Hydrangea print blouse - Simplicity 7084

Another fabric found for a dollar in the local St Johns charity shop was this beautiful hydrangea print stretch cotton sateen. The piece was clearly a left-over scrap, almost a metre, with a bit extra on one side, and a bit less on the other where a sleeve had been cut out.

Initially, I thought the most logical garment to make would be a pleated skirt. However, I really couldn't imagine myself wearing it, so after a few weeks contemplation, I chose instead to make a blouse.

Using tried and trusted pattern Simplicity 7084, view B with view A's sleeves, there was just enough fabric. Super quick and easy to make as there are no fastenings, it simply pulls on over your head.

Its lovely to wear and has received many compliments.

UPDATE

With everthing going on at the beginning of lockdown, I found it difficult to concentrate on any project for too long. So, I found this tutorial and made a few masks with fabrics at hand.

Striped T-Shirt dress - vintage '80's Vogue 7338

One of the easiest garment I've made in years.

The striped cotton rugby knit fabric was made at Manawatu Knitting Mills in the 1980's; the pattern from around the same era picked up last year in St Vinnies. My mother gave me this fabric plus two other pieces in different colourways when she retired her stash. I'm tempted to make them all up the same.

Using View C, pin the pockets to the front and back pattern pieces to cut all-in-one, and lengthen the hem and the sleeves as much as the fabric will allow. Instead of using the patterns facings, cut a strip about 4cm wide by 60cm long to use as a neck binding. During construction, ignore the shoulder pleats.

If I do use this pattern again, next time I'll move the pockets up a couple of centimetres. Without a belt or tie they're just a fraction too low.

So basic, yet so comfortable.

Vogue 8628 (ca. 1955) for an afternoon wedding in rural Queensland

Attending an event in another country means serious planning. Besides travel and accommodation, finding something comfortable and appropriate to wear rockets up the essentials list. Thank goodness I can sew!

After resisting buying the cotton sateen fabric (but totally making it up in my head), as soon as the wedding was announced, I raced into Morelands and bought 1.5m. I knew exactly what it was going to become.

Vogue 8628 (ca.1955) is another of Tara's patterns hangin' out in the stash, waiting for its moment to shine. Pocket flaps were eliminated, as was the front button closure – a back zipper added instead (and centre front placed on the fold), but other than these small changes the pattern is as is. Surprisingly, the fit is perfect, even though it should be too small.

Originally, I planned to wear the same purple pumps worn to the last wedding attended, but a little shopping in Cotton Tree turned up a pair of leather sandals in exactly the right shade of pinky-purple - it took very little convincing they were better suited to the rural setting. Belt is from Pagani.

Wonderful wedding, lovely newly-weds, terrific venue and I've a versatile new frock (and shoes) to boot!

Blue Linen Tunic Dress - Style 2040 (1979)

Necklace from Farmers

I'm not at all sure what drew me to this pattern when I saw it in St Vinnies. It doesn't have the most enticing envelope, very dated, in fact. But the more I looked, the more appealling it became. It's a very basic tunic style, with an all-in-one yoke and sleeve detail giving it a point of difference. Paired with 2.5 metres of lovely quality blue linen purchased from an early Fabric-a-Brac and just a few easy alterations, I felt I could make a dress that had very little resemblance to the envelope image.

The most obvious changes made were reversing the yoke opening from centre front to centre back, and getting rid of the zip. I also lowered the front neckline by about 2.5cm. Using the short sleeve version (without the cuff extension), I narrowed them at the hems by about 6cm after first fitting.

Did I mention the pattern has pockets? Tempted as I was to topstitch them to the outside, in the end I went for a clean look and just stitched a length of selvedge between them as a stay.

Very happy with the finished garment. Problem is, we had a bit of a rubbish summer here in Wellington, so as lovely as it is, it didn't get much wear. Never mind, there's always next summer (and the next, and the next...).

A cautionary tale - becoming a VoPIF with vintage Vogue 5434

What's a VoPIF, I hear you ask. A Victim of Pattern Illustration Fraud - when the allure of the envelope image does not match the reality.  Eventually every stitcher will become a VoPIF, the most experienced amongst us will have fallen victim more than once. Vintage Vogue 5434 from the 1960's has victimized me yet again.

The tale starts with a wedding invitation. Guests are requested to dress colourfully - "as bright as a garden of summer flowers". Into the stash I headed, where a piece of dupion silk in a stunning red has been languishing for far too long. (Showed a swatch to the bride as wearing red to a wedding can be considered inappropriate, but she's thrilled. Colour is actually several shades darker than it appears in these photos.)  I also pulled out a piece of burgundy frangipani print cotton to make a wearable toilé and Vogue 5434 from my pattern collection.

After a few adjustments to the sizing, I whizzed together the frangipani toilé dress - love the skirt, but the bodice just doesn't cut the mustard. The neckline is too high, and the pleats which looked so stylish on the envelope are in reality very "roomy". (I kept patting them into place during fitting.) Another toilé bodice was cut with a lower neckline and less fullness in the pleats, but wasn't much better. After toying with the idea of cutting yet another toilé bodice, I decided to abandon it completely for the moment because I'm running out of time, and instead replace it altogether with a trusted bodice from an old favourite pattern - Style 1751 from 1990. 
Boldly cutting straight into the silk I made one change - a simplified neckline - best leave sweethearts to the bride and bridesmaids!

Very happy with the results, and because using this bodice pattern was much more economical ,there's enough silk left over to make a shrug jacket as well. As for the frangipani dress, I can't decided whether to leave the bodice as is, or change it as well. Your thoughts?

So, in conclusion everyone lived happily ever after.

The end.

Oh, and the accessories. Jewellery still to be decided.

Please feel free to share your own VoPIF stories in the comments below. I for one would appreciate warnings about patterns that don't live up to expectations!

Two shirts to wear in India - Style 2568 and Simplicity 7521

I'm travelling to India once again at the end of the year, during their winter. This time I'm heading south, where the temperatures will be warmer, estimated between 17-33°C. During the Rajasthan visit two years ago temperatures were between 7-23°C, so I spent most of the time wearing jeans and layering several merino sweaters on and off, one over the top of the other.

Conservative dress is advisable in India, which I don't have a problem with (working corporate requires conservative dress anyway). Nothing too tight or revealing, keep shoulders and knees covered, plus if your wearing trousers, cover "the shape of your backside and front". Remember my camel riding shorts which were wisely left behind?

I bought kurtis (tunics) and had a salwar-kameez (tunic and pants suit) made last time, but it's looking unlikely I'll have a chance to shop before my tour starts. So I decided to make a couple of shirts using fabrics and patterns from the stash to tide me over, light enough to wear in the heat, while also offering some shade from the sun.

Simplicity 7521 (from 1978) is very much like a kurti style tunic. The fabric was given to me by a lovely woman I met in a St Vinnies store. After doing a burn test, I'm thinking it may be a light weight wool - it's just a bit scratchy, and steams beautifully. I lengthened the tunic to knee length and left off the sleeves cuffs, instead gathering them into an elasticated band. I also added a couple of waist darts in the back for some subtle shaping. The contrasting neck and sleeve bands are simply the wrong side of the fabric. Bonus, the fabric has flecks of blue, green and grey in it, which matches nicely to these navy linen-cotton trousers.

My original intention was to make the second shirt using the same pattern. However, because the fabric was originally a sundress, when I laid the pattern out I discovered while there was plenty of width, there wasn't enough length. Eventually, I settled on Style 2568 from 1979. I always loved the fabric - a lovely soft lawn, and do like the resulting shirt, however I feel like I have gone from one extreme to the the other in styles. There was something about the fabric and pattern choice of the sundress that always made me feel like mutton dressed as lamb. Now I feel like I'm wearing Grandma's gardening shirt! It does look surprisingly good tucked into a pencil skirt though, so I'm sure to get some wear out of it.

Happy!

The Kelly Coat – vintage Style 1671

As soon as I saw the coat fabric in The Fabric Warehouse, I snapped up a few metres - that green! What a colour! At that stage I had no idea what style coat to make, but just HAD TO HAVE IT. However, it shrank badly in it's pre-wash (a good 20cm+ per metre), and of course by then the store had sold out of it. With the right pattern and some carefully cutting I knew there was still just enough to make a coat, I just had to be patient until things fell into place. So, into the stash it went for some years, to be admired and fondled at regular intervals, with dreams of what it could become.

Finally, with some tricky edits to vintage pattern Style 1671 (from 1976), the dream has been realised. The length is about half way between the jacket and coat illustrated on the pattern cover, but unfortunately I had to eliminate the centre back pleat. There are side seam pockets and the belt is cobbled together out of scraps, with joins cleverly disguised under belt loops. And I used the Spanish Snap Buttonholes technique again.

If I were to use this pattern again I'd repeat the yoke shaping on the front, as I really like this detail, especially topstitched. Also I'd modernise the collar shape from it's the classic huge 70's style. For it to stand up as pictured it's tacked down around the back from shoulder seam to shoulder seam, otherwise it falls flat and is really wide!

Buttons are from Buttonmania in Melbourne bought back in 2013, lining from The Fabric Warehouse.

NB. I've replaced the shoulder pads with smaller ones since the photo shot - could only find mens pads late on night I was doing the finishing touches, and of course I wanted to wear it the next day!

But it's my colour, Mum!

"Smashing frock!" "Thanks, I made it." - Simplicity 8498

Bead necklace from Farmers

Well, I certainly restocked the stash thanks to the latest Fabric-a-Brac. Two pieces of wool crêpe, metres of quality linen in two colour ways, and metres of black lining with white line-drawn chrysanthemums.

I was so excited to find this piece of purple wool crêpe, I bought it straight away, knowing exactly what it was going to make - another of Tara's patterns, Simplicity 8498 from 1969. There was barely enough fabric to make view 2, so initially I was going to make it sleeveless, but managed to squeeze out (shortened) short sleeves. Also had just enough to add the obligatory pocket...

The first fitting was nearly perfect, only adjustment was to shorten the bust darts so they weren't so pointy. I loved the dress so much it was deemed worthy of a lining, which was found on the sales table at Spotlight - $3 metre for a liteweight lilac-coloured silk! (You can see a bit inside the left sleeve.)

My colleges compliment me whenever I wear this to work. I find empire waists very flattering, and the stitching lines adds interest to what is essentially a very simple frock.

Simplicity 8498 is definitely a keeper.

Discovered this has been reprinted as Simplicity 3833

Going dotty – Burda 7253 (shortened)

Haere Mai! Welcome to 2015!
Here in Wellington (actually, most of New Zealand) we've been blessed with the most glorious weather since the start of the new year. Hence, lots of time outdoors and not much at the sewing machine. However, I do have a bit of catching-up to do with things made between this post and the last.

First up is another summery top for work. The fabric was a last minute purchase at Fabric-a-Brac I wanted to spend every cent of the $50 I took, so offered the last $3.60 to the vendor for this piece, which they happily accepted. (BTW, bought loads of lovely fabric and quite a bit of thread for my $50.) I normally don't look twice at viscose but couldn't pass up the cheery print and colours.

I managed to squeeze a shortened Burda 7253 and a tie belt out of the teeny tiny scrap with a bit of difficulty. The grain was completely up the wop and no amount of tugging and steaming could get it straight; eventually I crossed my fingers and cut, hoping no one would ever notice it was off grain because of the crazy circles.

Eliminating the back seam and zipper made it was super speedy to put together, yet it still slips easily over my head without them. I'd nearly settled on a black button, before deciding to have one last look in a precious box of my grandmothers buttons, where I found three darling little clear glass buttons. Because the buttons are purely for decoration (there's no buttonhole) I stitched them close together to look sort of like a brooch. Lastly, after a couple of wears, I added fabric belt loops to hold the belt in place.

This is my favourite of the three tops I made recently. It works just as well with a skirt as it does with jeans. Plus, it used pretty much every inch of fabric = nothing left to add to the scrap bag. Don't you love it when that happens!

Vintage McCall's 3932 and the Purple Rain Dress

Y'know how sometimes something starts off a bit wrong, and then just gets progressively worse? Well, that happened here.

Mistake No.1 was buying fabric on TradeMe I had an inkling wasn't quite what it seemed. When it arrived, instead of being a lovely rich burgundy, it was a shabby dusky pink. Inkling had me ask "Is colour true to image?" before I purchased (assured it was – it wasn't). Don't get me wrong, dusky pink is a gorgeous on the right complexion; however it's my 'nude', thanks to a good smattering of Irish in my bloodline. So, the ghastly thing went into the pot with the next round of dyeing—purple. Success – a much better colour for my skin tone.

Fitting was Mistake No.2. This pattern is a little too small all over for me, but I must have carried the 1 too many times while working out how much extra to add because it ended up 10 cm too large. And of course I'd put in the pockets before discovering this – oh joy, more to unpick!

Finally, thought it was all finish, and tried it on to check everything looked ok, turned around to see the back view – and instead of the bodice blousing nicely at the waist, I had an ugly poochy back roll. ARRGH! The back neck to waist measurement needed to be shortened by 3.5cm – yet more unpicking.

So at the moment, I'm feeling a little ho-hum about this dress. Can't even be bothered taking decent photos of it. It might have to hang in the naughty corner of the wardrobe for a while until I forgive and forget. Sigh.

On the plus side, I'm chuffed with the belt I made for it using the wrong side of the fabric, topstitched in black thread. One little spark of genius in that big gloomy cloud.

Wish I could join Snaggle-Puss today, it's so dreadfully wet outside. Awww, isn't he sweet.
Had issues imbedding this video of Prince singing "Purple Rain" from the movie into the post, but click on the link if you'd like a trip down memory lane. The costumes are fabulous!

Update 04/12/14: forgiven and forgotten. Incredibly practical dress - always looks elegant and polished with minimal effort - just slip it on, step into shoes and I'm on my way!

Another Tara - Vintage Vogue 1103 in burgundy

Previously, I've mentioned buying vintage patterns via TradeMe from Tara and her mother. Vogue 1103 was the very first. The instance I saw the jacket I fell in love and hit "Buy Now", knowing there was a piece of fabric in the stash that would be perfect for it.

Because I wasn't sure what to use for closures, it remained unmade for nearly six months. Eventually, I spying the large hook and bars in The Fabric Warehouse, which is also where the wool/cashmere fabric and rayon lining had come from sometime earlier.

Once cut, it took only an afternoon to sew together, even those eight slashed-pivot point seams (see image below) weren't as tricky as I thought they would be. So I felt it justified prick-stitching (or pick stitch) the facings by hand.

The finished jacket is every bit as good as I hoped it would be. I'm wearing it daily at the moment (explains the rumpled lining!). It's terrific for this time of year when the mornings and evenings are still chilly, but not so much you need a full winter's coat.

And while I was taking photos, this was happening at my feet...

Vintage Simplicity 3107 in a teal striped wool

Towards the end of winter, I made a dress using vintage pattern Simplicity 3107 in a teal striped wool. However, because I went to Brisbane for a wedding at the end of August, then the weather was warming up once I returned, I kind-of put it in the wardrobe and forgot about it. Until it got ridiculously cold last Monday. It was a nice suprise to find something new and fresh on a miserable "what-am-I-going-to-wear?" morning.

Black patient leather belt from Veronika Maine.

I've had the fabric for a good 20 years, another gift from Jeannie. It was pale grey - a colour I'm a little unsure about with my colouring, especially now I'm letting the silvers grown out on my head. So I dyed it teal, and love it, although it didn't take quite as much dye as I hoped, so it must be blend of some discription. It has a subtle diagonal stripe, which I cut to form a X on the front.

I can't remember where the pattern came from (TradeMe? OpShop?) but I followed the handwritten advice on the envelope ("straight skirt gd. fit") and made version 2, with version 1 sleeves. The only thing I changed was putting the zip in the front instead of back - there's a seam there anyway, so why not us it, right? Really like the finished dress, nice and comfy yet still looks professional. A definite "keep me" pattern to be used again in the future.

For Tara's mother – tie dyed Vogue 5558

From time to time I buy a pattern off TradeMe. It can be a bit of a gamble; you never know what condition they are in, and unfortunately I have received incomplete patterns. Some, I suspect, are commodities from dealers who don't know (or care) much about sewing. Others are from crafters like ourselves, who cherish their patterns like precious jewels.

Tara's mother was one such lady. I was lucky enough to strike up a little rapport with Tara during our trading, and discovered her mother had won Benson and Hedge Fashion Design Awards in the late '60's (in the "High Fashion" and "Evening Wear" sections). I didn't like to ask why she was selling off her mothers patterns, but they arrived in terrific condition, a testament to her mother's care.

Vogue 5558 is one of the patterns. As usual, I made a wearable toilé - luckily, because thinking the pattern would be a bit too small I added ease, only to find I really didn't need to. I prefer the neck to tie on the right so flipped those pattern pieces.

The fabric is lightweight wool, the remnant of a bulk purchase from The Fabric Warehouse many years ago (already made into two shirts). It was originally very pale salmon pink in colour, which is a terrific base colour for dyeing, as it slightly "muddies" the new colour. 

The remnant was already dyed blue, but since I was making a toilé I decided to have a little fun and tie-dye the piece. Using the book "Contemporary Batik and Tie-dye" by Dona Z. Meilach as a guide, I roughly pleated the fabric, then tied in a fairly even criss-cross style. Next time to allow more dye to penetrate, I won't tie so closely or tightly, but I'm happy with the result for this toilé. So, a win-win!

How to make dress shields - removable and reusable!

Dress shields attach to the underarms of a garment protecting it from perspiration stains. I make and use them regularly for garments made in precious fabrics I don't wish to wash/dryclean more than necessary, such as "Jeannie’s wool houndstooth dress".

Claire B Shaeffer briefly describes how to make them on pages 132/3 in her book "Couture Sewing Techniques" but I have a slightly different technique worthy of a tutorial.

First, gather your materials. You'll need a dress, blouse or jacket pattern (any womens' size, armhole scyes are pretty much consistent), pen or pencil, paper (newspaper will do), pins, soft cotton fabric (I'm using old pillowcases here), thread, sewing machine, sewing needles, and 8 domes (sew on snap fasteners). Plus a garment to attach them to!

Take the front and back bodice pieces of your pattern and pin them together at the side seam. Pin onto the paper (newspaper) and trace the underarm seam from front (B) to back (A) notches (approximately 18cm/7 inches).

Remove pattern pieces and from the centre point (C), mark down about 10cm/4 inches (D). Freehand draw a nice scoop between points A, D and B. It doesn't need to be perfect - no one's going to see these! When your happy with the shape, cut it out.

Cut 4 of this shape out of your cotton fabric. Add an extra 1cm (or 1/2 inch) to the scoop edge and cut another 8 - if you're making shields to use in a jacket, you can cut half of these out of lining. This will make one pair of shields.

Place a small piece onto a large piece, matching armhole seams and sew around scoop edge. Do this to all 4 small pieces. Then sew 2 of these pieces together along armhole seam; and again for the other two. Sew the remaining pairs (without smaller bits) together along armhole seams. Clip and press seams open.

Now make a pair of shields by matching the halves with smaller bits to the halves without. Make sure the smaller bits are sandwiched between the layers. Overlock/serge or zigzag around the whole outside scoop edge.

Next, make a cup of tea, put on your favourite DVD and put your feet up for some hand sewing! Sew one side of domes (snap fasteners) at points A, B and D (there will be double D's (tee, hee) on each shield) and its partner onto the garment in the corresponding points, which should be approximately 10cm down each side seam, 10cm down each underarm seam, and at front and back armhole notches. Snap together and you're done!

If you need a bit more protection you can increase the number of smaller bits sandwiched in the middle, or use a layer of winceyette or light towelling instead.

Also, sewing the shields in thread the colour of your garment makes it easier to match back to the correct garment when they come out of the laundry.

Vogue 5782 in Jeannie’s houndstooth

Back in September I toiléd Vogue 5782 in polished cotton for TMS “Vintage Patterns” challenge. This months ‘Sewing Double’ challenge has given me the incentive to finally make it up in the very precious piece of vintage wool houndstooth I talked about then, which has been lurking in my stash for (ahem) a good couple of decades. It was given to me by my favourite tutor - Jeannie Gander* - when I studied Fashion Design years ago; goodness knows how long she had it for. While I appreciated what a beautiful piece of wool it was, it wasn’t particularly fashionable at that time, hence being stashed for so long.

This time I cut the whole dress on the bias, made the sleeves 3/4 length, and pleated the skirt in the front (darts in back) rather than gathering it onto the bodice as per pattern instructions. It’s lined with a liteweight ruby coloured silk satin, bought from Arthur Toyes last year. I also eliminated the sash belt, as this time I think the leather belt works better.

* Jeannie Gander established the clothing design course at Wellington Polytechnic which over the years evolved into the popular Massey School of Fashion. Ever stylish, Jeannie mentored many young men and women, including several of todays leading New Zealand fashion designers. Sadly, she was forced from the course she created, loved and nurtured for decades when it was taken over by Massey University. You see, Jeannie was from the old school of life, and had no tertiary qualifications suitable to hold a position at a University. Ironically, these positions would be filled by students she trained. 

Thank you, Jeannie, I may no longer be working in the clothing field myself, but I think of you and use skills you taught every time I pick up a needle.
BTW, had a fantastic time in India. Check out the pix here - akiwiinindia.blogspot.co.nz

Vogue 5782 meets Andy Warhol

Second choice for The Monthly Stitch September’s “Vintage Patterns” challenge is the truly vintage Vogue 5782. 

You may recall I’ve toiléd a variation of this pattern before. My intentions are to make it up in a very precious piece of vintage wool given to me by my favourite tutor a couple of decades ago, but felt I needed to toilé the whole dress properly first. 

The polished cotton fabric was bought in the August sale at The Fabric Warehouse - the same day I attended the fantastic Andy Warhol:Immortal exhibition at Te Papa. The random splashes of cyan and magenta on otherwise fairly monochromatic grey/olive reminds me of his work.

Two changes were made to the pattern. I moved the zip from centre back to sideseam as I find zips easier to do up at the side, and the neckline is wide enough to slip my head through. It does still need a zip - because - as per the pattern - the waist seam is gathered onto tape cut to my exact waist measurement, and - you know - boobs/bum > waist. The second change was to make the ties into a belt, instead of coming from the side seams. This way I can wear it with other belts.

Probably because of my rusty pattern grading skills I also need to look at my armhole scye, as it seems quite tight this time. The sleeve head has plenty of ease so it should be a fairly easy adjustment to cut the armhole a little larger. And I love this sleeve length! Plus, the pattern has pockets in the sideseams. (Yes, I did put the zip in behind the pocket).

I made a bit of a boo-boo last weekend and bought some more fabric. Never fear, it will become a frock in Froctober! It’s not technically “stashed” if it doesn’t make it into the “stash”, is it?

Burda 7253 and the SwirlyWhirly Sackdress

When The Monthly Stitch announced September’s challenge was “Vintage Patterns”, my first choice to make was Burda 7253 - a retro style sackdress. However, even thought the sackdress or ‘waistless chemise’’ - first presented by Cristóbal Balenciaga in his 1956 collection - would be classed as “vintage”, I’m not sure this Burda pattern is. Bought from Spotlight last year, nowhere on the pattern does it say it is a re-print from the ‘50-’60’s. It does have an extremely tapered hobble skirt just like the original sackdress style from the 60’s, which makes me think it is a re-print, rather than retro-styled.

Anyway, once I threw away the very confusing construction instructions, this frock was a dream to make. In fact, apart from the handstitching, it only took a few hours to make. The fabric is from "the stash" - a soft cotton/silk blend from The Fabric Warehouse, a little opaque so it’s french seamed and lined with cotton lawn (also from TFW). I shortened the pattern to just below the knee (instead of mid-calf). If (when) I make it again I’ll do away with the zip and centre back seam - it easily slips over my head with the zip closed so why go to the bother!

I’m looking forward to the weather warming up so it can be worn. Have a feeling it’s going to become a ‘comfy’ favourite like the twist-top dress from the summer before last.

Belt = Kinki Gerlinki, Melbourne.

The perfectly timed Cape Challenge

It’s the perfect time of the year for wearing a cape - too warm for a coat, yet not quite warm enough to go completely without that extra layer.

I’d been thinking about making a capelet since seeing one in Melbourne last month. Upon returning to Wellington, and knowing a capelet wouldn’t use much fabric, I rummaged through the scrap bag(s) and turned up the last of the wool suiting used to make a béret for the ANZAC day parade, some navy-blue rayon lining, and a bag of brown suede scraps I’d completely forgotten about. 

An old cloak pattern (available here) was the starting point for the capelet pattern plus the pattern piece made for the fur collar on my Mad Men Jacket.  I simply shortened the cloak pattern in length and rounded the collar points to make them easier to bind.

A couple of Sundays stitching, and here it is! The suede fastening is made using a D-ring from Made on Marion and a screw back button stud (similar to these) from an old vinyl belt. I actually made two fastenings, but decided it looked better with just the one.

Burda 7253 and the SwirlyWhirly Sackdress

Vogue 5782 meets Andy Warhol

On to the next Monthly Stitch Challenge - Vintage Patterns. Will it be retro Burda 7253’s “SwirlyWhirly Sackdress” (lets face it, Wellington’s been a bit swirlywhirly recently) or the truly vintage “Vogue 5782 meets Andy Warhol”? What do you think?

And take a look at The Monthly Stitch Collective to view everyone's creations.

Stashbusting 1, 2, 3!

About 20 years ago, I made myself a dress from a length of scarlet red wool crepe in Vogue 2586 (View C). Much loved at the time, the dress was eventually packed away when I - ahem - outgrew it.

Fast-forward to last year, and in a fit of - well, maybe just a fit - I unwisely decided to chuck the bits of now unpicked dress into a dyebath (mistake no1 - never dye something thats been worn repeatedly - even if its clean - as its probably got residue stains not visible, but boy, are they there!) after I had already dye something else (mistake no2 - first article has already absorbed the best part of the dye). Result = lovely tonal version of the orginal colour, but blotchy, blotchy, BLOTCHY! Doh! Into the stash it went.

Anyway... after checking out this (linked to JuliaBobbin's Mad Men Challenge from last year) I had to have that pattern - Vogue 5782. The only one I could find online for sale was two sizes too big - but I know how to grade a pattern and I had to have it.

Pattern duly graded, I pulled the blotchy wool crepe out of the stash to toilé it in, figuring if I made it shorter and cut really carefully I’d be able to avoid the worst of the dark splodges, and maybe end up with a top I could wear.

You may notice there’s a seam across the bust. Because the front is cut on the bias, none of the bits I had were quite long and wide enough to cut it in one piece. As the bit I most needed to check on the toilé was the drape of the neckline, of course it had to stay on true bias, hence the seam. Also, the ties on the pattern are sewn into the side waist seams, but I extended these pattern pieces to make an actual belt.

It was impossible to avoid all the splodges though, so I’m thinking of perhaps tie-dyeing it somehow, although I do love the colour it is now. In the meantime, I’ve worn it a few times at night to dimly lit restaurants and a concert and no one seemed to notice. Really comfortable style, and can’t wait to make it in the ‘real’ fabric.

Mad men challenge - Beth's fur collar coat

It’s finally rained a bit in Wellington, enough for the water restrictions to be eased - yay!

It seems a bit ridiculous making a wool jacket (Burda 7255) at the moment because its still very warm here for this time of year, but the jacket was going together like a dream – until the end – when I put it on the mannequin and realised it lacked a little something...

Taking a break, and catching up on some of last seasons Mad Men (new season starts soon!), I spied this:

(source)

My eyes flicked between Beth and the mannequin - that’s it! That jacket needs some fur!

So off to Spotlight I went the next morning and bought 30cm (12 inches) of fur in the closest colour - teddybear fur.

I re-cut the top collar out of fur making it a little bigger all round than the original, then fused some lining for the backing cutting it just slightly smaller than the fur. After sewing the two halves together (great tips for sewing fake fur here), I slipped the new fur collar over the orginal one and slipstitched it in place, so it can easily be removed for cleaning.

There was enough fur left over for cuffs as well (and maybe a little ted one day...)

Now, I know ir’s not a dress, but I thought it would be fun to enter it in the lovely Julia’s Mad Men challenge.

The challenge required I submit a photo of myself wearing the garment. Not being one to take or post selfies, nevertheless I shortened my hair, got myself dolled up and here it is:

Awkward! - and melting - 22°C (about 72°F) at time of photo
- it’s nearly May, for goodness sakes! 

The hat was made by nana (she was a milliner) and a bit too fragile to wear anymore. The handbag is also from her. Gloves from Molly N.

If you look closely at the buttonholes, you’ll see I trialled a new technique called Spanish Snap Buttonholes. Easy, peasy! I’ve a tutorial here.