Simplicity 1694: A Collared Shirt with Volume

I was extra anxious to take pictures of my latest project for the blog...so that I could see whether I liked it or not! In the mirror, I couldn't tell: nice or awful? 

The big surprise is that I like the way the shirt looks, but the fit of the back of my made-to-wear-with-it basic black ponte pant is dreadful. If it's not one thing it's another!

What was it that drew me to Simplicity 1694, which is very different from my usual pattern picks?

Who knows? My fabric choice was quite a bit less fluid than what is shown in the pattern photo. I used lime Brussels Washer from Fabric.com (they have it for an excellent price, by the way), which is a linen-rayon blend. I've used this fabric a few times and it is a pleasure to sew, washes well and does have some drape. Not as much drape as a soft silk, rayon or poly, however.

Side maternity view (not really!)--I refuse to worry about looking pregnant, but I will confess that the side seam is swinging to the front.

The back view of the shirt was the one I was worried about, but now that I get a good look at it, I think it's fine.

When it was finished, I didn't care for the length of the short sleeve, but it has a deep hem which is perfect for cuffing. I think it would be cute with a little button tab, but I'll have to go back for more buttons.

The shirt is huge! I made the XS, which has a 40" bust measurement. No fit adjustments. I could have shortened it (I am only 5'2"), but I decided that more coverage might be a beautiful thing. The shoulders are slightly dropped, which absolved me of worrying about an accurate fit in the shoulder area. Something about the top of the sleeve in the back doesn't look so good to me, though; there is a deep fold.

To state the very obvious, this is a comfortable outfit to wear. Now, to figure out how to fix those wrinkles in the back of the pants!

Ruffly Britches: White Linen Bloomers

I've evangelized about the raptures of bloomers before. What with summer and all, I felt a need for a ruffled white linen pair.

Good for puttering around the weed-filled tangle I call my garden in a fantastical mood.

In a former life, this medium-weight linen fabric was curtains in my living room (also made by me). Removing the creases left by the hem folds was the toughest part of this project. 

The pattern is my go-to elastic waist pajama pant, Burda 7765, now out of print, shortened 12". For the ruffle I cut two strips of 3" wide fabric on the cross grain, the full width of the curtain panels. After finishing one long edge with a serger rolled hem, I ran the other edge through the ruffler attachment to make even gathers. Then I measured the lower edge of the leg to get the right length to cut the ruffle. Another way to approach this would have been to sew the outer leg seams and then to attach the ruffle to the flat leg, before stitching the inside leg seams. Working flat is more efficient, but I often want to check the length of the garment on me once it's stitched up before determining the depth of the trim or ruffle.

I used 3/8" seam allowances rather than 5/8" to make these pants a little oversized. You will see that a lot of my inspiration pieces are even more voluminous. I took a middle path.

Pants like these have been on my to-sew list for about five years. Now that I have them I'm not so sure they are as indispensable as I thought they'd be, but at least I don't have to wonder any longer. These pants seem to need just the right thing to accompany them. Because they are made from a medium-weight linen, they are fine as pants with a longer top, but they are a bit bulky under a light dress. I might like another pair in a handkerchief linen or cotton voile. Or more long funky tops. Or both.

Here are some light summer bloomers I found inspiring.

Susannah Dashwood Verity Hope Dress and Bloomers (it seems her site and pattern business may be inactive now)

Sarah Clemens Clothing on Etsy

Linen Clothing by Bonnie Harris on Etsy

Linen Clothing by Bonnie Harris on Etsy

Conscious Clothing on Etsy

1940's Short Sleeved Blouse: DuBarry 5265

Have you noticed how many cute 40's-style blouses have been popping up on the blogs lately? There have been bunches, and that made me ask myself why I didn't have more of them. The few I have made all have some issue or another. I want easy-to-wear blouses that look tidy in that particular way that vintage blouses manage to do.

Somehow it doesn't seem that I have blogged about DuBarry 5265, an eBay pattern purchase that I made into one and a half dresses last year. The "one" was a successful rayon short sleeved dress, and the "half" is a half-finished, lined, somewhat tailored long sleeved wool version. The plan is to pick the wool dress back up and finish it this fall.

Three features of this particular princess-seamed shirt dress distinguish it from modern versions of the same general design: the princess seams run closer to the center front than on modern patterns, the convertible collar is wider and cut much higher on the chest than today's shirts and the sleeves have darted caps. 

The forties blouses I have admired have been short, wide at the shoulders and relatively tapered at the hem. I tried to replicate those qualities in my adaptation of the dress pattern. The center back length of this blouse is just 19" from neck to hem. Of course I am short myself. This length hits at my high hip, which makes for a good proportion with dresses and high-waisted pants.

The shorts are New Look 6100, which my new blog crush Lizzie of The Vintage Traveler reminded me to wear. Check out her version--they are oh-so-perfect. This summer has been so rainy and cool I hadn't even thought of wearing shorts! But the navy of the shorts does work well with the print of the blouse. The fabric came from dear FabricMart, a nice-quality cotton lawn with coral and ivory flowers on a navy ground. It must now be sold out; I can't locate it on their website. It is somewhat similar to a Liberty lawn. Not as quite as fine and silky, but nice and detailed, and not inclined to wrinkle.

I'd like to find some nice novelty prints for more versions of this blouse. It's surprisingly difficult to find just the right thing--not floral, smaller scale, without a definite stripe element, in colors that work for me. Many of the novelty prints that appeal to me are too big for such a short blouse which is chopped up into four panels on the front and six on the back (I added a center back seam for shaping). But I do have a white linen-rayon blend (Kaufmann's Brussels Washer) lined up for a nice basic white blouse. I'm sure that will be very useful.

This blouse counts as a success in my book--it's easy to care for and wear, flattering, comfortable, interesting and has a vintage flavor. I'm happy with it.

Making a Shift: Vintage Simplicity 7477

Ragtime Vintage Clothing in Asheville is a favorite shop of mine. When I'm lucky enough to have a chance to pop in, I usually find at least one thing that I didn't know I was looking for until just then when I found it. Last week I found a narrow black leather vintage Coach belt (for $10) and a wonderful basic Levi's denim jacket from the eighties ($24). No dresses that fit me, but I was a bit fascinated by the sixties shifts, which is not a style I've much favored up to now.

Another influence must surely have been Gertie's versions of reissued vintage Simplicity 1609, especially the cute green gingham:

Sheeplike, I actually bought this pattern but then decided that it was too...several things for me. Too sleeveless. Too collarless or Peter Pan collared, which is too sweet. Too high at the neck. Too unadorned generally. For me.

So out came a vintage shift pattern bought from Goodwill a few years ago, Simplicity 7477. Here is a photo from the vintage pattern wiki (my copy is B34):

I always liked this collar, which the pattern describes as an "Italian" collar. Ironically I didn't do the best job of sewing it (must mark those dots at the end of the collar better next time and also understitch), but I do like the shape.

Refreshingly, this dress was quite easy to fit. The previous owner of the pattern had cut it out very neatly indeed, and she had added about an inch of length to the bodice. I removed her extra inch plus another 1 1/4" of length. Then there was a swayback adjustment (5/8") and a fair bit added to the side seams for extra width through the waist and hip. I shortened again at the hem, two inches more. All together, I shortened the dress 3 1/4". That still left a generous two inches to turn up for the finished hem that hits right at the middle of my knee. The front darts were shortened by 3/4", and the shoulders were narrowed 5/8".

Nearly impossible to see, but the back has neckline and waist darts in addition to the center back seam for shaping.

This fabric. I love it so. I bought a bolt of it from the late, great vintage fabric store Make Me in Asheville when it went out of business. It must be an upholstery fabric from the sixties: fairly heavy and looks like a sofa! I've made and sold a slew of pillows and bags from this fabric. I always wanted a dress version, and in fact I had in mind something like retro reissue Butterick 5748:

Two problems with that plan: first, the fabric is really too heavy for a full skirt. Second, I am all of a sudden feeling less like a sixties debutante and more like a sixties matron. 'Bout time, too!

The side view is the most matronly of all, but I wanted you to see how nicely it fits, especially the sleeve. I have a great range of motion without any excess sleeve flopping around. Very happy about that.

I didn't have to buy a thing to make this one: fabric, interfacing, buttons, thread, pattern--all from what I had on hand.

There is not a lot that is current, sexy or especially flattering about this dress, but I like it a lot in spite of, or perhaps because of, all that. I have lots of ideas for different versions--we'll see if they come to pass, or if I shift again to something else.

Spot of Bother: Simplicity 2174 Dress

My mother recently gave me this hat.  Sadly, I doubt I will have too many occasions to wear the dress and the hat together. That's what blogs are for, I guess--showing off one's hats!

Oh, I did wrestle with this one. Though I'm dissatisfied with it on several points (and foolishly inclined to make the pattern up again just to prove I can overcome the challenges), at least it is finished and wearable.

The fabric choice, a thin cotton lawn from Maggy London via FabricMart, was my first mistake. Originally purchased with the idea of using it for a blouse, I knew that this limp piece of goods lacked drape and substance. But I had two whole yards of it and I liked the dots, so I fooled myself into thinking it would be fine as a dress. I considered adding a lining, but decided to wear it with a full slip instead. That turned out to be a good choice, because I would never have persisted in trying to alter it if there had been a lining to deal with. Underlining, however, might have made a positive difference.

I may have cut one of the front skirt panels slightly off-grain, because it won't hang well no matter what I do. "Hang" is a bit of a misnomer, really, since the fabric is so light. "Float" is probably more accurate. It floats crookedly.

The major difficulties lay in the fit of the bodice. I mistakenly thought that cutting a size 6 in the upper chest and back would be narrow enough to avoid gaping. Not so. It was necessary to remove the center back zipper (and facing) to take out 1/2" of width per side, curving to rejoin the seamline five or six inches further down the back.

"Styled", if we can call it that, with red beads in place of the pearls 

In the front, it simply wasn't obvious until the dress was constructed (the first time), that the center front section would stick out an inch away from the body, especially when reaching forward. Taking in the armhole princess seams removed sufficient width (1/2" per seam, 1" per side, 2" total) to make the center front lie flat, but it seriously distorted the armscye seam. Since I was in the dark about how to alter the sleeve that came with the pattern to fit the reduced armhole (and I didn't want the dress to be sleeveless), I used a little half-sleeve from another pattern. Since this type of cap sleeve is only stitched to the top part of the armscye, it is fungible in how it fits into the opening.

After applying the sleeve, bias tape was used to finish the entire circumference of the armhole. Unfortunately the whole business feels a little uncomfortable. I can move my arms just fine, but it rubs a bit under there. This is often a problem for me: providing enough room for comfort while covering the bra and avoiding gaping.

In for a penny, in for a pound, I finished it up with a self-made belt, using the last of my belting and buckles to cover in the process. Must restock!

After sweating it out trying to make this simple dress fit, I am conflicted about the pattern. No, I'm conflicted about how suitable the pattern is for me. Nothing wrong with the pattern at all; it's very nice. Just out of foolish persistence, I'd like to see if I can work through the bodice fitting issues to achieve a non-gaping and comfortable fit with this style. On the other hand, perhaps the sweetheart neckline is not the best choice for a person with a narrow chest and a full bust. Not to mention that it might be a little too "sweet" (though when that's ever stopped me before, I'm sure I don't know).

Simplicity 1882, which I've made before, may be a better choice for a comfortable summer dress with a vintage flavor. The curving v-neck and collar are flattering without presenting such difficulties of fit.

Do you ever find yourself struggling to "let go" of an idea, even when you know it's probably a waste of time and material? This dress threw down the gauntlet, and it's hard to just let it lie there and move on to the next thing, though I really think that's what I ought to do.

Yet Another Wrap Dress: New Look 6097 Again

Apparently, someone didn't get the memo that wrap dresses and border prints have had their moment, and it has passed.

In my defense, though, this fabric was very inexpensive from FabricMart (it's a polyester ITY knit), and it has lots of good colors in it. I particularly like the touches of coral.

As to the pattern, I needed something with a straight-ish skirt to make use of the border around the bottom. So, again with the New Look 6097.

Sleeve and hem edges were left raw.

To use a bit of border for the neck binding, I had to cut on the straight grain rather than the crosswise grain. Since the straight grain has a lot less stretch, the neck binding feels a little tight and it draws in the neckline just a bit too much. I also should have trimmed 5/8" or so from the neck edges prior to adding the binding to accommodate the binding's width (since the pattern is designed for a folded-over facing). I knew that, but yet I didn't do it. Why? Not sure--maybe I was worried that it would end up showing too much bosom if I trimmed it (which makes no sense, but it's a potent fear). Even though it could be "perfecter", I do like that brighter bit of the fabric up around the face, and there's certainly no danger of showing any cleavage.

Tip: Sewing Machine As An Extra Hand

The other day I was contemplating the (frequent) need to rip out a sewn seam, and I was thinking gratefully of my friend Gretchen and the trick she showed me. Actually, she didn't so much show me, as she simply did this amazing thing.

When ripping out a seam, you know how you often wish you had a third hand? One hand to hold one side of the seam allowance, one to hold the other (with gentle tension to separate the two layers) and one hand to hold the seam ripper. And it is true that there are gadgets made to provide this extra grip: I even own one, a metal "bird" with several clamps to hold the fabric. That tool is usually buried in the drawer and, though heavy, it slides around unless anchored to a table top.

What Gretchen did was to sit at the sewing machine and place one seam allowance under the lowered presser foot. The foot becomes your third hand! And the sewing machine is right there, heavy as can be and even providing its own lighting.

I'm down a hand in this view, since I needed my right one to snap the picture. The right hand would normally hold the seam ripper...or the razor blade.

Do you know about the razor blade? That's a great tip, too. Sometimes a seam ripper is still best, but much of the time I use a naked blade to make quick work of seams that must be opened.

So as I thought gratefully of Gretchen's helpful example, it occurred to me that you, like me, might never have seen or thought of this trick either.

Now you have!