Stylish-not-stuffy dress works for the office
Dear Julia: I’m a young professional, and I want to make something to wear to work. It needs to be office-appropriate, but I still want it to be fun and stylish. Do you have any ideas for me? — Tracy M.
Hi Tracy: Are you familiar with Mimi G? She’s a popular blogger and YouTuber who has appeared on “Project Runway Junior.” She has partnered with Simplicity to offer sewing patterns that are printable. Her clothes have a really fun vibe to them and are super stylish. I think you’ll like her Simplicity pattern No. 8547. It will work for the office but isn’t stuffy, like some office attire can be.
The knit dress can be made with short or long sleeves, and it has fabric inserts so you can play with different-colored fabrics to get a colorblocking effect. And Mimi G also provides a sew-along video tutorial!
Dear Julia: Sew Simple is one of my “must-read” columns when the Saturday edition of the Watertown (New York) Daily Times comes! I feel reader Brenda’s pain, and think that your tips should help her to achieve the better straight-line results that she wants.
The only thing I can add would be for her to SLOW DOWN! I know that by the time we get to the final step in a project, we are anxious to finish, so we may hurry a bit and lose control. Slow and steady wins the race ... and keeps better control of the stitching line! Also, I often hand-sew the hems on my garments, which means they have been turned and pressed into place, and the sewing line is practically invisible.
Thank you for continuing the column. — Joanne H.
Hi Joanne: I can’t believe I forgot the most important tip for sewing a straight line: go slow! Thanks for this great advice.
Dear Readers: Mrs. S. had this wise advice to add about using a magnet to help with sewing a straight line:
Julia, your column in today’s (Lake Charles, La.) American Press brought many memories of learning to sew on a machine with no guidelines on the throat plate. Thank goodness for a tracing wheel and paper! One comment about placing a magnet on the machine: It’s not recommended for computerized machines, such as the Bernina. That was one of the first things mentioned in the training sessions. It causes the computer to go nuts.
Mrs. S., thanks for this important reminder. We definitely don’t want to cause any damage to our machines! Send questions to Julia Cameron, c/o King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or SewSimpleColumn@gmail.com.