Inspiration can be a tricky thing. If you don’t have the time or head space to nurture an idea when it happens to come across your brain, it can feel like a giant weight tied to your foot. Take this Dutch wax fabric I bought three years ago.
The chicken or the egg, which came first? I felt like I was buying a work of art. How can you not get inspiration out of this? Someone said it was a statement fabric, which made me a bit anxious. What if what I made didn’t live up to the hype? What if I couldn’t make a statement.
The fabric sat in a bag for awhile. I kept sewing other things. I was inspired to make a cross body purse, similar to ones that all my friends were raving about. I was inspired to go through my To Do list to cross off some previously inspired projects. I was inspired to make my own wedding dress. It was difficult to figure out what to make of this unusual fabric. I was inspired by it, but what I wanted it to be wasn’t jumping out at me. Maybe the egg really does come first in this dilemma, the idea should come before forcing a material into a wearable garment.
This past year, I’ve struggled with my motivation to sew anything. I’ve left this blog alone for more than a year, every weekend saying I’ll get it to next weekend. The longer it went on, the more pressure I felt. I could also feel the fabric stacks in my sewing nook growing and building. More pressure to get these unfinished projects and ideas done. My attention span darting around to other ideas, other outfits I could attempt. But I’d just find something else to occupy my time and mind.
I can’t exactly remember when, but I got the idea that this would make a great shirtdress. Awhile back I saw shirtdresses making a comeback and honestly I’ve always wanted one because I like that retro look. So I decided to commit this fabric to this endeavor. I cut into it…and then abandoned it. Months kept going by and I kept thinking about it. It was taunting me…like…what are you, chicken?
Truth be told, I was a little intimidated by the neckline as I’ve always struggled with notch collars in the past. This time…well…was no different. It took some trial and error trying to figure out how to pivot the fabric and where to sew the seams so that you get that distinct point that goes out from the lapel. In the end I got pretty confused (I probably need to take a class for this skill) and it doesn’t exactly lie as flat as it should. There is some level of precision I am missing, but I did unpick a few times to get the shape that was close enough.
Thankfully I did get some things right. Before cutting my bodice, I spent a lot of extra time fitting the top and darts to my measurements. This paid off, because the fit was perfect – or it would have been had I not gained a few pounds in my waist this year. That’s okay, that section can be hidden with this lovely sash that came with it.
The only other issue I wish I had paid more attention to was the finish on the pocket seams. I just happily started sewing up the pockets as directed on the pattern without thinking about it instead of finishing up the raw edges before I sewed them to the dress. When the dress was all sewn up, I realized my mistake and ended up trying to bind the edges, which was difficult after the fact.
I love the button color for this dress as well and I was so excited when I saw I had thread to match so I could make the buttonholes pink as well. All in all, I love the fit, despite the finicky collar and was even able to wear it to a night on the town in the city. I do still love the look of a shirtdress and I would definitely make another one. Sewing something that fully buttons in the front made construction of the skirt to the bodice a cinch. However, I’m not sure I would use this pattern again, I may have more luck with an indie pattern that can dumb down the whole collar thing for me.
So what else am I working on? I just changed the thread in my serger to try to move the motivation along. I have cut out some cargo pants that I’ve wanted to make for a long time. But the main project I’ve been most excited about is a Calvin Wrap Dress with this coi fish fabric I got at Gorgeous Fabrics. I made a mock up last year and I like the result. I just need the inspiration to take that first step. Or maybe just the pressure…yeah pressure usually works.
