Snowblind

    With a finished dress, a fresh shortage of valid excuses against it, and an incipient winter storm threatening to turn the current winter wonderland a little too winter wonderlandy, it became apparent that it was time to quit dragging my feet and actually take a few photographs of my very first Intaglio (the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink version). Without further ado, here is its debut!

Two steps forward, one step back

Elementary school math class throwback time! If you take one step backward for every two steps forward, how much longer will it take to walk to your destination than if you just walked normally (assuming the same pace and stride)?

Answer: Pleats.

Also, three time longer, which is why adding basic knife or box pleats will reduce your yardage to 1/3 of the original length. This may be news to no one but me, but it's a handy visualization while I illustrate Intaglio's sewing instructions. There comes a time in almost every sewing project when the directions call for you to do some kind of foldy, fiddly thing and I have to take a moment to try to wrap my mind around the geometry of it, before giving in, forging ahead as per instructions in spite of the doubts, and by some strange sewing alchemy a bound buttonhole emerges. Well, the joke is on me, because now I'm the one making the instructions. It isn't enough to pinch pleats into place, now I have to understand how they work well enough to draw them. And the form that understanding is taking at the moment involves lurching around looking like an escapee from the Ministry of Silly Walks. 

The Intaglio dress itself has actually come together fairly smoothly, other than the initial surprise fabric shortage. I'll be posting about it soon, as well as starting the second one.

Taking a dilemma by the horns

     The solution to too many design possibilities?

Not one... 

                 ...Not two...
                                                              

                                                        ...But three different dresses. Two in silk. Pretty, drapey, slippery, aggravating, want-to-pull-your-hair-out-sewing-it silks. Clearly I've thought this through. 


    My fabric for the first version is a brown herringbone wool. Solid, stable, sensible wool. I ordered extra to account for shrinkage, reviewed recommended wool pre-treating suggestions, ran a trial on a test square with beautiful results, and figured this would be the easy one. HA! Of course the full yardage shrank more than ever anticipated, and felted a little bit out of pure spite. I suppose better now than later. Ordered more to make up the difference, ran it through the same process with a twinge of regret, and we're off again towards a slightly fuzzier winter dress.