Fall for Cotton: Vintage Shirt-Dress

I have a reasonable size collection of vintage patterns that I seem to admire more than I sew. When I saw that Rochelle and Tasha were holding a Fall for Cotton sewalong and the Monthly Stitch challenge was vintage, well I took the not so subtle hint to make up another of my patterns.

It was definitely difficult to narrow it down but I finally decided on Mail Order Pattern-o-rama 8299, date unknown but has to be 40s I think.  I love me a shirt-dress and really like the button detailing on this one. Plus I already had the fabric and just the right amount of matching buttons in my stash! It was meant to be!

The sweetheart neckline is cute too

The construction of this was fairly straight forward, although a little unusual by modern standards. The front bodice is sewn together, then the back pieces are sewn together and they are joined at the shoulders. As the back does not have a waist seam, but the front does, it is a little weird to try on at this point at you end up with a back skirt and no front skirt!  I was wanting to check for fit as I had only tissue fitted, I didn't make a muslin. My cotton fabric was cheap at $2/m so I was treating this as a wearable muslin with my effort towards quality of finish varying depending on the fit! (spoiler alert - I was happy with the fit so it has been finished properly)

The collar was then attached, followed by the front skirt, side seams and then the sleeves. No zip, the button front is functional unlike my previous vintage shirt-dress.

Most times when you read about vintage patterns people say there is no ease so buy your measurements. However, this pattern is a size 35" pattern and my bust measurement is 37" and it fitted perfectly with no alterations required.  I only shortened the bodice by about one inch and narrowed the shoulders by about an inch as they were pretty wide and likely designed for shoulder pads.

I felt a little bit "Call the Midwife" looking as I made this but made a few changes to try to stop it looking too nurse-uniform like.  The buttons help a lot I think, they are vintage, embroidered and picked up on a trip to Cairns last year for 10 cents each! If only buttons were this reasonably priced!!

I also played with my machine's fancy stitching on the hems of the sleeve and skirt.  I knew I didn't want to hand stitch and I figured if you were going to see the stitching I might as well make it pretty. I know it's not traditionally vintage, but I don't mind, I wasn't going for a completely authentic finish (although I did pink all my seams, mostly because I didn't have matching thread!).

Sorry, I did the buttonholes on my machine :) I know I could have done them by hand, but to be honest, I didn't want to! I really don't like hand-sewing, yep lazy I know, but if my machine does it then why not, and I'm all for efficiency.

I did shorten the skirt by about 5" to a more wearable modern day length.  I think even "back in the day" I would have had to shorten it too, I am only 5'2" after all and besides wouldn't I have had to ration fabric?

BTW - the "pockets" are completely decorative, just flaps!

Details:

Pattern - Pattern-o-rama 8299

Fabric - 2.4m of cotton poplin from my stash

Notions -  11 buttons also from my stash (I have one spare in case I lose one!), thread

So that's my Fall for Cotton/Monthly Stitch dress - what about you?  Did you make something for either of these challenges?  If so, share in the comments below, I would love to see!

Mad Men Challenge - the Trudy Dress

When I saw that Julia Bobbin had announced a second Mad Men Challenge, I was pretty excited.  I missed last years one as it was pre-blogging and before even discovering all the amazing sewing blogs out there!

My only problem was what to make, I love a good Joan dress, but I am not sure the shape would suit me without some serious foundation garments.  Then there is Peggy and Betty who both have some great dresses.  The outfits I considered are on my Pinterest board.  For some reason the character whose outfits I seem to be drawn to most are Trudy's wonderful and patterned shirtdresses.  I do love me a great shirtdress!

Could she look more stunning? 

I had a pattern in my stash already which perfectly matches this, even down to the welts and cuff turnups.

I didn't even try to match the fabric with the inspiration as those colours don't work with my colouring, but instead went with a pretty vintage inspired floral print I bought from fabric.com last year.  The pattern was in my size but I even did a quick muslin of the bodice to sort out any potential fit issues (I am getting good at doing this muslin business).  I ended up narrowing the shoulders by 2cm and shortening the bodice between the bust and shoulders by about 1.5cm.  The rest of the measurements were perfect, even the waist! Quelle surprise!

I am loving the result and the fit is perfect, plus the fabric has just the tiniest bit of give making it super comfortable as well.  Couldn't be happier!



The bodice has some cool details like welts on either side, not welt pockets, but who would use that area as a pocket anyway, not sure that I need more bulk in that department!! 

I made a matching belt - can you see it?  It matches almost too well!!

I changed the construction a little as it is supposed to fasten with the front buttons and then you are supposed to cut a vent in the skirt of about 10cm/3" to help you get in the dress.  That would have resulted in a crazy gap right over my lady bits and way too dangerous for wardrobe malfunctions! Instead I sewed up the waistband without the strange vent and put in an invisible side zipper, much safer!! I also took some of the fullness out of the skirt as I didn't have enough fabric, it is supposed to have about another metre in width, but I am pretty sure that might swamp me.

Now I just think I need to make a crinoline to go underneath - have you seen Rachel's tutorial?  Also, storage top tip from Dolly Clackett via Twitter is to roll and bag them, not hang them so they keep their fluffiness.

photobombed!!

Thanks for holding the challenge Julia, it was super fun and now I can channel my inner Trudy goddess!!

 

Vintage Vogue 9463 and a spot of tea

Do you ever go away for the weekend and then find it takes several days to get back on track again?  I went to Melbourne last weekend and still don't feel back on top of things. Why do chores not just do themselves?

Anyway, enough moaning and on to the point!

As you may have heard in the blogosphere, Mel of Poppykettle arranged a high tea (Sewcietea) so that sewers have the ideal opportunity to show off their fancy garments.  What a perfect excuse for a weekend away to Melbourne. I used airpoints and mooched accommodation from my brother, so a cheap weekend away. Plus it was my birthday last week, so it was like a present to myself!

This dress is a combined birthday/Sewcietea dress. The pattern is Vintage Vogue 9463 from 1958. I love the bow detail and the pleating detail on the skirt.

I used a light cotton that was a dream to sew, is light to wear, falls beautifully and isn't see through - what more could a girl want from a dress?!  It also went together really well with no major alterations needed.  I think the only change I made was to the sleeves as I didn't have enough fabric to do the cuffs.

We had such a lovely afternoon eating little sandwiches, mini savouries and of course dessert!  Check out the pictures of the day here.

I am sure I ate too much, but can you really have too much of a good thing?? I had so much fun meeting a bunch of sewers I had previously only chatted to on Twitter or via blogs.  There were 26 of us all up, all in our own homemade dresses.  It was really funny how we were admiring fabrics, finishes, patterns and construction.  There was a lot of turning up dresses to see the seam allowances!!

One of the best parts is that it is going to be an annual event!!

PS - thanks to Rachel of MyMessings for taking my blog pics :)

Sew for Victory Dress Completed

Happy Easter everyone, I hope you have enjoyed a lovely break.  I have spent the time catching up with hubby, enjoying some downtime from work and of course a spot of sewing.

When Rochelle of Lucky Lucille announced this sewalong, I knew I had to participate.  I love patterns from the 40s and 50s, the artwork is always fabulous and the designs have such great details you almost never see on RTW nowadays.

I chose to make a mail order pattern, Marian Martin 9231, it doesn't have a date on it, nor on the postmark, but the design and detailing all points to somewhere in the late 40s, can anyone assist in an accurate date??

I was lucky enough to source this in my size so I didn't need to make any alterations aside from shortening the bodice as I am a shorty.

I was drawn to this pattern due to the button detailing that I thought was cute. I also liked the gathering at the top of the yoke on front and back.

It's a really different silhouette for me, I am not used to the blousing look that was common in the 40s, but I think I like it, and it's comfortable whilst allowing good arm movement.

The pattern pieces are the usual perforated pieces, but they still have all the markings, darts etc but just marked with holes. Once you get used to them they are actually pretty straightforward to use. The only thing to look out for is the extra pieces that may not be supplied that they ask you to draft up yourself, like belts or facings.

The buttonholes down the front are all bound and as the buttons now cover them completely and the dress has a side zipper, they are completely functionless I just had to show you that I did them!

A close up of some of the design details. 

Look at these great zips I picked up at a thrift shop recently. I thought that invisible zips were a recent invention, but these are really old, the lady in the store thought they were from around the 40s.  These are so much stronger than the plastic zips, but are super difficult to put in as they have no flexibility at all and the teeth are quite large so an invisible zipper foot doesn't work.

The pattern gave the option of hooks and eyes or a slide fastener, so in keeping with the times I used the old invisible zipper. I also pinked all the seams, so I feel I really made it keeping true to the times.  The fabric was from my stash so all I bought were the buttons, not bad for make do and mend! I even made shoulder pads!!

 

Thanks Rochelle for making this a fun sewalong, I loved all the additional information about the 40s she posted.  If you haven't already, check it out her posts here.

Prizes, pressies, swaps and goings on

Happy 2013 everyone!

I finished a couple of garments just before Christmas but haven't had a chance to photograph them yet, so in the meantime I thought I would share some of the treasures I received recently and what I am up to.

Firstly, the above is mostly courtesy of the giveway held by Kerry of Kestel Finds and Makes
that I was lucky to win recently. The giveaway gave me a generous $25 to spend at Miss Betty's Attic on Etsy. Well Miss Betty's patterns are reasonably priced anyway and then she had 25% off for Kerry's readers so I was in heaven!  I couldn't decide or narrow my choices down, so I chipped in a little extra and bought the above.  I know two shirtdresses, but they are slightly different ;)  Check out Miss Betty's store, there are some great patterns in there.  Thanks again Kerry, I am so grateful to have been the winner!

The above amazing two patterns and buttons are the result of a swap with Judy of Sew Blessed Maw.  Judy was so taken with the pattern from my red Vintage Vogue 5557 that we arranged to do a swap for the pattern.  I knew I wouldn't use the pattern again so loved the idea of giving it another home and so the swap was born.  I sent her the pattern and asked her to surprise me - the day before Christmas the above arrived!  I particularly love the vintage pattern, it is very me and perfectly suited to our weather right now.  Thanks Judy - it was super fun to swap with you!!

The above amazing treasure was part of my Christmas pressie from my lovely hubby - isn't he fabulous?  Ok he might have been sent a few links as hints, but what great patterns (another shirtdress hehe) and check out those amazing buttons, perfect on a shirtdress amirite?   

Now, some insight into what I am working on right now.  Well, to be honest with my family staying with me the past couple of weeks I haven't been able to do any sewing, but I have managed to knit a little.

The below is destined to be a cute linen sundress - assuming my pattern alterations all work out as planned.  Wish me luck!!

 

I have also started knitting the Emelie jumper from lovely soft wool (I think part alpaca) that I bought at La Droguerie in Paris early in 2012.  I am just hoping I have enough wool, I know it will be close! By the way, my Ravelry name is Sundar if you want to friend me!

 

 

What's on your project table at the moment?  and did you receive anything lovely for Christmas? 

Top 5 of 2012 - and now the Misses

The year was not all roses for me sewing-wise unfortunately and this post is to share my misses.  Yep I am far from perfect and the same for some of my projects. 

In order of worst to best:

1.  This attempt to make a 1940's pattern from an Australian Home Journal - it was all good until I added the skirt.  Then it was so awful that it ended up balled in a corner for two months before being cut up and made into this top.  I love the replacement but will have to give the pattern another go as I won't let it beat me!!

 

2. Flowery, Girly dress - the fit on this is not great. In my defence at the time I was not really reading or following any blogs, if I had I would have known that loads of people had issues with this pattern and might have made a muslin. *sigh* live and learn.

 

 

3.  My first item I blogged about. I did like the jacket when I first made it and I still think it's...ok, but I am not loving the sleeves.  I may refashion it and narrow the sleeves to look a bit more normal.

 

 

4. Colette Violet - I never wear this blouse, it just feels too boxy and a bit short.  Again, just not feeling the love.  Plus the collar seems huge and it is too big across the shoulders.  Seriously thinking of refashioning it as I hate things to gather dust in my wardrobe.

 

 

5.  The Turnaround Blouse - another top I just don't wear.  Not really sure the reason, I guess I feel it is not that flattering, plus I didn't have a decent skirt to wear with it. Now I do, but it is the wrong season, perhaps next season?  I do really like the fabric so perhaps just need to find a way to wear it in 2013.

 

So what have I learnt from the above:

- make a muslin more often, especially for vintage patterns

- take care to adjust the pattern to fit i.e. different sizes for shoulders, bust & hips, consider FBA

- think about the pattern more and whether it will suit my shape

- it doesn't matter too much, if I don't like it, it can always be hacked or donated!

 

What are your fails for the year?  Please share and make me feel better!!

 

 

 

Vintage Vogue 5557 - Red Sheath Dress

Meet my latest vintage creation, the Vintage Vogue 5557 sheath dress.

 

I think this can be described as a sheath dress, VintagePatternsWiki describes it as a one piece dress but given the simple lines it is certainly close to a sheath.

I bought this pattern a little while ago as one of many from a local seller who was selling off his mother's patterns from when she was a seamstress. One of the reasons I was most excited about getting these patterns was that they were all used, showing they were a real part of fashion of the era. This particular pattern is dated to June/July 1963.
 

Click image for source

When I removed the pattern from the envelope, I could see there were pins in it already from the last time it was used. On measuring the pieces, it was like it was altered for me!  Check out the old pins:

 

The pieces were all shortened (perfectly) and had been narrowed across the back.  For me these are two of my standard alterations.  The only thing left me to alter was to "grade" it up to my size.  When I say grade, I mean just add a bit to the side seams, after all it didn't need much altering as most of it had already been done!

SHHH, DON'T TELL:

The dress has a fake pleat/wrap with fake button closure.  It has bound buttonholes, which are completely wasted as they are covered from view with the buttons that are sewed over the top of them. The buttonholes are real on the very top layer, but underneath there isn't a hole at all! The dress is actually closed with a side zip.

 

 

Other than the fact I love this dress, I also made the whole dress from my stash - so really it was free right??

What did I change?
- Not much actually
- The dress is supposed to have facings, but I am not a fan of how they seldom stay where they should so I fully lined the bodice with a remnant of cotton from a previous project.
- the grading previously mentioned
- I swapped the normal zipper for an invisible zipper
- I cut the belt in two pieces as I didn't have enough fabric, I also didn't cut it on the bias

The dress went together pretty well and not much fiddling with the fit was required.  The only big difference with the fit was that the pattern envelope indicates it is more blousey at the bodice, I prefer a little more fitted which is good as that is how it ended up!!

I love vintage instructions, the diagrams are brilliant.

Ok, now for the weird bit.  According to the instructions, the belt doubles as a scarf:

Now I don't know about you, but there is no way my waist is close to my neck size.  I tried it to see how it would look, but am really not a fan.

Hmmm...where is my neck? Not a good look, and where is my waist?  Not loving it.

 

Still trying.

Nope I give up, I'm keeping the belt.

I have already worn this to a couple of functions, so another wardrobe winner, and great for the festive season.