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Saturday, February 28, 2015

1930's Skirt - (HSM #2)

The 1930's have never been my forte, fashion-wise. While I've admired that period of history for other reasons, I'd always been under the impression that the long, slim lines would look silly on me.



But when I saw this new pattern on sale at Joann's for $1, I couldn't pass it up. At the very least, I could give the fashions a real chance before making up my mind.




Since the prompt for this month was 'blue,' I pulled out a length of plaid fabric from my stash and started sewing up option B, without the belt. The pattern itself was really straightforward and easy to put together. There are seven gores; one of which I cut on the bias.

I ran in to two problems during the construction:

1. The fabric was too stretchy. It's not really a stretchy fabric in and of itself, but when the pieces were put together, it was too big and just slipped right off my waist. I'd cut my regular size but had to take 8 inches out of the waist.




2. Pockets. Enough said.

I don't know why I thought pockets would be a good thing to add to the skirt, but I did. And, boy, was it ever a bad idea.


As flat as I could get the pockets to lay.
In the picture above, the skirt is finished except for hemming. I tried it on only to find that the pockets gaped, pulled, wrinkled, and looked just plain awful. So I quickly cut them out and sewed the slits closed.


Today was tank-top weather!
 The skirt lays infinitely better with the pockets taken out. I slipped my Oxford heels on this morning to take a few pictures of the finished product and was entirely pleased with how it turned out. I hadn't expected the skirt to flatter me, but I find that my opinion of 30's fashions has changed dramatically!




I like how the front gore looks cut on the bias, but I could have done a better job matching the stripes through the rest of the skirt. The seams around the back don't look too bad, but, looking at it again, I think I should have matched the patterns.

Well, there's always next time.


The Challenge: Blue (HSM #2)
Fabric: Blue/black plaid (with a very subtle pink stripe running through)
Pattern: McCall's M6993
Year: c. 1933, as it says on the pattern.
Notions: Navy thread and zipper. Black hook-and-bar. 
How historically accurate is it? I can't really say. I know that plaid was popular during the 30's, as was cutting on the bias. But, I know the fabric content isn't accurate and I don't know about how I sewed. I would guess somewhere around 60-70%?
Hours to complete: Probably about 5-6. I would have saved myself a lot of extra time if I hadn't wasted time with those stupid pockets.
First worn: Today to take some pictures. I'm planning on actually wearing it on Monday, though.
Total cost: I bought the fabric so long ago, I don't remember its cost. I tend to buy fabric that is around $3/yard and I used about 2 yards. So my guess would be about $6. I had the notions already and I'd bought them at such a low price that they wouldn't even add another dollar onto the total.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Shoes + Springtime


Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted six more weeks of winter, but as far as I am concerned spring has already arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The highs have almost reached 60 and we are looking forward to a week of sun. Today was overcast, but still nice enough to not need a jacket when I went out this afternoon.

In fact, it's been so nice lately that I finally pulled out my box of spring- & summertime clothes and packed away my winter jackets, sweaters, and scarves. It was nice to get some space back in my closet.



And I was happy to see all of my sandals again. Shoes are one of my greatest loves and I'm always excited to rotate through them as the seasons change.



With as warm as it is, I was happy to see little buds and flowers poking their heads out when I took the puppy out on a walk today. I brought my camera along and was able to get her to hold still long enough that I could snap some shots.







 

All in all, it made for a lovely day.


And how could I not include a picture of the puppy 'helping' with the photoshoot? She loves that darn window-seat and having shoes in it was even more exciting than usual!

Friday, February 6, 2015

1730's Chemise - (HSM #1)

When I saw that the first HSM challenge was 'foundations', I decided that I wanted to use it to make my first foray into the 18th century sewing. Since I started, I've done projects that spanned from medieval to renaissance and then Victorian to modern-day, but nothing in between.


The Spring, by Jean Marc Nattier, 1738 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
I spent a lot of time doing research because I started with zero knowledge about this era; just a few general ideas about shape and necessary pieces. It took a while, but I decided on the 1730's and based my shift's construction off of the research done by Sharon Ann Burnston and used the painting The Spring (above) as a visual guide.



With all the time I spent doing research, I started really late in the month and had only a couple days to sew it. I swung by Joann's one afternoon before I had to go to work and bought two yards of 90 inch muslin with a 50% off coupon.



The next night I took all my measurements (on the piece of paper at the top of the photo) and laid out the muslin to cut it up. The fabric was folded four layers thick so the front piece wouldn't have to be sewn to the back piece at the shoulders and, as it so happened, 45" was right where I wanted the bottom of my chemise to be so it fit quite perfectly onto the muslin.



I spent the night watching the stage production of Oklahoma! and sewing it all together by hand with cotton thread. I tried to get it all done that night, but, by 4:30 am, I just couldn't do it any more.



It was going well until I got to the sleeves. I had originally planned to just gather them into cuffs that were loose enough so they didn't need an opening, but, looking back at my guide picture and re-reading the instructions, I realized that they actually had a small slit up towards the elbow and closed with a ribbon (or cuff-links) through buttonholes. At first I was going to just move past it, but I couldn't bring myself to and had to go back and re-open part of the sleeves that I'd previously sewn shut.

So it followed me around in a basket for the next couple days as I hemmed the new openings and gathered them in to cuffs. I was a little nervous to do buttonholes for the second time ever, but it turned out alright. At this point I had to face it that I would finish a couple days late but I didn't want to over-do it on the first entry of the year.

So, in the end I finished two days late but I'm glad that I finished it at all. I had a love-hate relationship with all of the hand-sewing along the way but I'm pretty happy with the final product. If I could do it over, I would have made the sleeves a little fuller, but I think it's pretty good.


Final Product:


Front.

Sleeve detail.

Side detail.

Side.


The Challenge: Foundations (HSM #1)
Fabric: White Muslin
Pattern: Made from my measurements using the instructions here.
Year: 1730's
Notions: White cotton thread, pink ribbon
How historically accurate is it? Pretty accurate, I would say. I stuck to historically-accurate methods of sewing and the shape, cut, etc. are right. It's made of cotton, not linen, but there is evidence of cotton chemises from that time.
Hours to complete: I would estimate 10-15. I need to get faster at sewing by hand...or quit getting distracted by mid-century musicals.
First worn: I haven't worn it yet. I did try it on once before I added the sleeves to check the neckline, but that was it.
Total cost: Somewhere around $5 because I ended up having a little less than half of the fabric left over. Everything else was taken from my stash.

Bonjour & Welcome