My mis-adventures in dying lace

As referenced in my review of Vogue 8766, I was very disappointed in how the cotton/nylon lace took the dye. I was also shocked, because I've been so pleased with Dharma's Procion dyes in the past and my test swatch was gorgeous.  I was going for a nice deep tangerine, but got an orange sherbet instead.  To make matters worse, it was an uneven orange sherbet:

Bodice is a bit darker than the skirt!

This was user error, for sure.  A couple of things may have gone wrong.

(1) Not enough dye for the fabric, or too much fabric in the pot.

(2) Too much acid, too early?

After mulling my choices for dye, I settled on the Procion dye, which works best on plant fibers such as cotton or linen, but will work on silk if you add vinegar to the dye bath.  I thought that would be fine, because I would dye the lace and silk separately, and I didn't want to get two different dyes and risk having them clash.  Unfortunately, I forgot that the lace was cotton on a nylon mesh.  The nylon needs the acid, too.  Oops.  

After several different dye/chemical/temperature combinations, I found a really nice color that dyed both the cotton and the nylon.  Heating the dye bath and adding vinegar (fixative for nylon) about 15 minutes after adding the fabric, then adding soda ash (fixative for cotton) gave me a perfect color.  If I didn't add the vinegar, then the mesh didn't take the dye.

Using Rit would have dyed the cotton and the nylon about the same color, but I know from experience that it would fade quickly.  And continue to fade.  And maybe fade directly onto my skin.  And maybe ruin your washing machine (true story).  I don't like to use Rit.  

I still haven't figured out what caused the irregular color on the lace, though.  Maybe I had too much fabric for the size of my pot?  It was a lot of fabric, and the cotton has an irregular surface.

The silk took the dye perfectly.  I loved looking at this while I was sewing the dress and just wished that my main fabric had come out this nicely.  Ignore my shadow in the bottom of the picture -- it's really all the same beautiful color all over.  

My interest in dying fabric hasn't faded...especially if the fabric is silk.  I will be more judicious about what fabrics or combinations of fabrics I use in the future, but I'm still fascinated with the process of creating the perfect shade for my projects.

Orange-you glad Vogue 8766 is finished?!

Mixed reviews on Vogue 8766.  Sadly, I do not love the outcome, which may be why I haven't made the time to document it.

After all the time I spent fitting the blasted muslin, I was doubly disappointed when the lace did not dye as well as I would have liked.  More analysis on that later.  The silk DID dye to a gorgeous, perfect tangerine, though.  I just wish it were more visible under the lace.

My husband loved the dress.  My son told me I looked like Grandma and my sleeves were too short.  My daughter told me she liked it, but I got the feeling she was just being kind.  I thought it was comfortable. Like I said, mixed reviews.

Here we are, in all of our tangerine glory (this is the best picture I have of myself -- I wasn't in the mood to pose):

Color of Hope 2013 (Tangerine)
photo courtesy of Celebrate Arkansas Magazine

Everyone wore something sewn by Mom:
 - Daughter: wore her prom dress from 2012 -- LOVE IT when a gown can be worn more than once!
 - Husband: bow tie is the the same silk underlining my dress -- more on that hot mess another day
 - Son: pants were hemmed by me, in the minutes before we left for the gala when we realized they were 3 inches too long
 - And there I am in my orange monstrosity -- smiling -- because the dress really is comfortable!

My review, Vogue 8766:
Pattern Description: Lined dress has underlined bodice variations and narrow hem...all garments are cut on the crosswise grain of fabric.  I sewed view E.

Pattern Sizing: AA(6-8-10-12), D5(12-14-16-18-20).  I cut a 12.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the envelope?
Yes, for the most part.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
I thought so.  Although it was an "Easy Vogue", the fit gave me fits (no fault of the instructions). I made three muslins before I felt it fit me well enough.  I finally swapped the darts for shoulder princess seams to get it to fit me nicely.

What did you particularly like or dislike?
Like:  Construction is straightforward and simple, and I thought the instructions for sewing lace with an underlining were easy to understand.  I really like the effect of the darted sleeves and may steal this to attach to another pattern in the future -- they were much easier to sew than the eased variety, and the darts add nice structural interest.
Dislike:  The bodice darts.  I replaced them with princess seams.

Fabric used: Silk charmeuse as an underlining (Dharma Trading, dyed by me).  Cheap cotton/nylon lace on top, also dyed (a mistake that I will not make again).

Pattern alternations or any design changes:
 - Shortened sleeve length to just under the elbow.
 - Added princess seams to manage fitting challenges.
 - FBA (this was a first for me, I usually do not need that)
 - Swayback
 - Expanded the circumference of the size 12 by several inches in the first muslin, took out about half the original expansion in the second muslin, then went back to the original 12 and settled for nothing more than an FBA in the third.

Would you sew it again?  Would you recommend it to others?
Not sure if I would sew it again for myself.  I would love to say "yes", since I spent so many hours fitting it for myself and it is a very comfortable dress, but I am not sure I love it that much.  I may consider making the view with a fuller skirt for my daughter.  I've seen enough nice versions of this dress to believe that this just may have been a personal problem, so I may recommend it to others.

Conclusion:
This was a bit disappointing.  This pattern was so well-reviewed by others, that I expected a quick slam-dunk.  Part of the disappointment was my lace fabric, part was the fitting troubles. I normally do not have fitting challenges, so was thrown by excessive time I spent making muslins.  I do love the darted sleeve, and I am going to keep the pattern around for that aspect.

Toxic Relationships

Have you ever found yourself in a painful relationship? One that you really want to work, but becomes detrimental to living a productive life? Maybe it causes you to question your abilities, or perhaps lose confidence in yourself altogether?  Maybe you even have a poor body image because of it?  No matter what you do, how hard you try, you don't think you can ever work things out?  No, I'm not airing my dirty laundry, this blog is still about sewing...this is where I found myself with Vogue 8766 late last week.

Vogue 8766, View E.

Now that my tweed jacket is finished, I don't have any UFOs and I'm not one to throw in the towel, especially with an "easy" pattern.  Especially not one that was reviewed so well by so many people all over the internet.  But I just could not fit the muslin to look flattering on me.  The darts didn't work on me, my back appeared as if I had an extreme case of scoliosis, and if that wasn't enough, the waistline appeared to be the same circumference as the bust and hips. A sack of potatoes may have looked better.  Moving the darts didn't help, making them larger didn't help, everything I did seemed to make it look worse.

Starting from scratch with muslin #2 would surely make a difference...NOT!  I went to bed on Thursday night wishing that I could just have a good cry and feel better.  My confidence was completely shot -- I kept telling myself: "You have sewn Advanced Vogue patterns without a muslin that came out lovely, and this is an EASY pattern."  "It can't be THAT hard."  "You are a nice person, and people like you." Well, not the last sentence, but I probably should have tried it.

Friday afternoon I decided that I just could not -- would not -- work with THAT pattern.  Actually, the skirt was okay, it was just the bodice that looked awful.  I toyed with starting over with a new pattern, but decided that the answer was to re-draft the bodice with princess seams that are (hopefully) easier to fit.

Saturday morning, I broke out my "Perfect Fitting" book by Sarah Veblen.  Finally, on Sunday night, I accepted my fourth muslin as the final and declared that I would move forward with that version.  I still don't love it, but I'm running out of time.  I know it sounds like a marriage of convenience.

If I didn't have a hard deadline of a week from yesterday, I would definitely have started over -- new pattern, new fabric, new attitude -- but it must be finished by this Sunday, before I leave for a week long business trip.  AND I still have to dye the fabric.  [That will be another can of worms all by itself.]

I still haven't figured out why this was such a difficult chore to fit this for myself.  Is it because I bought a smaller size and tried to increase the waist (by the way, I ended up taking more than half the increased circumference out of the final version and I still have room to move), or is it just that this style does not work for my body type?

It's not that I haven't been sewing...

...I've just had really b-o-r-i-n-g projects.  You know the type: mending, altering, etc.  Not interesting enough to blog about.  Most boring among the long list of forgettable projects: outdoor curtains.  My husband has wanted some for several years, and demanded hinted that I should put them on my docket for this summer.  Unfortunately, summer will probably be over before I finish them.  All white fabric and so many straight seams!  I've only completed one (I think the plan is for 6 or 8), but I need a break -- something fun!

Dresses are normally not my thing, but we have an event later this month for which I really should wear a dress.  So, I'm making one: Vogue 8766, view E. It is well reviewed on Pattern Review and billed as "easy".  This particular event has a color theme every year -- 2013 is the year of Tangerine -- so while awaiting the arrival of my tangerine dye from Dharma Trading, I started fitting a muslin.

My shoulders have recently become narrower in proportion to my waist.   My usual method for handling my disproportionately large waistline is to get a pattern that fits me in the waist, and reduce the shoulder width.  That hasn't always given me the best results, and I understand that I should do the opposite -- buy a size to fit my shoulders, and expand everything else.  It sounded so simple.

Threads #101 has an interesting article about grading patterns, which was helpful for me to figure out where to slash and spread the tissue.  It involved a little bit of math -- which always makes the project more fun, and gives me the peace of mind that I'm using a scientific process.

In a nutshell, you figure out the difference between the pattern measurement and the body measurement, which is the "overall grade." Divide that by 4 to get the "allocated grade" (AG, allocated between four pieces).  The allocated grade is then further allocated between three lines (hash marks, below) per body quadrant.  For the body measurement, I allowed for ease, by assuming the same ease built into the pattern (so if drawn for a 25" waist, and the finished waist measurement is 27", waist ease = 2", so I added 2" to my waist measurement).

The Threads methodology drawn on my pattern.

Changes to bodice patterns

In this particular project, I needed an extra SIX inches in the waist (hard to believe that I've lost a couple inches there in recent weeks), so that six inches in overall grade became 1.5 inches in AG, divided into 3/8" or 3/4" spreads at the waistline, detailed in the table above.

The bust (apex) and hip lines required only about 1/2" additional, which worked out fine for a wedge slashed into the pattern: wide at the waist and tapered toward the top and bottom edges.  After all the wedges were in place so that the tissue was flat, I re-drew the grain lines and blended any other lines.

Muslin #1 neglected to take into account the additional required for bodice length (duh), so it was a bit too short in the front (not as much in the back due to my sway back).  Unfortunately, I ignored this great tool from Threads and I only increased bodice length along lines #5 (front) and #10 (back) where the patterns had markings for "lengthen/shorten here."  It would have really been better to use line #4 also -- at least in the front -- because I ended up lowering the bust darts and armscye, anyway. By the way, the Threads table didn't seem to allocate enough in the vertical direction to meet the overall grade -- my table is adjusted to reflect the increase.

In the process of fitting, my husband learned how to pin out excess fabric for me!  He did well on his portion -- the back looks pretty smooth.  I'm still not all that happy with how the bodice fits me along the side seams, but I'm saving that for later, since it should be an easy fix that I can pin out myself.  The skirt seems perfect, though.

I'm still not sold on the new process -- I do feel like I'm making many more changes than I would have using my old method.  However, if it results in a better end product, it's worth the trouble.  After working on this over the weekend, I realized that Linda Maynard teaches a Craftsy class on fitting that uses this exact pattern.  Seems like that may have made it easier for me.

So, how do those of you experienced in the art of fitting usually buy your patterns and fit them?  Am I the only one who has been doing it wrong?!