So. Today being Saturday, and the weekend, and more to the point, the first weekend in a while when I haven’t had piles of other things to do, I decided to indulge in a little sewing and perhaps make myself a dress. Now for me, long before there was knitting, there was sewing. I had all sorts of dreams of going to college and studying fashion design, becoming an overnight sensation and being on Chloe Sevigny’s speed-dial (girl is stylish). In the end I decided it wasn’t for me, and I didn’t follow through, but I picked up some (vaguely questionable) pattern-making skills along the way. Which means that although I have made quite a lot of clothes for myself over the years, I have never used a bought pattern. Hence, when I decided to make something out of this nice fabric that my sister bought for me on recent trip to New York (the same trip that produced the supercool buttons), it seemed only natural that I design something for myself and make my own pattern. “Nothing to it!” I thought. “What a jolly way to spend a Saturday”, etc.
All I needed was some of that giant tracing paper with which to make my pattern, so off I skipped to the nearby art supply shop to procure said materials. To my absolute shock and horror, of the three art shops I eventually went to, only one had what I needed, and they were insisting I part with 40 euro in order to get it. 40 euro! “Pfff”, I said, “can’t be doin’ with this nonsense” (this I said to myself, not to the slightly haughty shop girl). So I came home empty-handed, plans foiled, and my poor sewing supplies which have been neglected for far too long sadly have a little longer to wait while I come up with a better solution. (Surely there has to be one, right? Any of you out there with any ingenious suggestions for me?)
In the meantime, must think of something else to amuse myself with for the afternoon. Sigh.
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No such thing as an overnight sensation. If you do what you do because you love to do it – because you need to do it, everything you need will follow.
I like the pics you have up though. If you spent 15 minutes each day on this, your dream would become real.
I Googled pattern tracing paper. A sewer’s blog mentions how wonderful the paper doctor’s offices (the US tho’) have, it’s translucent, a nice weight and good size. I use a pattern tracing “fabric” that is like interfacing, has marked increments but it’s only 22 inches wide. What are you designing? If you don’t need a whole bunch and you’d use the tracing stuff I have, maybe I can send you some?
Well, almost a year after you wrote it, I came across this post and I feel inspired to say something (possibly) useful. Could you just use news paper paper? It’s big enough, it’s plenty, it’s recycling. Except that it isn’t of any use if you really need to trace. But I have been “designing” my own clothes with it since I was little and it’s always worked for me. You can cut out the right size and then trace the silhouette directly on the fabric with some chalk. Good luck!