I recently purchased several yards of the softest, lightest-weight heathered brown jersey, and when I say soft, I mean soft like I wanted to take it out of the bag and rub it on my cheek the whole way home. You know, baby blanket, thumb-sucking soft. I knew I wanted to make a dress out of it the very moment I spied it on the shelf. Honestly, I wanted to make a dress, a shirt, some pants, and maybe even undergarments. It is that soft. (I'll stop now.)
So...over the weekend, I finally found time to turn my fabric into a dress using one of my new Built By Wendy patterns (Simplicity 3692). And let me be honest, I had so much trouble. The pattern was not the problem. Nope. The problem was my beloved fabric. It was like sewing tissue paper. Stretchy tissue paper. Boo.
The mister and I have a little saying when one of us appears frustrated: "Do you need a pillow?" This particular phrase comes from my work with children diagnosed with Autism, and it refers to the idea of using a pillow to yell at or perhaps scream into when frustrated (you know, as an alternative to hitting or screaming at someone). The phrase, "Do you need a pillow?" stuck like glue when one of my favorite five year olds ever asked me repeatedly if I needed a pillow when he refused to share his crayons and noticed my facial expression turn to one of frustration (teaching him to notice and correctly read facial expressions was the goal, I could have cared less about the crayons, although sharing is nice too). He had been offered a "frustration pillow" a few months earlier and he was quite fond of returning the favor. He would sometimes ask me even if I wasn't showing signs of frustration. Just in case.
Anyway, while I sat defeated trying to sew my stretchy tissue paper dress, Dustin walked by and calmly asked me if I wanted him to bring me a pillow. As usual, his words made me laugh. I laughed for a few minutes before finally gathering my wits and finishing the darn dress. I was so happy (and relieved), I didn't even press the seams before taking the photos. And, I rewarded myself with fancy dark chocolate and by allowing myself to wear my super soft dress on Sunday and then again on Monday. Yes siree.
Cheers,
Leya