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Sunday, May 18, 2014

Deer and Doe Sureau

You know how you go to the grocery store and when you're about to leave, you see something in line at the checkout and you're like 'eh, why not'?

For a sewist, sometimes fabric stores are like the supermarket, and patterns are like the Tic-Tacs by the checkout.  Which is a slightly convoluted way of saying that impulse buys can happen in the strangest of places.

Tuesday night, I went to The Finch for Nicole's first Knit-Together night.  Be it the thunderstorms that kept people from venturing out, or the fact that it was the very first of this particular gathering, but I ended up being the only person to show up.  Since I hauled my cookies 25 minutes to get there, I figured if she was willing to stick around, then I would, too.  So we sat and knitted and talked about fabric and sewing and her upcoming trip to Quilt Market, etc etc.  And as I repeated row after row of K1, KFB, K to end, my eyes wandered around the shop.  As often as I am there, I always enjoy browsing around at the shelves of fabrics, patterns, and notions.

As it neared 9:30, I started packing up.  While Nicole took a phone call, I sauntered to the cove in which a bunch of patterns are displayed, and I started picking some up.  Datura?  No, I'm not ready for an advanced pattern.  Hawthorn?  The instructional booklet is thick; I need something I can complete before Saturday.  Sureau?  Now we're talking.  Beginner pattern, only needs 2 yards of fabric, and oh, look: here's a blue chambray which is the perfect lightweight and slightly stretchy fabric for a late spring dress.  Ring me up.  I'll take 'em.

Like my last experience with a Deer and Doe pattern, I found the instructions a little too concise.  The original pattern is for a dress with sleeves, although the two variations listed are sleeveless, and as a top.  You won't find any information in the instructions for making either of those, however.  Thankfully, Anna of Paunnet hosted a Sureau sew-along awhile back and in her archives was a post on creating the sleeveless variation of the dress.  And lucky for me, I had an unopened package of navy blue bias tape which I used to finish the armholes neatly.  The only other alteration I'll  need to make for next time is adjusting the shoulder seams to correct the gaping neckline.  Otherwise, this dress turned out beautifully and when I debuted it at the Kinfolk dinner last night, I received tons of compliments!












Fabric: Blue chambray bought at Finch Sewing Studio.
Pattern: Sureau by Deer and Doe
Sizing: 40 up top, widening to a 44 around the waist and hips.
Alterations: Sleeveless variation.

3 comments:

  1. I loooove this. You look beautiful!

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  2. It looks amazin on you. I also had the gaping neckline but I didn't know how to fix it, next time I try the shoulders like you did

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