Apr. 18 - Apr. 22, The Week in Patterning 18

It's been a whirlwind week around here.
First, in sewing from EvaDress Patterns news, the 1935 summer dress continued as I completed bound buttonhole facings. A quick product plug here: I show one of the back facing seam allowances 'taped' with deni fuse sheer interfacing by Gail Patrice. The interfacing comes pre-cut 3-yards long at 60" wide in black or white. I created my own straight 3/8" stay tape from my white deni fuse in order to stabilize the back edges of the dress.

You also see how the belt is attached to the dress. In lieu of cutting a fabric belt, I chose double-face silk satin ribbon which I will likely tie at center front. The belt attachment is unique and I think throws some sewers. Each end of the belt is sewn into the facing/back edge of both right and left sides, yet the right belt section threads through a vertical buttonhole created in the back left side. The belt from the right back side is also folded away from the back edge and top-stitched along its center (not yet done in photo) for about an inch in order to accommodate the way the back left side laps the back right side:


Lastly, I will launch my new web site the end of this coming week-yay! The site will have features everyone expects in search capabilities and multiple payment methods. This also means by May 8, you will see my blog post entries from the new web site homepage (as indicated below, can't miss that BIG red arrow)! I am not sure yet how I will handle all the entries I have made to date from this address, but when I have that figured, I will fill you in.
...and I am still wearing my kitchen apron from dinner prep!

Mar. 28 - Apr. 1, The Week in Patterning 15

This board highlights bound buttonhole details I put to use on my 1935 Beach Dress:


I outlined my photos with text and illustrations from Dressmaking Made Easy, by The McCall Pattern Company, 1946. I have a couple additional tips I recommend when working with the binding of each buttonhole you are welcome to access via pdf here.  Click image to get larger views:

More 40's and 50's multi-size patterns are yet on their way this year to include these two! My work continued on each this week, expecting to have the 50's halter/bodice pattern tested and ready to go by April's end. It will be some time before I have the junior size blouses pattern tested out and ready for issue, but I will announce here:



This week's work will involve hand-drafting more originals to add to my multi-size line later this and into next year. As well, you get the hint by now that my work is not linear as I must toggle between different projects. Expect to see more progress on my 1869 sheer dress and the 1935 beach dress!

Mar. 21 - Mar. 25, The Week in Patterning 14

I went into the fray with the 1869 bustle dress I showed a little of last week. This time, you get a bigger picture as to where some of these smaller pinked details go. I agitate the edges of the pinking to give a slightly frayed effect as on some extant gowns of the time. The idea is keeping this ensemble clean with simple embellishment.



Part of the magic in my work is making great leaps through time in an instant! We hop 78 years later to 1947 when Butterick originally issued this hood pattern which I now have in original size 36-38" bust and for 22" head size. I will take it to multiple sizes if there is interest, so let me know! .

Feb. 8 - Feb. 12, The Week in Patterning - 8

'Be My Valentine Blouse'. I made style 2 from pattern B50-5490 in deep red cotton sateen. I finished it up today to wear tomorrow for my sewing circle meeting, so will get pics snapped then.
This week's story board covers one detail on the blouse (more details following with a fully finished shot). Namely, sewing silk organza (pre-hand-washed to remove sizing) bias to turn the sleeve revers. Image shows under-stitching the bias in place-I love all those glorious reds!

Per last week's post, a couple screen shots of the new multi-size pattern, the Butterick 1947 Dress with Cut-Outs. One capture shows the original size 16 (34" bust) and size 40(" bust) which is the next size up in my muslin test. From there, I test again in muslin at 48" bust.
The next capture demonstrates this as one of those patterns in which I cut the lapped sleeve (for style A of pattern below) in half to grade it into other sizes and I will then put it all back together:


Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day to start the week off!

Feb. 1 - Feb. 5, The Week in Patterning - 7

The 1920 coat pattern is coming along in muslin. The current studies investigate the ease all around the coat that goes under the belt and how the fur collar will be attached to the coat. When the coat (originally referred to as a 'Simple Jacket') is finished, the belt is buttoned in place at front left and right sides. The belt neatly conceals the dart which shapes the waistline (which one notices in the pattern screenshot here, and as sewn in the muslin).

One will also note that the model shown in the art is much longer than the pattern I drafted and this first muslin iteration. The original instructions advise to add 25cm additional length once the pattern has been drafted from the master. I will add this additional length (10 inches) to the digital pattern once I am through all of the muslin details.
This muslin is for ensuring all pieces fit well together, to aid when I sketch construction details for the instructions I will provide with the finished pattern (hence, only one sleeve in place for these photos) and to verify the original pattern size.



Of course, this is not everything that has been happening in my pattern studio this week! I am through testing cut out details across sizes on my next multi-size pattern, the 1947 dress by Butterick. It is scheduled for issue shortly after Valentine's, so more on that in next weekend's post.

Jan. 4 - Jan. 8, The week in Patterning - 3

I completed the 1860 waist from EvaDress/Barrington House Polonaise pattern.  I look forward to obtaining photos of me wearing it to Sharlot Hall Museum Living History program yesterday for you all to see! Look up the first week's post for the in-progress and intro to this project.
Also in week 1, I gave a finishing detail of the cotton bobbinet Vogue 1935 Tucked Blouse (worn over the low-backed 1932 slip). It is now complete with vintage 'West Germany' crystal buttons and all!
In more patterns to come shortly, I am ready to grade a 1929 Bust Reducer into multiple sizes! Here you see it below right (original size is 48" bust).
At lower left is a 'simple' French 1920 coat I am about to digitize and will make available in multi-size as well.

Dec. 28 – Jan. 1, The week in Patterning – 2

I have 7 yards of sheer cotton to use with last summer’s 1869 bustle dress pattern.
I stretched it out from my studio into the kitchen where my pair of rabbits were playing for the day. This meant I had inadvertently created a bunny runway when I thought I was quickly assessing how the pattern would take the plaid!

The studies at lower right are options I am throwing around depending on how much of the sheer I have for such a finish. Part of this week's patterning has been to digitize, print and revise the pieces as well as add seam allowances to each and create cutting layout diagrams for them. The option at top is the basque originally prescribed as part of the bustle dress ensemble, yet the two below are offered as separate, more formal finishes. I will offer them as such once they are in multiple sizes.

Lastly, I managed to uncover yet another 'Hidden Gem'. I began issuing those patterns that somehow slipped through the cracks over the years, or needed a little something to complete it. Not sure how I overlooked this one as I went through some possibilities in '15, so it will be up in the next day!

Dec. 21 – Dec. 24, The Week in Patterning - 1

This is a new section featuring what I have been up to by-the-week for lack of posting much online. I gleaned inspiration for posting more often this way from Ann Wood Handmade. Each entry will be posted in storyboard fashion (click images for larger version). Please enjoy and Happiest of New Years' to you!

I consider a couple of current sewing projects as a lead-up to this Christmas. I machine-tucked the bobbinet blouse December 2014 when first experimenting with circa 1935 Vogue’s pattern 6969 (which had been a gift to me earlier in the year). This week was devoted to wrapping seams, securing the MANY thread ends off each pleat and roll-hemming edges.
The blouse came from the drapes off the bobbinet gown I created from circa 1935 Vogue’s Couturier design 371 in 2011. The cotton bobbinet is perfect for this blouse! I will post the complete blouse the week of Jan. 4.
This blouse pattern is currently available in its original size (34" bust), yet I will work the blouse up in multiple sizes between other pattern deadlines the first half of 2016.



The second project is a sheer waist (also in progress) I created from our 1860 Polonaise Pattern released in 2013. The waist is meant to go under my Swiss waist I created last December (shown over a borrowed blouse). The completed waist will be shared the week of Jan. 11.
I wear the waist(s) for Living History interpretation at our Sharlot Hall Museum. January is devoted to handwork for me, which means I take the Spanish Jacket and continue to add to the soutache motif!
I received a request for the Swiss Waist in pattern form and I have a great deal to offer this year, so I will see how I do this year as far as tucking it in between pattern deadlines!

My 2016 Make it with Wool

This is the first of a series detailing my three-piece 2016 Make it with Wool entry.
In an effort to present wool as unexpectedly fresh and light, I am creating Vogue's 1949 Kimono Blouse from pattern 6970 with large draped collar in sand-colored superfine gabardine.  This wool gabardine has such a subtle sheen due to its ultra-fine weave, it's nearly satin!  Having this lustrous fabric is exciting as I think this ensemble should 'sparkle' in places.


The second piece is the 1944 wrap Skirt originally by McCall.  I sewed it in a lightly woven Pendleton with Fleur de Lis and paisley figures in charcoal tones:

The detail below the pattern front shows the Hong Kong seams wrapped in silk habotai with which I also lined the skirt in a dark navy.
I first spotted this Pendleton at the 2014 MiWW state final and thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in wool!  I did not win the piece (it was the gratis piece for that year from Pendleton Woolen Mills), but I did track 1-1/2 yards of it down and knew just what to do!  I used the fabric's woven border at the hem and the drape of the left faced section of the skirt went perfectly with Gail Patrice deni-fuse interfacing.




The idea is that the blouse and skirt are soft, sculptured pieces.

As for the color scheme, I am following a palette of colors I enjoyed on Stinson Beach four years ago.  The charcoal of the skirt and the sand of the gabardine both match colors on each end of the mussel shells I picked up from the beach.  I wanted to pull deep blue out of the charcoal woven for some reason (perhaps that seashell's strong influence on me?) so lining it in navy was so suitable.
That said, enter the otherwise 'blue' aspect of the project; the corselet.
I am accessorizing the blouse and skirt with a Tunisian crocheted corselet.  The pattern is from Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2004 (seen here).  To satisfy the competition's requirement of wool content, I chose Madeline Tosh Merino Light for this piece.  The variegated blues in the merino stitched corselet make up the range of blues through the center of the sea shells.
I had made a Tunisian stitched corset in Alchemy's bamboo 8 years ago, only wider than the version I am now doing.  With the large blouse collar and the fact that I am short-waist-ed, I did not want to be engulfed in the wider original version of the stitched corset.

I understand the history of the Tunisian Simple Stitch to be murky, yet the idea of the dense stitch for warm sailor sweaters or Sontag's in the 1800's is clear.  I say this is 'Not your mother's afghan stitch' because as a kid in the 70's, I remember the sunburst-patterned afghan in gold, almond and yellow swathed over couch at any given time.  I like the idea that Tunisian-stitched items started out as very pragmatic, then leaped to one of THE hand stitches in 1970's throws and now has come back as wearable art.
As I like to play on paradox, my concept in the merino-stitched piece dictates what is thought of as a very dense, grid stitch becomes so light and de-materialized is almost ethereal in a very structural corselet!  The wool becomes translucent when crocheted over spiral steel dressmaking bones and the grid stitch pattern opens up when stretched around the midriff.


As in my submission last year, I explored different graphic scales between each piece.  I mentioned how smooth the gabardine blouse is and made a step up to the grainy weave in the Pendleton skirt.  The final transition takes place in the pixilated stitches of the corset, being the piece which separates the blouse and skirt.

More construction details coming up in the next post!

Top Finalist in the EvaDress 40's Fling! Challenge is...

From the 1940's-only garment submissions, I pulled five and asked Lauren Lee of Wearing History Clothing to evaluate for a top finalist based on maintaining original design lines, overall design and quality of construction.
Eszter of Australia impressed us with her bound buttonholes and diagonal seams in her fine Italian wool ensemble from pattern SE40-210 .
Here is part of what Eszter had this to say of her entry: 'Made out of fine navy Italian wool its lined in sage green rayon, with bound buttonholes, self covered buttons and tidy little gathers at the elbow for movement. The skirt is also lined, and has french seams. This came out great and I'm really proud of it. The wool was fantastic to work with and the pattern was surprisingly easy to put together!'
Lauren and I certainly agree Eszter is to be proud of her ensemble, see what you think (click images for larger version)!



Here are four of the five finalists from which Lauren also reviewed, they are Alison, Julie, Kristen and Milli:
Check out all the fabulous projects on the FaceBook event page:

Construction Details - E30-5918, 1931 Evening Gown with Diagonal Seams

I have had questions about the way the strap on this gown is applied.  Essentially, the strap is smocked with three lines of shirring before the back bodice strap portion is twisted, brought under the top shoulder edge of A, and stitched as a lapped seam. This is not exactly something that contemporary sewers are used to doing, so I worked a quick muslin version showing the steps:


Shows A, the Bodice Front with top edge turned under 3/8". The pen marks indicate where the first two rows of running stitches will be made:

Wrong side of A with top edge turned under 3/8":

I modified this example a bit by running the first row of long stitches very close to fold of turned edge. Then I ran subsequent lines of long stitches 3/8" apart. The large O is the match point '2' between the front and back strap.

Example shows size 40 bust, so the lines of gathers are drawn to 1-7/8" per chart given in the instructions. A third row of gathering stitched is then sewn in.

Gathered shoulder edge of B, Bodice Back. Flat bias finishes both neck and armseye edges of B and as for A:

The shoulder strap of B is twisted two times toward the neck and the turned edge of 'A' laps over 'B' with match points in place. Top-stitch through all layers. Shows full shirred effect in 3 rows of stitching the pattern originally calls for:

Additionally, this pattern was originally made for the petite figure (note half sizes given in yardage chart) and labeled as a 'half size' pattern.  Regular pattern sizes were made for women of a standard height of 5'7" to 5'8" whereas half size patterns were for those 5'3" to 5'4" tall.  The difference between this and the women's regular size is, according to The McCall Pattern Co. in that 3-4" difference as follows:
1" shorter in the waist
2-3" shorter in the skirt
1" shorter in a full-length sleeve
1-2" larger around the hip
1" larger around the waistline