Finished Yellow Eyelet Lonsdale

My new camera charger finally arrived! It officially beat the return of my good camera from downstate. And, I was finally able to get my finished Lonsdale photos. (Unfortunately, now my computer with all of my photo editing software is on the fritz, and trying to use Photoshop in safe mode is a pain! Oh well, the show must go on.)

Here are the details:

Pattern: Sewaholic's Lonsdale

Fabric: 1 3/8 yards of yellow cotton eyelet from Joann Fabrics. I'm so proud of myself for getting a Lonsdale out of this. The underlining was white mystery fabric from Vogue Fabrics and the lining was combination of assorted white muslin fabrics.

Size and modifications: I cut a size 6 at the top and scaled to an 8 at the waist. I also made a swayback adjustment and pinched the bodice in a bit.   I made these modifications about two years ago when I made my first Lonsdale (back in my pre-blog days), and blindly followed the pattern this time. Luckily, it still fit perfectly!

I did not have enough fabric for the slash pockets. I really love that design feature, but it did need to be sacrificed. Instead I used the Cambie pocket (View B), but any pocket would work.  In hindsight, I should have checked out Sewaholic's tips for using less fabric.  She suggests making facings for the pockets as an alternative, and I probably would have had enough fabric to do that.

I also had to piece together a few pattern pieces since I was working with so little fabric.  The fashion fabric straps were just too long to layout in one piece, so those are pieced together. The same went for the lining and underlining. I used up a lot of muslin that was lying around, and feel pretty happy with myself for doing that.

Finally, I had to shorten the skirt quite a bit in order to get it to fit on the eyelet. I used the View A skirt pieces, and then shortened by another 4 inches.  I'm very happy with the results.  Still long enough to make me feel comfortable, but short enough to feel very summery.

What I learned trying to piece together a pattern with too little fabric:
1. Non-directional prints are your friend. Or, just don't be too picky about matching patterns.
2. Omit or modify pockets.
3. Splice together long pieces. No one will notice and the sewing police won't haul you away.
4. Shorten the skirt.
5. Keep your fingers crossed that the hack job you're about to do actually works.

Home Stretch - Lonsdale Progress

Almost finished!

I'm so happy with the progress on my Lonsdale.  I just have a few tasks remaining: cut out and sew a skirt lining because the eyelet and underlining is still too sheer for comfort, sew the zipper and hem everything.  Depending on how much sewing time I can fit in today, it should be ready in another day or two.

I recycled and pieced together all I could from muslin that I had lying around for the lining and underling. I still did not have enough for a skirt lining and had to make a trek to Joann Fabric. I know, poor me had to go to the fabric store.

I'm so glad I did! There was a 50% off sale! (I know, when do they not have a sale?) I was so appalled by the evil conditions that the fabric was being kept in that I had to liberate some from Joann's. (And by evil conditions, I mean it wasn't home with me yet.)

LOOK! EYELET!!!!

I usually try to stay away from all white because I'm afraid it will get dirty, but I just couldn't say no to this! I've been staring longingly at the Hazel's that have been popping up in the blog world and think this would be perfect for one.  Check out the amazingly blue eyelet Hazel made by Gail at Today's Agenda, or the white embroidered Hazel on the Colette blog.  When the time comes, I'll be underlining this with the light green fabric pictured above.

Also, I this beautiful Swiss Dot needed a good home.

I'm sure I've seen this fabric on at least one blogger's site already. (I'm sorry I can't remember where, but I remember it being beautiful!)  I don't know what's to become of it yet, but I think I might be starting a Lonsdale phase. Or maybe another Cambie? Or, can I squeeze a Chantilly from this?  So many choices, which is such a good problem to have :)

Just Takin' My Time, Sewing my Lonsdale

Quality sewing time has been kind of hard to find lately. Between being super busy at work, house hunt and most important, trying to spend time outside enjoying summer, I haven't made much progress on my Lonsdale.

I'm still plugging away on it, trying to do a little bit every night or two.  There's not much to report, but tonight I finally finished the bodice:

I underlined the yellow eyelet with white mystery fabric. (Is it cotton batiste? Is it some poly blend? Who knows, but I sure do love my mystery fabrics.) Only problem I found was that it was still too sheer.  I was originally going to use that for the lining, but instead chose to piece together the lining from left over muslin I had lying around.

It's become a game.  How far can I get before I break down and go to the fabric store? I think it might happen soon. The skirt might be too sheer for comfort without another layer.

Also, how amazing would a dress this color look with say a robin's egg blue belt?  I must find or make one to go with this!

Beating the System

What's this?

Why, it's just the start of my Lonsdale using my 1 3/8 yards of yellow eyelet.

#Winning  #PatternHacks  #BeatingTheSystem