Thank you for voting!

Can I call myself a winner if I took 2nd place?  I asked my family and they said win, place or show qualifies as winning. So thank you to all who voted for my Milly dress recreation at PatternReview.com in the Ready-to-Wear contest. 

The winning entry by purple dot is a super cute recreation of a Jason Wu for Target dress. Which I would be also tempted to try if I didn't have a zillion other things on the to-do list.

I just did two posts on how I did the dress which I entered in the contest. To adapt a simple pattern to a color block dress, here are the links in case you would like to see how its done.

Part 1: making the pattern and Part 2: sewing the new pattern pieces.

Here are the two versions I have made (so far).

The most exciting part of this contest is the prize.   
$ 50.00 of Style Arc patterns !


I am looking for suggestions.  As you know if you look at this blog, I have PLENTY of dresses, lots of coats and jackets, but when it comes to casual wear I fall back on my extensive collection of jeans, shorts, denim skirts, beachwear and surfer-type T-shirts. Pathetic, right?


Some cute tops or casual shirts are in order. Perhaps a pair of pants.  If you have a Style Arc pattern idea that you think might fit in my wardrobe, let me know.


In the meantime, I need to take some photos of the V1287 Donna Karan dress which I wore to our SF sewing/blogging meetup 2 weeks ago.  I have mixed feelings on that one. 


I also have been taking photos of some items that are in my closet to show you, under the heading of "One Hit Wonders"     Know what I'm talking about?  Stay tuned :)


In a nod to color-blocking, here is one of the suprising tulips that made an appearance earlier this spring.  The tulips weren't a surprise - but the color variations were.
Happy weekend sewing, Beth

Color Blocking, Part 2 of how to adapt your own pattern

The previous post showed how I take an existing dress pattern and make new pattern pieces to create a color block look. Now it's time to do some sewing. I will show the sequence only on the back of the dress, but sewing the front is the same as the back. Easier, as there is no zipper to match there!
Before you do any sewing, some preliminary steps.

1. Interface all the band pieces.  I didn't do this on my first test dress, and found it really needs it.  
2. Mark all the dots on the pattern pieces. Matching the dots on the band and dress insures that the band pieces lay smoothly and the curves fit together properly.
3. Stay stitch all the edges of the band pieces and the dress pieces. Since we are going to clip the curve, this is necessary, plus it keeps the band pieces from losing their shape.

OK, finally some sewing!


Step 1: Clip the curve on the band piece (the convex curve). 

Step 2: Pin the band to the dress piece, matching the dots. Stitch the seam.

Step 3: Trim and clip the seam, press seam allowance toward the band. Now it's starting to take shape.

Step 4: Similar method for the upper band.  Clip the band (convex curve). Here it is shown on the fabric right side, so you can see how the dots match up (marked with tailor's tacks, yellow thread)

Step 5: Same as Steps 2 and 3 above, pin and stitch seam, then clip and press toward band.

To finish, use the same process for the front of the dress, doing the side bands first and then the neck band.  Of course if you have designed a different color block it may be different.  Another color block look that I like is horizontal bands of color and that is a little easier to work with. To do that, divide your pattern into separate pieces, add seam allowances and sew together.

And now we come to a slightly less fun part of this project, the zipper. For any zipper that bisects pattern pieces you want the lines to match up, but it is so much more noticeable with the color block layout. I was pretty happy with the result, although I didn't get it on the first try.  My method for this type of zipper is to just sew the top 5 inches or so on each side of the zipper, get that intersection point just right, and then proceed with sewing in the rest of the zipper. No need to rip out the whole thing if it is not right. Definitely another reason I don't use an invisible zipper foot.  To see how I do the invisible zipper with a regular zipper foot, check out this post. 

Normally on a dress like this I would apply the facings (which are matching bands with no interfacing) however I wanted to put the zipper in right then. Once the zipper is in then you can't pull through the shoulder seams.  Here is a look at the facing.  I used the regular facing for the dress.

So here is the finished dress, side view and front view. That is another spot where the seam has to match, under the arm where the bands meet again. For a simple dress there are lot of little details to consider!

Anyone interested in trying to adapt their TNT pattern with this style of color-blocking?

It's a great way to get more mileage out of a great fitting pattern with a whole new look.

Here is the previous post, on how to make the pattern pieces.

Here is today's garden photo, not really matching but a very nice spring color, gladioli in front of the pink jasmine. 

Color Blocking, How to Adapt your own Pattern

A few readers have asked me to explain how I made the color blocked dress shown in a earlier post, so here is a look at how I adapt an existing pattern to create it. The great thing about adapting a pattern that you have previously sewn is you know how it will fit, the shape of the neckline, etc. so those variables are put aside and you can focus on designing the color blocking.


My dress in black and turquoise was a bit of a dry run because I had a request to make a dress like this in shades of teal/turquoise.  I just completed it the other day, and took lots of photos during the patternmaking process, so here is the teal blue version.  My details below will show you how to do this style, with a contrast color band around the neck and armhole, but you can do just the neckline or change the width of the bands quite easily.  Lots of possibilities.








So here we go, and excuse the photography, I did edit the images as much as possible so you can see the details.  I will show the steps to make the pattern, and then my next post will give some sewing details.  I have only photographed the back pattern pieces, but the process is the same for the front and back.  I suggest using a very simple sheath dress pattern that has a nice fitting neckline.  This teal dress and my first version are in rayon-blend ponte knits, which are perfect for this and a good choice for testing this out.


Step 1:  Trace your pattern piece. Mark the straight of grain lines. Here I am just working with the upper part of the dress back, and then I will overlay it on the pattern when I cut out. I suggest you use the waistline on the pattern, draw that line horizontally across the pattern and then use the top part you create and the skirt portion of the dress.  Does that make sense?

Step 2: Draw in your seam allowances.  I find this is really helpful so I can visualize the width of the bands when it is finished.

Step 3:  Draw in the bands.  For this style, do the neckline band first, and then the armhole bands. I decided on 2" wide for the bands, it seemed to create the correct proportion.  If you can see on my notes, I adjusted the neckline band to be a smidge wider, 2 1/4 inches, as I didn't want it to end too close to the shoulder seam.  Draw in the straight of grain lines on the 2 band pieces (parallel to the original straight of grain line)

Step 4: Draw in the modified dress back, shown outlined in green. In this step,you are drawing the seam allowances, so the back dress piece will be stitched on the black pencil line, and cut out using the green line.  At this time I also make some marking dots, which really help when matching the pieces for stitching.

Step 4: Draw in the shapes for the bands.  Neckline band is shown in red, and side band is shown in turquoise.  So now it looks more like pattern pieces, you can see where they will match and be stitched together.

Step 5: Trace off the separate pattern pieces.  Here I am tracing the neck band. Be sure an mark the dots.

Step 6:  Trace the remaining pattern pieces.  I find it helpful to trace in the colors I used to design the pieces.  Colored pencils are my new favorite sewing tool :) Be sure to trace your straight of grain lines on the band pieces.

Step 7:  Double check your pattern pieces.  I overlay them on my Step 4 tracing paper to verify that they fit and match. Here they are side-by-side so you can see the finished pattern pieces.

Step 8:  Repeat for dress front.   

Give it a try!   Next post I will show the steps for sewing.

And for this dress in shades of blue, a photo of something new in my garden, Delphinium.

I took this photo around 7pm, when the two tones of blue really pop.  It almost doesn't look real, but the flower petals are both blue and purple. Maybe a new color block idea?

School's out

For this session, at least. Last week was a fun and exhausting week as I gave a week-long personalized sewing class to Karen from London. Yes, London, as in jolly old England. One morning in April I opened my e-mail to her very interesting query.  I had read her very popular blog, Did you make that? a few times, but it took me a minute to put the name with the blog. 


She had booked a one week couture sewing class in San Francisco, bought her air tickets, paid for the hotel and then received notice that the class was cancelled due to unforseen circumstances.  Her plans were to do the class and then rendevouz at the end of the week with her boyfriend to travel around California and beyond.  I know Karen will be doing posts when she returns home so I will not make a long story longer, but due to the magic of the internet she found me and my blog.  After a few e-mails back and forth, I said yes and we started talking about her project, what she wanted to learn and all the logistics.  


Everything worked out fantastically, we even started planning a sewing meetup for one evening that week and I waited to meet her. (Plus cleaned and reorganized my sewing space - what a good motivation.)  And worried a tiny bit about the whole thing.  What if we didn't click? had a personality clash? she didn't like my teaching style? I can laugh now but I did think about those things.  

Beth and Karen

True confession - so did she.  We had a good laugh when we both revealed that we had that little doubt in the back of our minds.  Not to worry - we had SO MUCH FUN!

Photo above, a moment of relaxation in my backyard after lunch.  Karen is smiling but perhaps she is thinking I am a tough taskmaster. I so wanted her to finish her project, and she got through most of as she put it "the difficult bits".

I won't post much on her project (I didn't really take any photos, too busy powering through all the steps) but here is a tiny sneak peek including her beautifully completed bound buttonholes, basted closed after you finish them, so they maintain their shape until the garment is finished.  You know I must have liked her :) since I let her use my lovely vintage Belding Corticelli silk thread in a nicely contrasting orange . . . note to self, I need to haunt yard sales this summer and find more of those spools, a shame it is no longer made.

What did we cover in her week long session?  Here are a few things:

• Pattern fitting, in particular vintage patterns with those crazy darts
• Timesaving methods for pinning and cutting out
• Marking, both carbon tracing and thread tailor's tacks
• Silk organza underlining
• Darts - sewing and pressing
• Fusible interfacing - a lifesaver
• hand stitches - how and where to use
• Bound buttonholes
• Trimming seam allowances
• Collar and Lapels

Oh, yeah, we needed a beer on Friday night when we got through all that and more.

Here is Karen in the home stretch, doing some marking for her bound buttonholes:

On Wednesday of this marathon sewing week we met up with lots of other bay area  sewists at a wine bar in downtown San Francisco.  This image is from Amy's blog, Sew Well. It was great to meet Amy and she said the sweetest things! That is me at the back near the wine bottles, wearing a new Vogue DK pattern, which I will post soon.  Several who attended have posted about the evening, including Shams, Communing with Fabric, who I met last year when we arranged a meetup at the Balenciaga exhibit. (note to Bay area readers - Gaultier exhibit meetup getting organized now)

Karen also wrote a great post about the meetup and her general instruction to all potential visitors to SF (her advice, in all caps - DO IT!)

Christine of What's Up Cupcake also wrote and has some super photos. 

I know I am missing a few links to others who wrote about the evening but the consensus was:  FUN, and when are we doing it again?  

Back to sewing, Thursday and Friday Karen and I really motored through her "difficult bits" and she got a lot accomplished. I can't wait to see her finished outfit and I am so happy that she contacted me to get this whole adventure started.  The weather cooperated here in N. California, the garden was blooming and we could sit outside for our lunch breaks to chat about non-sewing topics.  Did we run out of conversation? Not likely.  She answered all my questions about British phrases that I hear due to my excessive PBS viewing, and shared with me that the movie "Pretty in Pink" made her dream of life as an American teenager.

Karen brought me two adorable gifts, a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Tea towel, hilarious, and this super cute Liberty of London pincushion. See the red pins, those came with Karen when she brought her muslin, and now they are mingled with my white and yellow pins.  So I will think of her sewing away in London when I reach for a red pin. 

One last photo of my new and forever sewing pal Karen, which I took just before she left.  She is holding the first fragrant gardenia of the season and wearing her very sharp Burda blouse.  Now she is off to enjoy some non-sewing vacation fun.  


Happy Travels !

Sewing Meetup in San Francisco and a Ready to Wear Challenge

Thank you so much to every one who left such wonderful comments on my vintage pattern dress.  Commentor Jeanettec said she was off to find that very pattern.  I highly recommend it and want to remake soon with a modern twist. 

Right now I am working on a few other projects and getting ready for some intensive sewing fun.  I am going to have a sewing student, Karen of Did you make that?  She is traveling to California for a vacation and before she heads off on her journey through the Golden West she will be spending a week, as she puts it “under my tutelage”.  That sounds a bit formal, doesn’t it? Yes, we will get to details of collar construction and organza interfacing, but the thought of hours of sewing talk with a fellow enthusiast is quite exciting.  I have not inquired but I hope she is a Downton Abbey fan so I can hear all about it from the British point of view. I am looking forward to having a student who is miles past beginner level so we can delve into lots of fun yet tricky details.

We will need a break from all that concentration so how about joining us for a drink and a chat in San Francisco on the evening of Wednesday May 9?  Probably around 6 pm and if you have a suggestion of a good spot let me know.  Please leave a comment or e-mail me if you are interested and I will let you know the final details. 

The recent Pattern Review challenges have given me a creative kick lately. I finished the Vintage challenge and jumped right in to the next one, the Ready-To-Wear challenge.  I actually don’t pay that much attention to ready-to-wear, in terms of sewing things for myself as I prefer to find a fabric and then decide what to make in that order. Lately I have been crazy for the clothing line, Milly. Lots of great color, interesting fabric combos and nice details, and perfect for recreation at a tiny fraction of their prices (around $ 400).  And in particular this dress.

So here is my version, in rayon ponte knit.  My dress has multiple darts to give it waist shaping, I think theirs probably has just single darts, but I used an old pattern that I have been wanting to revive which worked very well for a fitted silhouette.  This is definitely a dress that looks better as worn than on the dress form so I will try to get some photos today.

I did take some photos during construction so if you are interested in how I created the color block pattern pieces I will show that in my next post. 

Edit for 4/30/12:  here it is on me,  without belt, which I think looks better in this knit fabric.

Today we have lovely sunshine so it is time for a bit of work outside, those oranges don't pick themselves!

Happy weekend sewing, Beth

New Vintage Treasure, part 2

Vintage or timeless?  1962 or 2012?  Does anyone else think this style is as current and wearable today as it might have been when the pattern was issued?  I am really happy with this dress, and ready to sew it up again in a modern fabric.  Yesterday's post has the details on this McCalls pattern and the fabric. 


All finished in time to take some outdoor photos, with coordinating blue flowers in the background landscape, a happy coincidence. 

Full length view, I think if I remake I will shorten the skirt a bit (I was going for the vintage hem length here) and perhaps taper the bottom of the skirt toward the hem.

Now, promise not to laugh.  Full on retro look, vintage purse, pointed-toe shoes, and sunglasses that are about 60 years old.  As I have mentioned before, there are a few of us in my family who are of the "keep that, you may need it sometime" variety, so I have some oddball things tucked away which turn out to be just right for a retro photoshoot. Those sunglasses have been in my dresser drawer for years, and this is the first time they have seen the sunshine in years. The pin belonged to my grandmother, and I really love it however I hardly ever wear it because it is real gems and gold - I am afraid I will pin it on a coat and then lose it, so it stays in the dresser as well.

Tomorrow I will take some photos of the dress on the form so you can see the bodice seaming, as well as my version of a hand picked zipper - nice for a vintage detail, but I am glad someone invented invisible zips!

4/14/12, some additional photos on dress form.  As mentioned in the comments, now that it is finished and photographed, I think I will shorten a few inches and take in the skirt a bit.  Designed in 1962 and wearable in 2012!  Does that prove there is nothing new in fashion?  

My entry in the Pattern Review Vintage contest is here .  


Time to return to current sewing.  I still have to finish my Vogue 1143 outfit, and I am getting close.  I think I did 5 muslins on pants (not my favorite thing to make) and have finally found a version that will work.  Get going Beth, finish that suit so you can wear it!

A new Vintage Treasure

Last year I made a dress which I found at a yard sale, completely cut-out but never sewn up. I wrote a series of popular posts starting with Vintage Treasure where you least expect it. If you like vintage and yard sales, click the link to read the story and maybe you will get the same bug I have.  Which is that I now expect to find something magical at every yard sale and thrift store.  I do try to limit my excursions, as most yard sales are on Sat. morning which is prime time for a zillion other projects.  But a while ago I did find another gem.  Not quite in the treasure category, but a gem nonetheless.  


What I found was a 3.5 yard piece of fabric that I can't identify, but is completely block-fused with color-coordinating tricot interfacing.  Where did it come from and how did it land at the thrift store?           The price was $ 4.00 so it was sold and out the door with me in a flash. I have no idea what the fabric is, but it is a loosely woven, slightly nubby fabric that says 50's style sheath dress to me.  Plus the color is fantastic - vivid enough for my liking.












Due to a phase of late night impulse shopping on Etsy, I have plenty of vintage patterns but this is the one I have been really wanting to make. I have a feeling the with a few tweaks I could re-make this and look totally modern. But for the unidentified fabric of questionable provenance, it is just right. No, before you ask, I am not making the cape.
Really?  The dress I can wear, the cape, I don't think so.  Although it would be great for the final photo.

  


So I am jumping into the Vintage contest on Pattern Review. But as of this moment, I am still sewing - so we will see if I can finish by this weekend.


I made a muslin, something I don't do all that often, but I thought all those seams down the bodice may need some alteration, and that the neckline might just be a bit too high.
As it happens, with a few adjustments for size as my normal human waist does not fit into the vintage 26" waist (was Scarlett O'Hara and her corset the target customer for McCalls in 1962? date of this pattern)  Or maybe the control undergarments of the era - or as my grandmother would say, her girdle, had magic powers of compression.  Anyway - sizing on patterns is a discussion for another day :)


What I discovered by making this muslin is that the waist is too low, mostly in the back. Here is a very goofy shot taken via timer, so you can see that the skirt is attaching to the bodice way too low. The belt is at my waist, where I would want the skirt to attach.  So I used my hi-tech, all by myself in the sewing room and ran a pencil around at the bottom edge of the belt, marking where I wanted the skirt to attach.  Also visible is my method of zipping a potentially too tight muslin when along in the sewing room, a ribbon attached to the zipper pull as in a scuba wetsuit. Much better to pull on the ribbon and unzip than having to rip the basting out like the hulk to get the thing back over one's head after a less than successful size experiment.

Here is the muslin, back on the dress form so you can see the pencil line and now I know where to attach the skirt.

When I was trying on the muslin it felt a bit roomy across the back, so I did some adjustments on the center back seam to take it in, only across the center back, not across the shoulders. The zipper is just basted on for a fit test.  I think I will do a hand picked zipper so I can wait for that to be one of the last steps. You can see that block fusing in this photo.  I can't believe how fast this is to sew up with no interfacings to do, plus the lining is a mirror image of the dress pieces so that is quick as well.

That's all for tonight - tomorrow I hope to finish this up and then take some photos - I do have a few vintage handbags so perhaps some actual modelling from me will be seen.

Here is today's SunnyGal garden photo, I bought a bag of tulips last fall at Home Depot, they languished on the workbench in the garage until they were all sending off shoots, I finally put them in the ground in early January and forgot all about them.  But what a show they are putting on with lots of these multi-colored ones.

Happy Weekend sewing, Beth