Well, I had to do it. Even though I have a muslin that needs redoing for the Pilot's dress shirt, I had to take a peek at the Marfy pattern. After all, I know what needs doing for the shirt, and he won't be home till Friday anyway, so what is the harm?
I was having a hard time visualizing the how the pieces would look. After reading through the Armstrong book and seeing all the variations of darts, I was positive this would be some weird combination of darts, after all, this is a Marfy, right? It can't be straightforward ... can it? Well, the dress is made up of a one piece darted bodice which is sewn to a 3 piece skirt plus the godets. It actually does look very easy to put together! The outer skirt panels have an angled section at the top that attaches to the bodice above and to the center panel below. All three of the skirt panels meet at a point. The godets are stitched in at that point. This is the place where I am anticipating having problems. I forsee hand basting in my future ... and this is why I am making the first version purely for technique.
I am going to cut out a muslin as is (even though I know I will need to fit it) just to test my ease of construction theory. Just to make it really funky, I am going to use some nice white and orange gingham in the throw away stash for the first couple of trials. I ordered 10 yds of muslin from vogue fabrics as I could not pass up the $1.69 per yd price tag. Can't get near that locally, so even with the shipping, it will be still a good deal.
I probably won't have time to order the final fabrics from Vogue without paying a mint in shipping, so I think I am going to have to go downtown to Darrell's. He can always be counted on for great fabric! First, though I will do up the muslins so that he can see the drape of the dress and suggest from there. Who knows what colour he'll talk me into! You will all have to wait and see! I may even decide to use the floral silk anyway ... a girl can change her mind, right? OR is it all that housework that is influencing my judgement ...
Of course, when I did take out the pattern, I heard a lot of grumbling from the ironing board. I thought I smelled some smoke, too ... I think the dragon is awake from its nap and was mumbling about hemlines. Good thing the Coat is still in it's bag from it's visit to Kay's. Lord only knows what it would retort with. And now that there is a man in the mix, I am sure if the dragon speaks up any louder, that shirt will get involved ... So, in the interests of peace and tranquillity in the workshop, I will hem the pants while watching TV tonight. I have to get that fire breather out of the shop. Fabric is flammable and I am sure he has been threatening the stash if anything should think about jumping out and crying "I AM MARFY! SEW ME NOW" Dragons can be such bullies! And it would serve that coat right if I make it wait until the Cherry Blossoms actually come out to finish it, the way it has been egging on those UFOs ...
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Don't know if you've seen this, but on the Threads mag site, there's a video tutorial under general or basic sewing techniques (I think) that shows how to do sharp inset corners very easily using a square of cotton organdy. You could probably use this to help get the godets without a lot trouble handbasting or trying to pivot, etc. I'm going to try it out on the coat I'm making, which has 6 (count em!) very sharp inset corners. Annoying at the best of times but sure to be a nightmare in boucle.
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