Vintage Pattern Binge

Hi Guys,

Some of you may have noticed that I have been having a bit of an eBay splurge of late.

I don't know why, but sometimes I just get these unreasonable urges to acquire goodies (Thankfully for my bank balance, it's been sated in relation to both patterns and handbags this week).

And of course, I've got to share the goodies with you guys!

As you can see I've apparently been leaning more towards a 60's silhouette, which should be interesting.

And there were even a couple of original letters from the pattern companies stuck in from 1966 :)

Enjoy x

Anyone interested in a Tropical Sunset?

Hey guyyyyyys.....

Continuing on our voyage through the Vegas wardrobe; today we have my Tropical Playsuit.

I had wanted a two piece ever since I saw Katy & Laney's beach playsuits, and after I had sewed it up they started popping up all over the place!

I got the fabric on Goldhawk Road, on a Spoolette outing. I can't remember how long ago, but it's probably a cotton sateen. You know me, I like things with a bit of weight to them.

That being said, it's possibly a tiny bit stiff for the skirt. It does stand in it's folds a bit!

It feels a bit odd when you're dressing for a chilly day with tights on, but bare-legged round the pool in Vegas it felt dandy! I wore this to the Tiki Pool Party on the last day of Viva. I wanted to feel in the vibe, but as I wasn't staying in the hotel, I didn't really feel like being in a swimsuit.

The skirt is a another simple old circle skirt (fast and easy for building a holiday wardrobe!).

This was the first and I left it to hang as instructed by so many of you out there. Thankfully, it didn't seem to drop at all - which made me a happy lady. Invisible zip, button on the waistband.

The buttonholes were a bit poo that day. 

I had stiffened the waistband with some vintage grosgrain ribbon, but I probably should have interfaced the cotton too. Plus, vintage grosgrain is pretty dense, so that didn't help making a buttonhole. 

Either way, blah.

The bodice is another story. I put it together in a bit of a mish-mash and out popped something really great!

I used the bodice from B5731 to start off. This is actually the pattern to replicate the Princess Kate wedding dress. But be forewarned, if you're feeling like a royal wedding - there is a CRAP-tonne of pattern pieces. I would not be excited to be making this dress. And there is no way I would be tracing it off! This is one pattern I would prefer to re-purchase if I messed up!

It's a princess-seamed sweetheart strapless bodice. It has different cup sizes for the bodice, so I cut the D (even though I am definitely bigger than a D!). I expected that as a Big 4 there would be some extra space in there! It looked pretty crap to begin with, all baggy and way too big. I think I cut the 14, which should have been 2" too small in the waist and I think I still took room out. I added an inch to the bottom for hemming.

I took the excess out in the back seam for simplicity. The only other issue with the muslin was the shape of the princess seams. I had to reshape the curve - I can't imagine that anyone has a bust shaped like that. 

I know I like vintage, and vintage means pointy, but still, come on.

I flattened out the curve quite a bit. to be honest, I could do with flattening it out more to be honest, but the print hides it. And my strapless bra is pretty dome shaped so that ain't helpin' none.

I'm not entirely comfortable with strapless these days so I drafted up some straps. And by drafted, I mean I drew some shapes and checked if they looked right. They're slightly pointed at the shoulder, I just felt it might be more flattering if they got wider at the top.

When I was making my muslin for the bodice, I came up against the issue of, you know, getting into it.

 I didn't have a separating zip (to be honest, separating zips didn't even occur to me). I thought, well I can't put the zip in normally - the waist is too narrow to get over my shoulders. 

So I just thought - put it in upside down.

Then the waist opens enough to get on, and the bust is already big enough to get on.

BINGO

I lined the bodice with some plain cotton poplin, and I stitched in the ditch down the side seams on the outside to keep it all straight and in place. I topstitched the bottom hem to stop it rolling. I put hooks and eyes on the straps so I could detatch them (and I didn't know what length/position I wanted them during construction and thought it would be a bit difficult to sandwich them), but in the end they got tacked on for spreed and security.

Finally, seen in my SewDollyClackett post, a picture of me at the pool party with my friend Candie. Her and her husband José were completely awesome, and we had such a great time with them!

So, in conclusion; two-pieces rock. Vegas rocks.

THE END

Emmie x

Vintage Midnight Swing Dress - Vintage Butterick B6158

Hey Guys,

I present to you the recent bane of my life - Vintage Butterick 6158. 

Incredible pattern, eh?? I adore that red one.

I didn't make an official vintage pledge this year, but I hope to use at least 3 - so here's the first :)

This is my newest make for the Minerva Crafts blogger network. I used a Navy Blue Bengaline stretch suiting to make this dress. I chose the fabric because when I looked at the tags of some of my vintage reproduction dresses, they all were all made of Bengaline so I said I would give it  a go!

Working with this fabric was interesting. It doesn't crease easily, which is handy, but is difficult to press seams out flat. Almost a bit spongy and boingy. My iron is not exactly up to scratch at the best of time anyway so it may work better with a bit more steam power. A new iron is on the cards soon!

I made a muslin of the bodice, which was a good fit - I only added an inch to the back seam (which I had in fact added when I measured the pattern. Unfortunately, I hadn't factored in the number of seams/darts, etc in the bodice, and the thickness of the fabric. In total there are 7 seams/darts and also the front fold over! The bulk of all those seams made the bodice way too small.

Gutting!

I had to taper out most of the seams to even squeeze in, so I am going to have to be careful not to put on weight before I need to wear it!! In fact I'm shocked that I managed to fit the bodice into the skirt in the end, as I didn't keep a close track of their respective circumferences. There was a reasonable amount of easing to be done with about 1200 pins!

I will definitely not be rushing into this dress again, as it was pretty tricky in many places, but I definitely learned some things, and you gotta challenge yourself sometimes. One of the trickiest bits was the upper bodice curves, which have mini-pockets behind the curve like the popped skirt pockets do. I'm not sure I can even explain how it goes together. The hardest part was having to clip into the point, turning it under and topstitching all around. There ends up being nothing to turn under at the tip of the clipping, so its bloody hard to get a good finish!

The other tricky bit was the side zip, never before have I attempted one. It was a bit of a haphazard attempt, but it worked out semi reasonably in the end, so all's well that ends well. It was almost the last thing I did in the dress (as per pattern instruction I may add - and then all I got in the instructions was "insert slide fastening". Thanks pattern. Thanks FOR NOTHING)

And as well as it turned out in the end ("well" used loosely here) I do still despise side zips.

My body doesn't suit them - I need to use safety pins to hold the zip close together to get it up! I have always had issues with side zips. Maybe its because I have such a steep curve from waist to hip and then back out to ribcage. It's the only thing I can think of!

The buttons were vintage buttons from my stash, and I really love them. I used the gold version on my sister's Christmas skirt. I'm sad that they are gone! I can't even remember where I picked them up, I went on a button rampage a little while back.

I had to chop about 5 inches off the bottom of the skirt, and when I hemmed it, it was tricky (again?? who'dve thunk it), as it was more curved than it looks, and not as full as the front drawing depicts. After I had stitched it, some of the hem had that warped look about it where the curve couldn't fold flat.

To deal with this I basically gave it a second row of stitching below the first row which worked out dandy - I will definitely employ this method in the future! Flattened out all the silly warping and looks like a twin needle.

I'm don't think the sleeves are supposed to be so curved out but the fabric has a lot of body - and a decent amount of stretch too I might add (although the way it all worked out, I didn't have the stretch direction around my waist - mores the pity. Will definitely take more factors into account next time I lay out my pattern pieces.

This is me trying to show the width of the skirt, haha

Oh and I used most of the 4m of fabric for this pattern - the most I've ever used! Granted I could've lost 5-6 inches off each skirt piece, but I didn't think to measure at the time.

Either way I've come full circle with this dress. I didn't feel much for it during the make but it's definitely growing on me now! Of course my kit is available for anyone who wants to give Bengaline a go!

And to reward you for your reading, I will include the photo's I found amusing when I flicked through what I took

Pop ya collar, eh?

LYLT

Emmie x

More Vintage Goodies!! (Warning - Patterns!)

Hi guys,

I know what you're thinking. Emmie, stop buying shit, and sew something. Also, don't you already have a shed-load of patterns? When are you going to get around to sewing the ones you already have...

Or maybe you're not thinking that, because you guys are like me! 

But I'm sure that's what Mr.G is thinking. 

I swear I have been! I have a couple of UFO's hanging around that I need to get to finishing. 

I'm not that bad at putting in zips, so I don't know why I avoid them for so long. I would do it today, as Mr.G is off playing golf, but I've been invited for a wine & cheese afternoon. 

I thought it was an evening, but no, it's starting at about 2pm!

But I digress, you came here for Goodies... scroll on for the parade of dresses (with a couple of blouses thrown in for good measure)

And how did these fall into my lap. Well Laurie from Sew Exhausted bought her own parade, and when I stole a glance at Vintage Martini I was sold. Prices are so good, and when you have you're own personal enabler, what other way could the story end. Thanks again Laurie, I love them all!!

And further to that, I had my lovely Mammy visiting me, and when I took her to my favourite little vintage shop, I ended up coming home with some lovely cast iron Iron's (to use as pattern weights)....

And a lovely cantilever sewing box :)

This month I have also acquired some new scissors, which were cheap and appear to be nice and sharp! And a couple of rotary cutters. That's all, I swear. That's all I can remember anyways.

Just a little side note for all you out there who struggle to store their patterns... I spotted the most perfect little storage boxes in Wilkinsons today (although I forgot to go back and get them). I think they were these ones. The picture shows them from the side, but they are the right width for standard sized patterns I think (I have no idea what I am going to do with the large sized repro-vintage Vogue ones).

LYLT,

Emmie xx

Enough Patterns For Life

Ok, after a short break I'm back!

Have been a very busy girl, between concerts and visiting friends, and my boyfriend stole my camera away for a while, so I want to do a short showreel of all of the sewing patterns that I acquired over the last few weeks!

So remember when I mentioned how I had a self control problem?

Well I've come to realise that I can be obsessive compulsive when it comes to acquiring things. I've begun to call it Obsessive Compulsive Gathering. I like to gather collections of things, such as vintage clothes (and vintage china!) and also for things I need to do, like crafting, so that would mean sewing equipment, etc. I feel like I need to have anything that I may require along the way. And it makes me happy when I gather the things I need/want.

So, following on from that, when I found that Vogue had a sale on patterns after Christmas, it got switched on. All patterns were $3.99, and they usually sold for about $15.99 (and about £15 on eBay) so I got a bit overexcited. I added all the ones that I loved, and seen as you could only ship 10 per order in sale time I chose my favourite 20. Yes 20. But them I realised that it was going to cost me just under $80 (~£53) for the 20 patterns, which was amazing, but that it was going to cost $110 to ship them, which was outrageous!

It would cost $40 to ship them in America, so I called on a wonderful uncle of mine :) And a few months later I finally got my hands on them! (Along with another 3 I bought for $1.88 in the Butterick sale, but I got those shipped to me).

So here they all are, there are some modern with a vintage styling, and a lot of vintage reproductions, which I have no hope of being good enough to make for a very long time yet! I also love how some of them make slightly different variations of the same item. I did have to buy the suit in both size options, as my top half and bottom half require different patterns sizes, but no matter!

Sorry the pictures are all higgldy piggldy, this thing is a pain!

Hope you like them! Which is your favourite??

Lots of Love,

Emma xx