It's a Wrap

Continuing with my vintage sewing theme I've made up another of the vintage patterns I scored in a pattern haul a few months ago.

Cue this cute pattern:

It's Simplicity 7498, 1967 pattern. It's a simple wrap over skirt, with various different options for closure and come in two lengths, mini and just above the knee. However this is a single size pattern with a waist size of 25 inches, so I had to grade the pattern.

I traced the pattern pieces and used my book with grading rules to grade up two sizes. I think one would have been fine, but it's a wrap skirt so it's forgiving in fit.

I scoured my stash for appropriate fabric and found a piece of black denim which has a nice faded fold line right down it! - oh well, I thought I'd use it anyway. It was barely 70cm deep and I only just managed to cut the skirt from it. I used quilting cotton for the facing and pieced together denim to make the pocket.

I decided to leave the bottom unhemmed, but did sew a line of stitching to prevent any fraying from going mad. I really wanted a buckle and leather fastening, but didn't have one the right size or any black leather for that matter.

It's been sat waiting to be finfished for a few weeks as I needed to find a fastening solution. Today I managed to get my hands on a couple of D rings and used those instead, making the tabs from the very small offcuts of denim that were left (I added these after adding the facing and should really have sandwiched them inbetween the layers, but I don't suppose anyone is going to see them). I really did use every scrap of fabric for this!

This denim is hefty and even my trusty Bernina found some of the thicker layers tricky. I had to go really slow. The side seams are flat felled - my first attempt at this - super easy, but you do need a wider seam allowance than my usual 1.2cm. This pattern has 1.5cm.

My construction on this is a bit rough. The waist facing didn't quite meet the front edge - but then I realised it should have a facing along the edge too, which I decided to omit, just turning and hemming - I didn't look at the instructions and should have added a few cm to the waist facing to account for this.

It looks fine and has that edgy punky style I love, but decent topstitching thread would have helped with the finish of the garment, but I'll certainly make some more of these. A quick and easy sew.

I'm impressed with the coverage, the overlap is a decent width and you are not doing to get any accidental flashes of undergarments with this skirt. I can see this getting lots of wear - easy to throw on in the summer and would also look great with leggings/ tights and boots in the winter. Another Vintage winner.

Boilersuit Bandwagon

Here I am chanelling my past in a vintage jumpsuit.

So, I sold out. I made what I thought I wouldn't. Jumpsuit, flightsuit, boilersuit, coverall - whatever you call it, it's certainly a trend right now. I'm not one for following trends, but I do love an item of clothing I can throw on and just wear, without much thought. The nearest I have ever got to making a jumpsuit is making the Burnside Bibs, which I managed to complete just after Christmas and I really like them. The photos were taken very hurriedly by my daughter as it's blowing an absolute hoolie out there today.

Back in the late 80's I worked for a hair salon franchise and the uniform for the juniors was a white boiler suit with short sleeves and red ties. Other memebers of staff wore either black or grey suits in the same style. It's safe to say it put me off! So i'm a little bit surprised at myself with this make.

There are so many patterns out there, every pattern company has one and the latest offerings are from the Alexa Jumpsuit from TATB and the Blanca flightsuit from Closet Case Patterns. However I had a secret weapon. A free to me pattern and free to me fabric.

As part of a stash of patterns I recieved from a lady on freecycle I scored this 1984 Brooke Shields inspired pattern. I was 13 then, and probably wouldn't have worn this at the time. It's McCalls 8926 and it also comes in a childs version 8927 so you can be all matchy matchy if you wish. The pattern was size 14/16 and aready cut to the size 14.

Now I'm a bit wary of excessive ease in 80's patterns and in the big 4 in general, so before cutting into the fabric I did a lot of measuring to check the size. The previous owner had already folded out a couple of centimetres from the width of the front and back body pieces. I measured carefully and decided that the same adjustment would work for me. I have a long torso and after more measuring of pattern pieces and myself. I knew that I needed to lengthen the body and added an inch to the body, just above the waist. This turned out to be the perfect amount of length to add. The rest of the pattern I left as it was.

I hadn't realised at first, but the fronts overlap on an angle, this seemed a little odd, but I went with it.

Some of the construction seemed rather unusual and left me scratching my head on occassion, as there are far better and easier ways to construct some parts of the design, for example using the burrito method for sewing the yoke.

The only part of the instructions that was dreadful, was the collar construction. To start with, sewing anything with a tight curve and a 1.5cm seam allowance is a nightmare. I hadn't realised how I have become used to much smaller seam allowances.

I followed the instructions and was left with an unsatisfactory finish in the inside of the neck edge on the front bodice piece where raw edges were visible. I ended up carefully unpicking and reconstructing it in a slightly different way to fully enclose all the raw edges. As I'd already trimmed these, this was not easy and not perfect. In the process I'd also stretched out the top collar edge and it's ended up with a few puckers in it.

However the rest of the construction went without incident and the edges are all finished well. I really like the top stitching at the bottom of the front opening -really neat, in fact, collar and facing apart, it's actually a fairly easy sew. I made the short sleeve version and included patch pockets on the front.

I also top stitched the sleeve seam onto the bodice, which gives a lovely professional finish to the seams.

The fabric came from a fabric and pattern swap locally, sometime last year. I love the colour - it's perfect summer colour. It sewed beautifully and needed very few pins to keep it in place. I have sewed a self coloured belt to go with this, but need a couple of D rings to finish it off, so it's being worn with other belts at the moment. The belt loops are made in the same way you might make bias binding, but in the straight grain. I positioned them as directed, just above the pocket openeing, forgetting I'd lengthened the pieces and really needed to attach them a touch higher, but I can live with it.

I also raided my stash of buttons to find something suitable, but I didn't have anything that would match. however I had 3 self cover buttons of a good size and used those instead.

All in all this is a virtually free sew, as the fabric was gifted to me, as was the pattern, The thread and notions were from my stash.

So am I loving the boilersuit trend? Well that remains to be seen - lets just see how much wear this gets over the summer? I'm looking for ways to style this - so hit me with your ideas. I'm also interested to know if you are jumping on this trend.

Going Wobbly - how I'm getting my head back together (and a new top)

It's been quite a week. I don't know about you but I thought I'd got settled into a new routine in lockdown and a new way of working. I spent mornings working, from early until anout 12.30-1pm. Then I'd have lunch; walk the dog; do a bit of housework/ garden stuff; do another hour or two working and finish by tea time. It was all working fine up until Monday.

I'd had a productive weekend. I painted on the bank holiday - out in the garden as it was so nice. - working on a big 120cm square canvas for my painting based on Newbiggin bay. Saturday I pulled out weeds and took it all to the tip, Sunday was church and a long walk with the dog and Boris' announcement!

I didn't sleep well and woke in a poor frame of mind for Monday. I worked - starting at 7.30am and I don't think I really rested from it until tea time. I didn't become a teacher to sit all day at a computer, and by the end of the day my back hurt and I was still left not really know what was going to happen with schools. Many questions and very few answers.

Tuesday was much the same. Worked to the point where my back hurt and the lack of sleep made me completely ineffective. Still no news on how schools would return. I decided that on wednesday I would work on exemplar material for my students and did a bit of painting and designing for some of my modules.

As the week has gone on, it's been harder to keep my chin up. I have felt demoralised by all the teacher bashing going off in the press; the arguments and lack of clear plan. It's become apparent that children and teachers are just subjects in the goverment's latest Covid19 experiment - guinea pigs if you will. I want to teach - I am a professional and do a good job. The children make me laugh, and I love seeing them grow as individuals. I want them to be safe and all our staff to be safe. I just don't think the plans in place are safe. I could feel a level of anxiety creeping in. I even had my work stress dream - you'll laugh at this one - I dream all the kids have left unwashed pallettes, paintbrushes etc in the classroom sink and I have to clean it up. It's stupid I know, but it's what I dream when I'm stressed about work.

I decided to stop reading, listening to or watching the news as it was seriously affecting my mental health and late in the week I started a couple of sewing projects to boost my mental health.

I had a piece of spotty viscose left over from my Solina dress. It was from Minerva. I decided to make my ever faithful top. I have made so many of these I have lost count - It's Burdastyle #116 07/2012.

I've made a few changes to the pattern over the years. I joined the shoulder pieces together to make one piece for each side. It's supposed to be a double layered top, instead I make this a single layer and bind the neck and armholes with bias binding.

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To make it super easy I lust leave long bias strip ties at the opening and tie in a bow.

I also made a button necklace. I had a supply of craft buttons in bright colours, so I strung them together interspersed with smaller buttons, the bright colours make me happy.

I've also started on a vintage pattern. It's a Brooke Shields jumpsuit pattern from 1984 - watch this space for more on that one.

Modern Home Needlecraft

I was fortunate to be gifted this book by a friend. I have spent the last couple of weeks pouring over the pages. There are some amazing techniques, pattern drafting directions and suggestions for make do and mend.
The book was published in 1946 and came in its original card envelope, with the address still intact. it even had the slip inside that stated it must be paid for by return, so maybe it was from some book club. It was published by Odhams Press in London, which I'd never heard of.

Inside the book I found two patterns, one for a child's dress - it's not a printed pattern, but looks to be in very good condition. There is also a knitting pattern for a boy's slipover. I don't knit so cant ever imaging making this.

The book contains a wealth of information and there are a range of techniques covered. Have you ever heard of a Jetted pocket?
There are pattern drafting instructions for a range of simple garments including suspender belts and underwear; mens shirts and pj's; childrens shirts and trousers.

And to top it all off, suggestions to make do and mend. How to make your garments last longer or refashion them. I particularly like the section on disguising underarm shabbiness!

This is an absolute treasure and I look forward to trying some of the techniques and patterns for myself.
Have you ever come across such a gem?

Cool Crochet Dress

I never thought I'd use the words Cool and Crochet in the same sentence. That was until I found this vintage pattern on Etsy a few months ago. If you've been following my blog you might have seen it before.

So the story goes  - I saw a lovely crochet dress in Monsoon, but couldn't afford it, and the neckline wasn't quite right for me, so I started looking for a pattern. Once I say this I started to plan it's making, working out the right size hook to use and sourcing the correct cotton. After some research I found that my local wool shop stocked it.

I knew it would take me a while and planned top do this as I recovered from my Hip Arthroscopy. I could take it with me into hospital and could cram it into a bag, bit easier than carting a sewing machine about!

I followed the instructions carefully. I find visual instructions better then written , so it was a bit of a challenge as they were all written. The skirt part ended up way too big and I had to take out  two whole columns of motifs to make it fit, as I'd already finished it It was a bit of a pain, but not too difficult to fix.

The instructions for the sewn in lining were very vague and I decided to sew a separate slip dress. I used the lining from Pattern 103 01/2012 Burdastyle. I omitted the zip , but added a back seam to help fit it a little better.

I like the fact that I could also wear it over the top of my white linen trousers and a vest top as well as the dress.

So what do you think?

Hip Hip Hooray

Today's Efforts

I've been in hospital this week having a Hip Arthroscopy to repair the hip FAI (Femoral Acetabular Impingement) I have in my left hip. It was a planned surgery and I'm quite surprised how quickly the pain has subsided. I went in on Tuesday morning and was due to be out by the evening, but had a lot of pain in recovery and the nurse suggested staying in overnight, which I was more than happy to do as I hadn't seen the physio about getting about and was feeling groggy after the anesthetic.

I'd forgotten how much you get disturbed on the ward at night, as my blood pressure was taken every two hours, usually on both arms, as it was on the low side. The night was warm and muggy, but I did sleep a little. I got chatting to the lady in the next bed and we talked about crafting, she loves embroidery. I was busy with my crochet and all the nurses commented on it and asked what I was making.

I finally was discharged at about 3pm on Wednesday, and made my way home, not quite sure how I was going to manage the stairs, or worse the shower! I can manage both, as long as someone turns the shower on! The pain is bearable and I keep it under control with painkillers through the day. It's a lot less that I thought it would be.

The dress I'm working on.

I have spent the last two lovely days sitting in the shade in the garden crocheting and drawing and I've completed 2 of my 30 30 30  challenges. I do know why I prefer to sew than crochet though - the dress is taking an age! I'm just too impatient and want it finished yesterday! I need to get a smaller crochet hook and the shop in our town doesn't have the right size, so I'm going to have to put it on hold until I can get the right one.

Polkadot Maudella Version 2

After I made the purple polkadot dress based on the Maudella pattern I picked up for 20p, my friend Alli loved it and borrowed the dress for an event, she was taken with it and asked me to make a version for her, so she bought me the fabric -  a dark red with cream polkadot cotton and I made the dress up for her.

As it was the second time I've made the dress it went together much quicker. I didn't use interfacing in this one as I found that even the light interfacing added too much stiffness to my purple version. I glad I did this as the dress hangs much better and the fabric has enough body as it's a quilt cotton.

Soundtrack: The North Borders - Bonobo

Wedding Dress Refashion

I've been working on remaking some once loved dresses into more wearable items. Recently I remade this dress.

It started life as a rather dated, lace and nylon number, but after a bit of jiggery pokery I created this lovely 50's style tea length wedding dress, which is for sale in my folksy shop.