Practice makes perfect

I was on a mission to conquer my big sewing fears, invisible zippers, collars and set in sleeves.Believe it or not I have managed for the most part to avoid them altogether. I make mostly sleeveless dresses and jumpers or had elastic waists in the pants and skirts. I can sew zippers just great into bags and such but a nice invisible zipper in a garment? A totally different story. I'm not sure where my fears of these came from. Perhaps hearing my mother grumble under her breath while sewing a dress for me or maybe just from other sewers? I honestly don't know where, when or how the fear of these sewing techniques started but I know I have avoided them like the plague.

 I recently decided to conquer my fear and just go for it. I started with a a sweet little vintage blouse with slightly puffed sleeves(there was a margin of error allowed in the puff) and a darling small pointed collar. The collar was
 a bit tough to get to lay flat and the bias tape to cover the seam was kind of tricky as well but not AT ALL how difficult I thought it would it would be. Next the sleeves. I gathered at the top and figured out how to place the sleeve against the shoulder so that when turned right side out it would be in place properly and pinned it into place. I have to say that THE most difficult part of sewing the sleeve in was that I was making a size 3 blouse for a toddler, so tiny. With the extension table off I tried to put it around my sewing machine in a circular fashion but it was just too small so I had to go very very slow and make sure nothing got caught so it would lay flat for me. For some reason I just couldn't believe I had done it right, it seemed too easy but when I had gone all the way around the arm, took it out and turned it to the right side miraculously it was done right and looked ok! Could it really be all there was to it? I was so proud! It wasn't perfect, not by any means. The  puff was a bit irregular from the difficult position I had to sew in but my daughter can wear it, that's what counts right? Here it is, I haven't finished it yet with buttons, I want to find just the right ones :)

I was so impressed with my first real attempt that I chose another pattern to try flat lying sleeves thinking they would be much harder. This time a vintage dress from a 1966 Mc Call's pattern.

This dress had both sleeved and a long invisible zipper, it would be a disaster, right? Determined to give it my all I decided NOT to make it from muslin but rather from a darling navy and white pindot. I checked online for tutorial videos and referenced a couple of my sewing "bibles" The Vogue Book of Sewing and The Dressmaker's Bible and decided to go for it. I basted the back closed and pressed the seam out. Next I placed the zipper and sewed each side to the proper side of the seam. So far so good(LOVE my Bernina zipper foot!)Last was top stitching around the zipper on the outside. That was a bit tricky but I did it and the end result again was satisfactory, not the best but wearable for sure. Here is the dress.

So all in all I am pretty pleased with the end results and I'm so excited that from now on I won't be held back by limitations in my sewing. Bring on those darling little peter pan collared dresses! Practice DOES make perfect, well ok, practice makes wearable, at least for now :)