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| ~ yeah, need I say more? ~ |
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| ~ it's a Waxed Cotton African Print fabric from Mood ~ |
Yes, I finally succumbed when Mood Fabrics had a sale of 6-yard cuts of the stuff. I'd never seen prices so low before. I had to jump for it. I know it's not the typical African pattern, but this one is sold out. There are, however, several other patterns/colorways still available at 6 yards for $29!
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| ~ and the inside is just as colorful and the outside ~ |
It's just not waxed.
There are a few considerations to keep in mind when using the fabric:
- It only comes in 45" width.
- Pre-wash it in cold water, without letting it spin in the washer!
- Air-dry it. I used the clothes line and that worked perfectly.
- Only iron it on the reverse (non-waxed) side and still cover it with a cloth.
- It ravels like crazy and instantaneously. Finish all the seam edges!
- Use a pattern without gathering or a lot of fussy elements.
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| ~ the pattern in its full glory ~ |
Because my fabric was one huge print that I didn't want to disrupt, I used it on the cross-grain, from selvedge to selvedge. That's the selvedge as the "hem" for the duster and the sleeves.
The following is all sewing nonsense, so feel free to skip to the end.
I started off using Sandra Betzina's Vogue 1356, but changed a few things along the way:
- First up, the sleeves were incorrect on the pattern - being the wrong size by 2 inches for the armcyce.
- Then I decided I'd rather not have two-piece sleeves for this fabric anyway. I drafted my own one-piece sleeve pattern so as not to cut up the flowers any more than necessary.
- The duster was ill-fitting with the center front barely touching some places and widely overlapping at other points. I ix-nayed that center flap. This also led me to not want to use the facing I had interfaced that was to go around the neckline and down the length of the duster on both sides.
- Instead I sewed it on backwards, so to speak, to form an extension down each side like a kimono lapel. That brought the two sides together more evenly and gave it some heft.
- I tried using the back neckline interfacing to form a mandarin collar and failed miserably. Off it came.
- I happened to have matching (?!) seam binding and used that to make a clean, simple neckline.
- I placed the patch pockets at the sides, centered over the side seams, again because I didn't want to disrupt the flow of flowers on the front.
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| ~ ending with my yellow Docs from ebay ~ |
Now whatever shall I make with the rest of the fabric????
I'm linking up with Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like. And Spy Girl's Summertime for June. And Patti's Not Dead Yet Style. Join us, won't you?