A Vintage Recreation for Jodie

I was contacted by Jodie waaaaaaaay back in January.  She wanted a custom dress to wear to the Cooly Rocks On festival in Coolangatta that runs from the 30th of May to the 2nd of June this year (and around abouts the same time every other year).  Of course I said I would love to make her a dress, and we started chatting from there.

Jodie wanted a dress with a full circle skirt, a sweetheart neckline, and bracelet length sleeves or something covering her arms, made from a bright stretch cotton sateen.  We went backwards and forth for a while tossing around ideas and eventually settled on recreating a vintage dress from my collection - this Kamehameha (who was a Hawaiian king don't cha know!)

The sweetheart neckline is actually a straight cut that is turned into a sweetheart neckline by the tie - meaning you can have it as daring or not-so-daring as you like!

And the full circle skirt is embellished by (only one, sadly) amazing patch pocket that is reminiscent of the bust.

I decided to make Jodie a bolero to wear with her dress.  This would give her the sleeves she wants, but also make the dress more versatile, as she can wear it without the bolero, or with a different jacket or cardigan!

So I set about pattern making and cutting out all the fabric required - the cotton sateen and a contrasting cotton, and a whole bunch of bias strips.  This took me much longer than I thought it would!

I got caught up and forgot to take photos of the fabric before I started... oops!

Then I started construction - otherwise known as the fun bit!  The bodice went together very easily, even with all the fiddly details like the piping, pleated straps, and bodice tie.

Isn't the fabric she chose fabulous!  More of a mustard in person, but so bright!

The skirt and the fabulous pockets also went together really easily.  Actually the pockets were fun!  I love copying things - it really appeals to the problem solving side of me!

oops - thats a bit blurry... sorry!

Then before I knew it the dress was all done!

So it was on to the bolero.

I decided to make it double sided so that Jodie could decide to wear it pattern side out or plain side out.  But not just that, I decided to have a stripe running around the bottom of the bolero in the opposite fabric.

I love to make my life more interesting by adding LOTS of detail!

The bolero isn't finished yet, but here is the patterned side.

And here is the plain side.

Which way around do you think she should wear it???

This weekend I will be putting the finishing touches on the bolero, as well as starting on my next suit - a lovely bright olive green that I am adding an embellished vintage fur collar to.

Before I go I just want to apologise for this being my only blog post in a while.  I've been struck down by a cold / flu thing and its taken me a week and a half to get over it.  It seems that when I get these things now, I get much sicker than I did before I became a coeliac...

Anyway!

Have you done any  vintage recreations?  If you could recreate a vintage dress, which one would you choose?

Beccie
xxx

What a Wonderful Weekend! Part 2

Ok, so I pretty much covered the sewing get-together part of my weekend in my last post, but I didn't get to talk about Kim and Alby's house.

They live in what appears to be a old house built in the Queenslander style, except its not.  It was actually built not that long ago, and the interior was finished by Kim and Alby in an almost perfect reproduction.

Decorative timber archways, thick and lush draping curtains...

Antique furniture and artworks...

Stained glass, antique style power points and light switches...

A kitchen filled with antique and vintage kitchenalia and collectables

And an antique telephone that opens to reveal....

A modern telephone and a clever place to put stuff!

The house was just amazing, and what was under the house was just as good.  Alby is a serious mid century collector and there is SO MUCH STUFF in the shed under their house - from records and magazines, to furniture, jukeboxes and a caravan that is currently being restored.  And then there is the shed part way up the driveway that contains three antique cars for restoration!

There is one car that has been fully restored (a Chevy Bel Air - my favourite!) and that is the one that we took to the Garterbelts and Gasoline festival on Sunday!

We left fairly early to drive the 30 or so minutes up the mountain to the showground, and when we arrived the sun was out but it was cold and the wind was blowing an icy gale.  I was completely unprepared for the weather, and all I had to wear was my vintage hawaiian dress and two cardigans.  Mind you, I was dressed appropriately compared to some people!!!

After we parked the car for display on the showground, Kim, my new friend Chelsea and I wandered around the market stalls.  And thats when Chelsea and I spotted a gorgeous vintage coat.  There may have been elbows and some shoving involved, but Chelsea must have way more practice at this kind of thing than me, cause she made it there first.  It fit her perfectly, and she bought it for the princely sum of $35.  But being the lovely person that she is, she let me wear it.

That's me in the bargain coat in the middle, with Chelsea on the left and Kim on the right.  I can't remember the other lady's names... I'm really bad at remembering names...

After the shopping, we headed back to the car to sit in the sun and warm up with a cup of tea.  Alby broke out the picnic chairs and Kim opened up the 1950s vintage picnic basket and made tea.

There was even SAUCERS!  It was so civilised!!

Kim and Chelsea enjoying their cups of tea (and the sunshine!)

mmmm sunshine!!!

After that we did the other thing you do at a car show - we wandered around looking at the cars!

I took off the coat for this photo - so you can sort of see my vintage hawaiian dress.  Its amazing!!!

Believe it or not, this car was built and is owned by a member of the sewing group!  And when you have an opportunity to sit in a car like this and have your photo taken - you take it!

There were also a few vintage caravans on display.  I was particularly taken by the paint job on this one

This is actually a fiberglass caravan and the edge, rivets and rust are part of THE PAINT JOB!  It was seriously incredible!!

Best fairy lights ever!

After the wander we went back to the car for another sit in the sun and our picnic lunch of leftovers from the day before.  Why is it that some things just taste better the next day???

We might also have added a bit of kick to our soft drink... shhh!!

On the way home we stopped for 10 seconds so I could have a quick look at the view.  Any longer than that and I think I would either have a) blown away; or b) frozen solid!

I really had an amazing weekend.  It was lovely to meet new people, make new friends, and see new places.  Thank you so much to Kim, Alby and their family for letting me stay, making me feel welcome and driving me around.

Back to sewing this weekend, and regular programming of sewing blogging next week!

Beccie

xxx

What a Wonderful Weekend! Part 1

Before I start, I just want to thank everyone for all the comments on my last post.  I have read them all but I haven't commented on each of them.  At the end of the day I wish the pattern companies would put the measurements of the finished garment on the back of the envelope so we can make an educated decision when we choose which size to buy.

But now, on with today's post!

I had the most marvelous weekend!!!  I am part of an Australian sewing group on Facebook, made up of a small group of ladies from around the country, some of which I already knew from my LA trip last year.  One of the ladies - Kim, who organised the LA trip - decided to host a get together at her home just outside of Brisbane.  I wasn't going to let an interstate trip stop me from getting together with a bunch of like-minded people, so I booked my flights and off I went.

The lovely Kim offered to let me stay with her family AND they even picked me up from the airport!!!  As well as that she organised a night out with some of the Brisbane ladies from the LA trip, and some other vintage loving gals.

This is us at Lefty's Old Time Music Hall

Love that place!  Can't wait to go back!!

Saturday was the sewing group lunch.  Kim has an amazing collection of Home Journals from the late 30s through to the late 50s, vintage sewing books, and vintage pattern books amongst other things.  We spent the first part sitting on the verandah in the sun going through the books, drinking tea and champagne and talking all things sewing.

 Look at Bree and I using our acting so it looks like we are reading that catalogue while that photo is being taken.  We totally pulled it off!

Seriously, I died over these catalogues.  Thankfully (for Kim) they were too big to put in my handbag, and my suitcase was already overweight...

Mz Vicki (who writes a blog over at Rayon Dreams in a Cheesecake World), brought a couple of things she was part way through sewing that she had questions about.  With the experience around the table were able to help her out (I may have been called a seamstress guru...!!!)

 We had an 'Ellen-Selfie' moment...

This is Bree - I met her while we were both part of Miss Pinup Australia, and we've been friends ever since.

This is Mz Vicki - we hadn't met before but had come across each other a lot on Facebook... but now we're friends in person too!!!

 This is Janis.  Lets take a minute to talk about Janis

I met Janis on the LA trip last year, and she is a lovely lady.  After spending time with me in LA she knows me pretty well, and knows exactly what I like... which is why she brought a whole lot of VINTAGE BORDER PRINTS and gave me first right of refusal.

Janis gifted me a hat to go with this one - the colours are an almost perfect match!

These pots alternate along the length of the fabric!

Cowboys chasing bison!

This may well have been intended for curtains but WHO CARES!

I think this one is my favourite by a very close margin - FOX HUNT!

I didn't refuse any of them...

I LOVE YOU JANIS!!!!!!  I know have about 7 border prints I'm intending to make skirts from...  I'm seeing a weekend making skirts in an assembly line fashion in my future!

After several promptings from Kim, we managed to tear ourselves away from the books and moved to the dining room where the chat continued while we ate delicious food and sweet treats (and drank more tea and champagne).  We even started planning possible future get togethers!

THEN we moved to the other side of the verandah were we had put the things we brought with us, and it was time for the sell and swap part of the afternoon!

 Rummage time!

Even Kim's puppy Milly got involved by guarding the stash of things that Kim had grabbed.

I gave away some of my things, and picked up a few patterns that I plan on using for bribery.  More on that at some point (if my bribery is successful!!!)

Kim had anticipated that the lunch would end at 2pm, but I looked at the time at this point and it was 4.30pm and everyone was still having an amazing time just hanging about and chatting!  It really was wonderful to spend time with such like-minded ladies!

Keen-eyed readers will have noticed what I'm wearing.  I decided to debut my Peplums and Cocktails dress and it was super comfortable to wear, fit well, and garnered many compliments!!!  Thanks Mz Vicki for being my photographer.

Isn't it lovely when you see a photo of yourself from behind and you think 'gee, my bum is nowhere near as big as I thought it was' !!!

I did have to do some very last minute sewing as I was packing my bag.  I realised that I hadn't made the belt for the dress!  The 1920s brass buckle had arrived and I'd put it down and forgotten about it!!!  Luckily making a belt takes about 10 minutes.  Just don't inspect the hand sewing too closely.

I just realised that this post is quite long already, so I'm going to leave the second half of my weekend to my next post.

Have any of you attended or hosted a meet-up like this?  Would you highly recommend it too?

Beccie
xxx

Vintage Pants from a Modern Pattern... plus... A Rant!

Some time ago, Lucky Lucille did a post about pants and referenced a modern pattern - Vogue V8836 - suggesting it was nearly identical to pants from the late 1930s.  I had been looking at pants patterns, because I wanted to make some comfy wide leg pants, so it was almost like she had read my mind.  Vogue happened to have a sale, so I purchased the pattern online.  Here it is:

When deciding what size range to buy, I looked at the sizes on the website and chose the one with the size 16 as it had a 30" waist, and I have a 29" waist.... close enough I thought!

I also jumped on to fabric.com and purchased some micro brushed twill fabric in navy and grey.  I hadn't heard of it before - it was also a suggestion from Lucky Lucille - but I find its quite denim like, but with a softer feeling surface which is probably due to the brushed bit.  But its quite heavy so good for winter pants.

So I had a spare afternoon last weekend, and I thought the perfect way to spend my time was on comfy, easy-to-sew pants.  I cut them out and did gathers and darts and pocket flaps etc.  All went well until I realised I didn't have a 7" zip in my stash.  Why is it I never have the right zipper???

Anyway this was as far as I got:

Two back pieces with darts and pocket flaps (no I haven't sewn that button on, and I've since bought a better button, so its a good thing I didn't...)

Two front pieces with pleats and pockets done

I happened to be driving past Spotlight on Monday, so popped in to get the zipper, and then when I finished work I went and put the zip in.

Never having put a fly in a pair of pants before, it probably took me a little longer than it should.  This could be because instructions for modern patterns don't seem to make much sense.  Does anyone else have this issue???

But it went in without a hassle, and looks like this:

 From the inside...

From the outside

I then sewed all the pieces together and made the pants minus the waistband.

They were looking pretty big, so I measured them...

Multiply that by two to get an all around measurement, and you get 33.5"

That's 33.5 inches from a pattern that is supposed to produce pants for someone with a 30 inch waist!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You probably heard me cursing from wherever it is in the world you live.  I was not happy!  With vintage patterns there is wearing ease of about an inch, but this, this is ridiculous!  I think anyone that sewed up pants that were this much to big for them would feel just the same!  Vintage patterns just seem so much more reliable in their instructions, and their sizing. 

Have patterns started doing the vanity sizing thing???  Is this some weird anomaly, or are all modern patterns like this???

So I now have to unpick the pleats on the front and re-do them to take in some excess, and take in the back seam, and maybe a little from the side seams (if I can do it without affecting the pockets).  What should have been a simple job of just putting on the waistband has turned into a massive pain in the behind.

Can you tell I'm not happy???

Has anyone else experienced similar issues with modern patterns?

Beccie
xxx