A WIP 2025 #11: Mar 20 - Mar 26
This week was VERY productive on the crafting front! I was reminded that sometimes just taking time to think through a problem is still part of being "productive" even if I'm not actively sewing something. So my challenge for all of you is find a way to be gentle with yourself and validate your process, because it feels dang good to do so.
What did I work on this past week:
Fearne's bodice
Multiple mock-ups
Finalizing pattern
Adding more details
Bodice: I went into a crafting fugue this weekend. I made 3 separate mock-ups and 2 different patterns before finally settling on a design I was happy with. Originally, I was going to go with a "bustier" style top, and I patterned out a pretty nice one! However, because I was trying to avoid putting corset style bones in it… it didn't hold its shape and was not going to work. So I sat and scrolled Pinterest for a couple of hours to try and get some "pinspiration" for a different design.
One of those viral "milk maid" style dresses passed my eyes a few times and my brain cells started warming up. I wasn't able to use a standard pattern for it because those use boning (which I want to avoid) and I'm using a stretch jersey fabric (most of those dresses are made of non-stretch woven fabric).
I happen to have a lot of left over fabric from when I cut out my skirt, so I grabbed a bunch of that and started patterning out my own design for this "Milk maid, tube-top, body con" mash-up top I wanted to design.
The pattern I ended up going with is relatively simple, mostly rectangles, and after a couple of mock-ups I felt ready to cut into my very limited supply of dyed fabric. My sewing machine chose this moment to begin acting up… I tried changing out the needle, but the top thread kept shredding even on simple strait stitches! I eventually opened up the bobbin compartment and was more than a little horrified by the mess of fuzz that was packed in there. Surprise, surprise, once I cleaned that out my issues went away.
Let this be your sign to clean out the insides of your sewing machine!
I got the top part of the bodice assembled, and decided I wanted to add the random swooshes of fabric that wrap around Fearne's waist to the bottom of the bodice. So I grabbed some scrap dyed fabric and started draping it to the bodice on my dress form. I ended up grabbing an earlier mock-up to test how it would look, and I loved the result! I liked the result enough that I think I'm going to turn my mock-ups in to pajamas, because they are that comfortable.
I'm still fiddling with this hip swoosh pattern a little bit, but this dang bodice is almost compete! Next up are the faun legs and corset, or maybe the arm bands? I guess we'll see what I end up doing next week.
