Dress Number FOUR

You know what's hard?  Taking a picture of yourself.  Or at least taking a picture of yourself that doesn't make you want to cry.  When did I get so old?  Anyyyyy way.  I had my lovely model try on this dress but it was way too big for her and even when we clipped it in the back it just didn't work.  SO I had to bite the bullet and model it myself.

This is the pattern I used (I actually just typed sued-can I sue a pattern for making me look old?  I'll have to Google that) Advance 5780.

I was able to use the vintage zipper and buttons on this dress.  I love it when I have appropriate notions.  

First of all, the name of the print I used is Aunt Grace Ties One On.  HA!  I love it.  Now, I should have matched the pattern, but I did not, live and learn.  The sleeves on this dress were a little tricky.  I actually ended up using fusible hem tape to finish them.  I'm not sure how well that will hold up in the wash, but it did make a nice crisp hem.  Also this pattern is pre-printing, so there was nothing on the pattern pieces to indicate...well...anything.  But overall it went together fairly easily and I would make it again.  Maybe a little shorter.  Sorry for not showing the entire dress, I just don't get the whole selfie picture thing.  How do they do that?  Also vintage pattern makers?  Yeah, I'm talking to you...why were the illustrations drawn with waists approximately the same size as their necks?  

Oh and here's a close up of my vintage brooch.  I had to replicate some of the petals with polymer clay and close up you can tell which ones, but from a polite distance it's hard to see.  

Now on to Dress Number FIVE!!!!

Happy Sewing,

Lisa

Yes, please...

Could someone swing by Missouri and pick these up for me?  Oh, thank you.  I'll make you a pie.

Happy Sewing,

Lisa

Dress Number Three...

So this is not a dress at all, obviously.  This jacket/shirt is made from Simplicity 7146.  This pattern is SO 1970's it's not even funny---and the 70's were pretty darn funny!  Right?  I mean how do you dress your child like this unless you have a sense of humor?  Thanks mama.

So any-who.  The fabric that I chose to make this shirt with was given to me quite a few years ago.  I had a booth at a local antique mall and saw this fabric, all ELEVEN yards of it.  It still had the tag on it.  I don't know why I had to have it but I asked the lady at the counter if she could hold it for me and take the price out of my booth proceeds.  It turns out that it was from her booth and she told me to just take it as a gift.  You know how frustrating it is when you try to argue with a generous person?    She insisted and it has been in my stash ever since.  Every time I went to cut it, I felt guilty and folded it back up.  Until this week.

Now the only thing I adjusted on this pattern was the--wait for it--COLLAR!  Again with the collars...you could have jumped off a cliff and glided gently to the ground with that thing.  So I cut it almost in half.  I also didn't do the accent stitching, just because I'm lazy and it wouldn't have really shown up.

This pattern was really easy, no problems and I think my total time on this piece was about six hours.

I would make this again.  It is a misses size 14, but I think it runs small.

Yee-haw and happy sewing!
Lisa

And The Winner Is....

Please send me your address and I will get your dress right out to you!  (Oh and we would all love to see you modeling it!  If you want to, of course) My email address is:  Lisasews2003@yahoo.com

Happy Sewing!
Lisa

V is for Victory! (Or Spirit of '76?)

Introducing Dress Number Two!

This dress is made from Simplicity 7130 which seems to be from the early 70's.

I have made this dress once before for my daughter who was doing a project on the 1940's.  Yeah, I know that doesn't make sense.  But the dress does have a 40's vibe to it.  I cut the collar down A LOT.  I mean holy-moly why the huge collar 70's ladies?

This is my first version...

In the new dress, I used a repro print, that still speaks vintage 1940's to me-sorry I just can't see this as a 70's dress.  I used a basic industrial grade gray shade for the accents and tie.  Very Rosie the Riveter if you will.  This is the same girl a year and a half later.  Holy-stop growing so damn tall-girl!  (Notice that you can't see knees in the first!)

And look at the collar!  I cut it down by at least an inch all around and it's still substantial.

This is a very easy pattern to put together.  There is a zippered front, so there's that.  Sometimes zippers go in easy-peasy for me, sometimes I find myself slamming my head against the wall when trying to put them in.  I have learned that it works nicely to hand baste the zipper in first before just jumping in and sewing with the machine.  

Oh and the back neck facing is too short.  It may have something to do with the fact that I have cut the collar down by at least an inch, but I don't think that's it entirely.  It seems to be at least half the size it should be 

and I have had to draft my own facing both times I've made the dress.  

This dress is a size 14 (It is pinned in the back to fit my skinny-minny up there) and seems to run pretty close to modern size.  I'd say 12/14.  It fits me comfortably and I am a modern size 12.   

This is one I would definitely make again.  From start to finish I have about six hours into it.  

What do you think, does it scream 1970's or 1940's to you?    Would you wear it, or is it too costume-y?  I love to hear your comments!

Happy Sewing!

Lisa

Teaser...

I have finished Dresses No. 2, No. 3 and a jacket which will be No. 4.  But I think I'd like to have a real live model show them to you and I won't have anyone available until this weekend.  So hopefully on Monday I will have a new post.

Today I finished the details of Dress No. 3-SO CUTE!  I think this one is a keeper.  Here's a little peek...

Happy Sewing!
Lisa

Dress Number One

Dress No. 1 is Anne Adams pattern 4789 from 1971.  There was no date on the envelope, but I was able to look it up via the Vintage Pattern Wiki.  Anne Adams patterns were sold via newspapers from the 1940's to the 1970's.  Yes, I remember them.  I am SO old.

I am horribly naive about pattern covers.  I still believe that if only I follow the directions to a fault, my dress will look exactly like the picture.  Sometimes they do-sometimes they do not.  At all.  Like--not--even--a--little--bit.  In my experience, the more fitted the garment, the less likely it is going to turn out like the picture.  Since this dress is a shift-sort-of-thing, I figured it would be close.

I chose this 50's repro print.  It reminds me of kitchen wall paper.  I liked it so much, I incorporated it in my blog header.

After finishing the dress, I think it was a mistake.  The interesting thing about this dress is the details.  The stitching, the pleats and how the dress is constructed would have been better served with a solid dark color, accented with a bold stitch.  The details are lost in the busy pattern of the fabric.

The directions indicated that an optional sleeve was included, but the piece was missing from my pattern.  Next time I will add a small cap sleeve.

PROBLEMS WITH THIS PATTERN:

It is marked as a size 12, which should fit me.  It's a little tight around the sleeves and neck and I had a hard time zipping it up.  So I think it's closer to a size 8 or 10.  So, yeah, it's totally the pattern's fault that I can't zip it up over my back fat.  But seriously,  I do think it runs small.

The corner where the center is sewn onto the sides is a little tricky.  It indicates that you should clip after, but I found that it was impossible for me to sew a sharp angle like that without clipping first.

Another thing is the arm facing.  It's probably just me, but I can never get this to lay straight.  After pressing, it is ok-but this is definitely a dress that will need to be ironed before wearing.  The only other problem I had was making sure that the hem was even.  Since there is a side pleat, it is important the hem is perfect.  I hate perfect, so I had to take it out a couple of times and do it over.  PLEATS ARE HARD.

I think the entire dress took about eight hours from start to finish.  It was pretty easy going, but I would not recommend this pattern for a brand new seamstress.  I went slow and marked all of the darts, hand picked the zipper, hand sewed the hem...definitely not a quick project.

I also re-constructed this knit turtle neck sweater.  The dress told me that she'd like a little red cardigan, but I couldn't find what I wanted.  This sweater was buried in my give away pile because it's too short (Note I DID not say too SMALL).

 I zig-zagged the cut edges and tried to machine sew the hems.  That only worked on the neck.  The others stretched too much, so I had to hand sew them.

I added a piece of grosgrain ribbon to the button-hole side.

So, that's my first dress in my 52 dress project.  Now what am I going to do with it?  It's too small for me...

Do you want it?  Follow my new blog and leave a comment for a chance,...I will draw a winner on Sunday, February 3!

Thanks for stopping in!
Lisa