Catching up! Sewing news.

Hello all,

I have been super busy these last few weeks, but have still managed to get quite a lot of sewing done, and yet more sewing planned.

I made the melon dress as promised from my last post, here it is! Excuse my sweaty demeanour - this was at the end of a three-day psychobilly festival and I was a little worse for wear.

As you can see it's a little... bursty. The lining shrank when I steam ironed it, and I'd stupidly cut it out to my pre- Christmas measurements. I'm about 1" bigger all over now, but as it's such a close-fitting dress to start with, an inch unfortunately makes all the difference. I will be making efforts to rectify this situation over the next couple of months with copious amounts of exercise and salad.

I also made myself this black and red taffeta sarong dress, you can't see how gorgeous the fabric is here so I will get a better picture this week. The fabric was mainly left over from a commission dress I made for a friend to wear to the launch of the latest in the Style Me Vintage book series, and it's just lovely, so authentically 50s with its tiny flecks of shiny black and red on the black base.

I also joined the SewToday Club for £7.50 a quarter, for that price you get a magazine every month, any two patterns free when you join, plus 50% off all Butterick, McCall, Vogue and KwikSew patterns. They also regularly have buy 1 get 2 free events for their members, one of which started less than a week after I joined, so I have ordered five patterns so far.

So far I've been scooping up Gertie's patterns, and I can't wait to get started on them. Here's what I've ordered:

B5882. How could you not?! It's gorgeous... the shelf bust is such a nice feature. Apparently a lot of sewers (as in sow-ers, not suw-ers. Ewww.) are waiting with bated breath for Gertie to do a full bust adjustment for this one, so keep an eye on her blog if you're amply endowed up top. Tits ahoy!

  

B5895 - I got two of these, one for me and one for my sister Ginny over at Buttons and Bobbins. I've got a modern capris pattern but this one looks to have a more vintage-styled higher waist, and the simple retro blouse pattern will be really useful for Summer and would make some super cute Hawaiian print tops.

B5814 - I wasn't sure about this one, so I looked at some pictures online of other people's dressmaking efforts with it and decided that my misgivings are mainly down to the envelope photo - the dress itself is lovely but the styling isn't quite right, and the model, bless her, isn't really filling out such a bodacious garment. I think once you put someone with some bigger curves in there and add some more vintage accessories this dress will be a killer.

KwikSew 3491 - This one could look a bit dodgy at first glance, but disregard the hideous violet/greige ensemble the model is wearing, and look at the construction, and you have a perfect little 40s/50s Ike Jacket, a bit like this one:

Via the Vintage Pattern Wikia

This 1940s Hollywood pattern was the one that Tasha at By Gum, By Golly! used in the Sew For Victory challenge, and it looks great. I'm more of a 50s than a 40s girl though, so the later style knitted bottom band and zip front of the KwikSew pattern are just fine for me. I'm envisioning it in a yellow and black or red and black extra large check or tartan, and maybe a black twill version with a big back patch design for a more rockabilly look.

I've also got my beady eye on this brand new release of a 1951 pattern from Butterick, no. 5880. I'm hoping to buy this, Vogue's new mens suit pattern (for Aerospace Boyfriend now he has conferences and stuff to attend, and now Vogue have finally brought out a suit that doesn't look like something out of Miami Vice), and whatever else tickles my fancy before the 3-for-1 offer is up.

It's just lovely, and a bit easier to wear that my usual boob-bearing, boned, skintight affairs. So just to make sure it's still utterly unsuitable to wear in polite society, I've been utterly stubborn, or perhaps utterly stupid, and decided to attempt the fabric dyeing that failed so comically in my last post, and make it from that. I went into my usual fabric shop for trimmings, and lo and behold, sat on top of the bargain basket was another piece of the dreaded white leopard print fabric. I bought a shade lighter of the yellow iDye, and it is running on a 90C cycle in the washing machine RIGHT NOW. I don't know if I even dare look. To be continued...

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Wartime dress - finished!

I finished the 1941 dress! Here it is, in all its spotty glory. I narrowed the shoulders a bit to fit my frame, and shortened the skirt by a couple of inches too. My lovely yellow bakelite belt buckle works perfectly.


I'm wearing it with a turban to cover up my horrendous roots... I think this is a thoroughly 1940s solution to an unsightly head, Aerospace Boyfriend however says it makes me look like one of those African ladies in their matching outfits and turbans... I think he's wrong, but I don't care anyway, those ladies always look amazing!


I'm also wearing my 1940s red velvet shoes, a 30s uranium glass necklace, and a cuff bracelet made from plastic strapping and rectangular luggage strap rings - this belonged to my Nanna, and I remember when she gave it to me as a child that she told me all about how there was no money for jewellery during the war, so accessories were made from scrap, and that this was made for her. I don't know who made it.

I'm hoping to wear this dress to the Haworth 1940s Weekend and am currently attempting to organise a road trip with lots of other ladies! Let me know if you're nearby and fancy joining us.

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New Pattern!

I just received this pattern in the post from PatternCenter on etsy.


I've been looking for a vintage bolero pattern for so long! They're usually either way too small, or close at the neck which isn't the look I want. I tried drafting my own, but it ended up fitting badly so I'm glad to have this basic pattern in my collection.

Speaking of too small...


Look at this amazing Oriental dress pattern in the Pattern Center etsy shop! No wonder the woman on the envelope looks so smug. If you have a bust that's only a bit bigger than one of my legs, it's for you!

Now I have a decent bolero pattern, I will be making lots of little jackets to go with my Summer dresses, just like these cute ones from Vivien of Holloway!


In other news... I cut out all the pieces for my Wartime Dress from Vogue 8936 and will be working on it this week!

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Sewing plans: Wartime dress, and swimwear!

Spring is definitely up and springing around here, despite a small flurry of snow today (it was 7 degrees celsius! Where did snow come from?!) Anyway... this has prompted me to think about some Spring sewing. A couple of my Winter sewing projects fell by the wayside semi-completed, so I will need to finish those too, but I have been wearing the Winter items I did complete non-stop, and it is now time to contemplate some warmer weather designs.


The first thing I will be making is this dress, Vogue 8936 from 1941 - a quintessentially WWII design, although rationing didn't begin until 1942 in the US, so this pattern still has frills and isn't marked as a utility design. This dress would have been illegal to make in the UK!


I picked this pattern up on etsy last year and was a bit scared of using it due to its fragility, but the pattern pieces are in good shape, it's just the envelope and instructions which are falling to bits, I keep the envelope safely inside its plastic wallet so I will just have to be very careful with the instruction sheet when making the dress.


Here is the fabric I'll be using. I'm going to make view B, pictured in red on the envelope, but with the patch pockets from view A - no frilled trimmings though! The collar and cuffs will be in contrasting yellow, and I picked up these large yellow buttons for a bargainous 19p each.


I also procured these vintage early plastic belt buckles on ebay, and will be using the yellow one for a self-fabric belt for the dress. I'll also be making a fabulous straw hat with flowers and leftover fabric trim to match the dress!


My next project after the dress will be a new frontier for me... swimwear! I swim most weeks, and my current suit is getting very worn out. It's a plain black three-piece of bra, tankini top and shorts which I've had for eight years - very much the swimsuit of someone who is trying to blend into the background. The elastane has deteriorated and it's now saggy and partially see-through - not a good look!


This is the fabric I'll be using for my new suit.

I have looked all over for a swimming costume I like and which will be supportive enough in the bust, but so far the cheapest option I've found are these Esther Williams suits at nearly £60! Sainsbury's had a fabulous red and white spot tankini, but they've sold out of my size and failed to restock it for a number of weeks now.


I'll be using the Esther Williams suit as inspiration, but trying to incorporate proper underwired cups inside, under a draped front.

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Sewing plans: Pants!

Taking the lead from my marvellous sister over at Buttons and Bobbins, I've decided to plan some vintage-style trousers. I've never made trousers before, so I'll be learning as I go along!


Ginny's inspiration was this pair of trousers, by Handmade Jane, and I have decided that I want a pair too!

The pattern used to make these is Simplicity 2654 which is very difficult to get hold of, but after doing some research I determined it to be the same trouser pattern featured in Simplicity 4044(below), a reissue of a 1940s pattern that comes with a skirt and jacket, so they are indeed period accurate! There are plenty of copies on eBay and etsy should you wish to make some too.


My sister got hold of a copy of 2654, and I will be stealing a tracing from it as soon as she is finished with it. I decided to go for a design with a waistband, choosing Simplicity 3688(below), which I think will be easier to make jeans from - either wide-legged 40s style directly from the pattern, or by tapering a little for a 50s design. 2654 however, with its faced waist instead of a waistband, will be great for sailor trousers. I already have brass anchor buttons in my stash!


I'll probably be making these first seeing as I have the pattern here, I'll have to wait a while to borrow a copy of the faced trouser pattern. I'll probably just make them as a basic pair of jeans, maybe adding some patch pockets to the front. There's a great post showing the finished trousers and a version of the blouse from the same pattern here, by Debi at My Happy Sewing Place.

Keep an eye on Buttons and Bobbins for more pants progress; Ginny will probably get hers sewn up long before I finish mine, and she is currently in the middle of an interesting series of posts detailing historical inspiration, fabrics, patterns, help and tutorial sources for making vintage trousers.

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Glamourous styling and my clever chap!

A couple of weeks ago we had to go to a fancy event at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, where Aerospace Boyfriend was receiving a prestigious award from the North West Aerospace Alliance. He won the Sir Frank Whittle award, named after the inventor of the jet engine, which is given for the best aerospace engineering project from any North West university. I am very proud of him!


Here he is with some chaps from Project Torpedalo who are going to drive a high-tech pedalo across the Atlantic for charity! Apparently they'll be naked for most of it too due to something called 'salt chafing'... they are braver than I.


...and again looking rather nervous with some executives from Rolls-Royce jet engines, receiving his big cardboard cheque and shiny trophy made from a jet turbine fan blade. I'm not used to seeing him with normal hair and wearing a suit! There was also a very nice three-course meal (they cooked me a special vegan option) and plenty of free-flowing pink champagne! Apparently there exist pictures of us together on his dad's camera (the ones above are stolen from official websites), but they haven't come out very well.


Here is what I wore... my Hawaiian dress, I have probably worn this more than anything else I have made, it's my favourite too. Sorry for the rubbish picture, the lighting in my house is pathetic. The design is modified from Butterick 6582, I lowered the neckline and added the draped and lined front overskirt. I've made several versions of this dress and find it easy to fit and modify. Black lurex knit bolero from Tesco, my Nanna's rhinestone jewellery, and my trusty 1950s green velvet rhinestone stilettos.


My hair and makeup for the evening was done by the fabulous Bethany Jane Davies of The Vintage Beauty Parlour. Her work is fantastic! I asked for a Betty Grable/Lucille Ball inspired updo with classically glamourous neutral 50s makeup and I was thrilled with the results.


I went to her cute little home studio for my styling session (where you will fall in love with Dita, her darling black pug), she also runs a mobile beauty service for bridal or special occasion styling, and a pop-up salon at various vintage events.


Look at my eyebrows! I loved them. I won't be changing from my coloured ones any time soon, but it would be nice to make them up like this for formal occasions or just for a change with a nice outfit.

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Autumn/Winter wardrobe plan - completed items!

As promised, here are some pictures of the things I've already completed from my Autumn (and Winter) colour plan, which I designed to be a capsule wardrobe of things that match, which should also match stuff I already have and pull into regular use some pieces in my wardrobe that didn't really go with anything.


Pinafore skirt - made by me from a self-drafted pattern
Sweater - knitted by my mum from a 40s pattern
Shoes - Irregular Choice (gift from Aerospace Boyfriend)
Cherry Jewellery - Classic Hardware at Rockers England (gift from Aerospace Boyfriend)


Here's a better view of the skirt fabric and the buttons. It uses black, ruby and teal from my colour plan, along with a neutral brown.


I've now made three of these pinafore skirts - I really want to show you the yellow one I showed a sneak preview of in the post linked above, but the fabric is such a loose weave that I have now ripped the side seam twice, meaning I'm either going to have to wait until I drop a dress size to fix it, or make another one with a slightly larger hip measurement as it obviously can't cope with being pulled tight when I bend over. Curse you, ample derriere!


Everything as before, except boots from Alternative Footwear and skirt made in a black, ruby and white tartan.


Here is the jewellery I already have which fits in with the colour plan, and I can also include all my neutral diamanté and pearl pieces.


These are some lovely new bits which fit in with the scheme - two tropical hairclips made my Miss Tiki, who I met when we both had stalls at the Cheshire Go-Cats Rockabilly Meetup, which was great fun. You can find her trading on facebook here in the Ooh La La vintage swap and sell group, she doesn't have an online store yet but her things are definitely worth seeking out! We swapped for these, she took one of my teardrop shaped fascinators in teal with a cherry and cream orchid decoration.


My little octopus! His name is Osgood, I love him.


Clip - MissTiki
Sweater - Tesco, this is another A/W plan buy, I'll show it you properly when I've finished the skirt it's going to go with!
Red bandana - Rockers England
Navy swallows scarf - Primark, comes in a 2-pack with a cream and brown one with horses on it.


This is the fabric for the next pinafore skirt I'm making, teal with a tiny ticked cream stripe through it. It's more teal than in the picture, my camera/lighting gave it an orange cast for some reason. The butterscotch colour is the lining, another colour from my plan, and the buttons look like little waffles!

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At last, I return!

Hello people of blogland, I am delighted to say that I finally have my computer back, after three weeks of stone-age living while my laptop spent time at some enormous Tesco corporate repair centre, presumably partaking in electronic enemas and resting its shattered nerves. Apparently they had to replace the motherboard, I'm just glad it is still under warranty, I can do without having to shell out hundreds of pounds on basically the most expensive replacement part a computer could ever need.

I've got plenty of news and completed sewing projects to show you, but unfortunately since the government banned all light bulbs over 40 watts and I am now lit by the dingiest, cheapest bulbs available, my house is no longer suitable for photography after dusk and you will have to wait until grim, frosty daylight slithers over us for me to capture images of the aforementioned sewing projects.

In the meantime here is a picture of the fabric I'm using to make this year's Christmas dress, and the vintage pattern I'm using.


I think Americans call this type of fabric doublekint, I'm not sure if we have another name for it here - it's not something you see commonly in fabric shops in the UK. The houndstooth side will make up the body of the dress, and I'm going to flip it and use the plain black side for the collar. I'm also modifying it to have three-quarter length sleeves as this will be a Winter dress.


If you fancy this design and happen to be a vintage size 20 1/2 (41-35-45) or are able to resize patterns, there is another copy of the pattern available on etsy here. Mine has the cute 50s envelope too!

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Teal dress plan - the mock up.

After careful scrutiny of my knitted teal fabric and some unsatisfactory tummy-bulging when I recently tried on some knitted skirts in Primark, I have decided not to make a dress but to stick to the original pattern and have it as a top. I have a suspicion that there's not enough for a dress anyway, I have just over a metre and the pattern uses a lot of excess fabric to make the pleated sections and faux shrug section. It's also much more sensible with regard to my Autumn/Winter wardrobe plan to make a top which goes with many skirts rather than a dress which goes with nothing.



Here is the mock up of the top, cut from some crappy stretch t-shirt fabric. As you can see, I cut one piece out backwards due to the confusing nature of the pattern, and it makes me look really pear-shaped. This is because there are some serious bust issues going on - it's about four cup sizes too small, despite me adding inches to the pattern. It should be relatively easy to rectify now I've worked through the construction once.


The red line shows the underbust line of the top, the green line shows where it needs to be!


Also, I'm not convinced that a top made from a stretch fabric needs the four waist darts shown in the pattern, or that there is any need to cut the front of the top and the bust section as two sets of two mirror-image pieces and sew them together - it seems to me that it would be perfectly viable and much neater to cut each section as a single piece on the fold.

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Autumn wardrobe: teal dress plan

My sister has kindly lent me this draped top pattern from a French fashion magazine from 1957.


It's for a 37" bust and 29" waist, so will need sizing up quite considerably. I traced it onto parchment and graded it up, but stupidly I used my sister's notes for the measurements and not my own, and had already cut out the fabric mock-up before I realised! Thankfully it was just some cheap fabric I'd had ages and not my final project fabric. My sister is smaller than me, but the fabric I'm using is stretch and the mock-up pieces actually look like the size will be OK.


This is the fabric I will be using, a lovely teal knit. I'm planning to draft on a pencil skirt to transform the pattern from a top to a dress, and really hoping there is enough of it - the shop had less than two metres in stock but I might be able to squeeze the pieces I need out of it. I also got this silky polka dot fabric to match, but it doesn't fit in with my plan for this dress so I'll use it for something else.

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