Last week I tried a pattern that I had just ordered to save shipping costs on Etsy when I ordered another pattern. The cover illustration looks not very interesting but I was in the mood for sewing a blouse and thought that I could just give it a try. It is Simplicity 6371 from the early 80’s and promises a “Fuss Free Fit” – and oh boy, is this true, I am so delighted! I used view 5 with a pin tucked yoke and black trim. I had bought the floral cotton fabric last year at a fabric market in Cologne and thought that this pattern and fabric combined would look like one of my beloved 1970s Jessica’s Gunnies blouses. The pin tucked yoke looks much more complicated to sew than it actually is and I enjoyed sewing it a lot, it was a bit like a crafting smaller objects or doll clothes. The insertion of the collar and sleeves was a dream and the blouse has such a nice and comfortable fit, I am sure that I will make this pattern again and again. Maybe I will try to make my own collar designs? Today I paired the blouse with an actual Jessica’s Gunnies skirt and a hat and we took some pictures of it this afternoon when we took a walk the outskirts of Cologne, the later summer light was so dreamy…

There a few more images on my blog, Draped in Cloudlets.

Simplicity 9723 is an approximate 1900’s based stage costume pattern. A friend is having an old West themed Halloween party and my plans to make this and go as a school marm were set.

Unfortunately (fortunately?) when I went to the fabric store, my mind started wandering. Add in that the theme of the party was subtly changed to “post-apocalyptic old West” and I started looking at more fun fabrics than I had originally planned. Somehow that landed me in the section with the pleathers and other odd-ball fabrics I just don’t use.

An hour later I came out of the fabric store a lot poorer, and with almost 20 yards of fabric. I actually over-bought on two of my fabric choices by a total of about 2.5 yards because this pattern is not terribly clear on the allowances concerning the changes I planned on making.

Still, better to over-buy than to not have enough, right?

This pattern calls for the blouse and skirt to be made as one piece, which I did not want to do. It also calls for a lot of trims and laces added, only one of which I used- the collar. After making all my changes and adjustments, I’m really pleased with the outcome and the jacket is so wild!

The ruffles on the petticoat caused me some grief and I had to pleat the skirt rather then gather it because it just would not pull along my gathering threads, but otherwise I feel really good about it. Stop by my blog at Deb’s In Stitches and see more about what I did.

The site seems to be having a loading issue with some images right now- if the pictures of my finished project aren’t loading, please click thru to my blog!

An age and a half ago, I spontaneously bought some gorgeous vintage poly-cotton online without giving much thought to the fact that it was a very limited 1 yard long. Luckily, when One Week, One Pattern came along back in September, it inspired me to finally put my fabric to good use! Using this Coletterie tutorial, I just about managed to squeeze a cropped Hawthorn out of it.

Sometimes it really pays off to be patient and hoard fabric for the ‘right’ make. In this case I think my fabric and pattern combination is a match made in heaven. I even found the perfect vintage buttons for it in my stash. Overall, I’m smitten with the 1950s vibe of this cropped blouse.

As always, more information and pictures available on my blog – A Stitching Odyssey.

I’ve been searching Craigslist for sewing notions, patterns, and fabric, and yesterday I made a huge find!  For $20, I purchased over 150 vintage patterns from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

It’s been a lot of fun going through the patterns.  There’s a good selection of 70s and 80s dresses, women’s suits (pants/skirts/blouse/blazer combos), and skirts, as well as adorable little girls’ dresses.

Happy vintage sewing!

I made this blouse using vintage pattern Bestway D.3,109. It looks to be one of those mail order style patterns from the 50s. I can’t see a date so I’m going by hair and shoes on the cover image!

It’s a wrap-over top, held closed with two vintage buttons. The third button is for decorative and balancing purposes! The bottom two buttons sit just above the waistline at the base of the two waist darts. It could really do with a fourth hidden button to keep the under wrap layer in place. But for now, I’m tucking it in my pants!

The back is cut in one piece with extended sleeves and the front yokes form the sleeve fronts.

I love the shape of the neckline and how the collar just lays flat across the collar bone. I’ve not seen this style on any other garment to date.

And as most 1950s patterns go, I love how it’s nipped in at the waist for that flattering silhouette.

When I came to choose the fabric, I knew I needed a crisp, 100% cotton fabric but I didn’t bank on finding a lighthouse print! I think it worked perfectly to achieve the whole vintage repro style!

For more vintage and modern hand-makes, please pop over to ooobop!

With the end of the year getting very close, I was keen to try and complete my goal for the Vintage Pattern Pledge after all. And this outfit really helped to achieve that!

I found this wide wale corduroy and thought it would work nicely for a pleated skirt. Because of the pledge, I looked for a vintage tutorial and found this one, from February 1957. Which happened to include instructions for the belt as well.

The next issue of the same magazine (Dutch ladies’ magazine Libelle which, at the time, was published weekly) contained this image in the mailorder pattern section:

Pleated skirt, gathered belt (check and check) and a normal-for-1950’s blouse… That looks great!

So, I went in search of a blouse pattern and found one in the sewing magazine Marion from March 1955. I changed the collar to suit my purpose but other than that, I made the blouse exactly as designed and drafted back then.

And this is the result. Not quite as luxurious as the inspiration (which looks like it’s mostly made from silk) but still colourful and fun.

You can read more about this outfit on my blog and I’ve made a little tutorial for that belt here.

Recently, I re-watched season two of Downton Abbey and for the first time, the clothes really appealed to me. Especially some of the blouses looked like they would still be nice to wear now.

I have some vintage pattern magazines in my collection which date as far back as 1918 so I started looking for options. In those magazines, there are plenty of pictures of lovely designs and readers could order the patterns for those… Just some of the designs (about one in each size) were included on a tracing sheet.

I finally found these dresses in an issue of Gracieuse magazine from 1922. The middle one is more or less in my size (and so loose fitting I didn’t worry about that) and, more importantly, has the design I was after. So, I used the pattern pieces for the dress bodice to create this blouse.

It was a bit difficult to find a way to wear it. The blouse is very comfortable and I like it, but most of the bottoms in my wardrobe are more 1950’s in style and really didn’t work with it. I like the look with these trousers though. Not really period accurate but it doesn’t look ‘off’ either.

With this blouse, I’ve also completed my goal of five items from actual vintage patterns for my Vintage Pattern Pledge.

As usual, you can read more about it on my blog.

Hi Everyone!!!

This is my first post here, so I hope you like it!

Here is my first sew for the 2015 Vintage Pattern Pledge, a pink floral blouse made from a vintage Maudella Pattern. The pattern I have is for a 36″ bust, so firstly I had to grade it up to 44″ bust to fit me. I usually have to grade up my vintage patterns as I have as they are so hard to find any where near my size.

The Fabric I used was a lovely piece of pink floral print cotton, gifted to me from a friend. This top will mostly be worn tucked in to skirts or pants, but it looks fine left out as well

I altered the pattern slightly, as I found the shoulders too wide for me.

To see more about the construction of this blouse, you can read my blog post about it here.

Happy Retro Sewing!

Dixie O’Dare

So Simplicity 1590 is finally finished! I chose View A and it’s been on my sewing table for the past two weeks completely finished but without buttons. I’m in love with this adorable top and it’s exactly what I need more of in my wardrobe. I was really unsure how I would feel about the peplum but I really like the way it looks now that everything is put together.

I was short on fabric so I had to do the front facing in solid white. *pouts* I hate doing that on a piece I plan to wear that isn’t a muslin. But in the end it turned out alright!

I got my overlocker/serger back up and running, after much fussing and fighting, and was able to finish the inside seams of this blouse as well! I’m so pleased with how much more professional and finished it looks. In fact I’m kicking myself in the pants for not getting it back up and running sooner. Oh, how many garments could have been saved and worn longer!

I actually got over my fear of the buttonhole with this project. The pattern only calls for five, but I decided I didn’t like the open flap at the bottom front of the peplum, so I added a sixth button. I honestly don’t’ know why they scare me so much, but I think I was just afraid to mess them up. My machine has an automatic buttonhole feature and I’m so in love with how easy it is to whip them up!

My new headless helper Millie gets her debut with this blouse also! So, everyone meet Millie, as in Thoroughly Modern! I love that song, it’s one of my favorite dance tunes, so I thought it would be the perfect name for her! I honestly don’t know how I’ve manged to sew anything worth a darn before having her assistance. It’s amazing!

I noticed that the front hem is longer on one side than the other. But it’s minor and totally fixable I believe. I also have a button that is slightly lower than it should be and it is puckering. Again, totally fixable.

Lastly, some up close and personal pictures.

I’m very pleased with how this blouse turned out and I’m really looking forward to wearing it once the subzero weather we are currently experiencing here in Central Ohio decides to go back to wherever it came from.

This completes the first of my Vintage Sewing Pledge 2015 makes! It’s also going toward my Wardrobe Architect Challenge for 2015 for making a capsule wardrobe (which, I’m admittedly quite behind on as things have been a bit hectic at home). I’ll have to remedy that quickly and get caught up. Perhaps this weekend.

Thanks for following along with that long post! Check me out at www.shessewbettie.blogspot.com and follow along on Instagram @misskacysews!

I actually got this finished a week or so ago, but then I got sick (again) and we’ve had yet another snow storm since then so it’s still been a little crazy around here. This is my second project of the year, and the second installment in my sewing for the 2015 Vintage Pattern Pledge. It’s Simplicity 2475, which I was given in a large pattern stash (almost all children’s and maternity patterns) by a friend when I found out I was pregnant with my first.

The pattern is from 1958, and after making a version of a similar top the first time around I knew I wanted to make myself another one. They’re super comfortable, and with a few more weeks of warm weather before this kiddo is born I wanted another lightweight top that wasn’t skin tight. This is yet another 100% stash buster as well! The fabric is from the massive stash my mom and I accumulated (and still resides at her house), the bias binding is left from finishing all the seams in my Robson Trench last year, and the buttons were from a huge button stash that a friend of mine inherited when her husband’s grandmother died.  I opted for view 2, but changed the welt pockets to patch pockets since this lawn is so light. I didn’t want the extra strain on the fabric and was also concerned about the pocket bags showing through badly. Forgive the weird light. With yet another 8+ inches of snow outside, the already odd lighting available in my house is even worse.

the front curves of the yoke don’t match perfectly, as the fabric was kind of a pain and I was tired when I was sewing, but for something I’m going to wear for 2 months I wasn’t super concerned about going back and trying to fix it.

The buttons, as I said, are some I got from a friend after she inherited a HUGE button stash. They’re really pretty little pearl shirt buttons. I’m not sure how old they are.

I’m really happy I decided to do patch pockets instead of welts. Not only were they much easier, but I like the little touch of green in the bias binding at the top. It helps break up the print a little bit. I’ve got a black and a pink pencil skirt I plan on wearing this with that both look cute, especially with a little sweater. I’m actually working on a wearable muslin of some maternity shorts out of leftover denim, but the front sections are doing something really weird because of the some bias pulling, so they’ve been put on the back burner for bit, but if I do get them finished they’ll look SUPER cute with this. So summery! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is the last real push of winter before spring arrives. We’ve got pretty good temps predicted for the coming week, which will be a relief, but if it gets super cold again after that I may have to hide under a rock. Hope everyone else is keeping warm!

On a recent trek to the antique store, I found a cache of vintage patterns! One of them was this lovely belted blouse from a 1940s Hollywood Pattern. It is such a lovely style, and the pattern is a cinch to make!

I made the yoke, collar, pocket contrast and belt out of a contrasting fabric. I lined the pocket so as to not have seams visible inside.

The pattern features a yoke that is topstitched onto the front and back bodice. I just love that way of sewing seams!

As cute as this style is, it just does not look very good on me. I’ve never been able to wear belted-blouse styles, and this unfortunately is no exception!

 The good part is, it looks beautiful on my mom! I’m happy to get to see my work on someone else, so I don’t really mind.

Have you ever made a belted blouse?

For more photos and details, hop over to my blog! Thank you!

More or less ten years ago, my father gave me a Shalvar Kameez when he came back from a trip to Pakistan. Unfortunately it wasn’t my size and due to the lack of opportunities to wear such a garment in central Europe, altering it wasn’t ranging very high on my schedule.

When Tuppence Ha’Penny published a post on 50ies dresses inspired by indian Saris, I knew what I wanted my Shalwar Kameez to become.

But it took me until this year to finally start this project. I chose a 1955/6 Lutterloh-pattern, a blouse with a matching skirt. It fit without any alterations, I only changed the cut of the skirt a little, using the dupatta, the scarf, as a ruched bottom, the pattern was meant to be plain without the ruffled layer.

Waistband and collar are lined with fusible interfacing, the cotton fabric is very soft and not stiff enough without.

The blouse was made from the top (the kameez), the facings and the top part of the skirt from the trousers (the shalwar), the ruche as mentioned was the dupatta.

The fact that it consists of two parts enables me to wear it as seperates as well, I can well imagine the skirt with a plain white blouse or the blouse with high-waisted jeans.

To see more photos, including one “before”-pic, have a look at my blog, Parva sed apta.

Thank you for your attention,

ette

 

Ohmygoodnessyouguys! I keep signing myself up for all these sewing challenges ~ and then I don’t know why I am doing this to myself!  (> o <)’

First it was the insane Sewing All The Things idea, then I saw A Stitching Odyssey’sVintage Sewing Pattern Pledge and of course I was all “Oooh! That looks like fun!” so I put my name down:

“I, Bonita Vear of Lavender & Twill, pledge to sew at least five vintage or vintage reproduction patterns in 2015 ~ these MUST be patterns that I haven’t used before from my stash!”

Because that fits into my sewing schedule for 2015, right? But then I saw Rochelle’s Spring for Cotton group sew along annndddd ~ BAM! April’s plan for the Simplicity 2275 wrap dress flew out the window {also because I was in the middle of a top secret sewing project that took most of April to get done}.  Hello quick project! This fit in with Brittany’s 40s Fashion Calender challenge for February which I was behind with: sew a 1940’s blouse and turban.

So last Monday I went to Spotlight with a handy Christmas gift card {thank you Mom!} and tried to find the perfect cotton fabric to use for Simplicity 1590, a retro re-release of this simple, but cute 1940’s blouse with a peplum.

~ I hadn’t made this one up yet, but I really liked View A and couldn’t wait to try it! ~

I found the perfect 100% cotton quilting fabric with a really nice ‘hand’ to it. It was soft, and it draped nicely, as well as having this fabulous vintage-looking print in the colours I wanted ~ navy and white.  Well, okay, I wanted navy, white, and red, and ended up with navy, cream, orange, and pink! But it was the closest to what I had pictured in my head and I knew it would suit this project perfectly.

Disaster struck when I reached the cutting counter ~ I needed 1.7 metres of my magical fabric and there was only a little over 1 metre left on the bolt!  Yikes!

The lady at the counter went to see if she could find some more of the fabric, or something similar, while I racked my brains to figure out how to make it work. I knew she wouldn’t find anything as I had already scoured the quilting fabric isle and sure enough, she came back empty handed.  I quickly whipped out my pattern pieces {which I had traced out onto Polytrace so that I didn’t have to cut the pattern tissue} and proceeded to lay my pattern out on the cutting counter!  It just fit ~ but I’d have to make something up for the peplum, which took about 70 centimetres of the 1.7m needed all by itself.

I decided to wing it because I had fallen for this spotty cotton ~ it was “The One” for this pattern ~ sewers, you know what I’m talking about!

It did work, although you’ll notice box pleats at the back of the peplum, rather than gathers. I had much less fabric in the peplum so there really wasn’t any way I was getting gathers out of it. And obviously, I had to nix the matching turban because that just wasn’t going to happen ~ but in the end, I did it!

I squeaked out a blouse that needed 1.7m of fabric from a piddley 1m and managed to fit in a matching vintage styled hair tie instead of the turban.  Which I am calling the “Vintage Bow Hair Tie” pattern. Original. (ง •̀_•́)ง

I think I can hail this 40s Fashion Calender/Spring for Cotton/Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge project as success ~ one 100% cotton blouse, sewn with 100% cotton thread, and a matching 100% cotton hair tie, also sewn with 100% cotton thread.  A little bit of tweaking here and there, and I couldn’t get 100% cotton buttons, but I’m okay with the ones I picked.   : P   Actually, more than okay, because I’m a little bit dotty over them too….  ❤ ❤ ❤ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

The result is that I adore this blouse!  It will definitely be a staple in my wardrobe. All the stress is so worth it in that pivotal moment you see some gorgeous fabric slowly coming together then ~ POW! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ You have a new garment!

~ Project Details ~

• Year: 2013 re-release of a 1940’s pattern
• Pattern: Simplicity 1590
• Fabric: 1 metre of DS Piccadilly Floral Spot 100% cotton quilting fabric in Navy, Cream, Orange and Pink ($11.89)
• Notions: Five buttons with violet print on them ($5.00)
• Time to complete: One week
• Make again? Yes! I’m pretty sure I will. I love the neckline of this pattern, and it’s a really simple blouse to put together.  It’s fun.
• Wear again? 100%!  I can see this blouse becoming quite a central piece to my 1940’s outfits. It’s easy to wear and I love the print, the colours, and the style. I’m so thrilled with how it turned out.
• Total Cost:  $16.89 AUD

Have any of you sewn up Simplicity 1590?  Which version would you sew if you did?

xox,

bonita

༺ ♡ ༻

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I recently used one of Vera Venus wonderful vintage inspired, free patterns again, this time the Keyhole Neck Blouse. I made it specifically to fit a vintage circle skirt that my boyfriend gave me 2 years ago and that I rarely wore because I had no matching top for it. I searched for the perfect blue in various fabric stores and finally found the right color. I really like Kimono sleeves and adore the three keyhole cutouts. I was a bit scared of sewing those but they were actually quite easy to make. I made the waist slightly smaller and lengthened the waist darts but apart from that I changed nothing. In order to fit my rather large head through the neck opening I didn’t close the back seam completely and attached a hook and eye closure. I was quite unsure of how to do this properly and even though it looks nice I will definitely consult a tutorial next time I attempt this. My friend came up with the idea to use some white lace on the neckline and sleeves and I really happy that both colors now have their counterparts in skirt and top. We made some pictures of the ensemble on a glorious spring evening some weeks ago, I love this time of the year so much and am very happy that it’s finally time for short sleeved tops again

There are some more images and details on my blog, Draped in Cloudlets.

I’m excited to be contributing my very first project to We Sew Retro!  This top went together surprisingly fast (er ah, it was preempted with M6993 and other sewing projects).  There are sure to be more of these babies coming from me and Tabitha (my 1925 hand crank sewing machine) in the months ahead.

The pattern calls for six 1/2″ buttons; to my stash I went.  Lookie what I found!

Since I’ve been sewing vintage style garments I have come to love the double dart feature many of the patterns feature. As I whittle down my waist (ahem) I am sure they will be even more gorgeous.

The fact that my stash had five matching buttons did not stop me from using this one wonky button.  From where I stand it simply adds to the uniqueness of my vintage-style blouse.  Oh how eccentric of me don’t you think?

The really cool thing I like about this blouse is that I made it from a repurposed cotton table cloth.  Not sure if it was vintage or not, but I like the feel of it.  There is also a subtle pattern in the weave that does not show up in my photographs.

This vintage style blouse is a definite re-do.  It was quick to make as well as fun.  There is no end to the vintage style embellishments that may be used for this retro Simplicity 1692, View D, beauty.  For inquiring minds and those who did not have a chance to visit my blog here are my project stats:

Project Stats:

• Fabric – Vintage cotton table cloth (less than $2.00)
• Thread – 40% off sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics
• Invisible zipper – Repurposed
• Vintage Cotton Rick Rack – pert near free
• Vintage buttons – pert near free
• Difficulty:  Intermediate

Cheers,

I’ve spent this past week working on Simplicity 1692. I decided to do View B, and I picked this lovely leopard print cotton that I purchased from a buy/sell/trade group I’m a part of. I had just the right amount for the blouse. As I have discussed in the past, my wardrobe is in desperate need of some separates so this is the first in an effort to remedy that situation.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen some of these. I’ve been posting my progress updates all week!

This was the progress after the first night. I had all the darts and tucks sewn, along with the bodice sides and shoulders stitched and serged.

After the second night, I had the back opening faced and the button and loop added. I also had the neckline bound and hand stitched down.

I’m also very proud of the inside of this top. All my seams are completely serged and finished neatly. It’s as lovely inside as it is outside.

And finally some pictures of the top on me… Ignore my lack of makeup and my ‘hanging-out-around-the-house-with-the-kids’ hair. Please. The fit on this blouse is pretty good. It’s a bit snug in the arms, but that is normally a problem I have with both hand made and ready to wear tops. Guess I’m going to have to do a few more arm workouts each week.

All in all this was a great make and I’m pleased with how it turned out. This makes #VintagePledge make number four for me this year! I pledged five so I should have that knocked out soon. I’d love to double my pledge this year. Check out my blog over at www.shessewbettie.blogspot.com to keep up with what I’m sewing!

Thanks again for hanging out through this. I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend (here in the states) and remember the reason why we get to celebrate this weekend. #rememberthebrave

I had a hugely productive weekend two weeks ago. I sewed up a trio of three quarter circle skirts assembly line style and a precious polka dotted peasant top.

I began working on a skirt for another project, (The Feathers) to be revealed at a later date. I decided that if I was going to do one, I should probably go ahead and do a couple of others I’ve been planning. I used #Simplicity1200.

This was my first attempt at side lapped zippers and I’m so pleased with how they turned out.

I also used self made bias for two of the skirt hems. Time consuming, but so worth it.

I had a lot of firsts that weekend!

I took a poll of my friends and coworkers and they overwhelmingly decided I should wear the cupcakes on Monday to work. Well, I got up Monday morning, and started looking through my closet for a top to match the skirt and just couldn’t find anything that I liked. Like you do. I then got the idea in my head that I needed a peasant top to go with it. I started rummaging through my fabric for something that would work. I came across some white cotton with yellow polka dots that I bought a while back and it was exactly what I wanted.

I sat down at 7:15am on Monday morning, and by 8:30 I had a brand new peasant top made from #Simplicity8741!

The finished outfit was just what I wanted it to be, you can see more about it here.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled with how all of these pieces turned out. I highly recommend that if you have several of the same pattern to make, do it assembly line style. It was so quick and easy to whip out three skirts. In the course of one weekend, I added three perfect summer skirts to my wardrobe. Next time I think I’ll do the same process with some more peasant tops!

Click the pictures to visit my blog for more about each skirt!

As always you can follow along with my sewing mis-adventures at www.misskacysews.com!

Thanks for reading!

My title has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas… just saying. When I typed Two Peasant Tops, that’s what followed in my head. I know, I know, I’ve got problems.

Whew! Two posts in a few days. Being able to get several pieces photographed over the weekend, gave me a surplus of material to put up here for you!

I recently completed a second version of #Simplicity1692. You can see my first one here. This time I’m sewing View D, without the little ric-rac bow… I’m still thinking about going back and adding that, but I’m on the fence. What do you think? To Bow or Not To Bow?

I used a nice quilting cotton (because I lurve them so much!) in this pretty light blue and navy cherry blossom pattern. I also used a navy ric-rac to trim it out. *Sewists note… always check your trim for content and watch the temperature of your iron. I pressed this cotton shirt on the cotton setting, without realizing my ric-rac was some kind of synthetic. It got all melty on me. I may replace it, but honestly, you have to get REAL close to notice. And if you’re that close to me, you better be buying me dinner first.

The construction was super straight-forward. The sleeves are cut in, so no setting them into the shirt. You literally just sew in the darts/tucks, front and back, put in the facing for the neckline and buttons on the shoulders and then sew front to back and turn and hem the sleeves and bottom. I love the button detail on the shoulders and I wish I had gotten a better picture of that part. I honestly didn’t even think about it when I was taking photos. (That’s what happens when you’re trying to get as much done as possible during the baby’s nap.) It is a really cute feature of the blouse.