i bought some lining fabric for the skirt reconstruct at fabrix (more on the fabrix experience in a minute) & while i was there, picked up some cheap fabric to make muslins for 2 vintage 1940s patterns i bought. i have never made a muslin in my life. actually, it was only recently that i'd even heard of the concept, but disregarded it because i'm too impatient. it takes me forever to sew something once, but twice?
upon further reflection, however, i suspect sizing the vintage patterns will be a total shot in the dark (complete failure & waste of money on good fabric) so for this one time only i'm going to make muslins to test fit the patterns.
back to the fabrix experience. point of emphasis here: fabrix should never, ever be confused with britex.
whereas britex is all about beautiful fabric, one-on-one customer service & getting chastised for breaking yet another one of the unwritten rules of shopping in the britex store (ask me how), fabrix is a free-for-all of wading through dusty bolts of unidentifiable & mostly unappealing fabric, employee drama & much much more.
it took a long time to find something doable for just 1 of the muslins, only to have the cutter show me (with hand gestures because she had laryngitis and her coworker went on lunch break for longer than she was supposed to, etc., etc.) that the fabric was wrapped around the bolt in 1 3/4 yard pieces which is not at all helpful when you need a piece that's 2 1/2 yards.
i went back digging for the plan b option. desperate on a mission. found it on the $.99/yard pile. brought it to the other cutter (who did not take an extended lunch break, she was hardly gone at all, etc., etc.) who said it was misplaced on the $.99/yard pile & was actually priced at $2.39/yard. (whatever)
i read the yelp reviews on fabrix, so i thought i was prepared going in, but i must say it was worse than my lowest expectations. there were a lot of people with purpose shopping in that store though, so maybe if i keep going back i will eventually be taken in by its quirkiness?
i created a 3-piece lining from scratch, applying what i'd learned from vogue 8425. everything went together much easier this time & i was feeling really good about the project. the only other thing i had to brain think was how to do the bubble hem. note: the bubble hem was not what i had in mind initially, but it's where the skirt was going so fine.
this is where the skirt & i hit an impasse.
it turns out there is more fabric at the front of the skirt than the back, something i did not know about the garment when i was wearing it as a dress, nor at any stage of the reconstruct. it was only after many pinups of the bubble hem & trying it on (& i mean like 3 separate days of doing this in different ways & it still not fitting right) that i realized what was going on. of course now it's totally obvious: there are 8 pleats in front & only 4 darts in back.
which means i can bubble the front, but not the back.
i've tried everything i can think of to do something non-bubbled with the back that will compliment the bubble in the front, but i'm at a total loss. as of now, there is only 1 option - straight, flat hem all the way around & as i mentioned previously, this is not an option i want to pursue.
i really don't want to stick this skirt in the still waiting to be finished pile or worse, in the oh well better luck next time pile.
so i'm waiting for inspiration. i'm hoping once the cold bug runs its course, the brain will be clearer & the answer will come.
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