Wednesday, August 19, 2009

RED DOTTED OUTFIT







I have a ton of patterns, mostly from the 80s and 90s, and since I haven't sewn in the past 10-12 years, I cannot justify buying too many more patterns, especially since I haven't sewn even a third of the ones I have!



Having had the idea for a long time of updating garments and patterns, I think I'll "have a go at it."



I spent a lot of money on books showing how to design, so it's about time I did something about it.





This outfit screams "the 80s", and needs to be updated. The fabric is a poly rayon blend. It was easy to sew with and since I like dots and red, (and trust me, it is dotted), plus it doesn't wrinkle, it's a good candidate for renewal. Since I don't go to an office, I wore this outfit to dinner or to parties---thus I'll bet that I didn't wear it more than four times, so the fabric is "like new", and the outfit has been hanging in my sewing closet for many years, just waiting for me.



Now, to decide what to do with it. Obviously, the sleeves need to be re-cut to a more updated style. Since they are full and long, there is enough fabric to work with. My thought is a long, standard set-in sleeve with eased cap and hemmed at the wrist, with no cuff or band.


I don't wear a lot of short sleeves and am not a fan of below elbow sleeves. Am looking for suggestions here.




On to the rest: is that collar cut on the bias too outdated? Or, would people think I was ahead of fashion? LOL. And what about that pleat down the front?



Should I leave it there? What about curving the top in at the waist and adding tucks or darts, front and back? All things to consider.



I am trying to avoid taking apart the whole top and re-cutting to a totally different style.



The skirt? Acceptable, I hope.





A post script to this: while taking pictures of me in this outfit, my husband said that he really liked this outfit and why didn't I wear it? I told him it is because it screams the 80s. He said, "So what? It looks good--wear it."







P.P.S. I did hit Enter to space between paragraphs, but it didn't want to cooperate. It's probably something simple. That was before; now there are several spaces! This is my first blog here---I'm learning how this place works.

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