Lisa: the freakish domesticity continues

Can I just say that I love having a sewing machine? I asked for one last Christmas, and it was totally an inspired request. The best part is that I can take clothes I already own and alter them to fit the way I want them to. I can bend them to my will! I had access to my mom's sewing machine growing up, but something about having my own just makes me want to use it more. Unfortunately (suprise, suprise), my apartment doesn't have room for a dedicated sewing space--you can tell from the pictures below that the machine is currently set up on the kitchen table. I figure that since I rarely cook, this is actually a much more effective use of the space.

Here are two projects I did recently (as usual, click the thumbnails to see bigger pictures):

I don't know WHAT I was thinking when I tried this skirt on at the store. Everything seemed fine in the dressing room, but then when I put the skirt on to go to a baby shower last Saturday morning, it was humongous. Seriously, it fell down around my hips and looked totally weird. I wore it to the shower anyway and just hoped my shirt covered the weirdness adequately, but as soon as I got home I ripped the skirt off and went to town with my sewing machine. I put two little darts in the front and two bigger darts in the back, and topstiched over all four to make them lie down right. The entire project was complete in like fifteen minutes, and I wore the skirt (now minus the wonkiness) for the rest of the day.

This dress was one of those online purchases I should have just let go, but I loved it so much that I couldn't. I ordered my usual size, and the dress that came in the mail fit perfectly on top but (since I am not a Victoria's Secret model) was too small on the bottom. I sent the dress back for the next size up, which fit totally fine on the bottom. Unfortunately, this meant the top was a little baggy, and the whole thing was made for a taller person. The belt, which is supposed to be low-slung, was really too low on my hips--I don't need to make my legs look any shorter. However, I just had my mom take in the darts on the back a bit and redo the topstiching, and I wore the dress a bunch of times. The problem is that now I have lost more weight, and the top of the dress was even baggier and just looked silly. So a few weeks ago, I decided to take in the side seams myself, since they are relatively hidden and hard to screw up. While I was at it, I got ambitious--not only did I take in the side seams, I also took in the front darts, redid the topstitching over the darts, took off all the belt loops, and reset them about an inch higher. I'm actually really happy with how it looks--who would have thought?

I highly recommend an adjustable dressmaker's dummy if you are sewing things for yourself. Pinning and measuring things on your own body is almost impossible. Mine is a Twin Fit, and it rocks. My sewing machine is a Viking Huskystar 219, and I've been VERY happy with it so far.