Re-Styled [and Re-Employed and Re-Located] | 30 July 2012

Life has taken a few changes since my last post, including a new job and a new residence. I love my place of work and couldn't be happier with my new place in the in-law suite of the Manor of Mischief. It's five-minutes from the library at which I work and comes with the delightfully rambunctious and cuddly Millie.

That, and my broken sewing machine, means I haven't been sewing much, but at least I've managed to get dressed every so often :) I snapped these pictures before running errands.

This combination of simple tee and dirndl skirt is becoming a summer uniform of sorts. This particular skirt is one I thrifted years ago with the intention of making it into cafe curtains for my kitchen, but it turned out my kitchen in North Carolina had no window. Recently I pulled it out of my alterations bin, removed the horrible polyester waistband, and resewed the fraying seams. Now I feel like a midcentury tourist when I wear it, especially when I pair it with loads of brightly colored bangles! Of course, I forgot those today, so you'll have to imagine the finished effect.

{skirt: vintage, thrifted | tee: h&m | shoes: Montego Bay Club, thrifted hand-me-downs | necklace: self-made of thrifted parts}

Re-Styled | 18 June 2012

It's no secret that I adore thrift-store shopping, and secondhand sources provide the vast majority of my clothes and household furnishings. I thought, then, that it would be fun to document how I use some of these items in my day to day life, namely through outfit or what-I'm-wearing type posts. I enjoy reading how others express their personal styles with secondhand items, so why not join the throng?

{skirt: DKNY, thrifted | sweater: Ann Taylor Loft, thrifted & altered | wedges: Naturalizer, thrifted | leather belt, thrifted | bird necklace, gift }


This outfit makes a frequent appearance in my spring ensembles. The skirt I found marked down to a couple dollars at a local thrift store during my (still ongoing) olive-green loving phase, and I knew this 100% silk maxi skirt would get lots of rotation during warm seasons. I love pairing it with this delicate lambswool sweater in my other favorite color, blush pink. The sweater (thrifted a couple years ago in NC) originally had long wrap-around ties that, while cute, rather limited the ways I could wear it so I carefully unpicked the side seams into which they were sewn, removed them, and serged the sides back up. The bird necklace was a birthday gift from my sister (which she bought on Etsy but added the bead herself).

Thanks for looking!

Swimsuit, Refashioned

My dear sister's swimsuit was wearing out and, being the resourceful girl she is, Kathryn set about refashioning it into this darling vintage-look two piece.

For reference, the suit was an adorable vintage-inspired one-piece before (similar to this one but with ties at the back), but the elastic had all but disintegrated in the few years Kathryn owned it (I'm not sure Merona used chlorine-resistant elastic). The shirring had slackened so that the suit looked more like a dress than a swimsuit. The fabric itself had more life left, however.

She cut the bra from the body/skirt unit and bound the bottom edge with a band cut from the skirt. For the bottoms, she added elastic (chlorine-resistant!) to the top edge of the remaining body and shirred the sides with new elastic.

As you can tell, she's chuffed with her new suit. I'm eager to refashion one myself now!

Leather Necklaces

Over the weekend my sister and I made some leather necklaces, directly inspired by some of the lovely triple-chevron jewelry we've been pinning lately (like here and here). After scrounging up the materials this was a quick project.

We used leather samples I'd picked up from Durham's Scrap Exchange, ordinary findings from the craft store, and chain salvaged from thrifted necklaces.

Pyjamas, Refashioned

I love cute little pyjama sets, but that sort of sewing (or the money to buy readymade) often gets pushed aside for more visible garments, like dresses and skirts. But they make lovely gifts, and gift-status shunts pj sewing up to the top of the priority list (in front of spring and summer sewing, for example). For my friend's birthday this past week I refashioned a seersucker dress into this matching set that will be perfect for the humid summer coming up.

BEFORE

AFTER
(pardon the sloppy pictures--I snapped these right before the birthday girl arrived)

The pattern is one I drafted a couple years ago when I made jammies for my sister, Kathryn. As usual, I sewed the pieces up with French seams and lined the yoke. The hems of the shorts I bound with white binding. I'm excited to sew some pyjamas of my own this summer!

Spring 2012: The Wrap Dress (Muslin)

I'm happy to say that I've completed the last of my spring and summer patterns! My final drafting project was the pleated wrap dress, and it was the most involved project of the bunch. As I mentioned earlier, the design was based upon Burda #143 from May 1994:

Burda Pattern #143 (5/94) and my sketch

As I didn't fall within the size range for the original pattern, I went ahead and drafted it off my bodice and skirt slopers while making a few changes to the design in the process (namely adding the shawl collar to the left side and exchanging the set-in sleeves for kimono sleeves). The nice thing about redrafting a pattern is that the original pattern pieces provide a sort of "answer key" against which you can check your own work--especially handy when you're drafting features for the first time. Still a reasonably novice pattern drafter, I referred to Burda's cutting layout constantly to check whether Rohr and Margolis were leading me down the right path.

In spite of all the work I put into the draft, however, I counted it as a rough draft to be polished during the muslin/toile stage. There's only so much a flat pattern can tell you about fitting a three-dimensional figure. For that reason, I recommend cutting the muslin with big seam allowances, especially around the trickier parts like the CB collar and the sleeves (with which I always end up struggling!). I extended my collar two inches beyond the dimensions Rohr gave me so I could position the back seam during the fitting but neglected to make allowances for fitting the sleeves. I think the muslin looks pretty close--

the muslin, front and back--unfortunately rather hard to see against the white wall

Oddly enough, the feature that stumped me most was the cut-on kimono sleeve. I couldn't figure out how to draft the front and back sides to match at first until I realized (with a slap on the forehead) that the front and back sleeve hems don't have to match as long as the shoulder and side seams do. The muslin revealed more issues, though. The small curves of the underarm seams didn't end up matching, and the sleeve was quite binding--in fact, I had to unpick the underarm seam to get the bodice on. I redrafted the sleeves and sewed the new extensions onto the old bodice.

see the sleeve extensions?

Besides allowing me to check the fit (and there are still a few tweaks I'll make to the final pattern), the muslin also gave me the opportunity to practice sewing the dress and to choose the most effective construction techniques, several of which differ from Burda's sparse instructions. As usual, I'll have more to report on that in my final post, which hopefully won't be too far off as I've got a tentative deadline for finishing the actual dress.

Drafting Progress

slopers and freshly drafted patterns

I'm nearly finished drafting all the patterns for my spring and summer sewing--only one dress left to go! I've quite enjoyed working off my new bodice sloper and have drafted new slopers for a princess seam bodice and a dartless bodice as the foundations of my green linen sheath and geometric trimmed tank, respectively.

But now let's talk about ease--wearing ease, that is. After making a muslin for my sheath dress, I was surprised to find that the ease I added for a semi-fitted silhouette was too much. In accordance with Sunni's suggestions for her semi-fitted dress (the very look and comfort I am seeking), I added 3" of ease to the bodice, adding 1/8" to each princess seam and 1/2" to each side seam. The result was not a comfortable yet fitted looking bodice, but a very baggy bodice. Granted, Sunni's recommendation was for 2-2.5" of ease at the waist and I added 3", but it was the chest and armholes that looked much too loose. I ended up pinching out an inch from each side seam, effectively removing the 1/2" of ease I'd drafted in specially and leaving only an inch total of ease still drafted in at the princess seams. The fit was still quite comfortable but not baggy.

As the toile fabric was a fairly heavy, firmly woven cotton-poly blend, I don't think the roominess can be attributed to stretching, and the day I fitted the bodice was not on a particularly skinny day, so I'm wondering--is ease relative to the size of one's frame? At 5'1" tall and barely filling an A-cup (um...just keeping it real here), I'm thinking that the same 3" of ease distributed over say, the "average" 5'6" tall B-cup figure wouldn't be as obvious as it distributed over a petite frame like mine. Ease can best be considered proportionally, I think--although I'm still a bit perplexed as to why my "semi-fitted" specifications are a full two-inches smaller. Anyway, in case this was some fluke, I'll cut my dress with generous seam allowances and adjust the fit on my actual dress if necessary.

By the way, my woolens are out of the freezer and airing out. I'll give them a good brushing before popping the affected ones back in the freezer for the second time and then give them all a good dry press. Hopefully that will deter any further pest behavior. I was happy to find a Threads Magazine article on reweaving and am eager to try it out on some of the pieces!   

Frozen

Despite pushing past my construction dilemma, I've had to set the wool skirt aside for the time being. Reorganizing my sewing projects recently gave me a good opportunity to sift through my bin of alterations and refashioning candidates where I found a long brown wool skirt I made a few years ago. Unfortunately, I found two little holes courtesy of some moth's (or some other insect's) appetite and have consequently chucked every woolen I own into the freezer, where they will remain for the next few days in order to kill any...anything that remains [shudder]. Once they defrost I will give them a thorough brushing and ironing (fabrics) or day in the sun (sweaters) to insure the fibers will be under no further attack (at least for now). Although I'm quite sure the holes originated in my last apartment, I'm going to scrub out my current closet, too. No use putting healthy clothes back in an unhealthy environment!

Then I will see how how the woolens fare. This little episode has reminded me how important it is to inspect my clothes regularly and treat them well with regular brushing and airing out--and the occasional week in the freezer shouldn't hurt, either :)

Frugal Finds: Antique Shops Edition

Just a few vintage sewing and knitting notions from my visit to an antiques shop:

I use rayon seam tape in quite a few of my garments and snatch it up secondhand whenever I can. Here I found three boxes of "Vivid Jade," "Parakeet," and "Navy" tapes that will add a bit of color to future hems (I think the Vivid Jade will match my up-and-coming shift dress nicely!). I'm eager to try the circular knitting needles for a cardigan, too. I've not used nylon needles before, but the packaging tells me they're "virtually indestructible." For $1 I thought I'd try them.

I'm making very slow progress on my spring and summer sewing. The wool skirt is turning into a major project, but I'm hoping to get it done before the hot and humid weather moves in for good this year. 

Spring 2012: The Coral Blouse

I took a wee break from drafting the remaining three patterns for my 2012 Spring & Summer Palette Challenge to sew up this bright coral blouse in rayon challis.

This was actually the first pattern I made out of my spring and summer lineup, but I'd set it aside to sew up my khaki skirt. As you can tell it's quite simple, what with its loose fit and cut-on sleeves; nevertheless I copied it from a readymade shirt of mine to save me the bother of drafting it from scratch.  As for changes, I swapped the low crew neck for a bateau neck, added two pairs of front and back tucks at the waist, and drafted a back button closure.

the original sketch--notice I moved the buttons from the shoulder to the back

The bateau neck helps provide a simple background for embellishment. I embroidered a simple tear drop pattern, but, depending upon the fabric and purpose of the blouse, I might do faced cut-outs, beading, appliques, lace, or something else in future iterations. Colette Patterns provides some tutorials for embellishing the similar Sencha blouse with rouleau and a lace yoke, too.

The Constructions Details

The Finishes
I sewed the blouse with French seams to keep everything looking nice on the inside and to keep the seams from raveling exorbitantly. Rayon challis is lovely to wear and drapes beautifully, but it sure ravels readily! Because challis is slightly sheer, too, I opted to finish the edges (hem, sleeve hems, and neckline) with narrow finishes so the show-through distraction would be minimal. The hems are 1/4" and the neckline is finished with a strip of the fabric's selvage that I mitered at the corners and clipped intermittently so that it would lie flat.

I slip-stitched all the hems and the selvage strip by hand as invisibly as possible. Next time I might use an embroidery stitch to tack these down, especially as that would mimic the neckline embellishment.

The Embroidery
Because rayon challis is so fine and fluid, embroidery seemed the best option for embellishing the neckline because it's lightweight. In order to keep the detail subtle, I used just a single strand of cotton embroidery floss in a matching color--I love how the chain stitches mimic the tear drop shapes!

The Buttoned Back
I love buttoned closures, so I added one to the center back following M. Rohr's instructions in Pattern Drafting and Grading: Women's and Misses' Garment Design. The instructions come from this lovely little blouse:

One of these days I'll have to make that blouse up entirely--or make one of everything in the book, really. But that's another post for another time.

The shell buttons I stole from a cardigan of mine--they looked dated on the sweater, but here they lend a vintage touch.

For the next rayon challis version, however, I will probably forgo the buttons and do a simple keyhole opening at the back in order to retain the lightness of the blouse. That would work better under cardigans, too.

Next up: who knows? I'm not sure if I'll draft one of the dresses or the tank, or sew up the skirt.

new feature

I've been wanting to compile my finished sewing and craft projects in one place, so under the guidance of Laura's excellent tutorial I've dusted off my HTML skills and created an image gallery that links to my projects. You can find the gallery in the new "Featured Projects" tab beneath my header.

One thing this exercise made clear is how few of my projects I've actually posted here or in BurdaStyle. I hope to do better in future!

Frugal Finds: Garage Sale Edition

Friday night I stayed over at Kris and Brandon's in order to accompany them to garage sales early on Saturday. While the majority of the sales didn't pique our interest, a few held treasures that had me grinning the whole car ride back.

The best find? Vintage sewing patterns from the 1950s through the 1970s (which I've listed in approximate chronological order):

double-breasted styling is a particular weakness of mine
and this dress sports a peter-pan collar, too!

The pencil skirt and overskirt remind me of Sabrina's gorgeous dress

I adore cropped jackets (and they work well
on my petite frame); the back bow is a lovely detail!

The green dress is my favorite dress out of all the patterns

(pardon my sloppy scanning--this is McCall's 3914)

a cute house coat pattern; view 1 is my favorite,
although I'd belt it in the front only

This versatile dress comes with a pattern for a detachable collar

I love soft tied collars on structured jackets

This one has an interesting neckline
and is one my sister particularly favors

I'd tentatively planned to make a cape this fall and now--how can I not?

This pattern is the latest of the bunch, ©1974

Out of a whole file-size box of patterns from the 1950s through the 1990s, I managed to trim my selection to just over a dozen--and for $1 total. At that price, I regret leaving other patterns behind, but I've got to exercise some restraint.

A few other purchases rounded out the morning, including a large metal tray painted in one of my favorite color combinations of minty-green and gold:

$3

an ornate barrette for vintage hairstyles:

$0.25

and two shoe clips that I'll use to embellish a future 1940s style dress:

$1

It was a successful trip, I'd say!

Frugal Finds

Kris and I went thrifting the other day and came away with some special things--she found a few lovely items for her home (and will hopefully post about them soon on her new blog!), and I found two things for which I'd been searching for a long time.

First up, knitting needles!

$6.98

For about the price of a single pair, I found 10 pairs packaged together, including 3 bamboo and 3 white plastic ones that I favor. Even better, these are in the fine sizes I'd only just started collecting for projects like this

1930s knitting pattern via Zilredloh

Or this

1950s knitting pattern via Zilredloh

And the second find...

$3.98

...is a fur collar. Actually, it belonged to a coat which, judging by its shape and details, I'd guess is from the 1960s.

The shell of the coat wasn't in the best of shape and the fabric was hideous. I quickly tossed that but saved the silky lining and woolly interlining for a future coat project. Oddly enough, they were in perfect condition. But the reason I bought the coat in the first place was the collar. Once I sew a new lining to it, I'll have a detachable fur collar to wear over cardigans or coats.

Much of the time thrifting doesn't payoff in terms of purchases (it's still always fun, though) but occasionally, it does!

The Colette Patterns Spring & Summer Challenge!

I was inspired by the Colette Patterns seasonal challenges when I created my spring sewing plans. Happily, Sarai and Caitlin have just opened the 2012 Spring & Summer Palette Challenge a few days ago, so I've taken the plunge and signed up. I'm excited to get involved with this inspiring (and growing!) group of sewers.

Spring 2012: The Khaki Pencil Skirt

Out of my projects for spring sewing, the khaki pencil skirt won the privilege of being the first to materialize. It's such a versatile piece that I wanted it in my closet as soon as possible!

As I mentioned before, I planned to draft several sporty details including single welt pockets, a kick pleat (which I mistakenly called a knife pleat earlier), and a contoured waistband:

the original sketch

The Construction Details

As with each new project, I incorporated a couple new techniques culled from my research into couture and tailoring methods.

The Contoured Waistband
An interfacing of muslin and silk organza gives the waistband some breathable support while the rayon seam tape reinforces the waist. Apart from the detailed tutorial I posted, there's not much more to say.

The Single Welt Pockets
One of the only ways I deviated from my original sketch was moving the welt pockets in order to add a little interest to the plain front and declutter the back. Ann Steeve's tutorial in Threads (#122) was wonderfully helpful for sewing professional looking welts (and if you don't have access to Threads, Ann details the same method on her blog).

The Zipper
As I constructed the waistband, I decided against sewing a lapped zipper and installed an invisible one instead. The slight overlap of the waistband seams would have been too bulky. Next time, however, I would end the zipper about 1/4" below the top waistband edge and finish it with a hook and eye so I wouldn't have to fold the zipper tapes in the waistband.

The Kick Pleat
The pleat was a straightforward draft. I drafted mine 1.5 inches wide by 7 inches long and cut it on the fold. I then reinforced the top of the pleat and the lining's slit with a metal eye.

 I'm satisfied with the khaki skirt and happy that I've completed the first spring 2012 project. Next I'm going to finish up my bodice sloper so that I can begin drafting the green sheath dress, the cocoa wrap dress, and the Armani tank.

P.S. When a certain canine thinks it's lunchtime, it can be difficult to snap any decent pictures.

"Lunch, anyone?"

"Now? Lunch now? Lunch now please?"