Announcing my Flouncing

Back when I first started sewing, blouses like this were popular:



I DESPERATELY wanted one but could never afford one. And since I wore uniforms to school, there was no convincing my mom to buy one. I love flounces. They’re so feminine and frilly. But I’ve always shied away from sewing them. Flounces are essentially one huge stream of curves. And I couldn’t figure out how to get a nice finished edge. You simply can’t do it perfectly just by turning under the edges and sewing. Way too putzy for me. And the flounce is what catches the eye – so it’s got to be perfectly curved.

But after years of not having a date for Valentine’s day…or dating someone that avoided the day altogether out of terror or cheapskatedness…I finally had a real date - a very nice date - for this past Valentine’s Day. And I wanted to look frilly. But with what?

Then I went up north to visit a friend and stumbled into a new thrift shop. And, if by fate, I found this pattern in the pattern bin.



That’s New Look 6463 - uncut to boot! Then I stopped into JoAnn’s and, again, fate turned my head and I found they had the cutest satin fabric – black with white butterflies on it – on sale $2 a yard! Well, I’m not one to ignore fate. It was Fate telling me to attempt a flounce by giving me a super-cute pattern and just the right fabric all in the same weekend. But I was really freaking out about the flounce. I was down to the wire with Valentine's Day just around the corner. I had to get it right on this one shot or else - GACK - buy a storebought outfit for the big date. God forbid!

It finally occurred to me to try lining the whole thing, including the flounce. The pattern doesn’t call for lining but I couldn’t conceive of any other way to make the hems nicely rounded and keep it flounce-y at the same time. Worked like a charm!! The whole thing came together like a dream and I loved the results. The only problem was I had no time to make an equally girly top to go with it so I had to pair it with a lame white sweater top. But I was so jazzed about getting a flounce right on my first attempt that I didn’t even care! And The Conductor keeps asking me out so, apparently he didn’t mind the lame sweater either.