Darting Hither and Yon

I stopped in at the blueprint shop yesterday and had three patterns printed—the Varda Dress, the French Dart Shift, and the Dove Blouse. When I got home, I compared them. The quality of the photos aren’t great because it’s February in my badly-lit house, but hopefully they will get the point across.

This is the Varda dress. This looks like a curved French dart, starting at the waistline and angling up:

This is the French Dart Shift, which is very similar, although not curved:

And this is the Dove Blouse. You are going to have a hard time convincing me this isn’t a plain ol’ bust dart:

I’m inclined to make up the Varda dress, first, although I still want to check out that New Look pattern. Our Joanns doesn’t have it. I am teaching a serger mastery class in Missoula on Tuesday, so I’ll see if the Joanns there has it in stock.

I picked up enough of this rayon/linen blend fabric at Hobby Lobby for a (hopefully wearable) muslin of the Varda dress.

I don’t wear a lot of red because I have to be careful it doesn’t lean orange, but this has a decidedly rosy tint to it.

In any case, I know I am going to need to lengthen the bodice and adjust the dart placement of whatever pattern I choose. And none of this is going to happen any time soon. February has a lot going on and prepping for my Sew Expo classes is a priority. I know, however, that at some point, I will need to begin sewing some warmer-weather items.

I ordered my new glasses and sunglasses yesterday. When we were there last week, the husband was assisted by a very helpful optician, and I asked him to help me when I came in. The last time I had to get glasses, the woman who was helping me kept trying to offer me cat-eye frames and other styles I did not find flattering. This gentleman was very good and I am pleased with the two frame styles he suggested.

The solenoid kit for the BMW is supposed to arrive today. 🫰🏻