Catalog Sunday: Buttterick Fall 1943 pattern book

 

Tips to make you a quality sewer.

I was asked to be a contributor to the plus size blog, The Curvy Sewing Collective.

Here is my cross post.

Hello lovely people.

You know over the years I have primarily focused my skill set on vintage sewing and all the tips and tricks that sewing 'old school' can offer. Paying attention to detail, taking your time, and just feeling out the quality of your work is a given. Often we find ourselves so hyped up in finishing our projects that we don't take the time to, 'smell the roses' of the progress. It is often that progress, or journey, that lends itself to great discoveries in how you go about doing your sewing.

Clothing restoration: Repairing rotted shirring pt 1

Hello lovely people.

Before I get started with this post I'd like to let you all know I have a new repro pattern available. It's another addition to my men's patterns and a great pair of late 1940's slacks. The pattern is a 38" waist and is available for pre order in my etsy shop.

Lovely mending and random stuff

Hi everyone!

It's me, trying to get back into regular blogging. I have just been in a funk. Still no regular job, or steady income, so I'm just trying not to hit the brick wall as I scam my way through (don't forget to support my easy store-shameless plug!!). Hate it, but I'm not alone.

Playclothes repair showcase!!

Hello everyone.

As I get back into sewing more, I'd thought I'd start showing you more of the garments I repair for Playclothes Vintage. I continue to do a lot of repairs for them from the 1800s to the late 60s. It's quite amazing seeing all the garments that come through their doors.

The brown dress no one wanted.

Good morning lovely people.

In my ongoing work of sewing for the vintage store Playclothes, I came across this rather interesting late 40s dress in the repair pile.

Sewing Side Work

Hello all.

I'd like to thank you all for all the support over these past days.

It's been much appreciated. 

Still no luck on the job front and I'm trying to stay positive, but stress is stress.

In the mean time, I'm cobbling together some of my odd jobs and seeing how far I can go.

One of which is my gig of doing alterations/mending of vintage for Playclothes.

If you have never been to Playclothes, you should. It's one of the best vintage clothing stores in California. 

Cutting the line.

Yeah, Christmas. You do that.

Poor Thanksgiving, seems like a second rate holiday. Never gets its time like it should. It's like the sibling who shares a room with an older sibling, or a person who has their birthday near a major holiday, like Christmas, like me. Thanks Christmas!

Simplicity 3701 set back

Good morning lovely people.

I spent yesterday straightening up and mending a couple of things. 

Brian ripped my shirred pillowcase so I patched it up.

Teaser

1940s Double Breasted Suit Alteration pt1

Sewing for Others this weekend.

Happy Monday everyone.

Taylor and I are doing fine and as we get to know each other, and he gets over his cold, I think things are only gonna get better.

The cutest patch I've ever made!

A friend of mine has this lovely sharkskin vintage dress. From the details; the extended button front, the full pleated skirt and the reversed box pleated back, I'd say this number is from '47-'52.

Mending Men's Suits

I tell you, I'm just smitten with the Make and Mend culture of the 40s. I recently came across this booklet from 1943 published by the USDA. I have quite a few USDA war time booklets, but very few dedicated to men's clothing.

Make & Mend thanks to the Men

One thing I've always found fascinating about WWII home front culture is the Make & Mend mentality that was so heavily pushed by everyone. Using what you have so as not to deprive those that need for a larger effort. That's so commendable in today's throw away culture.

Can I make a tailored jacket in a week? The follow-up.

Ever have a project you really like and worked hard on but after it's complete you see something you want to change but just don't want to deal with it?

Meet my jacket.

I'd like to thank everyone who commented on the process of my tailored jacket a few months ago. It was a crazy undertaking, but I'm glad I did it.

The thing is living in Los Angeles: A desert, even in winter, or should I say, 'winter', I wore it not even a handful of times. That was disappointing. It's not a dressy jacket, so putting it on at night when I go out isn't a real option, and it so warm, it bakes me in the day, so no jacket then either. It was even too warm out when I wore it to the tweed pub crawl I made it for. *sigh*

For the most part since that evening the jacket has been hanging on my wardrobe in plain view for me to look at. I spent a lot of hard time on that garment and I'll be dammed if I'm just going to stick it in a closet.

But now the Air Raid is coming up, and because that is an outdoor event I'll have a chance to wear it. I'm super excited.

After wearing it the handful of times I did, I realized that I needed to alter some things. All small things mind you but just enough to make a big difference in the look and drape of the jacket.

This is what I changed.

1) Larger shoulder pads.
2) Notch out the bulk in some of the corners of the lapels.
3) Take in the front darts more.
4) Tack down the drape of the lapel.
5) Add trim to the inside where the lining meets the facing.

1) The shoulder pads.

I had some shoulder pads that I made for one of my dresses. I just stuck those into this jacket and from the start I felt they were too small. I decided to take them out and make some new ones.

I traced off some from one of my patterns, and actually made real legitimate shoulder pads. That is something I NEVER do. I really like the pattern of the shoulder pads, and the curve it gives. I filled them with polly batting and tacked them to keep the batting in place.

Then I placed, pinned and stitched.

2) Notch out the bulk in some of the corners of the lapels.
While I was in there I decided to trim down the bulk of the corners a bit more. I always felt they were a tad too rounded and with some corners having 6 layers of fabric, a closer cut wouldn't hurt.

3) Take in the front darts more.
Next to the shoulder pads this was the real reason I wanted to open up the jacket. Since I made it I've always felt I didn't take in those darts enough. There was a bit more draping than what I was comfortable with. When I decided to change the darts, I had to take off the binding tape I tacked on and completely take out that dart stitch from the center chest to about 1" to the shoulder seam. I'm not stupid after all.

Taking out the shoulder seam was NOT an option a sane seamstress would do. I eased in the new stitch to meet with the old one and tacked everything back into place.

4) Tack down the drape of the lapel.
There is a lot of bulk at that fold in the lapel. It's not solely my fault, that tweed is thick. I decided that if I did a small tack on the inside it would nudge the lapel to one side more and I wouldn't have to worry about it sitting too straight. That's exactly what I did.

5) Add trim to the inside where the lining meets the facing.
This part was another major fix I wanted to make to the jacket. Okay, not fix. It's a finish. I had this red lace that I thought would be great to cover the unsightly overlocked edge of the inside facing that just screams homemade.

I didn't do it last time because I was just so tired of the thing I didn't care anymore. Because I was in there anyway and because I had washed and ironed the lace weeks ago, I thought it was time.

A simple fold, pin and whip stitch and two hours later I have a lovely finish.

*whew*

All these alterations took about 5-6 hours. A drop in the bucket for how long the whole thing took. And really, isn't a few more hours invested in a potential life long piece worth it? I'm very pleased with it now. It feels finished. It's going to look great with my Air Raid outfit(s).

Have a great day everyone!

It's the little things...

Hi all.

I thought I'd start a new segment on the blog about all the little touches I often put in some of my garments. When I'm out wearing something I've made, often people notice a detail here or there that I could have easily left out. It makes me feel great when someone notices!

This blouse I'm sure you are all familiar with.

December Pattern Showcase!

Like, OMG! It's been a year since I've talked to you all!

Like, how does that happen and all?!

Hope everyone had a lovely new year and there

better be more sewing in everyone's future.

I'm not one that uses obituary dates to set goals in my life, but this coming year, I do have some things that I want to concentrate more on.

• Get a JOB!
• Finish one of my children's stories.
• Storyboard two stories I have.
• Learn to swing dance.
• Learn After Effects.
• Move from my current apartment.

Yeah, those are the big ones. I know sewing isn't in that list. I sew a lot already,

I'm pretty caught up with all of that.

But this past month, with it being Christmas AND my birthday

(Dec. 13th: late presents always welcome!),

I treated myself on some new patterns.

A '30s sloper. I thought that was quite interesting. So she's mine now.

This one I bought because of the nurse's uniform. Every year there is a huge vintage event, the LA Air Raid, and for the last two years I've been meaning to go! I'm thinking of going as a nurse, but I'd want to ge the uniform as close as I can. I've been researching black nurses during WWII, and have some great photos.

This dress might be my project for the next few weeks. The Air Raid is in February.

I was really into accessories patterns this month. The one right above I saw a long time ago. It was in a forgotten lot and I thought I bid high enough. You know how that goes... I actually think this is the same pattern. I was comparing screen shots and tears on the envelope are in exactly the same places. It's so strange that happens a lot!

I got this one for the neckline.

Im going to add sleeves and have so much fun with stripes and colors.

My New Years was rather uneventful. I was in bed by 7:30. Slept right through it. I was cool with that. Right now I have some cabbage and potatoes roasting in the oven filling my cold apartment with warmth and yummy smells. Not a bad way to start the new year.

SO what are all of you gearing up to do for this brand new set of 365 days? Any major projects? Classes?

Details!

Vintage Homemaking: Home baked yumm yumms.

I bake a lot. Being vegan, I almost have to. I've never been the non animal product eater who indulges in overly processed soy substitutes. I don't get the point. I don't eat meat, so I'm going to eat something that is engineered to taste like it?

I'm also pretty big opponent of modern food production. I've read a lot of the books and I've seen a lot of the documentaries on the subject, but that's for another time. Mostly I just like simple foods made with basic ingredients. I bake that way too.

For the holidays a few years ago I decided to make some vegan baked goods for my family and friends. I made a whole wheat bread and a cinnamon sweet bread loaf.

I'm all about presentation, so I made some 'feed sack' pouches for the breads, and scanned some of my old button cards, photoshopped the recipes onto them, then distressed the printouts to make them look old. The packages turned out great and were a big hit.

Make & Mend Month: Minty Apron Conclusion.

Just completed my friend's apron. She really likes it.

Plus I have enough leftover to make a half apron for her daughter.

Finished pics on NVL.