First stitches on my first garment

Crap! I just wrote a WHOLE thing about my start, but dear ol'BLOGGER.COM decided to screw things up, and I lost everything, so here I am rewriting it. Damn.

Anyhow.....

I took the first steps to putting together my tunic shirt. I had to start somewhere, huh? Well, I didn't do much, only because I think the next step is a little confusing, so I want to do it when I'm not disturbed and I can focus. I also think that I'm going to need a second opinion in interpreting this pattern, namely from JC. I understand how and where the pattern pieces are going, but I'm specifically not sure about how the collar and armbands are going to make it there. That confuses me.

So, I got the first steps started, and I think you'd be proud of me, and I'll tell you why in a moment. First, I did step-stitches around the collar areas of the front and back pieces. Not perfect, but not bad either. Next, I had to work on the darts in the front. Here's where you'll be proud of me. The first side had been marked out, so all I had to do was pin and sew along the guideline. However, I didn't have the same thing for the OTHER side of the garment. DUH. So, with a few measurements and calculations, I made a symmetrical dart on the other side. I don't know if it's perfectly symmetrical, but for someone who hasn't done this before, I'd say it's sure gosh darn close. Next, I pinned and sewed the shoulder seams together. That part was probably the easiest part of it.

And that's all I've done so far.

The directions, as mentioned, now involve the collar and armband parts, and they don't make 100% sense to me at the moment. So, I figured it was better to walk away for the day, and come back another time, hopefully tomorrow. Better to do it with a clear mind-- and that second opinion.

Once I can get through that hurdle, I think it'll be smooth sailing. I think all that needs to be done is this collar, the armbands, and then finish the seaming and hemming, and voila! It'll be ready!

The other thing is that I tried on the garment as it is in the moment. Yeah, it's a struggle to get over my head since the actual opening is not finished properly yet (it's going to open up a little more with a slight "V" in the front), but it looks like it's going to fit. Remember, I had to made my first adaption to the pattern right off the bat. I kept the collar, darts and the arms are from the original pattern, but the width of the body is what I made larger. In putting on the garment, since I don't have a dressform yet (ahem), I held the sides together a little to see if my body will burst the seams once they are done, or what. It looks like it'll be fine--possibly a little big! Better big than too small though. I can always take it in a little, but I can't let it out if there's not enough fabric, right? So I'm glad about that.

So, it looks like I might have my first ever garment made-- a real garment (not like the hand sewn, makeshift Star Trek uniform shirt I made for a costume party once), possibly by the end of the weekend. And oh yes, there will be photos if I can actually pull it off successfully.