Jeans progress.

Tonight I'm listening to Rufus Wainwright.
He does one of THE BEST versions of Hallelujah I've ever come across.

Nearly finished with my blue jeans. I haven't broken a needle yet!

I totally know I just jinxed myself.

They are going well. I learned a lot from my overalls. I cut the flat felled seams a bit deeper on this pair so I'd have more fabric to fold under and that has made all the difference.

I did make a blunder on the back yoke.

I cut the shape out fine, but I didn't adjust the grain line when I omitted the darts. So the pieces are on the bias. Not a huge failure, but its not exactly what I wanted. You live and learn, right?

Here I am trying to be cute and put in a change pocket.

I hope to get these done tomorrow (today), because I want to get started on another blouse.

Also in the pipe line is my post on burn testing and another vintage homemaking installment. Stay posted!

November Pattern Showcase!

This month there was a HUGE spike in pricing.

I didn't think I'd be able to get any new acquisitions. But you know me. A month without some new patterns is like....a month without some new patterns.

I thought this pattern below was interesting.

Apparently this 'placket' was patented and the maker of this pattern was legally only allowed to make this dress six times using this placket. I wonder how they were going to enforce that. In any case this pattern is still in it's factory folds.

Perhaps the lady was too afraid to attempt it....

I love finding patterns with older women on the covers. They are hard to come by.

This pattern was my splurge of the month.

I really want to make this man's shirt. As a wedding present for some friends of mine, I told the wife I'd make her a two piece dress suit, and hubby a tailored dress shirt. The dress suit I can do in my sleep, but I'm very interested in the construction of men's clothing.

I love this blouse. It's the look those 80's does 40's blouses tried to mimic, but there is an authenticity about this one that can't be duplicated.

It's rad.

It's long sleeve blouse time again.

Only this time, I'm finished.

I really like it. Its so classic and that collar is kick ass!

I did have the same issue on this one I tend to have on a lot of button front tops I make. My upper bust is a bit smaller than most patterns in my bust size, so if I don't adjust correctly, I get a gape at the first top button. I tend to raise the lapel line anyway, because I don't know how I'm built, but the lapel fold is always so low that I end up showing cleavage and I HATE that. Especially on a basic top.

That also means for me that I have the curve inward that button placket, which can be a pain, especially if the pattern's grain lines are along the button placket.

(navy is so hard to photograph)

Aw well. I would prefer better fit because that bagginess at the top always bothers me. So I addressed those issues on this pattern and I'm quite pleased with it. Now I feel comfortable enough making a blouse from my vintage rayon. Yay!

But first, jeans...

Catalog Sunday

This Sunday I have denim. All denim all the time.

Well, the time of the mid 30s to mid 40s.

Chicago Mail order 1935

Montgomery Wards 1935

Chicago Mail Order 1941

Montgomery Wards 1941

Sears 1943

It's long sleeve blouse progress & jeans, too.

Work, work, working on the blouse.

I overlocked all the pieces until my serger quit on me. For good this time.

Crap.

I had to finish the rest of the pieces with a ziz-zag stitch.

This being the first time I've made this pattern, my adjustments were not the greatest.

I added a bit too much to the gathered bust and I plan on cutting that area down by 2" on the next go round. Also, because my shoulders are more narrow than the pattern, I had to cut down the front yoke by a good 1 1/2". I was worried that was too much, but the blouse hangs great.

Whew.

Even with the snafus in the altering of the pattern, I can't stress enough the benefit of slopers. It's like I can alter a pattern with my eyes closed. No thinking involved! Fantastic!

As I was finishing up the rest of the blouse for the day, I decided to go on and start my second pair of jeans.

I have a black pair of denim jeans I made that I've worn for years. They are my rough and tumbles, and I need to replace them. I have this great blue denim in my stash and it took only about 30 minutes to cut out the pieces.

I'm changing up the pattern a bit (I'm using the slacks from my 40s slacks repro), and I'm adding a yoke to the back.

I cut the pattern past the darts, closed the darts, then redrafted the yoke piece. I think it's going to work out splendidly!

This is the perfect project to do since I don't have a serger right now.

AW MAN I MISS IT ALREADY!!!

It's long sleeve blouse time.

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!
I'm listening to Nick Cave right now because I feel in the mood for something completely awesome.

Truth be told, I'm still on burn out from that blasted jacket. I kinda hate that I am, too. I didn't expect the recovery time to be this long, but I just don't want to do anything complicated in sewing right now. Yuck.

But it's getting cold, and I got this massive amount of cotton calico from the thrift store (like 6 yards for $4!) so I decided to pick myself up and make a blouse.

I'm using my 40s blouse reproduction because I haven't made it yet and I LOVE the look of it.

It's no where near as complex as that blasted jacket, but it does require thinking and I'm so not up for that now. But you gotta start somewhere, right?

I love it when the sloper darts match up to the pattern. I didn't even have to try on this one!

The good thing is thinking is at a minimum when you have slopers.

I just line the pattern to the sloper and piece accordingly. Its so awesome.

Yay slopers!

Under most circumstances I'd do a mock up, but I've had such success lately

with fitting that I'm gonna risk it with my $4 fabric.

I have everything cut and all I need to do is mark the pieces and overlock them. I'm a bit worried about that. My serger is on it's last leg, and I'm strapped for cash to get a new motor for it. Crap. What am I gonna do!? I guess get an estimate and start saving. Its a five cone with a differential feed, it's worth saving.

There is always something, right :)

New Pattern Day Yay!

Well, many have asked and I have answered.

I've remastered the early 1940s beret pattern and made it into a PDF in my etsy store.

The beret is sized for a 23" head with about 1/2" of adjustment either way.

I've also redone the instructions (see below post) so that there is a blow by blow of every detail.

Yes!

You can make this beret in 3 hours.

Give it a try!

Yay sewing!