Progress - Du Barry 2279B Shirtmaker Dress

Progress on Dubarry 2279B is slow but coming along nicely. My thoughtful husband even found my dressmaking model in the attic for me and sourced a suitable replacement for its long-missing stand base. So far I've sewn: 5 bound buttonholes with turned holes in the turn back facing; added rows of shirring on the front shoulders and one row on the back blouse; attached and top-stiched back yoke; and joined side seams. The skirt pieces are constructed and are awaiting their turn. Next up is to hem the facing and attaching the collar, followed by attaching the skirt and tackling the side placket and lapped zipper...

Here is a photo of the front with its shoulder shirring detail and bound buttonholes:

I spent a couple of hours on the buttonholes and facing holes alone but I think the result is really worth the extra effort. It's a practical element that has now become a charming design detail.

Here's a photo of the back with its yoke gathering detail:

A close-up of the front shoulder shirring detail:

The shirring is really just rows of exposed gathering with neatly tied-off ends on the inside of the garment. I think it looks like the base used for smocking, before the embroidery goes on.

My little Californian Bungalow is seriously lacking space for a designated sewing area and I am *forced I tell you* to take over my kitchen when ever I'm in the mood for sewing. I can't fit it in my kitchen but I can see my model taking up permanent residence in the sitting room along with the rest of the furniture. Not ideal perhaps, but so long as the kids leave it alone, it'll be an interesting conversation starter and will hopefully serve as a visual prompt as I'll be able to keep an eye on my current project and visually nut through the next stage of production.

The children are in bed and the husband is at work. Now is the time to sew :0).

New Project - Du Barry 2279B Shirtmaker Dress

I've just finished tracing and cutting out the pieces of this fabulous 1939 pattern - Du Barry 2279B:

"MISSES' AND WOMEN'S DRESS. A smart version of the perennially popular shirtmaker, this frock closes at bodice front with buttons; neckline is convertible, being worn high and closed or open. Shirrings accent shoulders. Back bodice gathers to a shaped yoke. Skirt is paneled, joins bodice at waistline. Sleeves are long, finished with cuffs or short."

I really *should* be making my husband a short sleeve shirt from a 1950s pattern first but after my fabric score I really can't resist sneaking in a project for myself. After all, this is my first project using an actual vintage pattern and instructions and I'm so excited! The pieces are pre-cut and unprinted but are 'marked' with a hole punched circles to show different markings like grainline, buttonhole postitions etc. Initially I thought it was going to be hard to understand but I got used to it quickly enough. Now all the pieces are traced and this little piece of history is packed safely in its packet. I plan to use my traced copy over and over again and have settled on this idea for storing the original and copied patterns in an orderly fashion:

It's a rigid plastic envelope that fits into a ring binder. I can keep everything together in there and take the whole lot out if I need be. It's not air tight or anything so the paper can 'breathe'.

I'll be taking my time with this one and savouring the process. I hope to cut out my fabric this evening. My choice of rust coloured cotton was clearly inspired by the illustration on the right but I'll be making the short sleeve version in time for the warmer weather. It actually reached 20 degrees here today! :0).

The Hidden Potential of Quilter's Corner

It may have a large "Quilter's Corner" sign hanging overhead but don't let these words put you off (obviously, unless you're a quilter that is!) - what you're really looking at is a vast array of plain and diversely-printed cotton fabrics. Almost guaranteed to be of high quality too. I guess if it's designed for quilting it would have to be given the amount of time and love that goes into creating quilts.

The actual cotton offerings in the dress fabric section of my local Spotlight however, are seldom of great quality and always in limiting ranges. The quilting section also stocks a base range of plain cotton called Quilter's Homespun which is available in a huge range of colour which make co-ordinating prints and sewing in multi-tones a breeze. Or just if you want a plain coloured garment such as my next rusty-red project...

I recently received a voucher to my local Spotlight which gives a VIP cardholder a 'Spend $100 get $40 off' voucher. In effect, spend $60 at the register. This is the second time I've received this great offer and the second time I've planned my spending very carefully. I pre chose my patterns and worked out how much each garment would cost depending on the cost per metre and took it all along with my calculator to find my fabric. I know it sounds a bit over the top but I always get the dazzled by the wow factor when I'm fabric shopping and easily become befuddled. After which I usually just want out and leave! But I really needed some fabric and was determined to get the best value I could from my voucher before it expired.

My fabric goodies fresh from the washing line and ready to be transformed!

While I was there I also discovered a small rack of quilting cottons that were reduced for clearance with a further 50% off the price. We're talking $2 and $3 per metre for high quality fabrics in prints I actually liked - not sure what that says about my taste if everyone else rejected them but I liked them! The rust coloured cotton and the black and white polka dots were more expensive but in the end I spent $66 for 5 or 6 dresses and a couple of blouses, including the zips and a thread I needed. I just love that kind of value!

Non-vintage sewing: easy girl's skirt

I stuck to the agenda (that's one gold star for me!) and finished this ad-libbed present:

Skirt front

Skirt back

The skirt is just made up of a desired length for the main fabric, which was cut shorter than the width of the fabric so I could match up the large scale pattern on the back seam. Then I cut a strip of the contrasting ruffle fabric, using the whole width of the fabric.

To get well-balanced gathers, before I sewed my gathering stitches, I marked the main skirt and ruffle piece each along one edge (where they join each other) at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 points eg. fold in half and make a little mark with pen, then fold that half in to the middle to get the quarterly points and mark again. Then it's just a matter of matching those marks together and pulling up the gathering stitches to fit.

It was too easy for a very pleasing end result. It's adaptable too by either changing the length of the pieces or having more tiers of ruffles. I joined the ruffle, pressed and top-stitched the seam allowance up BEFORE sewing the back seam. Then I folded the waist over to make a casing and I used 2 cm non-roll elastic.

New acquisition - Butterick 4358

I snaffled this classic pattern for 50 cents at the op shop this morning. Score! And my size too for once! I love the clean lines, classic style, and the lady on the left's hairdo! I feel a haircut coming on...



According to Cemetarian this pattern dates c.1967. It contains a jacket, skirt, pants, shorts & blouse - or overblouse as they call it, which basically means a top that you don't tuck in :0). This one has side bust darts, a lapped zipper back and really cool square armholes. I'm so tempted to abandon my sewing agenda and get straight into sewing an overblouse in a vintage white cotton damask that I picked up from the op shop a few months ago - especially as Spring has sprung in a major way in the last few days here - but my next project is a gift that needs to be ready in two days time. I know I wouldn't enjoy the sewing process as much if I was guiltily thinking of what I should really be sewing so I'll stick to the plan. It wouldn't be fitting to my blog objective but I might post photos of my 'other' sewing projects too. Just to prove I'm not slacking off between vintage garments ;0).

Completed: Simplicity 3688 Blouse View A

I've recently finished this Reproduction pattern Simplicity 3688 after being inspired (as always!) by the New Vintage Lady's many versions of this blouse. I too am on the look out for a good staple blouse pattern for my new wardrobe and thought I might be on a winner with this one...


This photo better shows some of the details that led me to buy this pattern: bust gathers; front tucks; elbow darts. They kind of get lost in the small-scale cotton print that I chose. Something to consider next time perhaps. I top-stitch the front yoke to help it stand out more.


The garment itself came together really well although my instructions didn't include any reference as to how to finish the back neck opening so I chose a simple loop and button closure.


The back view isn't fitted which is how you get it on and off over your head.

I do really like this blouse and the fit is generally very good but movement is somewhat restricted if I lift my arms above my head or far out to the sides, which with 3 midgets aged 4 and under, I do move this way a LOT :0). I don't doubt that fashions from this age were probably quite restrictive but it won't be practical enough for a wardrobe staple at this stage in my life. I am contemplating making a sleeveless or more authenic short sleeve version but haven't decided yet. I will however, be making the pants pattern as a pair of denim jeans and maybe even shorts.

I have another gift to sew up next although I'm finding it hard to take my mind off my newest acquisition. Photo to come shortly...

New acquisition - McCall 8425

I recently found this gorgeous pattern on ebay.com and had to have it:


I love the strong yet simple design and the spaced front, back and waistline gathers. I can see a cotton red and small white polka dot dress in my future as well as a larger scale floral like the dress on the right. It would make a great blouse too. Now to make the time I need. I've just finished a few more none-vintage little people presents and am almost free to start sewing for me :0)

Butterick 403 Scalloped Bonnet

Completed :0)

Modeled here on Lola, who, at 14 months is a bit big for it, but you get the idea.

The bonnet is reversible.

Back view, laying flat.

Gathered crown detail.

Top-stitched scalloped brim.

When I cut out the pattern pieces for the scallop bonnet I was mindful that the (now born baby girl!) could have a larger-than-pattern-average-head so I erred on the side of caution and sewed it up using a 7mm seam allowance all over instead of 1.5cm. It's now sized for around 3-9 months.

I'll cut and paste the questions from pattern review where I've just joined up:

Pattern Description: Butterick 403 1960s Scalloped Bonnet.

Pattern Sizing: One size only - presumably newborn.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, it looks just like the illustration. Adorable!

Fabric used: I used two co-ordinating quilter's cotton prints. The construction of the bonnet allows it to be made fully reversible.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions don't have many illustrations, mostly text, but they were easy enough to follow.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I sewed the bonnet with a 7mm seam allowance all over, rather than the 1.5cm so it would be larger than newborn sized. I added one layer of light/medium weight woven fusible interfacing to one of the brim pieces to add slight structure to the bonnet. I also made fabric ties for under the chin (rather than hand-sewn ribbon as the pattern suggested) and sewed them into the bonnet back seam for a really neat finish. I think it looks great.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Definitely will and would recommend it also. This bonnet makes me go all gooey. I'm planning to grade it up for my 14 month old to use as a sun hat this summer - while she can still get away with bonnets!

Conclusion:
A quick, easy and gratifying sew. Classic style that can be modernized by the choice of fabric. This will be a newborn girl gift for years to come. I love it!

Style 1825 - New Armhole Hiccup

It's probably more than a hiccup truth be told. From my last post, when I drafted a facing to face the armhole of View 4 Style 1825 so that I didn't have to use the messy binding method, I failed to notice that (as it wasn't faced to begin with!) it didn't have a seam allowance on the original pattern piece. The binding was supposed to be attached on top. Yes, unfortunately, this meant I attached the new facing WITH a 1.5cm seam allowance. I couldn't figure out why the dress looked like a top that could fit my 14 month old rather than a dress for a 6 month old. It was because adding the 1.5cm allowance made the armholes much too large for the garments proportions. Oh well, lesson learned.

It's finished now and to me, looks like a top with a smallish neckline. I did try it on Lola (in an attempt to console myself for spending many hours on this failed newborn gift!) and it does look completely adorable but when she moves it strikes me as being small enough around the neck to possibly annoy her. So to salvage it I will unpick the slip stitching on the inside yoke facing, turn it inside out and measure out half of the yoke width (which will neatly remove the top button hole too) and re-sew the neckline. A bit of a pesky job but worth it to end up with a lovely new top for Lola.

Front view

Back view

Close-up of the accidentally enlarged armhole :0/

My first bound buttonholes! A bit fiddly for 10mm buttons but I'm ready for my next go.

As for the soon-to-be-born newborn gift, I thought try this Butterick 407 Scallop Bonnet:

The Problem With Following Vintage Pattern Instructions

The problem I am experiencing with following vintage instructions is that they often leave part or whole seam allowances unfinished or they probably would have been trimmed with pinking shears. I know this would do the job but I would find it near impossible to use these techniques and consider the garment finished. I guess it's just the way I learned but it just doesn't look neat enough to me. So in order to appease my personal tastes without altering the original design I'll be very slightly changing the construction methods where necessary to produce a neater result.

Take the construction of this flutter sleeve from Style 1825 for example:



The instructions suggest pressing the shoulder seam flat and making bias binding to bind the armhole under the flutter sleeve. This would bother me (especially as it's a newborn gift!) so instead I drafted an underarm facing by using the 2 halves over the underarm shape from the front and back dress pattern. It was just a matter of tracing the underarm shape from each pattern piece making sure to overlap the side seam allowance (which is not needed as it's just a facing) and measuring a total width of 3cm all over the new piece. That equals 1.5cm seam allowance and a 0.5mm hem, once the facing was turned over, trimmed and pressed, it left approximately 1cm to top stitch around the armhole and also enclosed the flutter sleeve shoulder seam. Very neat! :0)

Beginning: Sewing Agenda

Where to start? Well, it seems I've stuck my fingers into a few pies. I have recently begun making a toile of Butterick 9796 for myself:



Doesn't she look like a geriatric SJP? It's uncanny! So far, I've graded the front and back bodice pieces up to a 36 bust and have started making a toile. It seems to fit very nicely although I won't really know until I attach the yoke collar. I think I've nutted out how to grade that pattern piece and the sleeve, now I just need the time. I'll be using the yoke to practice doing my first bound buttonhole too. They look so tailored.

I need and really want to start sewing some clothing for Lola, my youngest. She's just started walking which makes dresses much more viable and I didn't get to indulge in making dresses with her two brothers, funnily enough!

The number one priority though, will be a newborn gift for our neighbours who are expecting their first bub, a little girl. She's a few days overdue actually, so I really need to get my butt into gear! I'll be making Style 1825 in view 4:



It's from 1979 (a particularly good vintage ;0)) which just makes it under my 80s cut-off point.