Fly Zipper with Facing

I've never tried a fly zipper with a facing rather than the traditional waistband. Somehow I couldn't wrap my head around how the top of the zipper gets caught so you don't lose the pull.

Over the weekend, I sewed two samples following Kay Y's tutorial. I got very confused at a couple of points, specifically how the facing gets attached to the fly extension, and also how the facing gets sewn to the waist. I finally figured it out, but after I was done I wasn't too happy with the result. I'm not sure if it's my fabric - I tried it with corduroy and with my cotton velvet - my sewing skill, or maybe just the lack of pressing.

I'm going to spend time today trying to adapt Sandra Betzina's easy fly zipper method for facings.

Wish me luck! and if I'm happy I'll post a tutorial.

Doppelganger - Part Trois

Me-Front

DG-Front

I think I'm finally happy with her.

She's still a little larger than I am through the hips, but she's just a tad smaller in the upper chest. And I think I got the shoulder slope right.

Me-Back

DG-Back

But it definitely took more work than I had hoped.

After doing a LOT of research on the web over the weekend, I decided that truly drastic surgery was needed.

Yesterday, while I was out and about -even though gas has gotten a lot cheaper, I still group my errands just on general principle- I bought an electric carving knife for the purpose. I'd been using an old serrated bread knife, and it just wasn't up to the task. At least it was cheap due to holiday sales!

Front Surgery

Back Surgery

You can see I ended up cutting away beaucoup foam.

I took the cut-off breasts, cut them down to fit my bra, and positioned the filled bra much closer to the top of the form than the original would ever have permitted.

I gave her more of an hourglass figure by slicing the sides above the waist into a gentle curve.

I gave her a flat fanny alteration as well - getting toward the end of the process, I realized she had a much bigger tushy than I. I think she still has more booty than I ever will see again, but it's close enough ... and I prefer a looser fit there anyway.

The final thing I adjusted was the shoulder slope. This one scared me, quite frankly - I was sure I would ruin what had already turned into $150 investment.

I used the shoulder slope drawing I had Nick do for me when the form first arrived.

The purple lines are my shoulders. Yes I have funny bumps right at my shoulder points which cause me fitting fits and are my primary reason for wanting a true doppelganger dress form! The red lines are the forms shoulders. I drew this to have at least a guesstimate of how much to dig/curve in the shoulder area.

Here's the form after the shoulder surgery, up against my slope drawing. It's not perfect, but definitely WAY closer than ANYTHING I've ever had in terms of a dress form.

I don't think she'll be a complete substitute for fitting on me, but I think she'll be great for an initial tissue fit, and probably a certain amount of work-in-progress fitting.

I hope it's a good enough match to try some pattern draping.

I'm done futzing with her for a while. I'm more than ready to move on to other projects, and in any case, it'll take actually working with her as a fitting tool to see if I need to refine it any more.

Thanksgiving 2008

Menu

Appetizers

Warm Artichoke-Crab Dip
Vegetable tray with sliced bell pepper, cucumber, bell pepper, baby carrots & radish
Assorted Crackers
Smoked Nova Salmon
Neufchatel cheese

Main Dish

Turkey with
Bread Stuffing
and Gravy

Side Dishes

Mashed Potatoes
Baked Yams
Petite Peas
Mixed Green Salad with
Olive Oil, Lemon and Basil Vinaigrette
Whole Cranberry - Cherry Relish

Desserts

It wouldn't be a Pouschine feast without multiple desserts!

Poached Pears in wine sauce
Ice cream cake to celebrate Dzed's birthday from Mom Pouschine
Pumpkin pie from Casey
Chocolate selection courtesy of Andrea.

Doppelganger - Part Deux

I gave up on my UY dress form, aka Doppelganger, aka DG during the month of October while I worked on my entry for PatternReview's annual Costume Contest. Different post to come later on THAT one!

But with November, I tried another tactic to muscle her into shape.

Nylon strapping.

I bought 5 yards of it at JoAnn's with my mailer 40% off coupon, and used swimsuit bra hooks - salvaged off the kid's skating dresses - to hold them closed.

This tactic mostly seemed to work. DG is STILL bigger than me in some key measurements - the above bust measurement is still INFURIATING me, as is the shoulder width - but I swear I will get this form to work for me!

Inspired by Design History

My next project - recreating this Design History shirt. Sherril Miller recently posted a tutorial on converting a TNT tee shirt to mimic a Cold Water Creek shirt, which got my juices flowing.

My Doppelganger

I'm going to call her DG for short.

From Merriam-Webster online:
Function: noun
Etymology: German Doppelganger, from doppel-double + ganger-goer
Date: 1851
1. a ghostly counterpart of a living person
2a. double 2b. alter ego 2c. a person who has the same name as another.

The Uniquely You dress forms are made of squishable foam. In theory at least, through altering the cover that comes with it, you should be able to create a form that truly resembles you. A real doppelganger, but hopefully without the eerie overtones.

I've wanted one for some time. It's hard to fit on yourself, especially your back, without a fitting buddy, and even then one feels terrible imposing on your partner all the time.

Plus I have some fitting challenges that a standard dress form simply cannot handle. The first and biggest challenge is my narrow shoulder width. My TwinFit's shoulders are simply too wide, and there is no way to make them any narrower.

After doing a bit of research, I quickly decided to abandon the cover that came with DG. I completed my moulage, a zero-ease sloper, a couple of years ago, and Sherril Miller's review of her UY on PatternReview gave me the notion of sewing it up in microfiber twill. Since the twill has absolutely no stretch whatsoever, it should squish DG right down into my shape, right?

Here's the moulage on me - ideally my DG is going to look EXACTLY like this.

Well, my first attempt to get it on her was an utter failure. I squeezed and squeezed and just could not get the d**n thing on her!

When Nick came home, the two of us tried. We were able to get it on her, and partially zipped, but her bodacious boobs defeated us.

My doppelganger needed surgery - drastic surgery.

I gave her a double mastectomy. This kind of worked, in that we could actually get the cover on and zipped, but DG is still sorely lacking in terms of looking like me yet.

More to come in a second post - I'm not defeated yet!

I'm a Mandarin

I'm a Mandarin!

You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now. You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational. You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking. It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power. You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try.

Talent: 41%
Lifer: 41%
Mandarin: 54%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.