Retro Vogue

It turns out that my mum had the exact same pattern in the 1970's. I can usually recall most of my mum's clothes, and shoes from that time but didn't remember this particular one. I attempted this pattern a couple of years ago. Perfect loose fitting summer frock.  Looks pretty easy to make and it was.  The only problem was that the straps were too short making things way too snug around the under arms.  Boo I cried.  

So take 2. I put this in my resolutions for things to do in 2015 because I really wanted to make this style of dress and with our hideous hot weather I was seriously lacking a super flowy frock to wear on a scorching hot Brisbane day.  Allegedly it is currently Autumn here in the southern hemisphere.  I am however completely optimistic that I'll get a bit of wear out of this number before the weather actually cools down, maybe in May, fingers crossed.   

On re-opening my pattern packet I discovered the instruction sheet missing.  Now I cannot remember if it came with the instructions sheet when I bought it. Anyoldhow, it was very straightforward to make up. Just a tad fiddly when you add the facing to your back and front sections separately, leaving about 1cm open so that you can attach the back to front, leaving the inner section of the facing to hand stitch together as neatly as you can.  The fabric is a cotton mix. It's a little slippery to work with, but appears to sit well. 

I really only came undone doing the simplest thing, the frill at the bottom.  I decided to tackle it in sections, front first and then back as it was quite a lot of frill to attach.  So I gathered the frill, and stupidly only did one layer of gather stitching, this became a problem when trying to attach the frill because the top bit kept rolling over on itself due to the slightly slippery nature of the fabric. That wasn't my real problem after I attached the front piece I noticed that some of the lower bit had moved during the machine sewing and then I had a seam on the outside where it got caught up.  I couldn't believe the most simple part of the dress was becoming more than a bit time consuming.  In future I will try to not cut corners and do 2 gather stitches and if I am attaching frill to a slippery type of fabric also put pins about an inch or more down to reinforce the fabric so it doesn't slip.

I cut out pockets which I was considering putting on, however as there was  no instruction sheet on how to the pockets I couldn't be bothered. I have the pieces cut out and maybe I will attach them at some point. I know a lot of bloggers love their pockets but I do find it hard to get those neat corners on square pockets, especially if the fabric is a little hard to work with.  I also don't really see the point in pockets in full skirts or dresses. It's not like I'm going to be putting anything them. I know it's nice to put your hand in your pocket occasionally but I wouldn't have use for them on a daily basis.

  

The kitty necklace is one of my own creations. Here is a close up of a few of them. All I need to do is finish off the others with another coat of lacquer. I've also got a different cat design to work with and will be making up more necklaces in the  near future.  It's yet another project I've been slack and not finishing for the last 18 months.  Perhaps Easter is the time to finish projects.  



Simplicity Shift

This was a recent 60's pattern purchase from one of my many chums at ebay.  I probably have too many shift style dresses in my collection of retro/vintage patterns.  Should probably catalogue them one day. It is interesting how many variations there are on this basic dress.  I thought this particular one had a nice summer dress feel. If only you could find a colour match for the dresses as shown on the pattern cover.  The material I chose was a cotton drill from Spotlight. I bought the fabric yonks ago and it was waiting for the right dress pattern. I even contemplated making a skirt with it at one point. 

 

Quite straightforward to make. However, I wasn't aware when I bought the pattern that it had buttons attaching the shoulder strap. I hadn't actually made loops for the buttons so simply sewed the buttons on catching in both front and back sections of the straps,  and did some slip stitching underneath the straps to reinforce and keep the pieces together. 

I have never ventured to try and make up the teenie tiny tubing for button loops. I'm not even sure how this is possible to do.  I guess you can use a yarn/ribbon of some description in a close enough match to your fabric to create the loops, but the pattern actually says to make the loops.  

I should have tried to do a better job matching the pattern of the material for the yolk section to the main bodice.  Ah well, live and learn.  I'm not sure I'll be wearing this dress a whole lot. It is a pretty snug fit under the arms alas. Then again it could be a sign that I need to try and tone up my arms and get rid of some of that excess flesh that seems to develop in your under and upper arms as you age.  Might make a harness with a handle for PJ and practice lifting her 7kg every day. It appears drinking red wine is not a fat burner. Drat drat and double drat.



70's smock

It's "still" that time of the year when I'm looking for cool floaty type items to add to my summer (or allegedly autumn) wardrobe.  This is a great little pattern with its various versions of the smock.  I would like to be brave and attempt to make up some of the flared pants, but pants can be quite a headache to make. 

I had this taupe coloured fabric lying around unloved and thought it might work for this top.  A bit of a boring colour for some people. I really should have added a feature colour for the yolk to jazz it up.  I really wish I had appropriate 70's style fabric to go with this pattern but I didn't.  This was an easy enough pattern to do. However, I made an error with material allowance and the sleeves were supposed to be two pieces joined together like you do with some capped sleeves. I didn't have enough fabric so simply turned over a seam allowance. I don't think it's obvious. This pattern was size 10 and I am and have been a size 12 since I was about 18.  For some reason this is a really large size pattern. I had to take the side seems in about 2 inches on both sides. It was ridiculously large.  That is pretty weird for a retro patterns, if anything they are usually too small, especially around the armhole and neck.

Anyways this will be a nice top to wear with jeans or a long black skirt. If I find some nice retro fabric I'd like to try the dress version.



The necklace is a me made wooden beaded necklace. I get a lot of wear out of this. 

Simplicity 2549

Here is another bit of frankenfrock action.

This was the dress I intended to make with these contrasting fabrics originally. However, after making up the bodice, I realised I had enough of the fuchsia material to make a entire dress I went ahead and used New Look 6223 for my 2014 party frock. Sadly as mentioned in a previous post there was a flaw in the fabric in the bodice section and it tore after only one wear.  

This pattern came together with no adjustments.  Having said that though, I kept the skirt section as per the 6223. This pattern has a slightly different design for the skirt with less pleats front and back so the skirt would be a little more fitted generally speaking.  I did have to reinforce the crossover section of the bodice with some hand tacking inside, allowing for lack of boobage and the tendancy for it to gape.  I have only  now noticed after looking at the pattern today that for some reason I omitted the bow for the waist line.  I guess I just thought with the bodice material being quite busy it didn't need it. 

Such a comfy dress to wear. I really do need more of these higher waist lines in my wardrobe. 

 

Quite happy with how the squares line up in the main bodice piece attaching to the band.
Given the unusual pattern of floral with checks I think I've got the right balance for the material pattern at the front. 

A nice family portrait

More hits from the vault of vintage patterns

This pattern is another one of the lovely patterns I just adore from the 70's, this one having a 1940's inspiration in the bodice.  Granted my material choice is not a good match era wise being a bit more modern art circa 1980's.  Because of the circle skirt in this pattern, it required quite a lot of material and I had over 3.5m of this cotton sateen lurking about, unloved, in one of my various storage facilities around the spare bedroom. The heavier fabric is good for the structure of the bodice. And it is a very smart dress for wearing to work.

I haven't used a lot of circle skirt patterns in recent years but they definitely seem to be making a comeback in more current patterns.  The only issue is the amount of material you need. I also didn't let the dress sit for a  couple of days before hemming.  This is something you should do with a circle skirt as the material, for some reason, can tend to drop in some places so the skirt can look uneven. I didn't do this, which is a surprise because I am quite prone to leaving things hanging on bedroom doors for days or weeks on end before I get around the finishing touches.  Anyways the skirt has dropped a little at the back but I'm pretty confident you can't see it when I'm wearing it. Well that's what I'm telling myself anyways.  A pretty straightforward pattern to make up.  Would definitely like to make this dress again maybe in a sleeveless version.

Oh how I love the square neck line.  The only issue with the bodice for me is the usual issue of a little bit too full in the bust department.  Hard to gauge this when you are making up a pattern I guess all I can do for future is to make the centre piece a less wide.

So many nice variations of this pattern. Would like to get around to trying a sleeveless version or the little ruffle sleeve looks cute too. 

Let's talk about skirts (Part I)

Here is a section of my sewing adventures I haven't touched upon yet. Skirts.  While I've made a quite a few in recent years, some are a bit too boring to mention.  I've pretty much been using 3 different patterns.  I've tried a few of the basic draft it yourself full skirt patterns mentioned in Gertie's and Tilly's blogs.  I did a pretty ordinary version of Tilly's picnic blanket skirt. I don't think I used enough fabric and didn't really allow enough overlap for the buttons and button holes.

Skirts are not my favourite thing in this universe as they are not flattering when you have bit of a belly issue. Sometimes they really need a belt and that can be a smidge uncomfortable frankly after eating a hearty meal or sitting in a cinema for 2-3 hours.  And sometimes the patterns I've drafted myself have looked terrible and I've had to re-invent the item, adding a bodice to convert it to a dress, voila.

New Look 6053

This is the most simple little skirt to make up.  If you were really keen you could do it a few hours. It's also a good style for work or casual.  The most notable thing about this pattern is the fact that there are no darts in the front. This may not be the most flattering look in some ways but I always wear tops that cover that section of the skirt. 

I bought this denim fabric from Gardems Fabrics several years ago.  It's a really nice soft denim with the textured finish.  A good skirt for putting a suitcase when you go away as you don't have to worry about ironing.  The elephant fabric was from Spotlight. I don't think I had enough fabric because of the direction of the pattern. This is easy to forget when you are buying fabrics with patterns that run in one direction. You have to cut out your fabric with the pattern pieces facing the same direction. With most skirts you might have one section going north and the other facing south and this way you don't have to use so much fabric. So I added a border to give the skirt more length. and I think it worked a treat.  I just haven't found the right top to wear with this skirt. Black's a bit boring and I wear black with the denim skirt.

The A-line maxi

I bought the material literally last century. Remember when checked pants were all the rage in the mid-90's. Anyone? Older people out there? Well that were big. I know I bought this material thinking I'd actually make some pants. So glad I didn't.  I had this material sitting in the fabric cupboard at my folks' house.  During one of my housesitting jaunts, I found this material and knew it was time to get creative.  This skirt is one of my favourites.  It sits really well and the peasant top I wear with it is really flattering and seems to make me look slimmer. The only thing is I should have turned the hem of the skirt under twice instead of just doing the zig zag stich and then turning over the seam. There is a continuous fray issue with the hem. I should simply put some bias binding of it to stop this. But I am a lazy sewer sometimes. 

The mid length

Here are a couple of versions I've done of the mid-length version.

This fabric is actually a denim.  It is like one fabric layers over another with a gap between the cross sections. It is so lovely and soft.  Bought from Gardams Fabrics in Brisbane some years ago.  

This cute fabric was from Spotlight. The usual printed drill which I am quite partial to. I bought this fabric as 1.5m knowing that was juuuust right for an A-line skirt. However, I did not take into account the fact that the pattern needs to go in one direction, ie. no elephants floating upside down.  So easy to not think about this when you purchase fabric. Obviously a lot of A-line skirt patterns would have you laying your pieces in opposite directions. Hence I didn't have enough material to make this a below the knee skirt as I wished so I went ahead an added a border for more length. 

I have another skirt in the works in a stripe pattern of pinks and greys and have also made 2 other version of this skirt 3/4 length for work in  grey and a chocolate brown.  It is really a versatile pattern.

Simplicity 1609

Eeek. This was one of those epic fail frocks.  So many people have made this, including friends, and liked the pattern.  After seeing it on many blogs I was keen to give it a try. It really should have been a very simple pattern to make up but frankly the darts did me in.  No matter how I tried to adjust them the finished product around the bust line was ill fitting. I tried taking them in and it looked worse.

The collar was no problem and I was quite happy with that. The little seam at the front where the buttons go ended up being a little off centre. I guess this is just one of those patterns that wasn't right for me.  Bit of a waste of time and major disappointment to be honest. Alas it should have been a really cute work frock.

I had quite a few fails in 2014  with all the sewing I got done. I figure it's best to list the bad with the good. 

Apologies for the grainy photographic work. I think I was trying to adjust the colour, but like the pattern it just wasn't worth fixing.