Hi, guess I'll hop on the bandwagon and chat about what I'm working on...
Yellow linen dress, in a self-drafted pattern. I mentioned this one before. It would be finished by now, except I decided I wanted to embroider the skirt and sleeve hems. I found just the right shade of yellow embroidery thread (I'm going for the subtle, textured look here) and two nice designs. Now I'm trying to figure out how to make them 'endless' and use my new endless embroidery hoop. Can't sew on it anymore until the embroidery is all done. Then it's hem the sleeves and skirt and set them, finish the neckline and done!
Purple top. This fabric is a silk/cotton blend, thin and lightweight but with a nice crisp hand. I'm using a Vogue pattern for a lined top, choosing the sqare neck and short sleeves (mixed view). Sorry, don't have the number with me. It's an easy pattern, but I've had difficulty before, mostly from choosing very contrary silk fabrics. I'm lining with the same fabric.
I've learned a couple of things from my foray into pattern drafting. The first is that despite being very tall, my waist is practically in my armpits, and the second is that my bust points are further apart than Vogue places them. So, I've shortened an inch from above the waist (but didn't bother lengthening at the bottom, perhaps I should) and moved the front darts each a half-inch towards the side seam. I'm really looking forward to trying it on and seeing the improvement!
This thing is made by assembling the shell and the lining separately. Then you stitch them together at the neck and bottom hem and turn, then set sleeves. The major problem I have with my earlier attempts at this pattern was that the lining and shell weren't precisely the same width, so the shell bubbles a bit along the bottom.
Any suggestions for how to avoid that? Obviously accuracy in cutting and stitching are key -- and my eternal bugaboos. I use a rotary cutter now, I've marked all the stitching lines in chalk, and I am hand basting. Anything else I can do?
-Liz