All that glitters

So, i finally finished the "gold" order. Four party dresses with sashes, three vests and three matching ties. It was certainly a challenge, but it was also a much needed victory in the "make my own pattern" department. Don't get me wrong--there are some rookie mistakes in there, but generally, the two bigger dresses, which were my greatest worry, fit (almost) like a glove. Minor alterations at best. I didn't get a chance to fit the littlest girls--but i made their dresses so that they would be easier to fit--empire waists, tied straps. I cursed and fussed at these dresses for a couple weeks, but in the end, i think they turned out quite pretty. They did remind me, though, how much i HATE making ruffles and how lucky i am to have had a boy. (not that having a girl would necessarily mean ruffles. I fought ruffles all throughout my youth, so there's no guarantee that any girl child of mine would actually WANT a ruffle in the end...)

So, now actually begins the hard part. Since i created a pattern from scratch, and that said patterns turned out cute--not only by my own opinion, but from those opinionated ladies from my sewing boards-it's time to create a "publishable" pattern. Which means recreating the dress, step by step with pictures, in a PDF format that is easily downloaded. Oh dear lord...

This is the direction i was ultimately headed, But I'd had such crappy luck creating patterns, that i guess i never thought it would happen. I mean, the only reason i created this pattern in the first place was because i could not find one that was already made. I suppose that means that there could be a market for a cute little dress like this...

I was pretty concerned with turning out a fantastic product on this last order that i didn't sit down and write down every step, so now i am preoccupied with how to best explain the construction of this dress. (ever the teacher--the substance almost doesn't matter, it's the way you deliver it that makes all the difference!) I was driving my son to preschool this morning and thinking of the order of ruffle, underskirt, second tier in a way that would make the seam lay neat and flat. Of course if you could get into the head of people driving on the morning commute, I am sure you would find stranger subjects than garment construction and PDF formatting. Better than getting angry at the moron in front of you at any rate.

I suppose I'll have to get some beta testers too...to see if my instructions actually make sense to someone else who doesn't think like me. Or to someone who doesn't feel as confident in his/her sewing skills--because anyone with skills doesn't really rely on instructions anyway, if they can figure out an easier way to do it.

As you can see, while the actual job may be done, I've still got a lot of work to do

Lessons learned these past weeks:

• creativity is great if you don't have to explain it to anyone
• my life feels more constructive without glitter
• people cannot drive in this town
• i need to learn to storyboard again