2002 Story Set
| June 30, 2002 Later in the day, I have been bent over the sewing machine all day - putting together the deep emerald velvet long, long sleeved dress I cut out a week ago. I have got the zipper in - and accidentally pressed it on the wrong side. Quick with the damp cloth and then hope it dries out. Back is done. Difficult to do because velvet slips and slides. While putting in the zipper (after joining four pieces and doing 4 darts), the needle stopped sewing! Egad! No! But wait. It had fallen out. Perhaps in my old age I do not tighten the needle holding screw enough. I thought a moment and put the needle in with the flat side back. Voila. Now it works. Tough to sew through 4-6 layers of velvet. So far I broke a head off a pin. The Bernina steps over pins as a rule. The back of the dress is done. I move over to the front after providing the kid with a sandwich. He said his stomach was growling. It had been four hours since his last feeding. Not for him to walk to the kitchen! He got ham and cheese and mustard and whole wheat. I had orange juice and thermogenic tea. I put the pleats into the top drape and hand-sewed the open edge. I put the front of the dress together. One bottom piece and a pieced top since I had run out of fabric. Ooooops. I forgot to put the drape in place. Ooops again. I had cut out the drape with the pattern piece flipped over. That would be fine if the front piece did not have a cut-out. Which in theory the drape is to go over. (Acts like a big hidden slit.) OK. I am calm. I can fix this blunder. Amazingly so. I retire back to the large dining room - cum cutout table. I open the drape and undo the hand sewing. I flip over the pattern and mark the pleats again (trimming fabric). I sew the new pleats and hand sew the opposite edge. I take the top and bottom mostly apart. I baste in the drape. I resew the top to the bottom. Whew!!! I pin the sides and the shoulders. I dare to step into the dress, having my son carefully zip up the dress so I can see if I can fit into it. Even without the sleeves, the dress hangs HEAVY. Velvet is not light-weight. I model it for my son, being careful not to bend. I am pinned after all. I scuttle to my room and the floor-length door mirror. Hmmmm. On tip-toe I can pretend I am in shoes. I scuttle back to the living room and the sleeves. I drop one. "Don't Bend!" my son warns. I toss the sleeve to him with my bare foot. I get the sleeves pulled on - sort of. He's making faces. I scuttle back to the mirror. Oh yes. Hell of a dress! I go back out and my son is being a pain. I want to see Bare Essentials on QVC. He is flipping the channel on and off. I may strangle the kid. He carefully unzips me. I put the dress aside for tomorrow. I am by now screaming at my son - who comes up over the couch to laugh at me. I said, "You don't like my dress!" He said, smirking, "It wasn't the dress!" I am really screaming now. I tear after the cat. Who had climbed up on the sewing machine. My son watches this with a silly grin on his face. Meaning, "Mother, you are out of it!" Chuckle, Chuckle. I realize, not eating is not a good thing. I have had a banana , 3 cups of orange juice and a 1" slice of high-protein bar. Along with 2 cups of decaf and a cup of tea. I make my son the salmon-veggie leftovers. I chase him to his room. My turn for the TV set. I think it's time for MediFast before I kill something. The dress is a bit formal, very pretty, very soft to touch, and very heavy! I may have to make another version in a lighter fabric. I wish I could find deep green crepe-back satin. |
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