Blazer season, vintage Vogue 1193 pattern repeat

Last month I was surveying my fabric stash and noticed this heavy weight cotton sateen that I've had for absolutely ages, and decided it would make a neutral blazer to wear with lots of my various tops. Yes, solid red is a neutral for me :)  I decided to repeat a pattern I had made earlier this year, in a too heavy wool tweed that might have been better suited to a coat pattern.  Also I was just about to begin my online Blazer making class, which is going well and everyone is conquering welt pockets. 

Here's a look at the pattern envelope. If you look at the technical drawings on patterns you can see the lines and details, and realize that so many patterns are basically the same as a newly released pattern. This one has the option of pocket variations and also a double breasted version which I might just try. 

I did change the patch pockets of Version A out for the welt pockets of Version D.

Here's a look on the dress form.

As you can see it is missing the button and buttonhole in the front. I didn't have a single button in my stash that would work, so I will leave it off for a while and see if I can find a nice one when I next go fabric shopping in Berkeley or SF.

Let's talk about welt pockets. When I'm teaching the jacket making classes I always say once you get the welt pockets completed it's smooth sailing from there on. Well that might not be exactly true, but I like to be encouraging. Plus a nice welt pocket does make the jacket look so sharp and I think mastering that skill gives you a lot of confidence to tackle the other steps. 

This fabric doesn't have much room for error, not like a nice wool tweed that is soft and pliable, but on the plus side it's not going to unravel. 

A look at the inside, I always make a thread ladder to show the pocket line on the front of the jacket as that is where you apply and stitch the pocket welts. The pocket pieces for the welts are something you can toss, I never use and just make my own, longer than needed and then cut down as I apply.

If you have an open toe foot for your machine it does make seeing where you are stitching a lot easier. 

And just to show that we all  make mistakes, these little folds of fabric can happen anywhere you are stitching, this was on the lower pocket lining and it was a quick step to unstitch and redo it. I think they also happen so often when sewing in sleeves as well, just a tiny bit of fabric gets folded as you are sewing along and it makes a pucker. 

Of course wearing my Ash jeans. I love that pattern! Just cut out a corduroy flare version with stretch corduroy from Minerva which is exactly the corduroy I had been searching for. 

I did put the back vent in this one, it seemed to go with the style and color. As usual I omitted the back facing and put the lining up to the edge of the collar.

Attaching the lining to the hem of the jacket and the vent were done with hand stitches. 

So that's the latest on this vintage pattern blazer. I just started to make a new coat for my friend Heather, in a beautiful camel colored wool from Britex so I will post about that project.

I have a few in-person and online classes scheduled between now and the end of the year. Including a couple of classes on fitting, Bodice Fitting Dec. 2 and Pattern Adjustment-Make-Fit a Test Garment on Dec. 3. I've listed all the upcoming classes on another page on this blog, at the top menu click on Sewing Class Schedule. The Bodice Fitting Class will also be an online version, on Sat. Dec 10 if that works for you.

It's actually coat weather - I wore my tricolor coat last evening and it was just right. 

My front garden revamp is finished so other than planting a few daffodil bulbs (around 70) I'm putting the planting aside and waiting for everything to burst into bloom in spring. 

Happy Sewing,

Beth

Today's garden photo, a few of these daisies still blooming, it's a bit patch which I plan to divide for more plantings.  Plus one of my bee friends visiting.

Random Threads #41: patterns, magazines and a couple of new tops

Time for another Random Threads post, which is where I get to comment, observe and possibly rant on things I've come across in the sewing internet world. My last Random Threads was Oct. of 2021 so it's about time. And a couple of the topics touched on in the previous Random Threads are still relevant. 

A quick detour to mention that my online Blazer class is starting next week on Tuesday Oct. 4. This is a 6-week course, we meet online at 6pm PST and I show how to make a lined blazer from start to finish. It's a mix of live discussion and video with plenty of time to ask questions. As you might guess this is my favorite class to teach and people have made fantastic items. Here is the link to the class on the Hello Stitch website:  Blazer class.  Note that you don't have to make a blazer or sew along during the class. Some people do and others follow along and learn for when they have time and materials to make one. 

Burda repeats:  Now that I have subscribed to BurdaStyle pattern magazine for what will be 5 years in November, I can see that they definitely do have a number of pattern repeats. Or they have a pattern in an issue that is basically the same as a previous one, with a slightly different detail, such as the sleeve, collar, pockets etc. I don't mind them so much but I can see that people who have a big stockpile of these magazines might be annoyed. I'm actually more annoyed by the shapeless sack patterns, those are a waste of space in my opinion. But on the whole I find at least one and often 2 or 3 interesting patterns in each issue so for me the value is very high. I think during the pandemic they did have more very similar styles but I am willing to cut anyone some slack during that period and just be glad they are consistently publishing. This all goes to reinforce my view that there are no new patterns! everything is a riff on a bunch of components. It would be fun to do a blog post with comparison of the same pattern in different decades just to show it.

New Look Patterns:  more pattern talk. I really like New Look patterns, over the past 10-15 years I've made some great dresses and tops from their patterns. I'm a bit sad to see the brand dwindling, they are putting out very few interesting ones. I happened to fit in their size range well (with admittedly was not as wide a size range as many other brands). They often had several completely different items in one envelope, the price was $3.99, and they printed many of the components like facings etc in each size so you didn't have to deal with the multi-size lines on those once you determined your size for the garment body pieces. This tunic top pattern is one of my go-to choices, I think I've made it at least 6 times. 

Speaking of Tunic tops, here is some unselfish sewing I did recently. I made this tunic top for my mom as she casually mentioned I hadn't made her anything in a while.  I used a different New Look pattern for this. 

Coat season:  do you every look at a pattern and think "well that one is going to be trouble?" I saw a new coat pattern from Style Arc, the Ormond coat (go search their website to see) and I thought it looked bulky and bathrobe-y with maybe just a few too many details. What do you think?

Videos and Reels: here is where I say that along with many I can't stand Reels on IG and actively try to avoid. I said to a friend the other day that my eyes can read faster than anyone can say or do anything in a video. I prefer print, I like to read about things and so short bursts of video, especially combined with the music are just annoying. Ok that's my rant, and I know I'm not alone in this one. 

Here's another top I recently made. I had a dress that I made as a display item for Hello Stitch, it was a nice but just not something I would ever wear. So I looked at it one day and thought there was plenty of fabric in the skirt to make a top.  

I saw that pattern in the April Burda and wanted to make the dress but figured it would make a nice top as well. It's an ideal pattern for cotton lawn or silk so I'm sure I will revisit this next year. This dress was really popular and I saw lots of versions online as well. 

Sewing Magazines:  do you subscribe to any sewing magazines? I renew my Threads magazine year after year and they are kind of piling up. I know you can access a lot of the info online so perhaps one of these days I will go through them and just keep articles of interest. I think I will always subscribe as at least a few times a year reading the articles I have learned something that was a game changer. I had a subscription to Sew News but I don't find it very informative and the projects are on the simple side. 

Well that's the latest for Random Threads. As I mentioned next week I start my Blazer class online via Hello Stitch, and also I will start making a couple of tailored items for my friend Heather, using very beautiful and luxe fabrics from Britex. That should be fun - although I confess I am always a little scared to make that first cut into the fancy fabrics!

Happy Sewing and beware of all those first time costume stitchers at the fabric store 🎃.

Beth

today's garden photo - my never ending garden remodel project is actually nearing the end. Here's a nice foxglove that was a seedling volunteer in my yard. My favorite type of plant - free!

Birthday season - Burda 08/2022 #115 summer version

Each year since I started the blog I have typically made a new dress for my birthday which comes just around Labor Day (our end of summer holiday here in the US). During the pandemic I kept with that habit, although I have not worn those dresses as much as I ordinarily would. I finished this dress a few weeks ago and decided to call it my birthday dress for this year, mostly because I really like it. Expect to see this pattern used again as it's very simple to sew, works in a lot of different fabrics and seasons, and it's fun to wear!

The fun things about this dress is the flounce at the bottom. I'm very partial to dresses with this feature, or skirts like this one. 

I'm not sure these days how blog posts look on a phone or tablet, as I compose them on my laptop, but have started to use Chrome as it works better with Blogger. But the photos may not appear in full if you are reading on a phone, so I'm adding images in different sizes.

Here's a look at the skirt with the flounce, which is sometimes called a circular ruffle (as opposed to a gathered ruffle). This one is not very flouncy - just enough for the proportions. 

Speaking of proportions, I did a few adjustments for fit and style on this pattern.

Here's a look at image and drawing from the magazine.

So the obvious difference is sleeveless, I saw the line drawing and decided it would be an ideal dress for summer, minus the sleeves. Recently I really like bodice shaping that is accomplished by pleats so that caught my eye. 

For fit I changed the proportion of the skirt quite a bit. After making a few things that are longer than knee length, I've realized that I just don't like to wear them. I think they make me look shorter and just don't suit me. Also they take too much fabric! So for this dress I cut out a Burda size 38 at the neck and shoulders, graded out a bit to land at about Burda 42 at the hip. I also raised the armholes about 1/2" and think it could have had another 1/4" raise but it's still wearable. The biggest change was shortening the skirt, I took a big horizontal tuck, maybe about 3 inches at the low hip, so shortening the upper portion of the skirt. This left the bottom edge where it met the flounce unchanged and easy to sew. I also made the flounce about 2 inches shorter. This was mostly due to not wanting a below knee dress and also to use the fabric I had which was I got at a fabric swap. It was 45" wide and I think there was barely 2 yards. In fact I had to piece the flounce but you can't see that. 

It has a center back seam with a small opening at the back and is finished with a bias binding. I also used a bias binding on the armholes.

The placement of the waist casing was a bit lower than I wanted. If you look a the image above the waist drawstring looks a bit low to me. I marked it as the pattern indicated but tried it on before I sewed on the casing which is inside the dress, and decided to raise it 1.25". I think if I sew this again (likely) I will do the same and wait to see how whatever fabric I choose works out before deciding on the placement of that waist drawstring. 

Here's a closeup look at the center front waist. I put a small piece of fusible interfacing over the center point, then made two machine buttonholes at either side of the center front. That allows a casing on the inside and the ties to pull through to the outside and be tied at center. 

And my little secret for very comfortable and easy to wear drawstrings is to use mostly elastic and then the self-fabric ties sewn to that. The ties extend about 6 inches inside on either side when it is tied so it doesn't show. 

You can tell I really like this dress - the silhouette is one of my favorites. And this fabric is both weird and lovely. The colors are also my favorites, and it's an odd combo of floral, polka dot and plaid. I wish I had it in another colorway but I do think it's vintage, you can just tell by the feel sometimes plus the 45" width, that it's probably 20 years old, was in someone's stash and now I've let it out into the world. 

And because taking photos for the blog or IG makes you feel a bit goofy, plus my photographer said try a different pose.

So that's the latest but probably not last dress of this summer. Which here is going on and on. Tourist Tip for anyone coming to San Francisco: September is the nicest month. Less fog, more sunshine. Although with the heat waves hitting the rest of the US and Europe, I read that the SF tourist organizations are considering promoting the city with "come cool down in SF". However if you do be prepared, as we have every weather option in a 30 mile radius. OK I exaggerate but we are bracing for a heat spell this weekend with several days of over 107℉. That's where I live, in SF they are expecting around 80℉. So something for everyone and a bit too much for me!  You can find me floating in the pool this weekend, being lazy, reading my library books (hurray for libraries!) and just doing as little as possible. 

Next week I have a Pants class on Thursday in Danville and I have listed all my upcoming in-person and online classes here on a new page I added to this blog. 

I hope everyone has a relaxing, safe and healthy long Labor Day weekend. 

Happy Sewing, 

Beth

Today's garden photo, this morning glory on the back fence finally put out a few blooms and they are worth the wait for that color. 

Myosotis Dress Summer Version in cotton poplin

Whew - here it is, our August heatwave. About 105º F now as I write this at 5pm. We've been a bit fortunate, considering our drought and fire danger that we haven't had many blazing heat waves this summer but it does always seem to occur just as school starts again. (Don't get me started on that topic, I know the school schedule is quite different than when I was in elementary school but it was nice back them to have all of August to enjoy summer). 

A few years ago I taught a dress class at Hello Stitch and so used this pattern, at that time I made an example plus a version for myself. I alway thought about revisiting this pattern as I wear my original version a lot - like a lot! It's such an easy dress to wear, ideal for a warm day. I got this pink fabric at a sewing guild sale (more on that later). Here's a link to that first version. 

If you are familiar with this pattern you can see it has quite a few differences. That's the beauty of making your own clothes - you can change any detail you like.

I was so happy with the changes that I made on my first version that I repeated them exactly here. The changes are these:

• Omitted the collar
• Lowered the neckline
• Skipped the sleeves and finished armholes with bias binding
• Pleated the skirt instead of gathers
• added a small waist tie in the back

I thought about adding a small ruffle at the hem, around 3 or 4 inches but decided it didn't go with the pleated skirt and also this dress might be just a little too saccharine with a ruffle added to that bright pink. 

I really love this fabric and it has been in my stash now about two years so I'm glad to finally be wearing it. 

A few sewing details. I am slightly obsessive about keeping my interfacing scraps and neckline facings are a great way to use them up. So I found this piece in my interfacing bin and it was sufficient to use for the back neck facing. Interfacing doesn't need to go all the way to the edge of a facing, I find if it just crosses over the stitching line then it's doing the job. You end up trimming most of those seam allowances away anyway after the facing is attached. Actually looking more closely, it's actually two scraps. On the right is a smaller piece which fit in that area. So use the interfacing scraps instead of throwing them away!

To change the neckline I just drew on a new neck opening. I should have made notes from the previous version but that one I did kind of free form and liked the result, but never went back and marked my pattern pieces. So I compared that blue version to the original pattern pieces and saw that I opened up the neckline by stitching it about 1.5 inches from the original edge. Marked below with a Frixon pen.

Back view. 

So that's the latest in comfortable cotton summer dresses for a very hot spell here in N. California. Which we are pretty much used to but it does wear you out after a few days. I do feel bad for everyone in places like London or other cities which are not used to the heat, and have no air conditioning. Which I rarely use but it's nice to have! 

Up next, I have all kinds of scribbles in my notebook for a long overdue Random Threads post. I usually make a dress specifically for my birthday which is nearing but I don't think I will this year - after the cutback in socializing due to the pandemic I have plenty of dresses that haven't received much wear. Maybe I will change course and make a birthday jacket.

Speaking of jackets, I went to Britex with my friend Heather recently so you can expect to see some beautiful and luxurious fabrics turned into a coat and a jacket in the coming months. I will be teaching my online blazer class via Hello Stitch starting in October, here's the link to register.

At the top of this blog I have added a page entitled Sewing Class Schedule, which I will keep updated with links to all classes I am teaching here in the bay area and online. 

My garden remodel project is almost finished, the front just needs a few touches and I'm waiting for some plants I ordered from Annie's Annuals. Which is an amazing plant nursery in Richmond CA that has a great selection including a focus on California natives, cottage garden favorites and beautiful succulents. It's a bit like fabric shopping - so hard to decide and limit myself to just a few. 

Happy Summer Sewing,

Beth

Today's garden photo, in addition to the one above, it's a penstemon called "Bev Jensen" and the flowers are hot pink like my dress. I really like this hardy little plant and I've taken all kinds of cuttings which propagate easily. My kind of plant!

Vintage Color Block T-Shirt: Stretch and Sew 309

For a while I have been intrigued by the old Stretch and Sew patterns. I've acquired a few over recent years and then recently I found one at a guild sale that might become my new favorite pattern. I always say that, right? Well that's what keeps me sewing, finding a new-to-me pattern that I really like. Actually I thought Stretch and Sew and Kwik Sew patterns were the same company, but a bit of research has told that they are not. The two companies were started by two different women in the 1960's and both seemed to focus on knit fabrics. I have about 5 or 6 of these Stretch and Sew patterns now and you can bet that I will revisit them to find some more gems. I have a top/dress pattern that you would think is a current design, so that may get sewn up soon. 

Also this t-shirt was sewn up entirely with scraps and remnants from my stash. Which tells me a couple of things. 1) I definitely have a color palette that I stick to and 2) I keep a lot of knit scraps. For this version I wanted to make something to go along with the July challenge on the SewOver50 Instagram account, the theme was color block. So I was all in - I can never turn down a color-block opportunity. 

You can expect to see this pattern again, in fact I have been collecting old pink/burgundy/wine color cashmere sweaters from the thrift stores for the past 3 or 4 years with just this type of thing in mind. 

Here's the image of the pattern. I sewed mostly a size 38 with some grading out at the hips and the fit was perfect. Another bonus point for these patterns. Also it has kind of a high crew neck which I like in t-shirts. 

The sleeves were just a bit too short for my liking, so I hemmed them by adding a band, similar to the neckline to preserve the length and add about 1/4".

Even though this seems a bit fussy from tracing to finish I think it took me about 2 hours. That is not including the 30 min or so I spent playing around with the colors. To get that last light color section in the center I did rummage around in my t-shirt drawer and finally cut a small piece out of the back of one of my old Target brand t-shirts which I just wear around the house. 

The instructions were excellent, short and to the point but very easy to follow. The seam allowance was 1/4" which worked well for those small pieces. Although I didn't follow them to the letter as I like to sew the neckband in the round. 

Back view. Not very interesting but it shows the subtle shaping of the t-shirt. I toyed with the idea of making the sleeves different color knits but I'm glad I just went with the base color for those and kept the color block to the sunburst area. 

Before I make any color block item I play around with the colors with whatever is to hand, here a combo of colored pencils and sharpie markers. Just to see how it would look. And I decided to repeat the colors which the pattern also calls for. Not sure if I did it just as they did. I just cut them out as I went along and laid them out so I wouldn't get confused. Then it was pretty simple to sew together in order and construct the rest of the t-shirt. 

So that's the latest on my speedy little t-shirt. Up next, I've sewn a couple of summer dresses which I have had some nice chances to wear - so much better than 2 summers ago when we did so much backyard/Zoom socializing. 

I'm teaching classes in person at a couple of shops in the Bay Area, and I'm going to create a page here on the blog so I can list them as they get on the calendar. 

But my favorite class is coming up - yes, Blazer jackets! My online/live class which I did last year is starting on Oct. 4.   Here's the link to register on the Hello Stitch Studio website. 

The never-ending garden project is in the final stage, the back is complete (well is a garden ever complete?)  and the front should be done in the next week or so. Then I can rest, hahahaha, I mean rake leaves, prune shrubs and battle gophers. 

Happy Summer Sewing,
Beth

Today's garden photos - a bonanza of photos at this blooming time of year. 

I should show you some closeups of the grapevine behind me in that photo - I sewed little mesh bags to protect my grapes from squirrels. 

And below, a beautiful purple hydrangea to match my t-shirt :) 

Part 2: Finished Dress with Ruffles - BurdaStyle 05/2022 # 102

Here's my finished dress and I am really happy with the combination of fabric and pattern. Sometimes that just works out perfectly and this is such a case.  Plus this post is something of a two for the price of one - you get a look at my garden project which has been taking up a lot of my time this year. It might not look all that different but like any project there's a lot going, and I will include more details below. 

But back to sewing - this fabric is a woven rayon challis that I ordered from Fabric-Mart, maybe last year? I really liked the color and was waiting for a suitable pattern to use.  In my last post you can see the pattern details with pictures from the May Burda magazine issue. Also in that post I wrote a bit about doing fit adjustments on this pattern. 

It was all finished and I took a few pictures, then looking at those decided I didn't like the length. In the right style longer skirts and dresses are something that look nice but every time I make one for myself I never feel comfortable. I like dresses to hover around the knee, either just above or below.   So these dress form pictures are the longer length and then above it has been hemmed about 4" shorter.

I have a feeling that some people might prefer it longer but I prefer the shorter. Over the years things I have posted that were longer people seem to like and make comments to that effect which I find interesting - but we have to be comfortable in our clothes and I prefer a different proportion. 

Here's a look at the longer length. 

I also went back and forth on adding the ruffles which is an option in the pattern, but the fabric was so nice and soft so it seemed like it suited the style well, and I'm glad I did. Without the ruffles it's just a basic shirtdress. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, I did cover an existing belt to make the belt for this dress. I didn't have any belt backing in my stash of this width (1.25") which I thought was the right width for this style. So I rummaged in the closet to find a belt that I could use, and found one that I've never worn but it was just right. Well actually just right would have been a lighter color buckle but this worked out well enough. 

I made eyelets on my sewing machine for the holes and then stitched it on by hand starting at that end. Then another eyelet at the end for the tongue of the buckle to fit into, hand stitching it closed along the length of the belt. I made an extra loop and stitched that about 3 inches away from the buckle as belts without that always look messy to me. I know the inside of the belt doesn't look perfect but I don't mind at all if the inside is messy when it looks fine on the outside. 

Another change to the pattern was to add pockets, of course. A shirtdress with no pockets - unthinkable! I like to have slippery lining type fabric for my pockets so I don't usually use the same fabric. If you look at the side seam you can see on the back of the pocket I put a facing using the dress fabric so you don't get a glimpse of the lining when wearing. 

Side by side comparison of the dress at different lengths. I will say that the longer one on the left is not looking too bad in the image but I think the breeze is doing a bit of work there. 

I actually took more photos the first time, prior to shortening. Here's another one. See I think that hem lands at the wrong place, it looks too 1950's for my style plus I prefer the proportion of more leg. Well, that's why we sew  - to get just what we want, right?  Also this is a bit of a blank area in the garden, covered with mulch. I have to resist putting plants everywhere as the ones I've already planted are going to get bigger and take up space, plus this time of year is too hot and dry to start them off. 

Looking at that picture I think I've reached the limit of my home haircutting ability. Yes I'm still doing it myself - some months it comes out better than others. I was just thinking of going back to a hairdresser but then the urge overtook me this morning and I cut it myself with a good result. 

So that's the latest on this rayon shirtdress. Up next - I just started another version of my very modified Myosotis dress so that will be great for hot weather. Looking at that post you can see the garden in the before stage. 

I'm teaching some in person classes here in the east bay and I will write about upcoming ones in my next post. I just got a really cute vintage t-shirt pattern which is perfect for the Color Blocking challenge on IG via @sewover50 so I'd like to get that sewn up this month. 

A few notes about the garden update. My water company offered a rebate for removing lawns, and cutting back on water using landscaping. Being that all the existing irrigation system front and back were very much past their prime it needed to be reworked. After being at home for the last two years I could water as needed but here a timer is essential to water before 6 am and also to be able to go away for longer than a day. So that was the impetus to update everything. The front is still a work in progress but there my lawn area is gone and will be replaced with more succulents, a rock river and a lot of penstemon and salvia for color. In the back we took out the grass completely, made it a bit smaller in area, and replaced the grass with Kurapia which is a low-water use ground-cover. So far it's working out well but I think it takes some getting used to. Also you have to wait a while before mowing it down to be a low ground-cover so it looks a bit unruly or as I call it fluffy, right now. 

The crepe myrtle trees stayed (of course) as well as the roses, hydrangeas and all the existing salvias. I planted quite a few new salvias and penstemon, plus some slightly exotic pelargoniums, some dusty miller to lighten things up, and then a few foxgloves that I had been growing in pots. And a few petunias for instant color. Some daisies in one area and a couple of gardenias which I will call vintage but seem happy enough to put out plenty of flowers. The salvias and penstemon will fill out nicely by next year and be really pretty as well as loved by the hummingbirds. I have three albutilons in the back in different colors and they are lovely as well. Plants are a bit like fabric, it's very challenging to resist buying them when you see them but then when you get home you have to find somewhere to put them! 

"Should I buy more plants or more fabric?" is what I'm thinking in that picture. 

Speaking of finding spots to store fabric, next week I'm going to Britex with my friend Heather - so let the fall sewing planning commence :)

Happy Sewing,

Beth

Here's today's garden pictures, two of them. First is a close up of the Kurapia groundcover which grows laterally once it is mowed and settles in, but until then it's flowering and covered with bees. Which don't bother me at all, I'm so used to them and we ignore each other for the most part. (now wasps - they are the enemy along with gophers, racoons and other burrowing nemeses.)  Second is a look at my newest Albutilon (which is a flowering maple, member of the Mallow family) in a lovely peachy pink. I think it's in a nice spot and should get about 8 feet high in a couple of years.