Day 14

hmph.

key earrings from London flee market, thrifted belt, Old Navy jean jacket (shown below), Nordstrom dress

my hair was frizzy, but very S- curly and incredibly soft

I worked with the skirt of the dress today. Normally, this would be the easiest part. A simple cotton dress would be made of a few panels, or even a circle, and just sewn with right sides together to the bodice. When you turn it inside out, the dress would have a nice waist seam. 

not this time.

This dress not only had a chiffon overlay, but had a zipper in the back that would be put on later, and a thicker, heavier fabric underneath. The chiffon was so incredibly hard to work with, because when you sew two pieces together, it has the tendency to pucker. That makes the seam crooked and it doesn't lay down properly. In other words, chiffon threads slip like hell and bunch up like ocean waves. I must have tried 4 or 5 times to sew the chiffon together. The chiffon dress had to be put together first, and then the heavier fabric underneath, then the two pieces would be put together and attached to the bodice last. I couldn't get the dumb chiffon to stay in place. I tried sewing without holding the fabric down, hoping that the machine would work its magic. That wasn't the case. I didn't learn until about the 4th time that I would have to pull on the fabric tightly, something that seems dangerous with such fragile fabric, to get it to lay straight. I also had to change the tension of the machine and widen the stitch length. 

After spending hours working on the chiffon I was tired. My eyes hurt from staring at the same fabric, hunched over and highly concentrated. Putting the thread through the fabric was no easy task either. I did feel really accomplished, however, when I ironed my chiffon and it stayed flat on the ironing board. That was the only thing I got done for that day, but to me it felt like a lot. I've never had to work with such a difficult fabric, or with different thread tensions and stitch lengths. Although it took forever, I definitely learned some new things!