Catalog Sunday: Butterick 1943

 

Catalog Sunday: Lane Bryant 1940

 

Catalog Sunday

 Help lovely people. This Sunday I have Spiegel 1945.

Vintage Rant, faulty instructions.

I'll just say it. I hate pleats. Too much math, you have to figure out which way they go in order to create the desired effect, and oh yeah, that too much math thing. Another thing I hate? Faulty instructions. Mix that and me feeling cross eyed/dyslexic when I do pleats and you have 45 minutes of me cussing at a skirt on my ironing board.

A dust bowl hat in the works

Hi all.

It's been an interesting week. I hurt my foot braking in my Muffy's saddle shoes and didn't realize I was getting a blister until I had walked about a mile or so in the shoes.  Now I have a blistered heel, and I have a dance class tonight! The good news is I danced last night and it didn't hurt at all, so I'm gonna stay hopeful that I don't get kicked in the heel tonight.

On another note, I've revisited that hat mock up I made a few months ago. I always thought that cloche would be perfect for a cool day with a handkerchief linen 30s dress.

Skirt of many, many, many, many gores.

Tonight I'm listening to a melange of 50s Doo Wop, my favorite genera.

I've decided on my new project.

Okay I bought something for myself. A pattern.

I know! It was in my etsy favorites for a long time and it was a good price, and I felt if I didn't get it that it would get away from me and I *wanted* a pattern like this for a loooong time and well...forgive me.

So I got it and I was all happy. A multi gored skirt dated from 1939. Its sizing should be easy enough to grade, right? Its a 28 waist and its a total of 12 gores. I added 3/4 of an inch to each piece and blended the difference in with the back to accommodate my big bum. Simple, right? It was so cute. So much so that the previous user even left tailor's tacks in a lot of the pieces. **ADORABLE**

Well, I didn't look at the pattern close enough. Each gore of the skirt IS ITS OWN PIECE!! What the frick?!

I thought that the pattern would mirror the front and back pieces, right? 3 different pieces for the front, 3 for the back, doubled thats 12. Simple. HA! I'd have to trace off and grade 12 individual pieces! First thing I did was add 1/2" onto the sides of each piece so the placement of the pleats would be in relatively the same place as the smaller size. That was simple. I then traced off each piece, and looking at the diagram on the back, began sizing accordingly.

Here, ladies and gentlemen is where paying attention counts.

The back pieces of the skirt are listed ABOVE the front pieces, and the back pieces are numbered FIRST. Who the hell does that!? Pieces 1-6 are the back of the skirt, and pieces 7-12 are for the front.

I'll let that soak in.

Once I stopped laughing at the unnecessary confusion, I adjusted the pieces.

Then I tallied up all the measurements and success! Ick, math.

The beautiful thing is I have some great black rayon blend left over from a 20/30s dress I did a few months ago that will work *great* for this skirt. I was saving it for a skirt too. Yay!

There is no lesson I take from this other than confusing things take time and I want to slap the pattern maker who thought it was a great idea to put the back before the front.

Asshat.

Make & Mend: 30s hat mock up

How is everyone doing on their Make & Mend projects?

My gardenia dress is plugging along. I have 7 more flowers to sew. Im hoping to have them done by Sunday. Then I can actually make the dress.

Ive finished the flowers on the bodice and I added the facing piece. I really like the way it looks. As I was completing it, I got to thinking, how in the world am I gonna close this thing!?

The original allots for button holes on the front scallops, oops. I forgot to factor those in. I Thought about adding a zipper to the inside, and snap fasteners for the overlap, and that might be the way to go. Or, I could used just snap fasteners for the whole thing. I'll have to think on it a bit. So much for over-planning, huh?

Next on my to make list for Make & Mend July is this hat.

This is from my 1932 Lane Bryant catalog.

I love this hat, I want this hat, but I have a huge head and will never *find* this hat. Ill have to make this hat. So far I have completed my paper mock up.

The 3 pleats at the bottom left are one piece of paper folded on a curve.

The crown part is pleated in places, and the middle crinkle part will be gathered when I use actual fabric.

This came together quite easily. I did turn the hat 'around' so to speak. I wanted the lap part to drape on the left side of my head (left handed and all). Right now Josephine is wearing it as it is taped together. Once I mark notches Ill take it apart and do a muslin mock up.

The fabric I'm planning on using for this is this 60s skirt I found at a rummage pile. Its got a great nubby weave, and an amazing green color. I think (if I have enough fabric) it will look smashing!

Anyone else making a hat for Make & Mend?

Skirt it!

Im really loving this pattern.

This skirt is made from a wool crepe that I got cheap because it supposedly has a 'flaw' running down its fold. It washed out, so I got 6 yards of this sick fabric for $2 a yard, whoo hoo!

I ran short on the fabric because I made something else with it, so I had to piece the center panel. It worked rather well. I also added some special touches. I top stitched the pleat down and I also stitched the pleat on the inside to keep the shape of the pleat.

Also, with the hem, and the seam of the front sides, I notched the pieces and turned the hem the other way so I wouldn't get too much bulk at the fold of the pleat.

I think that is rather clever. This thing is going to be awesome for dancing.

Finished images on NVL.

I also got this real cool ribbed silk jacket at the thrift store for $6. The fabric just haunted me and I went past the jacket like 4 times. It looked unfinished, but it had been worn (It was a bit musty). I took it apart and now I appreciate even more all that goes into making a suit jacket. Im going to use the fabric for a beret and a drawstring purse.

My next project is for a get-together at a Tiki restaurant next week. Ive had this red cotton fabric for a long time, but didn't know which dress to make with it. I think Im going to use this Hollywood number. Ive made it once, but I feel drawn to it now. I have to redraft the pattern, but Im looking forward to it.

Also, Ive recently signed up at the super cool blog Sew Retro as a contributor! Im looking forward to that. Now I gotta find something to sew! *wink wink*