only pin and cut one at a time. Bearing in mind this dressed is lined so I had to do everything twice. I wasn't too sure if I needed a bigger table or a bigger dining room towards the end as I had pattern pieces everywhere.
There we a few issues I had with this when putting together, and at the time I had no tailors dummy to hang this off so was having to use coat hangers. (Coat hangers, lining fabric and chiffon are really not a good mix, if it slipped once it slipped a dozen times more!) I did, however take my time with this, you cant rush and you do need to sew very slowly until you get used to how the fabric feels.
The main issue was with the skirt pieces, where I had cut these out there was obviously movement from pinning to cutting which meant the hem line was quite a way off so this needed a bit of tinkering (for want of a better word) which meant having to arrange this on a hanger and try to fan the skirt out to get an idea of where this needed adjusting and straightening. It definitely wasn't easy and in all honestly its still not straight now if you were to look really closely, but as its me who is wearing it, its really only me that knows. (Well, and you lot now too!)
Hopefully I'll get to wear this once lock down ends, maybe for a garden party with drinks in the sunshine! Or maybe I should hold a garden party for myself and drink cocktails in the sun regardless - who knows...
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