Tabatha’s April Challenge – Days 7 – 9

Thursday 7th April

Today Little T and I went to visit a good friend mine and so we were out early and back late.  There is no way, under normal circumstances, I would dedicate two hours of my free time to sewing after having been driving for four hours, but I’d hate to fail my April Challenge so early on, so after Little T was tucked in bed, I spent two hours cutting the fabric for my next project – Simplicity Threads 2591.  This pattern was a gift from Julia last summer when I moved cities, and the fabric I am using for it was a Christmas gift from my parents-in-law – Michael Miller Marcia.

I can’t quite believe it took the full two hours to get this cut, but there were nine pattern pieces to pin and cut, plus interfacing.  I also transferred all the markings so it’s all ready to sew.  I skim-read the instructions and they seem a little tricky to decipher – hopefully it will all become clear!

It would have been nice to flop in front of the TV all evening, or to indulge in a nice, long bath, but I am glad that my April Challenge forced me into productivity!

Friday 8th April

Little T and I had plans for this afternoon, so I knew I’d have to get my sewing done either in the morning or after she had gone to bed, but who wants to sew on a Friday night?  Not I!  Mr T kindly agreed to leave for work a little later today and to look after Little T until 10am so that I could get my sewing done first thing.  I basically managed to get the front of the dress assembled in this time (bodice, side front and pocket, pocket facing and skirt front).  My hunch from yesterday’s skim-reading that part of it might be a bit tricky was right – I found these instructions completely baffling:

‘On inside, smooth pocket and seams flat, flipping side front and pocket away, as shown.  Pin pocket facing seam along stitching lines on side front and pocket.  Stitch along previous pocket stitching, ending stitching at small dots.’

I think I worked out what to do, but I have no idea if it’s right or not.  The diagrams were not very helpful, to be honest!

Saturday 9th April

Today was meant to be the beginning of my holiday, but it turned out that I had some spare time in the morning to do a bit of bonus sewing.  I managed to get the back of the dress assembled, the zip inserted and then the front and back sewn together at the side seams.  I’m looking forward to my holiday but I know I’ll also be itching to get back to this so I can finish it!