What a Mess.

I didn't get much done last night. This is because of a well-known and widely detested fact:

YOU GOTTA BE A FLIPPIN' MECHANICAL GENIUS SOMETIMES JUST TO SEW.

I was trying to sew some net together, and the machine kept jamming. Simple fix: rethread. That fixed it pretty quickly -- but only after I took out the bobbin about 5 times, oiled the bobbin, removed the faceplate and blew out all the fuzz, replaced the faceplate, and tried again -- again -- again -- again -- again.

Very frustrating. Plus, the 2-hour premiere of House was on, so I gave up.

Here's what I was doing. Barbie chose a pattern for a dress, and I made it for her. Lots of changes to it, since the pattern is from 1954. Oh, oh, oh so cute, though!

One of Barbie's must-haves was a crinoline in order to pouf up the skirt. My solution? Sew some netting into the lining of the skirt (which the pattern did not require, but I thought it needed). Two rows oughtta do it, I thought.

So here's the pattern, Simplicity 4708, published 1954:

And here's the dress --

and here's the mess:

I also have a bit of trim to add to the jacket and skirt hem. That is, after I finish with all this netting and tulle on the underskirt. See that bunched up wad of white netting on the table? That's the second layer, under the blue. I cut long strips, and am attaching them to each other with strips of ribbon -- because my machine doesn't like trying to sew thread over what amounts to all the air between the spaces in the netting!

Wish me luck. It's gonna get worse before it gets better.

xoxox