Snakey McCrystal

At the same time I bought the red Ponti di Roma, I picked up some snakeskin print knit to make the so called 'perfect knit dress', McCall's 5974.

Is it perfect? Well, it is pretty comfortable and I do like the sashy-wrap business.
I altered the sleeves a bit by morphing the cut on sleeves from Butterick 5101 so that I didn't have to do set in sleeves - I'm pleased with how they turned out.


I also strung some crystal beads to make a three strand necklace.

Frock catch-up

*Updated with proper picture of red dress*

I've made a few things lately but been rather slack with the posting, so here are my last two weekends' efforts:

First up, a Halloween frock. We don't really celebrate Halloween here in Australia, but I love the imagery. I wanted to wear this to work, so I didn't use any of my myriad skull fabric. This is one of the quilting prints I got this time last year from Beaver Creek Quilts. Good old Butterick 6522 again. I wore her on Friday and got some unsolicited compliments on public transport!


This picture of one of my kitties will give you an idea why I had to have that fabric!

The other frock was today's sewing. Kitty got some lovely red ponti at Spotlight during the week, so I nipped out and bought some too (I also bought some snakeskin knit fabric, which I started to cut out but it is a bit slippery so it is sitting half cut on my table).

It was screaming out for a Joan Holloway dress (don't you love how that's become code for a fab fitted retro frock?)
I dug this pattern out of my stash:

It's a 36, which is a size or two too small. So I did my lazy lady's grading and added 2cm to both the front and back centre seam/fold, did a bit of reshaping of the neckline so it wasn't too wide... and voila!

The instructions for that middle bit were a bit of a pain but it has worked out just fine.

Here it is on me. Do you think I need to dust my mirror?


And here she is on me!

Lacey Shirrley

Livebird said in her comment on the last post that Moggy has become a "3D walking advertisment for fabrics I need to buy".

I present evidence to prove this is the case for me too:


(Actually may be exhibit 183. Moggy seems to find fabric I HAVE TO HAVE.)

When I saw this frock and that fabric, I had to have some, and Moggy obliged. Fortunately the shop where she bought it had some left in stock.

I made this Jiffy frock (Simplicity 4429) again, but this time I shirred the waist so I can wear it with or without a belt.
Thanks Moggy!

This week and last week

I popped into Rathdowne Remnants last Saturday and picked up some lovely silk twill in an ever-so-vintage print. I wanted something super simple - raglan sleeves, and perhaps a sash. I didn't have quite the right pattern in the right size, so I crossed the decades and frankenpatterned the top of Advance 8954 and the dressness of New Look 6461...


It turned out well - I've worn it twice already, and it has only just been a week!



I made another reversible purse at the same time:


I also had the urge for a cowl neck dress for some reason. Luckily Kitty had New Look 6470, and traced it off for me in time for my lightning visit to Sydney.

So yesterday I lengthened it to make a dress (no science to it, just kept the line going as it is a reasonably long top). Kitty advised to make the turnover on the cowl wider, which I did - I made it about 10cm wide. I used leftover knit from Olive Surplus. All up it took about an hour. I'm rather pleased how it turned out. Looks nice with the bolero thingy from the other week.
$

Brocade McCall's 6030

Here is the brocade version of the frock from my last post.
I made the back skirt pleats into darts this time, and made 4 front skirt pleats instead of the 8 the pattern suggests. 2 bigger pleats on each side is more than enough for this stiff-ish fabric.

Since I took the photos I have tacked down the front and back facings so they don't roll out anymore. I might have to put some bra strap holders in because despite shortening the straps a little and narrowing the neckline a smidge, the frock's straps fall off my shoulders occasionally.

I made a little matchy clutch to carry too, with disco strap.

Moggy was in Sydney for work yesterday, and we met up for breakfast in Surry Hills, where she forced me to buy this wool blend at the Fabric Store. FORCED ME.
Might make a little coat.

1961 evening frock test

I have been invited to a formal occasion! Oh boy, have I been waiting for this day! Frockortunity!


I have this lovely blue and silver brocade, given to me by a manager at work. Her mother-in-law passed away last year, and sewed for most of her life. This manager kindly thought of me and gave me about 6 shopping bags of fabrics dating back to the 1960s! There are some nice ones (and some dud neon 80s ones too); this is one of the gems. Nice and sparkly!

I am testing patterns to make a 60s cocktail/evening frock...this is McCall's 6030.
I used the rest of the vintage fabric I used for this frock.
(That back strap is going to need a scoliosis adjustment, whoops. Didn't even notice until I saw the photos. I didn't do any adjustments to this pattern, but it needs the straps narrowed just a smidge I think, and there's a bit of wrinkling in the lower bodice that needs seeing to)

What do you think? A contender for the brocade?

Handsome Dove

After commenting on Kitty's lovely popover re: not sewing my sludgy green frock I thought I may as well go and make a start on the frock, which I cut out yesterday.

I bought the pattern a year or so ago at Lost & Found in Smith St for the princely sum of $5. Mid seventies I'm thinking - I'm not a huge fan of the 70s, but some of the patterns can be great if you don't use orange and brown polyester. Unless you want to of course!

I got the fabric from the Vietnamese lady on Smith St yesterday - not sure of the fibre, it's a nice drapey knit.

Being a knit, I left out the zip. This meant it only took two albums to sew - Lost Souls by The Doves and Last Days of Wonder by The Handsome Family - hence her name (Handsome Dove) and the fact that she now exists when she didn't at 4pm.



As I hoped, she's turned out rather Joan Holloway. Hurrah!

Rick rack pop-over

(I should have pulled it down at the front a bit, there are red buttons on the shoulders)

I took to wearing a cotton frock over my swimsuit last summer, so I could pop into a cafe or go to the shops on the way home from the beach. I was using the floral vintage frock I bought at the Alameda flea market.

The metal zip on that frock was a bit burny on hot days, so I decided to make a pop-over frock for this year.
I have had this rick rack print fabric for a few years, and looked through the pattern stash for a frock with a centre front seam I could chevron.

I found Simplicity 8024, and used the view shown in white, second from the right. Because I cut on the bias to do the chevron, I was able to forgo a zip altogether, yay!

Quick and easy, swingy and breezy!

One hour dress is one hour: and, sleeves looking for a dress

Today I tried the one-hour dress as seen on LSASPACEY's blog - I probably wouldn't have found it otherwise, and hers looks so lovely so I had to try.

It was quick and easy - half the time was measuring and drawing up the pattern, the actual sewing was a breeze (yay overlocker!). Doesn't look great without a belt, but that is no surprise. With it, it's cute - not as drapey on me though (when oh when will I learn to take decent pics of myself?). The fabric is a lace-print knit from my embarrassingly large stash.

Inspired by a bolero cardigan thingy Kitty bought, I decided I needed a little shrug bolero thingy. This turned out a bit like portable sleeves, but that is no bad thing! Here it is with the last posting's leopard wrap frock (note to self: don't wear a wrap dress on a windy day - I went up to the shop and Melbourne is having a w-i-i-i-i-i-ndy day today. Lucky I wear a slip as a matter of course!)


I used view D of McCalls 3033, with fold over elastic instead of using the scalloped edge of the lace... seeing as I wasn't using lace, y'know? I used a light lycra blend knit - not sure what fibre, maybe viscose (leftovers from something else). I think I'll make one in some green I have left over from something else else...

Fifties Fair 2010. Kittyhaul!

It was the Fifties Fair today at Rose Seidler house, hurrah!

(I've been playing with the hipstamatic app on my new iPhone, which explains the above photo of the house. If you are into such things you must get it, it's super fun)

Moggy and her Mr J came along; I finally met Livebird and the Curmudgeon; a grand time was had.

I bought a nice scarf:
I couldn't resist these vintage fabrics, frock lengths:
and this is what I wore:
I made this frock last Saturday night while watching the election coverage. The frock was finished on the night, unlike the election. (Moggy has an uncanny knack of making me look like a robot in photos. I don't know how she does it. She's done it before. I honestly don't know what I was doing with my hands here.) Anyway, I used this 1962 pattern (not 50s I know. I'm a rebel):
I didn't have enough fabric for the panel, which is actually sewn all down the front of the frock. Intweeging.

Fifties fair frock and a leopard

This weekend I made my fifties fair frock. It's next weekend, so I decided to go for a pattern I'd made before - I think this might be the fourth time I've made this.

And I just realised I made this one for last year's fair too!


This time I made it with the collar

It's a nice cotton sateen with lycra - this means no need for a zip, which made it a super quick sew. As this was a woven rather than a knit, I added 2cm to each seam (including the CF and CB folds) which seems just right. I used the a-line skirt from New Look 6557.

I do like it with that collar.

I also made a wrap dress with some monochrome leopard knit I bought last weekend, at the same time as the sateen above.

I used Butterick 5101 - I've made this as a top before, which I didn't post because it was black and therefore hard to see. It has a nice slight raised collar at the back. I was a little worried that it might gape, but I road tested it today and it seems fine - I usually wear a slip anyway so that should be fine.

Sewing, buying, stapling

It will take me a bit longer to know for sure, but I think having a dedicated sewing room has slowed my sewing down. I used to be motivated to finish a frock in a day, or at least a weekend, because I had to clear everything off the dining table. Now I can leave everything in the sewing room for weeks.

It could also be winter slowing me down, because it's cold in the sewing room, and I have resisted Mr M's offers to set up a portable heater in there as too indulgent and expensive. As much as Betty is a useful dressform, I still need to try things on myself to be sure of length and fit, and I really don't enjoy doing that in the chilly house. I admit it! I sew in my undies in summer. So much easier for multiple try-ons.

I just finished another Stepfrock, this time in a blue doubleknit. This fabric is softer and has more drape than the doubleknit I used for the black one, and the result isn't as crisp, but I like it nonetheless.

I scored three boxes of vintage patterns at an auction place recently, in two auctions over two weeks. I'd say 95% are my size, so what could I do? I had to bid. There would be perhaps 140 patterns in total, and I counted 29 duds, but most are from the 40s, 50s and 60s. Yay! I haven't had much time to sit and study each one, but Moggy is coming up again for the Fifties fair in a couple of weeks, so I'll save that for an evening activity for us.

I also bought about 4.5 metres of Sanderson's 'Dandelion Clocks' fabric on eBay at a bargain price. Here it is stapled onto a canvas on my bedroom wall. I still have heaps left to make cushions.

I don't have to try on cushions, so they have a chance of being made before summer.