A Nick Bantock Moment

I dreamed I went to the village library, but when I got there, it was really a church.  And instead of a dais with a pulpit, there was this great mastodon up there on the sanctuary, under the stained glass windows.  It was really weird, and all I could think of was, "I wish Nick Banktock was here to see this."

Anchor Button

What do you do when your dress actually (gasp!) turns out to be pretty?!
You buy your new dress a fancy, smashing new button!
I don't often purchase buttons.  I have collected quite a few vintage buttons but I often use a zipper.

I'm thrilled with my new (soon to be revealed) dress for Sew Weekly,  although the halter-neck itself isn't long enough to tie around a fruit fly (silly Butterick) which is why I needed a button to begin with.

Since the dress has an accidentally-on-purpose nautical theme (it's summer, I live in the middle of the Erie Canal, and suddenly, there it was: crazy fabric in the discount pile!) I wanted a nautically-themed button, but didn't have any high hopes of finding one.

I was wrong!

Hooray!

At the Antique Doll Show

Today over coffee I found an ad for an antique doll show that started in about 3 hours.

Hey, Ho, Let's Go!!!

Wait!  That never happens!  Time enough to shower and dress and I wasn't scheduled to work - all at the same time!
So, husband and I went.  We had a great time.
Antique dolls run the gamut from gorgeous to downright scary.  (One was a life-sized toddler with a twisted head and huge grin like it was going to eat small children in the dead of night.)  But the best thing there was a small basket marked "Lingerie".

Doll lingerie?!!  Yes! I picked through the basket twice settling on this 50's-era Bra & Girdle Set:

I did actually pass up a basket of antique lace due to expense and sudden overwhelm at too many pretty things.
I believe the event was sponsored by the United Federation of Doll Collectors, Inc.  Visit the site to get a free, printable paper doll!  There's also a printable pattern for a Jumeau Bebe I found by exploring the site a little.
 
Go make something pretty!

Pattern Swap!

Over at the Sew Weekly, I participated in an April Pattern Swap hosted by Tina Crossgrove of Down the Retro Rabbit Hole.

Low and behold, I received a really lovely pattern in the mail from Etsy and it took me bit to figure out that is was the pattern swap pattern.  (I sometimes order patterns for Etsy, but didn’t remember seeing this one before.)

The low down on it’s fabulosity:

It’s -

• a size 18 (so I don’t have to scale up so much)
• it’s really pretty, especially the contrast trims
• it has no printing on the tissues - I’ve never seen that before!
• it looks challenging, but if I can pull it off, it looks really wearable
• Vogue, for Pete's sake!

I still don’t know who had it sent to me, but BIG THANK-YOU to who it was.  But  thank-you also for showing me how it's done.  This was my first-ever Pattern Swap.

Wedding Corset Complete

Silk and Coutil for a customer

The coutil is imported, and extremely stiff in its weave.  Even soaking it in water doesn't alter the texture very much, as I'd thought it was stiff due to sizing.  It is beautiful.  The silk dupioni is a lovely shade of lavender.

St. Patrick's Day Dress

Pattern: Simplicity New Look 6457, View C

Year: 2005

Fabric: Something purchased for something else, plus something else purchased also for something else.

(A dress is better than a placemat.)

Cost: Pattern was from stash, fabric, about $15.00 spaced over the last 4 months.  Plus $2.50 for the up-and-coming mathcing petticoat.  So, I'd say, just under $20 total.

Time to Complete: About 2 days, off and on.

Mods: Lengthened the bodice front and back considerably (2-4 or so); added a side dart to more shape the bust area, which then unintentionally raised the v-neck, unfortunately.  So now, it looks a little matronly with the sweater.  Oh well.  I'll have to see what it looks like on.

Worn: Not yet.  Needs a zipper.

I whipped this one together in couple days, except it still needs a zipper, so until then, it's sitting on my mannequin.   The sweater is Talbot's via the Salvation Army, angora/viscose/wool.  Perfect!  The little shamrock pin was my grandma's, and the beads are vintage.

Fresh Air Blouse- Sew Weekly

“Retro” for me often means 1870 or ’90, so, my first thought when I saw this challenge was “Winslow Homer”.  I found this maiden tending her sheep in a brown skirt kind of fetching, and her (obviously) light-weight, cotton batiste, pale, blue shirt is just killer.  

Fresh Air - Winslow Homer - 1878

Pattern: McCalls 5050 Blouse, View D
Year: 2006
Mods: Replaced the two sleeve ruffles with my own Morning Glory Webbed Flounce

Fabric:  Pale Blue Cotton, on sale $3.00/yard; 2.5 yards

Cost:  About $10.00 ( $1 for pattern, $7.50 for fabric, random stash for haberdash)

Time to Make: 2 days (off and on) for the sleeves, 1 hour for main construction, hemming, etc.
Worn: March 10, 2012, to a friend's house for dinner.  We covered it with a towel to not ruin it with nibbles.
Wear Again: Yes!  Can't wait!

I don’t usually go for literal interpretation unless I get a bee in my bonnet about it, and suddenly, this one all came together.

I thought of leaving off the webbed sleeves and just making them as the pattern intended, but what fun would that be?

I couldn’t give up the chance to actually accomplish their scrumptious webbiness.  I drew the intended shape, guess-timated the actual number of pieces for each sleeve cuff to be 7, although 8 or 9 would work nicely as well.  Soon, I had a whole pile of little sleeve bits to stitch together.

Sour Patch Bunnies really help the process along.

After fussy sleeves, the whole thing goes together in less than an hour, really.

So, off we went to find some sheep.  Except we couldn't find any sheep.  The nearest sheep farm is over an hour away, so my husband promised me some goats.  Except, it's cold and their weren't really any goats around for a Kodak moment, either.  So, I opted for a small, crumbly cemetery instead.  

I see dead people.

Dead people are not the same as cute lambs, so the whole thing's kind of skewed.  But my sleeves look fierce and that's all that matters.

Pardon me, Sir.

Sew Weekly: Obi Project Management

Obi Project Management & Bias Cording Que

Day 1.5
I am tired.  I keep loosing my Dicky Body, Obi Bow is now where to be found.  However, here is where it's at:
I'm still not completely cut, but close to it.  This swanky robe has turned into quite the stash-buster.  There are little piles of kimono all over the apartment.

Do-Pile Breakdown:

1. Obi Project Management + Bias Stripping Que
2. Items Cut, but awaiting interfacing
3. Kimono Body #1 (hung)
4. Kimono Body #2 (Haori) awaiting cutting
5. Sleeves, Kimono Body #1 awaiting thread marking
6. Kimono Body #1 Lining awaiting cutting
7. Sash possibilities
8. Linings of all sleeves in process of being cut, Kimono #1 and Haori
9. Dicky Body pile

Awaiting center back seam.  I wish the center back matched better than this, but I use what I have.   Traditional kimono all seem to match all the way around.
Now, how on Earth to get it done in time??  At this point it comes down to one thing: if I can get the sleeves made to the first kimono, it all falls into place.  Which brings me to mentioning this corset by The Dreamstress: I was originally going to line the sleeves with the green flannel.  (I had to get the flannel to match the lime green silk that was gifted to me about 10 years ago.) But then I remembered the Cymbidium Orchid corset, and the pink inside/green outside.  I found enough old pink bengaline in my stash to line my sleeves and it just became that much better.  Thanks, Dreamstress!

Sew Weekly: Academy Awards

So, this week on the Sew Weekly, the theme is any movie that been up for or won an Academy Award.  I ran through my favorite movies that are in periods that I lean toward: Cold Mountain (no time to make a full corset and a blouse); Roman Holiday - (cute period, but again, waist needs a cinch) 7th Heaven - great silent film, but I don't have the fabric on hand to make that simple frock.  And so it went.  I had to select my movie based on fabric on hand, and I had the poly chiffon and a few yards of lime green silk.  Then, Red Tag fabric went back on sale and I located the same poly chiffon - enough to make a robe.  That sealed the deal: Memoirs of a Geisha.

 I have two different patterns for kimono - Simplicity 4080 and Folkwear 129 already pre-cut.  This should be a snap!

Day One: I cut out all of the pieces I need to Simplicity 4080.  Not bad, and not too many.  Which means I'll have a swanky vintage-looking bombshell houserobe in no time.  Or, at least, under deadline.
These are all of the pieces I didn't need:

After I cut out the silk for the obi, I found some red braid to use as the tie that I thought would be perfect.  We'd used it at our wedding for our hand-fasting, and I figured I'd make good use of it.  Except the instructions say to glue it onto the silk.  I'm not going to do that.  They also say to make a slip knot, but I don't remember what that is.  I looked it up in my trusty Girl Scout Handbook from 1972.  It didn't really explain it there, either.  Here is how to tie the slip knot for Simplicity 4080.

Pat's Stripes Dress

I confess to having this ultra-80‘s-cool, red & black stripe in my hoard of fabric since sometime in 1990.  I first purchased it to make my boyfriend at the time, Pat, a tunic or something.  Then, we broke up and I still had 7 yards of it.  I stuffed it in a bag at the back of my closet.  We got back together. Then, we broke up.  Then, we moved in together.  Great! One red & black tunic and a matching dress coming right up!  Then, we broke up, yet again.  Back into my closet it went, un-cut. 

Suddenly, in the mid-2000‘s, Pat passed away. And so, this 6-7 yard hunk of fabric that essentially reminded me so much of him got shoved to the very bottom of my stash.  I thought I might Etsy it someday, but I never did.

This is my second attempt at “Red” this week.  The first attempt requires a zipper which I just don’t feel like buying because I know I have one someplace and time is getting short.  I didn’t think I had any more red fabric to work with, but I looked under my table and there was a this bag filled with stripes.  Next to it was a fresh pattern that called for stretch knit fabric.  Serendipitous!

The actual fit and measurements on the pattern envelope get a straight-up ‘F’.  I keep my current measurements taped to my door for easy reference.  I select multi-sized patterns and cut the lower half on the larger sizes, and cut the bust line according to whatever Simplicity/McCalls/Burda/Vogue says I am today.  The girls fell right out in a test fitting, so I recut the bust pieces larger, messed them up in the serger, and re-cut again.

Did I mention I hate re-do’s??  And re-re-do’s???  I mean, of the same project, of course!

Pattern: Khaliah Ali Collection Simplicity 2947

Fabric: Long-held stash, elastic & thread: stash; etc.

Mods: Added micro-netting to the bust-line to vamp it up a bit.

Final Cost: $3.53:  $1 for the pattern; $2.53 for a netting remnant (purchased about 10 years ago, tag still on) 

Time to Complete: Forever

Wore: For photos

Wear Again: Yes! after the sleeves have been re-set so they don’t fall off

Make again: Yes!  (but not from stripes)

Little Purse Prorotype

This little purse came from work, we'll be making these soon as a class.

Happy Valentine's Day!

First thing,  I made a sweet, romantic treasury over on Etsy:
Purples,  of course!

DownUnder: Boho Paisley Muumuu

First, I'd like to say I did not start out to make a muumuu of any sort.  It turned into one, I'm guessing because it drapes from the bust line which is never a good thing on me.  It didn't take too long.  I nabbed the fabric from WalMart the previous evening and ran a pre-wash.

 I actually sort of like the fabric even though it's not my normal style.  I wish it matched better in the center front, but I was in a hurry and didn't line my fold up correctly.

Pattern: Simplicity It's So Easy!  E2034
Time to Complete: About 5 hours
Worn: Not yet.  Only for the pictures.
Fit: 8.5 on a 10 point scale.  Not much to worry about here except the bust facing.
Mods: I added vintage lace to the bottom because it seemed to need something.
Make Again: Yes
Cost: Pattern $1.89; Fabric: $9; Notions: Vintage lace from stash
Final Cost: $10.89

What I've Made This Month

A hat my husband hates:

A machine embroidered fleece scarf to match:
(He liked this better!)

A corset muslin:

Sew Weekly

I've just joined the Sew Weekly.  Frankly, I'm obsessed with the Sew Weekly and Mena Trott's dresses and have been following it off and on since she started it.  The idea that I can make nearly everything suddenly doesn't seem so far away.  Using my fabric stash and breathing some fresh air into it is exciting.  Getting dressed seems exciting again!  I can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

January Tool of the Month: Re-used Plastic Calendar

I cut up the covers and dividers from my old calendar to used as a temporary holder for lace purchased recently.

Cut off the holes, add a slit in the top to anchor the lace.  While I wouldn't use it for long term storage of vintage or fragile textiles, it's good for short-term organization.
The effect was prettier than I imagined, and I kind of like the sentiment.  Plan ahead.