Experience:
The experience of patterning and crafting a garment in my room was very hard. Usually, I would have access to tables for laying out and cutting fabric but that was not the case and I think it made the experience very difficult. Also, learning about how to fit patterns to the fabric was hard. I ended up having to shorten the skirt pattern to fit which I did feel limited the flow of the skirt. It would have been nice to have more of a high-low skirt that what it looks like.
The bodice is still in progress and I plan to finish with the sewing machines in A31 on Monday.
Successes and Mistakes:
I had never done a zipper in a garment and I think I successfully did that with a skirt and waistband and bodice top. Before, I have had issues with sewing backwards or wrong side up, but I had successfully sewn everything with the good side facing out. The pockets are lovely but just facing back instead. I also had success with fitting the skirt to my waist on the first try. The curved areas on the bodice were very hard pin and sew but I accomplished that! I just have to put the whole bodice together.
I did have a few mistakes which is okay! I sewed the pockets in the wrong direction as they are facing backward. The small sewing lines are not perfect as they are very shaky. There are also areas of bunching of thread that could be fixed. I also wish the finishing on the skirt was better. It was so much skirt to handle, I would need more time to get something to help and complete the edge to look better.
Future Direction:
I would say that this work can be expanded towards the future will doing a longer skirt and getting a nice edge finish on that. I also think it is a step toward making a full gown again. The ones I have done in the past had corset fronts and open skirts, the full covered gown would be interesting to explore. Lastly, I would love to learn the details like beading or lace work. I think I need to further develop my patience with garment making and something like that would be exciting to learn and execute.