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I feel like I didn't get much done this week. I didn't really have a concrete goal of what I wanted to finish, but since I'm leaving on Monday I wanted to get to a good stopping point and not be right in the middle of something. It's already hard enough to pick back up with a complicated project a month or two later, so I don't want to make it extra hard on my future self. Pretty much all I did was transfer the pattern pieces to the muslin and cut them out, but it took forever. I decided to try to modify the pattern I'm using to be a two layer corset instead of single layer, so I won't have to try to do external boning channels because they seem really hard and annoying. That means that I have 24 pieces to cut out though...I think it'll take a while. It took me about an hour to do the first eight, but hopefully the next ones will be faster since I'll be more used to it. It's also taking extra long because I decided to add the seam allowances on the fabric instead of on the pattern pieces. It takes longer (especially if you have a lot of pieces) because you have to measure seam allowance on every single one, but it makes your seam lines a lot more precise since you have it marked already exactly where you need to sew - I think it's worth it? It's pretty tedious though. I ended up cutting out all the other 16 pieces in a row on Friday. I didn't time it but I know it took me at least an hour and a half, but I'm glad that it's done now so I can get right to work sewing when I get back. I didn't take any pictures before I pinned the pieces together all neatly and I didn't want to undo it, but here's a photo of all my bundles.
class projectThis week was mostly just planning and preparation, not much actual art. I wasn't sure which piece I was going to focus on (or if I was going to do both of them now) so some of the planning includes a piece that I'll probably do later but for now I'm just doing the corset. (So ignore anything involving a dress). I planned things out in my sketchbook very messily on several different pages, and watched a lot of YouTube videos. I've never made a corset (or anything similar) before, so I wanted to get a lot of information before starting. I found a channel called Aranea Black with a lot of free corset patterns, and for one of them she had a whole 12 part walkthrough series of her doing the whole thing. As a beginner, that seemed pretty useful to me! I'm using one of her overbust patterns, and I'll probably follow her technique pretty closely. I might do it as a double layer corset with internal boning channels instead of single layer with external channels, because that seems easier, but that modification should be okay to make. I'm going to actually make a mockup this time, in muslin, so I'll do that before I start using my actual fabric. I took my measurements, sized the pattern, and cut out my pieces. I don't have the muslin right now since I didn't end up making my order earlier, but I'm hoping to get it by this weekend so I can start making my mockup.
I decided to watch Rylan's interview, which was with a craft-maker from South Carolina named Karen Wood. It really seemed like the reason why she makes her art is because she enjoys it, which I think is really great. I also definitely agreed with her, that the worst part about art-making is the mess you have to clean up afterward! It was interesting to hear from somebody so much older than we are, who still makes art and still enjoys it. I hope I'm still making art when I'm her age, even if it's just crafts to give as gifts - I want to still be making something. Her work, at least the images of it in the video, seemed very cohesive and connected - you could really see her personal style.
independent projectOn Saturday, I continued painting both the jacket and the dress, this time on the front since they were dry enough to flip over. They're both basically done at this point - after they're dry I'll try them on and see if I want to add anything anywhere, but they're pretty much done. All that's left is to possibly add details in certain spots or do any touch ups and then photograph them.
Saturday night I tried them both on, and I really like how they've turned out. The front of the jacket is a little hard to read when it's cinched up but I don't really mind to be honest, since it's more about the impact than being able to read each individual word. I photographed everything again, since I wasn't sure if I was going to change anything, but I don't think I will. I'll take better photos later though, for my gallery. independent projectTuesday was the first day I worked on the jacket, since I was done with the dress. I ironed the dress one last time while I had it out to press the hem on the jacket, and it looked way better after I did that. I was really worried about sewing the jacket because of the weird nylon raincoat fabric, but it was honestly really easy. I might be biased since I just finished a 2 month long project sewing a dress from poly satin, which was a nightmare to deal with and I never want to use it again, but compared to that the nylon was a breeze. It pressed really easily (and didn't melt onto my iron, which I was very afraid of) and it wasn't slippery to sew at all. I didn't use pins at all and it worked perfectly fine. The closest shade of nylon thread I could find at Joann's was red instead of hot pink, so you can see the stitches and I wanted them to be as straight as possible - they turned out completely fine and it took me like a minute to hem the whole thing. It had to be shorter than I'd originally been planning, because the pockets were placed really high up and the fabric looked bad when you seam ripped it, but honestly I don't mind it. The silhouette when it's cinched with the dress kind of reminds me of those fancy fur shoulder jackets you wear with nice dresses (I don't know what they're called??) and it's kind of cool. I realized I didn't have any elastic to sew into the waistband, so I just made a channel and threaded through the cord from my old Maggie Walker sweatshirt, which worked great.
Thursday I started painting both the jacket and the dress. I tested out the fabric paint on scraps of both fabrics. I forgot to photograph them before I threw them away, but they weren't very interesting. It came in a squeeze bottle that you could draw with, but I wanted rougher, messier strokes so I used a paintbrush instead, and tried to be messy while I painted. I could only do one side of each one at a time, so I did the backs first since they matter less. I didn't totally have a plan before I started, other than things I knew I wanted to paint, so I just put things wherever I thought they'd look good. I don't want the end result to look too crowded, but I'll probably go back and add at least a little more to both of the ones I did today after I do the fronts. So far I'm really happy with it, and I love the way the paint looks. It was pretty nerve wracking doing it on the dress that I spent so much time making, but I got over it. independent projectThis week I think I got a surprising amount done. I didn't end up being able to bring my sewing machine to New York because it wouldn't fit in the car, so I haven't worked on the dress at all since before I left, so it's been about 2 months. I was really glad that I already had so much done on it because that made it easier to know where to pick up. I was basically done with the construction and alteration of the dress. I was slightly worried that it wouldn't fit me anymore, since I gained a some weight and I didn't think I needed a zipper when I first made it, but it ended up still fitting fine. On Tuesday I hemmed the neckline and started hemming the bottom. When I was cutting the slit I accidentally snipped a little hole in the back, so I quickly sewed it up with a zigzag stitch so it wouldn't fray. I'm not sure exactly what I'll do to fix it, but I think it might work to just make sure there's paint over that section, since the paint should be somewhat stiff and it's not that noticeable. I'll deal with that when I'm done with all the other sewing. On Thursday I finished hemming the bottom and the slit, cut the fabric for the straps, and sewed the straps. It was pretty uneventful, since hemming and straps are both things I've done a thousand times. On Friday though, I finished the dress! I attached the straps to the dress, and that was pretty much all that needed to be done. (I also snipped all the super long threads that were all over the dress, which was pretty satisfying). I still need to iron it one last time, but it's basically finished. I've been working on this dress for I don't even know how long now, so it feels really good to have that all done. And it means I never have to sew with stupid silk again! Now all that's left to do is to alter the ski jacket and paint on the dress and the jacket.
independent projectI actually got a lot done this week. First I had to sew the last 2 diamond darts, which went pretty quickly since I still had them marked from last time. After that, I pinned the front and back pieces together and constructed the dress! It still needs a bit of alteration but for a first try and having drafted my own pattern from scratch, I was actually really happy with it. It was too loose under the arms (and after I fixed that I ended up with a weird bulge at the side of the bust that I still need to fix) and at the hips, and I might might the hem a bit tighter too, but those are all minor fixes. I did realize that I should've remembered to do a zig zag stitch in my stitch test, because it does have some puckers around the stitches I made, but it doesn't look that bad and I think a lot of it might come out when I iron it. (the biggest lesson from every step of this project so far is that satin SUCKS). I was planning on putting in a side zipper to get it on and off, but to be honest pulling it over my head worked completely fine so I think I'm going to skip that step. Now pretty much all that's left to do for construction on the dress is finishing the alterations and hemming the top and bottom!
class projectI realized when I was almost done with my project that I really should've been taking more pictures this weekend. It's changed enormously since the last post, and I think it would've been really cool to see the layers coming together, but oh well. I think I'm mostly happy with it now. It feels a little busy now, but before it felt too empty and I definitely prefer this. I really really like the radiating lines, and I think they tie it back to my anatomical embroidery really well. I also wish it had more color contrast, since I feel like against the black fabric, almost all of those pastel colors start to blend together and look the same, so I wish I'd used brighter thread. I love how the detailing on the dress turned out.- I think it really ties the figure in with the rest of the embroidery. I spent a LOT of time on it this weekend, probably mostly as a way of avoiding my other homework, but I think it paid off and overall I'm satisfied.
class projectThis week was kinda boring - just continuing to work on the embroidery. I added the drop shadows on the hearts, so next week I'll start on the small details and maybe the words. I did make a cool discovery this week though. I'm completely a wimp, and I know that if I watch horror movies I'll have nightmares for a week and I'll definitely regret it, so I just don't do it. But every single October I still want to, because I don't know, Halloween spirit I guess? I kept hearing that the Haunting of Bly Manor was really really good, but creepy children freak me out, so I decided not to watch it. Then yesterday when I was working on my embroidery I decided to watch it anyway. I always watch tv while I embroider, so I figured I'd try this. And it worked! I mean I didn't think the episode was that scary, but I was more focused on the embroidery than the show, so I think I've figured out the secret. I'll just watch horror while I embroider since paying more attention to the embroidery means I miss most of the jump scares. independent projectIt looks like I didn't get that much done this week, but that was mostly just because what I did took me a while. I sewed the diamond darts on the back, and marked them on the front. The fabric is really difficult to sew, so I wanted to really take my time with it. I spent a while sewing practice diamond darts on scraps of my fabric, and made sure to iron the creases really well, which takes a lot of time. I had to stop and start multiple times to make sure that they were lined up perfectly and that the fabric hadn't slipped around, but I think I should be able to knock out the front darts pretty quickly next week.
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