No actual sewing of seams—but lots of
“sewing” done.
A dress cut, linings and inter-facings,
too. Preliminary work done, too. The fabric is a plain weave, aka
monks cloth, aka canvas—What ever you want to call it, it unravels
easily—so every raw edge is being overcast with a zig zag stitch—I
have used two full bobbin already—and I haven't overcast all of
them yet! Zigzagging is easier than covering the raw edges with seam
binding.
My mother was a professional
seamstress, I remember her buying huge (8 inch!) spools of seam
binding—she had a dozen spools, in as many colors. I also remember
the little 3 yard packets of hem & seam binding that she sneered
at! She bound the seams with tape and a straight stitch—No raw
edges to be seen. No just on her customers clothes, but on the ones
she sewed for us (me and my sibling) as well. Not homemade
clothes—but couture clothes.
All the edges finished, and fine
details in place. Eventually, I even worked for her. I took on the
job of making buttonholes. Most often, today, I use my machine and
it's buttonhole making option, just as many of my mothers customers
did—but bound buttonholes, and hand sewn buttonholes are still an
option for suits--(but then, I rarely make suits these days!) and
tailored jackets (these too, are mostly things of the past) As a teen
I was paid to make hand sewn buttonholes by my mother--$1 for each
one.
Her machine at that time didn't make
machine buttonholes, and the Notions store that did also charged $1
per buttonhole, so the price was the same—What ever style was
chosen.
So all the pieces are cut, most have
bound edged, all the interfacing have been cut and and ironed on (my
preferred style of interfacing) Other ironing as well (the pockets
hems) and some pieces have been pinned—the epaulets, the pocket
flaps, the collar.
So the next time I sit down to sew, I
will actually start sewing!
I am making the shoulder yoked version
of the shirt dress-- again. I still like to line dresses—at least
partially—in this case, just the shoulder yoke will be lined—but
that will make the a nice difference—the lined yoke will hide the
seams. I like it when the insides look almost as good as the
outsides. I have been known to make french seams at times too—just
because it is so nice to have these fine details..
This version of the shirt
dress—similar to the yellow/blue/white print—with a few different
details. First the fabric, a heavier cotton, (but still not heavy
weight!) with even weave, in a solid color (grey). That alone is a
big change from the broad clothe cotton print. There will be top
stitching—On the yoke, and pockets, and around the collar and other
places; epaulets, pocket flaps and so on. .
The buttons are a silvery grey metal,
and the result will be a slightly military uniform look to the shirt
dress. The lower pockets will also be patch pockets, too --a less
common option for me. I think pockets set in the side seam are
neater—just because they are less obvious. But changing the
pockets style goes a long way to changing the look of the dress. All
these little details and changes will add up to a big change in the
look of final dress.
From start to finish, this dress will
take between about 8 hours—If I credit my time at $15 an hour—that
is over a hundred for a casual everyday dress.( Some dresses take a
lot less time.) My labor is not the only cost (just the major one),
there is also the cost of the fabric, lining, interfacing, buttons,
spools and other bits and pieces (sewing machine needle aren't sold
one at time, but in 4 packs—but the still need to be bought.) All
these add up to different totals, (depending mostly on the cost of
the fabric) but $25 is a good average. Home made clothing, if
compared to store bought stuff can be 2 or 3 times the cost of a
dress from a big box, chain store, made in China dress—but I
really hate the cheaply made stuff. I was raised on couture, and I
want couture—And if you discount the cost of my labor—I get
champagne on a beer budget!
I wear custom made, one of kind
clothing. My clothing last and lasts--(I have casual dresses that
are 20 years old!) and it pleases me. I still have plans for more
skirts and vests and even another shirt dress. But I suspect I will
take a break after this dress is finished—and perhaps make some
dresses for my granddaughters—get them started on appreciating
lovely clothing!
I'll take photos when the dress looks
like a dress--(and not just a pile of fabric).
