Grey Days

When I bought this fabric from Arthur Toye over a year ago I imagined making a shirtdress (I was obsessed with them at the time). I don't know what I was thinking. It's a thin, sheer cotton. Luckily, I came to my senses.    

Instead of a shirtdress, I decided to make Eva Dress D 40 5087. I've made it before so it was pretty easy to construct. 

I really like all the gathers this pattern has. They are perfect for the weight of the fabric.

Sorry it's blurry. It was dark. 

I didn't have a grey zip in my stash (I always buy zips from op shops but never seem to have the right colour/length when I need it), so I did a combination of hooks and eyes and snaps. I regret it. They require me to perform acrobatic contortions to get them done up. I don't think I can be bothered taking them out and putting a zip in though.  

Apart from the closure problem, I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Scarf: Op shopped
Belt: Op shopped
Tights: A shop in the mall, I think
Shoes: Golden Ponies
Dress: Eva Dress D 40 5087

I started a facebook page for the blog. I'll probably post stuff that doesn't warrant a blog post like what I'm going to be sewing next.  

Is she pretty on the inside?

I bought this pattern with a bunch of other early 60's ones. I liked the bow-type thing on the neckline, but didn't find either of the skirt styles very appealing. I decided to do a box pleated skirt instead of the a-line or straight skirts from the pattern.   

Most of the seams are french ones because I'm lazy. You see, the overlocker is in a different room to my sewing machine. This means I have to go all the way to the other room if I want to overlock anything. It just seems easier to stay at my machine and sew an extra seam. As an added bonus, the finish you get with french seams makes the inside pretty.

This is the detail on the neckline.The background colour is weird. It looks white next to cream things and cream next to white things. I topstitched it in white which looks alright, but doesn't match perfectly.

There was a picture of me smiling in this pose, but the dress didn't look good so bored face it is

I love this dress. Yellow and cream/white are not normally colours I would go for, but I love lemons, both real ones and prints.

Sunglasses: Vintage shop in England
Dress: Simplicity 4987
Belt: Op shopped
Shoes: The Warehouse

Lost and Found

While looking through my fabric stash recently, I found a project that I started almost two years ago. I'd given up on it because one side of the front bodice would not fit properly. The other side fitted fine, and I had done a muslin so I couldn't understand why it wouldn't work. I spent weeks pinning, sewing and unpicking. When I finally got the fit looking better I was so sick of the whole thing, I just put it away and forgot about it. Two years later, I've finally finished it.   

It didn't take long. All I needed to do was attach the skirt to the bodice, put in a zip, do the hem and sew on the buttons. I didn't line it because I'm lazy, and I wear slips all the time. 

The left side bulges where the zip is which really annoys me. I've tried steaming it but that makes no difference. An invisible zip would probably solve the problem, but I hate them with a passion. They break so easily. Maybe I'll take the zip out and put in some snaps instead. 

The button closure makes it look like a space uniform. The pattern is from 1963, so I'm guessing this was meant to be the 'tame' version of the space age fashion trend that was around at the time.

Hat: Op shopped

Belt: Op shopped

Dress: I made it

Shoes: Tony Bianco

  

Pink and green sailboats

Even though I don't like pink, cream doesn't suit me and boats make me seasick, I still bought this cotton print and made a dress out of it. I drafted the bodice from a few different patterns because I didn't have the exact one that I wanted. The skirt is just a circle skirt.

I got distracted by a bird

The cream was pretty hard to photograph. As you can see, the colour doesn't suit me but I don't care, I like the print. It looks better with a cardigan.
 

I also took the scissors to my hair. I'm not convinced that I like it but it's my own fault and it'll grow back. 

Cardigan: Op shopped

Shoes: Op shopped

Belt: Off another dress

Bangles: Etsy and ebay 

Tights: Supermarket probably

Dress: I made it

Butterick 9305

I started this dress months ago when it was still wintery but then I got bogged down with essays and assignments. I've finally finished it but it's decidedly springy now and I probably won't get to wear it much until autumn.   

The pattern was from Two Squirrels Vintage.  It's Butterick 9305 which, according to the Vintage Patterns Wiki, is from 1960. Interestingly, the image they have has different colours than my pattern envelope does. I've found that with quite a few of my vintage patterns. Maybe they printed them in different colours for New Zealand?

The fabric is a really fine wool that I got from Trademe. I underlined it with some black cotton because it was too thin. Seriously, though, I hate having to cut out all the pieces twice, and then having to baste them together. It takes so long.     

Ugh, my fringe is all funny because it was so windy yesterday

I made view A. I changed all the pleats in the bodice and skirt to darts because it was way too gape-y. I also put buttons all down the front because I couldn't see the point in sewing the bottom of the skirt shut and only having four buttons. I had to cut about 20cm off the hem because this pattern was obviously made for tall(er) people.

Yeah, I'm wearing the hat backwards because I like it better that way

I was a bit worried that the massive collar would be overwhelming but I love it, especially from the back.

 

Dress: I made it

Shoes: Golden Ponies

Hat: Op shopped

Belt: Op shopped

Bakelite Bangles: Etsy

Pear Brooch: Trademe

Paisley Rayon

This dress was really hard to take a photo of because it's pale, and I'm pale, and the house was dark because it was raining outside.

I made the dress from Eva Dress pattern D40-359. I think this is the oldest pattern I've ever made. It's a reproduction of a pattern from 1940.  

The fabric is a 1940s or 50s rayon from Unearthed in Wellington. It has a paisley pattern and then these abstract bow (or maybe flower?) shapes. I'm not normally a fan of synthetics but rayon feels really nice, and it's only a semi-synthetic.

I only just had enough fabric. Even though I had about 4 metres length, like lots of vintage fabrics, the width was really small. It was a total pain in the arse to cut out because it's really slippery. It was kind of hard to sew too. This is why I usually stick to nice, stable, mid weight cottons. So much easier to sew.     

I'm not totally sold on this dress. I love the fabric print and the drape but there's just something about it that I'm not sure about. Maybe it's the colour? Pale colours do not suit me at all. Or maybe it's the shape around the waist? The gathers make it way more droopy than the pattern envelope looks.  I dunno. Maybe it will grow on me.

Tutti Frutti

Sherry recently wrote an interesting post about style rules and it got me thinking about how much I dislike any rules which tell people what they should or should not wear. I'm short (or petite as it's now euphemistically called). "Style rules" usually say that I shouldn't wear bold prints and should dress in one colour from head to toe. Well, I say screw that. I love bold prints and usually wear a rainbow of colours. This dress is pretty typical of the kind of thing I wear every day.  

Aside from being a bold print (which I shouldn't wear), the fabric breaks another style rule. The print has both red and pink in it which are not meant to be worn together.

The shoes worn with this dress probably break some style rules too. I wear my saddle shoes with almost everything, though. I like the way they make fancier dresses look more casual.

I used a mish mash of two Burda patterns for this dress. The skirt is made from the Jenny pencil skirt. The bodice is made from a modified dress pattern that I got from a Burda magazine from the library.

I made a pleated inset for the front waist based on one of my vintage dresses. It's pretty much just a rectangle with three pleats that's sewn into the side seams. 

This was a really quick dress to sew up. I started it the day before I went to away for a few of days. I pretty much finished it that same day. I did the hem and a few other bits of hand sewing while I was away, in between scouring small town op shops and visiting my grandma.     

The Moonrise Kingdom Dress (finally)

Yes, I'm wearing my saddle shoes because Suzy is wearing a pair in the movie trailer.

 I've been pretty busy studying for my exams next week so I haven't had much of a chance to blog lately. I finally managed to take a picture of my finished Moonrise Kingdom inspired dress. It was taken inside and it's pretty lopsided but it had snowed outside.

See?

The pattern I used for the dress was Butterick 5317 from the late 60s. I made quite a few changes. I redrafted the collar, and the sleeves, drafted some cuffs, shortened it a lot, put the zip in the back and left off the faux pockets.

In the trailer for Moonrise Kingdom Suzy looks like she's wearing a rope or something tied around her waist. I tried my dress with a belt but it went all bunchy so I decided it looked better without it.

I quite like the finished product but the fabric is a pain. If you look at it wrong it creases. For some reason it was fine when I was sewing it, but then as soon as I put it on it it started wrinkling like crazy. I ironed it just before I took the photo and you can see it's already pretty wrinkled. 

Oranges are not the only fruit

   
Remember my last post when I said I could make a whole pile of shirtdresses and wear them all the time? Well, this is number two. I used the same pattern as the last one but added the pleated skirt instead of the A-line one.

The fabric is an apple print cotton from Spotlight. I always complain about Spotlight but they actually have some pretty good fabrics and at the moment there aren't many places to buy material here. 

The buttons are from Unearthed in Wellington which is a really cool shop with lots of vintage and retro kitchenware and household stuff.

I think I love this one even more than the map one and you better believe I already have my next shirtdress planned. 

Atlas

Thanks for all your comments on my last post. I appreciate every single one of them. Where I live most people just think I dress weirdly (which I do!) so it's nice to know that other people like the clothes I make.   

When I saw Georgia's map dress I added 'dress with map print' to my very long list of things to sew. I found some world map print quilting cotton that reminded me of the globe we had when I was a kid.

I used a shirtdress (shirt dress?) pattern from 1972 which I found in an op shop for 20 cents. Speaking of op shopping, I haven't shared any of my finds lately because there haven't really been any. The op shopping here hasn't been very good in the last couple of months. All I seem to find are sewing notions which are useful but not very exciting. I did get the bag I'm holding the other day and some bias binding but that's about it.  

I made view 4, the blue spotty dress, but without the contrast cuffs and collar. It had this weird bit on the skirt where there was a little flap with two buttons. I cut the flap off and did buttons all down the front instead. The red buttons were from the Two Squirrels' Nest.  

I look pretty grumpy in the photos because I was trying not to squint in the sun but I'm really happy with how this dress turned out. I think I could make a whole pile of these shirtdresses and live in them. 

  

Put a bird on it

A few years ago I bought some cotton sateen with flowers and birds on it. It was after going to a William Morris exhibition at the art gallery. I became a bit obsessed with bird prints after seeing all the amazing furnishings. I would have a whole room decked out in Strawberry Thief if I could.
The fabric sat patiently waiting in my stash until I bought this pattern from Madelaine's etsy shop. I thought they would go perfectly together.

I only had two metres of the fabric so I had to shorten the sleeves a lot. I tried to cut the pieces out so there was the maximum number of whole birds (there are a few, however, that have sadly been beheaded).

The bag is one I picked up in the Two Squirrels sale. It's such a good size. I use it all the time.

I love this dress. It makes me think I need to make more slim skirted dresses rather than my usual full skirted ones.

Check the Technique: Bound Buttonholes, Baby!

I was going to buy some organza to do my bound buttonholes on Monday but then this happened...again.



Cue three days being stuck in the house. It wasn't like that just in Christchurch either. It seemed like pretty much the whole country got snowed in. Even subtropical Auckland (way up north) got a tiny smattering. I finally got to the fabric store by the end of the week, so I spent yesterday practicing my bound buttonholes and then doing the real ones on the bodice of my dress.


Bound buttonholes have always seemed to me like some sort of scary monster that only expert sewers tackle. I think the most terrifying thing is that you have to cut into the fabric before you know if they're going to work. If you screw them up you've ruined your whole garment. I was determined when I started Simplicity 5098 that I would finally do some. The pattern suggested doing bound buttonholes and I thought they would look neater because the button detail is a focal point of the dress. Also, because they are rarely seen on ready to wear clothes these days, they always seem vintage-y to me.

I used this tutorial from Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing. I've seen many different techniques for doing bound buttonholes but I definitely think this is the best. I think it gives you a lot more control and consistent results.

The tutorial says to use silk organza but, let's face it, I wouldn't even know where to buy that in Christchurch. The few fabric stores that would possibly sell it were destroyed in the quake and even a small piece would probably be way more than I am willing/able to spend. I just bought some cheap (about $5/m) polyester organza from Spotlight and it worked just fine.

These are a couple of my practice ones.

Not so Good

Better

The first one wasn't that great because I used pins instead of basting. If you're going to try it I would definitely recommend basting everything.

These are the real ones.



I'm not quite sure why my camera made the fabric look lighter around the buttonholes but it isn't like that in person. They're not perfect but I'm pretty pleased with them. You can see the purple organza I used in the corners slightly but it's only noticeable if you look closely. It doesn't actually matter if they're not perfectly uniform because once the buttons are done up you can't even see the buttonholes.


Verdict: Not as difficult as I thought they'd be and definitely worth the effort. I see myself making lots of clothes with bound buttonholes in the future.