In Progress

This is halfway done on my dress. I think I did a nice job on the sleeves and finally found a gathering technique for set-in sleeves that might work for me.

I bought this book at a garage sale a long time ago, and it is full of good explanations. It is from 1967.

It has lots of funny illustrations.

Then I decided to dig through my drawer of attachments for my machine. My machine is a 15 series from 1952, and although I got it for free from a nice woman on freecycle.org, it came with lots of the original equipment. Manual, oil, feet for different things. I started looking for a zipper foot, and I have 2. Then I started looking at the menacing buttonholer.

It has all of the gear, including manual, 2 sets of guides for sizes- everything you need except....

the feed plate cover that stops the machine from moving the fabric.

Wahhhh.

So, I wasted a great deal of time online. In the end, it looks like I would have to buy the whole buttonholer set on ebay for 15-20 bucks, just to get that one stupid part.

I don't know what I will do yet. I do think that if I am going to say that I "sew," if only for fun, I need to learn how to make a buttonhole at some point....

Saint-sational Superbowl Champion Capes

We live in New Orleans and love the Saints, and the city went crazy for the SuperBowl! So Sunday morning. my boyfriend and I slapped together matching capes for the parades (it's also almost Mardi Gras) and then the game. I ended up making the out of felt, because Jo-Ann's was sold out of practically every yellow and black fabric there.

This is mine. With my matching fleur-de-lis on my face!

This is my boyfriend's. They both have the trim at the bottom. He refuses to be on the blog, so I blurred out his face. lol.

He drew and cut out the fleur-de-lis for both, while i sewed it all together. I pinked all the edges so it looks interesting and the tie is gold cord (his) and ribbon (mine). And yes, that is a box of Vella. We are nothing but classy here!

This is a terrible, self-portrait of the other day. I wasted part of a Saturday morning tring to do something like victory rolls. I even watched youtube tutorials. My hair is long, and fine, and slippery and I suck at trying to do things with it. This is just one example of the monstrosities I created. I am not meant to be a hair stylist, I guess!

Next Project

This is my sewing room, aka the dining room that no one ever dines in.
This a gratuitous shot of the wiener dog howl-barking at me.
This is my next project. My car is currently broken, so I am fabric-less, sitting at home, not sewing. I want to make the full-skirted version. The skirt has eight big pleats, and I haven't done any pleats for awhile. I also really like the scalloped dropped waist. I think it could be a cute, unique dress that hopefully isn't too "cute." Minus the dickie and the cuffs, which are supposedly detachable.

One reason I like vintage patterns, beyond the fit and the detail and the look, is seeing which version the last woman chose. Obviously she and I have good taste, because the pinked pieces are the ones for A, minus the dickie and cuffs. What a smart lady!

Now I have three other patterns in the running too, I just depends on the fabric I find...

2009 Frankenstein Dress

I went to Jo-Ann looking for some cute cotton to make this awesome pattern up for the first time. It's from Eva dress, there is a link to the site on the left of the blog. It's a new pattern for a 57 Claire McCardell dress- it looks so elegant and cute with the giant bow.

However, since I moved, I haven't been getting my coupons for 50% off, and this dress needs 4 and 7/8th yards. Yikes.

I saw this fabric....

and I really liked it, but there were only 2 yards left. So I decided I would Frankenstein together 2 patterns I already knew needed less than 2 yards and would fit perfectly. It came together super quickly and easily. The top is from this(black and white dress), and the bottom is from this(zebra print dress).

Look Mom, I even attempted a real hem! (Since at Christmas she told me my idea of "hemming" by hand is really every one else's idea of "basting." LOL) The stitches are still over 1/4 of an inch, but Rome was not built in a day, people!

Finished dress! Soon I will add some on-a-person photos. The only oopsie was the woman at Jo-Ann didn't give me a cut fabric ticket, she just rushed me to the register, so I had to run and get a zipper and thread. I grabbed a 14 inch zipper, which worked last time, but I changed the side zipper to a back zipper. So the waist is still pretty tight and I have to squirm and tug it over my head instead of stepping into it. Meh. Not a big prob.

Time to go make French onion soup!! YUM!

Pants Update

I finished my muslin of the pants pattern. It is absolutely atrocious. I am glad I just used bleached muslin and not real fabric. They almost look like old-fashioned jodhpurs. The waist is so high, the hips and legs are poofy, they are tight around the ankles....

I have a pair of black pants that I love, I really should just trace off a pattern and make them fit perfectly.

Fun fact: Jodhpur pants were originally made so the rulers of Jodhpur (in India) could ride comfortably while hunting or playing polo.

Pants Muslin

I am trying to make up this pattern that I found inside the envelope of another pattern.

I would love to have a generic pants pattern to make up more work pants, rather than buying them. Plus, I have to hem everything anyways....

Man, all I can say is they LOVED high-waisted pants in the 50s! Granted, I am short, but they go about two inches above my natural waistline- natural!! Not where I would prefer my pants to stop. Like four ribs worth of pants!! Ha!

Then, since I have no instructions, I sewed the back together like a giant penguin flipper!

Doggy Sweater, but fleece

I bought this pattern a year or two ago at a garage sale. It was $1. It has patterns for three sizes of dog beds and jackets. Since it has been abnormally cold in New Orleans the last week or two, it seemed like the wiener dog could use a jacket.

None of those dogs look very happy.

Ball-chasing action

Sewing notes:

The pattern wanted you to bind all of the edges with seam binding. Not only does that seem tedious, I made it out of polar fleece, so I wanted all of it to be soft.

Instead, I made it reversible- one side is red, one side it zebra print- and then top-stitched all edges so it would lay flat and not slide around. It closes with Velcro.

Adjustments:

I extended the chest closure straps by about 2 inches on each side. T-Rex has a barrel chest.

Next time:

When I make this again (which I will since it took me about 45 minutes to make and is really cute) I will probably extend the sides 2-3 inches so it wraps him more. I would also make it about 4-5 inches longer. Right now, it doesn't cover all of his long body.

Notes:

1. I made a medium and it is tiny. If you are making this for a big dog, I would make the pattern much much bigger.

2. The dog mas been wearing it all morning and he looks adorable. In fact, HE JUST WENT AND ADMIRED HIMSELF IN THE MIRROR! hahaha. Seriously.

Happy New Year!