Mystery Fabric Challenge!!

I received my mystery fabric!! Oh it was good! Thank you to Terri for this fabric!

What I have is a thin suede material that actually stretches and also a purple satin like material. It did not appear to be a true satin as the back of it was kind of like a thin fleece. I was challenged to create something with these 2 fabrics! There was more of the ultra suede material than the satin so the purple needed to be an accent to the tan.

I truly freaked out about this material. I really did. After sewing leather, I thought this might be along those same lines: one shot sort of deal with sewing, special needles, and an iron challenge. Not to mention I have to deal with nap. Which I normally don't deal with. So I had to psyche myself up. And I really needed to think on how I was going to use this fabric. I opted to sew a dress because of course I love dresses. I tried needles and many work. And it turns out that it can be unpicked with a seam ripper and not look horrible. Also, it could be ironed with a press cloth on a low heat  and little steam.

I picked a dress that used pieces to put together the dress. This was partly my first mistake. We will get to that later. I went for this Vogue 1286. It actually has bands that I could use the purple to accent.

And away I cut! I kept a running list of what pattern piece went for what fabric. I had just enough of the purple, which I also used for the lining of just the purple. I had to pull some scraps for the rest of dress lining.

The satin was not too hard to cut but the tan ultra suede was like an octopus and grabbed EVERYTHING. On the mat, random threads in my sewing room, you name it! This time I learned from my mistakes from the paisley dress that I needed to number my pieces on the interface- which parts were center and the pattern piece number. This helped me quickly put the bodice together. Even the back. One small hangup was the bra portion of the top was too short. Since I didn't have enough time I removed just a smidge off the tan. I tried more than once with my princess seams to get them to line up. No dice. I decided to stop manipulating the fabric. It was only getting worse. 

Here is the parts coming together. I really liked the purple with the tan. I actually quickly sewed through the dress UNTIL THAT IS I GOT TO THE BACK STRAPS. 

The instructions got a bit confusing at this part. Also the back part of the dress was BADLY TOO BIG. It was a hot mess. I spent a LONG time slowly trying to rework the back. I had done all the lining inside and the dress was almost complete. I took a little in and tried on. Sew. Sometimes I was sewing with the dress partly on me. I was in stage 4, I needed chocolate, ice cream, and to cry some. Basically I had to take some in at the shoulders. Then in the middle. I promise you I took off 2 inches each side and I still had too much leftover. And the straps had over an inch too much each. But I made it work. And to finish the skirt, I opted for steam a seam. It was the easiest option for me. Of course, I used my orange press cloth.  

Done!! OMG I could cry that this dress is over and done with. 

On... I had to raise the bodice a little bit as it was just too low cut. I did not feel comfortable wearing it. The adjustments also fixed that. 

Heyyyyyyy and now for some outside photos. 

The sides line up well. I was happy. 

The back.

Whew hot.

Here are some more snapshots. It was pretty hot out. This dress will be perfect for fall. Especially with the colors.

I am so happy for this opportunity for this fabric swap. I had a great time and I feel like I learned a lot from sewing with this fabric. I will also never sew this pattern again. EVER! Now go on to Skirt fixation and check out the other contestants and Vote! And if you like my dress......

Cheers,
Lauren