Feline Like Sewing

I've mentioned before that I'm taking part in the sewalong of the Colette Patterns Crepe wrap dress, but have not yet talked about how I'm getting along with it. The reason is that I'd been struggling with my muslin and was getting a bit frustrated with it. It's a beginner's pattern and I've made two Colette Patterns pieces before. However the first muslin I made was huge and I felt like I didn't have enough experience to adjust it correctly.(If you really want to, you can see it here but it looks rubbish!).

As a result, I ignored it for a while but when I felt a bit better returned to the pattern and made a second muslin in the next size down with the vertical bust darts shortened. I'm still not 100% on the fit but it's good enough, and I felt that the stress of getting a perfect fit was really taking the enjoyment out of dressmaking for me.

This morning, I got out my fabric, ready to cut out the pattern. I would be using a green poly-cotton mix I got from a charity shop a few months ago;

However, when it came to cutting out I realised I'd made a stupid error. The fabric width from selvedge to selvedge was way too narrow, meaning that the skirt pieces were just too wide to fit on the fabric doubled over, and the piece wasn't long enough to fit on the pieces any other way. Aargh!

I felt there was nothing else to do but take a trip to Mandors and purchase some more fabric. How I love that shop! It truly is a treasure trove of fabric. Looking for a not-too-pricey cotton I found a leopard print at £4.99/metre;

 

 I will twin this with the black crepe I planned to use for the original belt. I'm not particularly an animal print person and don't own any other items of animal print clothing. However there was something about this I really liked and I'm now really excited about making the dress. The previous fabric was a bit so-so, but my new purchase proves how worthwhile it is to use materials you really love. For some reason I tend to forget this sometimes. I can't wait to get started now!

On a feline-related note (and the reason for the terrible pun of the title), I thought I'd include a couple of pictures of my cat sewing companions, and the reason why it is impossible to lay out any material to cut without it being used to lie on or hide under....

 

Face off

Action shot - going for the tail

 K x