A lead for the Sweater Dress

I posted about my deep longing (or at least passing fancy) for a sweater dress on Stitcher's Guild and Redhead pointed out this fantastic pattern Onion has. Just look at it:Deep cowl - check. Long bell or bishop sleeve - almost check. It's no problem to extend those babies from 3/4 to full length, especially for these short arms. I'm not sure about the overall fit but a little slash-n-spread below the waist would help it skim my lower parts rather thank cling. I'm seriously tempted by this. However I'm also tempted by the instant gratification offered up by using patterns I already have. Hm. Must think on this.

And on another topic:

Note on the polls

I love polls. I especially love polls on my blog that let ya'll kinda do a choose-your-own-adventures bit, in a small way. My current plan is to run polls once a month for that whole month and then do what the poll tells me to do the first week of the next month. Looking at the numbers as they stand, I'll probably do a series on how I've got my sewing corner set up, what works, and what works better than nothing but needs some additional thought. This should also motivate me to clean up that area and get some of the non-sewing stuff off the shelves and where they belong. You know, so I can show how neat and organized I am. Yeah.

There might be other polls running at other times (I'm considering a "what types of posts do you like most" poll sometime in the near future) but that would be in addition to the CYOA (which, now that I look at it, is far too close to CYA... oh well) polls. And these polls aren't some unbreakable contract - that is, I'll do what the CYOA polls tell me s'long as there's no unusual circumstances preventing it. But I don't promise a poll every month. I reserve the right to get bored and change my mind. But for now the CYOA polls are amusing me so expect to see them for a good while!

Cozy weekend plans

Maybe it's our sudden bought of cooler weather (meaning, below mid-80s) or maybe it's the halloween candy everywhere but I'm in the mood to make something warm, cozy, and very now.

I want to make a sweater dress.

I mean, just look at this beauty ....


Now I'm not exactly the standard figure for these current tube sweater dresses. I'm curvy all over with little lumps and bumps in different places. I'm actually a "normal" weight for my hight (that is, doctors don't give me grief about watching what I eat or getting more calories) but that weight is kinda all over in various distributions. So sweater dresses, at least the RTW versions, are inheritantly wrong for me.

This is why I sew.

My plan is to frankenpattern this whole thing - a close-fitting deep cowl-neck shirt from and OOP Simplicity pattern, bell sleeves from one of my many prospects (I like bell sleeves and wind up buying patterns that I otherwise dislike just because of that detail), and then draft in an a-line skirt. My two best bottom shapes are a-line and flared but the flared tends towards the sexy side and I want to be able to wear this to church. So a-line it is.

Right now all this is purely in my head but I'll try and get it out this Sunday (my sewing day). I might even mess with DH's computer and see if it likes my camera and upload some pictures that way.

If I do that I can even show off the cotton robe I made before I give it to the bride-to-be (who, incidentally, got married 6 months ago - so I'm a little slow with my presents) next week. So much to do, so much to do. But all very fun. In contrast to the midterm I should be studying for. (sigh) Back to the grind...