School Workroom and an Introduction

  

It's been weeks since I moved my stuff to the workroom at school, and I'm finally feeling like I'm making progress.  I have all my fabric, notions, thread, and commercial patterns there, as well as my mood board and technical board from Storyboard class to keep me inspired.  And today I did the inaugural draping on my new dressform with some amazing turquoise silk crepe de chine!  I only have about a yard of this fabric, but it's such an incredible piece that I want to see if I can squeeze a little sleeveless top out of it.



Weirdly, last night right as I fell asleep I suddenly realized what my dressform's name is.  I asked you all for your input several months ago, but remained stumped - so many great suggestions, but she remained frustratingly nameless!  Then, last night, it hit me:

Betty!

My maternal grandmother, who died when I was very young, went by the nickname Betty, and by my mom's accounts she had an amazing fashion sense and closet to match.  Add equal parts Betty Draper and Bettie Page, and you have a sassy vintage girl who is just right for my line.

I feel much better now that she has a name - now she's not some stranger I'm sticking pins into (yikes!) but a stiff but friendly companion!

So this morning I went in and worked on my black dress, and I've finished as much as I can on my own.  I'm getting better and better at working with slippery Bemberg rayon lining, and it's actually sort of fun because when I switch over to sewing wool, it's like buttah.  As a result, this is the current state of my lining: pretty much finished!  I was a little worried that the simplified shaping in the skirt would cause problems - the actual dress has princess shaping, and I just used tucks in the lining fabric, but it seems to fit and move quite well.

I've also sewn up the backs, bodice, and waistband of the actual dress, so I'm hoping that Thursday I'll sew the front of the skirt with the pockets, and have the dress well on its way to completion by the end of the quarter!