Highland Dance Outfit Complete

My daughters had a dance competition this morning.  Unfortunately my older daughter had to make the difficult decision that she hadn't recovered enough from the pneumonia to dance.  But she did go to the competition and warm up but was just not able.  She looked great in her new Kilt, Vest and Hose(socks).  I made both the vest and kilt.  My younger daughter got a new blouse for today.

The vest is based on the Unique Highland dance pattern, and Ottobre Design 01/08 #36.  The blouse is based on Ottobre Design 2/04 #23.

Two more items are now complete off my 1st Quarter project list... Next back to longarming to finish my sons quilt. One week until his birthday. The quilt top was his birthday present last year, and I NEED to have it on his bed this year...


 

My Youngest Highland Dancer - and a new Highland Vest

Sewing a dance vest

I'm busy sewing another Highland Dance Vest. Vest is made now time to argue apply the silver braid around the edging.

To see the last Highland Vest I made --- Highland Vest. The one I made earlier this year was much easier as it didn't have any braiding -- National Vest.

A great day for dancing....

I am really happy with how the vest turned out after I fixed the front boning length (right side) and the braid tightness (left side). Today she got a 3rd place for her pas de basques, and was slightly disappointed because she didn't place on her other dance.

Vest Complete and other sewing

The vest is complete... sorry no photos yet. It is in the laundry room drying/cooling from being steamed. Wish I could steam it on her :) I'm sure it would shape up faster.

Other sewing was for a laptop bag for the kids new computer. Before Christmas we ordered them a laptop from the One Laptop per Child which arrived a few weeks ago. My sons immediate request was for a laptop bag for their computer.

Its made with some black denim with smiley faces, lined with green broadcloth and interfaced with some fleece and canvas. It has a pocket on the inside for the mouse and power cord. My son helped sew the pocket...


Since she wouldn't wear these as shorts that were made for under her easter dress, I added a skirt to them - A new skort!

Vest nearly complete....

I didn't pull the braid tight enough when basting so ended up having to take most of it out....


Ok its almost done, but I'm not happy with a few spots! The two centre front scallops look different to me (they didn't before I added the braid) and the braid on the left shoulder is pulled too tight! And for some reason the lining ended up too short at centre back so I ended up slicing it and putting on a tag/"patch"

I haven't seen it on, as its nearly 2AM.... but I'm hoping the front scallops don't look as off when its worn.

Any ideas?

Still to do is sew the front braid (its over boning so it can't be stitched with a machine) and add the hook and eyes. And fix anything that may need fixing. And it really needs a good steam - wish I had a dress form for steaming it...

Vest Update

The vest is looking good. I temporarily abandoned the black one to start work on the purple one. I learned lots about the whole process and it was great to practice with an actual vest before making the one in purple. Changes I made for the purple one include, slightly tweaking the back fit (went from too snug to too loose), using 1" seam allowances, and improved my basting stitches for the interfacing. I really liked the 1" seam allowance - much easier to pin and sew!

2.5 hours of basting!!!! The braid is now basted on, just over 2m of it..... Next steps are to stitch it on the machine, make 10 button holes, slip stitch the CB lining seam and stitch on the hook & eyes. I must get this done by Friday as she needs it Saturday morning. As long as the 2yo doesn't nap today, I'll be able to hand-baste tonight.

I know why..... (vest update)

I know why these cost so much! They are tedious work!

Here is the progress of the black vest.... it is assembled, but needs some tweaking near the shoulders (the right and left front don't match at the moment, but I wasn't fiddling with that at midnight last night) and I will probably take in the side seams a little - they are quite straight! This vest is TOO wide at the waist for my daughter, but otherwise fits well. I am not completely happy with how this one is constructed at the moment so I will be redoing some of the seams. After that it still needs braid and button holes.

Other progress: the mending pile is completely empty again. Just after emptying the mending pile last month, out of the laundry came another batch of items....

Friday and Saturday I'm headed to the local sewing and craft show. I'm signed up to take some courses and will hopefully get time to do some of the free demos too. And thanks to my husband who will be spending the two days with the kids....

Highland Dance Vest Progress

In a previous post, I worked on a muslin for my daughters dance vest, but the fit was awful. So I made Ottobre's 1/08 #36 as her easter outfit. The vest was a much better fit with fewer modifications. Not much needed changing, so I merged the two patterns together. I changed the neckline of the Ottobre pattern, added the hem details and length, changed the back from princess seam, to CB seam.

This past week I completed a wearable muslin in denim and cord (so that it was heavier than plain muslin) with the merged pattern. Things to note: its easier if you read the instructions before or during construction - NOT after! The Unique pattern recommends sewing the side seams and flipping through the shoulder seam - a much better idea as the front is very narrow. I barely got the denim/cord to turn, if it had been velvet/lining/heavy interfacing with the boning it wouldn't have fit! I didn't add the CF boning.

So now to the hard part... actually cutting out the 3 fabrics, basting the interfacing, and starting to sew! I was nervous starting this, but I did cut out the pieces required!!! The canvas was a pain to press before I cut it out as it was so heavy. The white lining is heavy satin backed crepe left over from my wedding dress.

The interfacing (cotton canvas) is hand basted to the velvet.



The side seams have been sewn, boning installed and I've started sewing the two pieces together!

Avoidance leads to a clean sewing room

My next project is the dance vest! But Saturday night I wasn`t feeling up to tackling that project, so I started cleaning my sewing room. Here are the results...

	Beside the door - this is my pattern storage, some fabric and some empty bins for storing the rest of my patterns.
	My new lights. The old ones are the pot lights that aren't on - so that we didn't have to refinish & paint the ceiling we just left them there...

Easter Outfit

Ottobre Vest & modified skirt
Originally uploaded by leahholland

Vest completed!

This is the muslin for her Highland Dance Vest, using the Ottobre 1/08 #36.

It is a good fit and moves well on her, now to tweak to get the same look as the highland vest. I'll make a muslin of that (probably something wearable...) before I cut into $40/m velvet!!!!

Snow & A vest

Well its snowing here still...











A few weeks ago I was working on a muslin for dd's dance vest. The first pattern I tried was the Unique pattern sold for Highland dance, but the fit was awful. So then the new Ottobre arrived and 1/08#36 looks very similar although with a straight hem that I thought I would try it for fit. I haven't gotten the buttons, button holes or rivets on it yet, but initial fit was great - I lengthened it 4cm (due to long torso) and widened at the waist as she has a belly. I think I'll need to make a few mods so the pattern more closely matches the style of her dance vest - but its much closer than my initial muslin of the unique pattern.

Ottobre "Juliet" Vest 1/08 #36

Got my new Ottobre today.... I think I'll make the "Juliet" Vest (#36) up for my daughter... and then overlay the pattern onto the Unique Highland Vest Pattern if its a better fit.

Highland Dance Vest

Started a muslin for A's dance vest... good thing I ... it really doesn't fit her body type. Before cutting out in muslin fabric I lengthened the bodice 2.5" between the waist and armsyce ! Overall length is a good fit now. Areas still needing adjustment:

• hips/waist/butt too tight
• upper chest/back too big
• too long in upper torso/shoulder area

Didn't get my new Ottobre today... so guess I'll try another muslin