Think, Think. . . Ponder, Ponder. . . CUT!

So. . . I put the top on the dress form and pinned the valance (skirt) around it.
I left it there hanging quite askew with pins everywhere.
And I walked past it all day long.


Dress or jacket?
Long or short?
Is it going to open down the front?
Which way will the pleats on the valance go?




This morning I removed the stitching from the valance
(forming the casings for the curtain rod) and washed, dried and ironed it smooth. The piece is now much longer. I think I added about 10 inches to the length. All the stitching marks and fold lines came out nicely.






And somewhere during this process, I decided on the dress.
I am not sure why.
But it seemed the way to go.




The problem that I had been concerned about is on each end of the valance. Where the pleats are gathered up; there are 9 layers of fabric - well 18 if you count the lining! And I wasn't sure how that would hang. So, I messed around with it for quite awhile on the ironing board. And holding up to me to see the drape.

. . . And then it was time.

There is that moment when you decide to pick up the scissors and you know there will be NO GOING BACK. And so I cut.
I removed the bulkiness of all those pleat layers.

Then, I seamed up the two ends of the valance.
Now I have a "skirt". Basically, with a small kick pleat style slit in the back.

However, when I finished sewing it together,
I realized the pleats on either end had not really been exactly even. Hanging as a curtain valance, nobody would have ever noticed. But bringing those sides together to form a skirt, now created a pronounced difference in how far the pleats were from the fringe edges of the fabric.



Those pleated edges which I had trimmed off formed a long piece of nearly finished fabric. I re-ironed this tube of fabric; cut it into three equal pieces and designed 3 small bows.
The first I placed where the pleat lines did not "line up".
And now I have two remaining bows to use elsewhere on the dress.


Actually, I think I know right where to place them!


What is it that they say?
"Necessity is the mother of invention."
I think that's it.




I really hate using the seam ripper and re-doing what I already did. So my projects are full of "work arounds."



Well, check out the photos and see what you think.


I think those tiny bows look a bit classy.
And if I hadn't mentioned it .. . you'd probably think they were PLANNED!