Gidget Playsuit Completed

I finished my 50’s playsuit ya’ll!!! Just in the nick of time too, summer finally *really* hit the Pacific Northwest. It was 100 degrees today (gross), my poor French Bulldog is breathing so heavily.

I’ve had the shorts done for a while but the top had me stumped. To recap this was made from vintage Butterick 8197 from the mid 1950’s. My pattern was for a vintage size 16 and was too bodacious up top, not to mention pointy. I made 5 different muslins (honestly not that much time due to how small of these pieces are). I was definitely winging it. I made a sort of awkward SBA, and decided that it was close enough. Mostly I just shrank the darts.

This is the same green and cream seersucker and lime colored bemberg lining used on the shorts. I had to remove the snaps I had used on the waist band and get over my fear of my buttonholer attachment. These cute floral buttons were in my growing thrifted button stash.

If you’re new to this blog, I recently went from a big-box modern Singer machine to a 35 year-old Kenmore. Elsa (that’s what I named the Kenmore) and I are getting to know each other and I was feeling a little bit intimidated by setting up the buttonholer. I was so used to the automatic 4 step buttonhole the Singer did. I don’t know what I was so afraid of. It makes beautiful tight stitches and took hardly any extra time to set up. I made a little sampler of all of the available buttonholes and sizes so that I can quickly gauge which size will accommodate my chosen button.

I think I’ll wear this tomorrow when I look for a lake to escape the heat.

xx, Cynthia

50’s Shorts and a New Tattoo

This is part one of, hopefully, two posts detailing vintageButterick 8197   (available at the Blue Gardenia if you’d like your own copy). I picked up this pattern for $2 and squeeled, I was so excited about the bra top and high waisted shorts. This screams Annette Funicello or Doris Day at the beach to me. The shorts were easy and fast to make. The bra top is a little more tricky. While not difficult to sew, I’m having a hard time getting the cups to fit right. I need to do a SBA to remove some excess pointiness, and honestly I’m starting to lose interest.

I used some green and cream seersucker I found at Joann’s. I fully lined these shorts with some lime green rayon bemberg. I did this for modesty reasons, not because the instructions called for it. These look so pretty on the inside, just like RTW. I inserted an invisible zipper and closed the tab with some pearl snaps. I still haven’t figured out how to use the buttonholer on my new/ old machine.

I love the fit and style of these shorts! I feel like a vintage pin-up in them 🙂 Hopefully, I’ll get the top made before summer is over. I’ve got the Macaron sew-along on the brain, and also need to sew up a birthday prezzie for my little sis.

Now, I’m sure you’ve noticed a new decoration on my collarbone. On Monday I went to Oddball Studios and had three spools of thread and a sewing needle tattooed. They’re my favorite colors and adorable. I’d like to get a tomato pin cushion and thimble on the other side if I can work up the nerve.

Yikes, I still can’t believe I actually did it. I’m quite smitten with the results and have become a vain creeper. All I want to do is look at it in the mirror.

XOXO,

Cynthia

Glacier National Park

Montana is the most beautiful place on Earth. It seemed like every time I turned a corner I’d see something even more gorgeous than the last. We (the mister and myself) went with our friends Luke and Julie and had a pretty epic week. We saw 5 grizzlies, including 3 cubs, 4 black bears, a moose, mountain goats, big horn sheep and an assortment of other animals. We were unable to complete the full 60 mile backpacking loop we had planned because someone (alright it was me…. I’m a total klutz) dropped our camp stove and broke it. We only completed about 30 miles in the backcountry. We spent to the rest of our trip playing in the water and going on day hikes.My google reader is totally full of, what I’m sure are, awesome makes and hopefully I can get through my backlog. We took over 300 photos, here are a few. xx

See You Next Tuesday!

5 cool points to you if you caught my SATC reference! I’ve muslined my 1950’s shorts and bra top. Boy, oh boy, this is going to be adorable. I’m making them out of a length a green and cream seersucker. The shorts fit right out of the envelope with no fitting changes needed.

The top is another story altogether. The band fits perfectly around my ribcage, however the cups have a little extra “perkiness” due to the bullet bras of the era. I need to remove about an inch from the apex of the bust.  I played around with it for a couple of hours Sunday night. Eventually, I extended one of the darts all of the way to the top of the cup (essentially making a princess seam), but now I have gaping under the arm. Should I add a mini dart there too?

Is this the perfect situation to try a SBA? I wear a D cup, so I’ve never looked into them before. I have wiggled these darts every which way. There is just a little pool of extra fabric right over my nipple area that needs to be removed.

However, I won’t be able to cut into my fashion fabric for a bit because I’m leaving for Glacier National Park tomorrow! We’re going to do a 60 mile backpacking loop. Here’s a photo of me there 2 years ago. I’ll post a ton of photos when we get back in a week 🙂

Next…

Hawaiian Punch: Simplicity 1873

Hey guys!!! Like my new glasses? They came in the mail today and I feel like a cool girl in them. Just in time too, now that we’re in the heart of the allergy season I can’t really wear my contacts as much, so it was time to update. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way let’s talk about this dress. I’m in mayjuhh like with it.

I’ve been thinking about what makes something “me” and makes me want to pull it out of the closet over and over again. My favorite me-make by far is my Bow Dress. The reason why it works IMO is because it’s a basic fit-and-flare shape (my favorite silhouette) paired with a fun print that I love. I bought 3 yards of this “Tales of the South Pacific” cotton batiste from Gorgeous Fabrics for super cheap ($5.80 a yard) and I still have almost a full yard left over.

This pattern was very easy to make. I made view C, but omitted the button tabs. It’s a simple 2 dart scoop neck bodice paired with a very *full* skirt. Before I started making the pleats, I had about 8 feet of skirt to shrink down to 29 inches. I really like the instructions Simplicity gives you for the construction. For instance, they have you attach the bodice and lining using this technique, I first learned from the Slapdash Sewist. It seems to be that Simplicity is figuring out that home sewists don’t want to hand sew unless absolutely necessary.

This dress was well drafted and came together quickly once I got started. I made a size 10 to eliminate ease, but had to use the dart placement for the size 12 to accomodate my girls. Speaking of my girls, did ya’ll notice the unfortunate print placement on my bust? Michael Kors would eat me alive, a circle over each bewb. Oops… I lined the bodice with some unbleached cotton muslin, and also underlined the skirt with muslin since this fabric was quite sheer. I finished the hem with a machine blind hem and inserted an invisible zipper

Somebody Loves Me!

My husband went away for the weekend, to go surfing, and came back with this vintage lovely for me. I saw this machine  and cabinet a few weeks ago in a little sewing and vacuum repair shop in Newport, OR and fell in lust. The guy that owned the shop was very knowledgable and talked with us for a quite a bit. I even dropped my serger off to him to get serviced since I haven’t been able to use it yet.

I’ve been wanting to upgrade to a solid workhorse and I think this fits the bill. This machine is all metal, and has just the stitches I need. The machine was barely used and all of the accesseries and owner’s manuals were included. The buttonholer is even still in plastic.

The cabinet is great as well! I can drop my machine all the way down and use it as a table top for cutting fabric. The machine can also sit even with the desktop for an extra large work surface. It also can sit above the cabinet so I can use the free arm. Every drawer includes thread holders. I’m so stoked!

This makes up for the fact that tweakers stole the front wheel off of my bicycle last night. I had to figure out how to get me and my significantly less portable bike home last night at 1 AM. Anyways, I’m going to go play with my machine now 🙂

On the sewing table…

Blue Steel

So pensive, what’s going on in that beautiful mind?

These photos really crack me up. Chris really got into his male modeling and threw out all of the blue steel, Quiet Ryan, and arm behind the head sexiness I could catch. Oooh lala.

This is his bad boy Magic Mike shot.

I made another version of McCall’s 6383 for Mr. Dapper Duds. I really like the slim groovy fit of this 70’s pattern. I used a black chambray from Joann’s for the body of the shirt, and a colorful rainbow plaid for the undercollar, collar stand, and the inside of the pocket flap. Originally, I had planned to make colorful piping as well, but I didn’t like the way it looked when I layed it out. I think I need to move away from piping for a bit.

Hey girl, I really like the way you put the yoke on that western shirt.

I made a few changes to the pattern. The most obvious change I made was to make this version short sleeved. I layed out the sleeve piece from the modern McCall’s 6044 to see the length I should make the sleeve. I was shocked to see the difference in the sleeve cap. Isn’t that cray cray? No wonder I was unhappy with setting in the sleeves on the modern pattern. I kept thinking they looked puffy. Sleeves, you were the problem, not me.

I also shortened the pattern by 4″. My man is not one for tucking in his shirts. The last adjustment was toning down the large 70’s collar. I simply removed the seam allowance (a standard 5/8″) to get it to a more modern proportion.

I’m really proud of the  seam finishing I did. He could wear this inside out if he wanted to. I double dare you to find a raw edge. I used flat-felled seems throughout. I really like the strength and tidyness they provide.  Side note: I really need to get a flat-felling foot. This shirt is built to last.

The inside, yo!

I finished it off using this tutorial for creating an easy rolled hem. It closes with black pearl snaps I picked up at an awesome hoarder estate sale

Ahhhhh….Wool

I’m about to make ya’ll super jealous. Yesterday, my friend sent me a text that she was at the Pendleton Outlet in Washougal, WA. I pounced on that and asked her if she saw anything reasonably priced (less than $20 a yard) in a pretty red, I’d love some.

I’ve been thinking about McCalls 6442 for my big sewing project for fall. It has the twirl factor of Colette’s Lady Grey, but also includes a hood which IMO is crucial for a rainy Oregon fall-winter-spring. I envision looking like Little Red Riding Hood. I’m also well on my way to having all the supplies needed. I went to a crazy hoarder estate sale about a month ago, and got several yards of horsehair interfacing and shoulder pads (amongst a million other sewing doodads for pennies).

Anyways, she text me back that she found a pretty red and black checked fabric that was only $5.99 a yard, what?!?!?!? So, she picked me up 4 yards of the prettiest, softest, drapiest, lovely wool for $25. I was ecstatic when I saw what was waiting for me. Bonkers, right?

I has such pretty drape I’m not sure if a wrap coat is the right use of the fabric. Although, I’m sure the flare if the peplum would look so beautiful, cascading from my hips. This will need to be underlined for body and warmth. I’ve gotten such a steal on all of my supplies so far, I think I’ll splurge on a silk lining.

Now that I’ve seen the fabric my mind is thinking of a hundred other projects to use it for, such as a circle skirt, Gertie’s Starlight Suit jacket, fitted sheath dress, a vintage looking cape with a notched collar. Oi vey, there are so many possibilities in a flat length of fabric. Opinions please?

In other sewing news, I’m making another western shirt for the mister. I royally effed up on it, so I’ve been unpicking stitches forever. I didn’t catch that I’d put one of the shoulder seams in backwards until I’d flat-felled it and both topstitched and edgestitched the yoke down. Yikes!