a sewing lull but a pattern shopping bonanza

I have a couple of projects almost finished... the purple dress which I wore once but decided to alter only needs some work on the sleeves and a hem, and the camo print Vogue dress just needs finishing on the facings and also a hem.  But, between work craziness, the New York trip last week, and now the fact that I'm feeling really under the weather and have no energy to do anything, I'm kind of just stuck in a lull.That's ok though, the one thing I did have energy to do was shop for deals on vintage patterns at MomsPatterns and LanetzLiving.  And I found some pretty good ones.

I probably shouldn't be buying patterns because I have a ton of them that I haven't even made yet, but some of the ones I already have were sort of impulse buys that I didn't think hard enough about or that I bought in lots on eBay when really only a couple of them were styles that I'm likely to make.  In some cases I was a bit overambitious; I have been planning for a long time to learn to re-size patterns but I haven't gotten around to it yet so the ones that aren't really the best size for me right now have gone unmade.

So this time I only bought patterns in sizes that would fit me with minimum changes, or that are too big rather than too small because I'm much better at altering down sizes than up.

I kept in mind that I need things that are pretty simple so that they can work with a more casual kind of look, since I rarely need to dress up.  I find that shirt dresses and shifts and early 60s styles with clean lines and a minimum of fussy details tend to fit the bill.  

I also took into consideration that I ought to find dress styles that can work in cooler weather as well as warmer weather since San Francisco is almost never truly warm.  For that, I wanted styles that had 3/4 or sleeve options, or that seemed like they would look good layered over a turtleneck or under a jacket or cardigan. 

Finally I remembered lessons learned from certain disastrous previous projects, namely that not every style looks that great on my figure.  I avoided pleats unless I was pretty sure I could convert them, and focused mostly on A-line skirts, princess seams,  things that cling at the bust but not the midsection, and/or high waists.

So, you can see some of the ones I came up with here!  I don't have real specific plans for any of them, but I certainly have a fabric stash backlog to match up with them when I decide.

The first one, way at the top of this post, I hesitated about a little bit because the collar is maybe bigger and more 70s than I strictly prefer, but it is otherwise really cute.  I like V-shaped high waistline, and this certainly is the kind of style I could easily dress down and wear for casual comfy weekend things.  I also think it would look great with tights and boots, a look I wear probably at least 1/2 the time.

The second one down, the Simplicity 8889, is probably the simplest and most versatile of them all.  It looks easy to make, and easy to fit.  It's that clean line mod fashion that can be made dressy or not depending on fabric or accessories.  And it can be done for summer or winter wear, also depending on fabric and sleeve option.  In fact even the sleeveless could probably be worn on its own for warm weather or layered over a turtleneck like a jumper for cold weather.

The third one, Butterick 8883, is more of a 50s look I think.  I'm not so sure about the double darts or pleats or whatever those are in the front of the skirt, but I can probably deal with that somehow if I need to.  And bonus, it might as well be two totally different patterns, for all the difference between the two options.  That seemed like a good value to me!  Completely different collars, short or 3/4 sleeve, full or straight skirt... it's like 2 for the price of 1 and I actually like and think I could make and wear either.

The next one, Simplicity 5655, I really adore, just as much from simply looking at the pattern envelope as from pondering the prospect of making it.  MomsPatterns described it as Jackie O and Air Hostess, two very cool icon styles that I just enjoy thinking about.  Honestly I even have a couple of pillbox hats that were my Mamaw's, one navy blue and the other a very fab leopard skin, that I could use with it if the fabric matches and I want to go fully costume retro!  I probably won't, though it is tempting.

I also love it because it fits pretty much all of the criteria I mentioned above.  Early 60s, A-line, multiple sleeve options, simple clean lines, a natural waistline, can be dressed up or down.  It also looks pretty darn easy.  And I bet the V-neck version on the right might look ok layered over a turtleneck.  Jackpot!

Finally, I bought a smock-like blouse pattern.  I don't do a lot of blouses, but I intend to start soon because I usually have fabric left over from dress projects that could be used in a smaller project like a shirt.  This top needs a lot of fabric, so it may not work that great for leftover yardage, but I think it's cute enough to warrant its own fabric purchase.  I'm in love with the pin-tucks and square neckline on the version at the far left of the picture.

I also bought two others that I didn't have good enough pictures of to post here.  One is a tent dress/shirt dress from the 70s with a collar and buttons up most of the front.  The other is another very simple mod looking dress, which can be made with contrasting fabric on the top part of the bust.  I thought that sounded promising, both for punching up a very plain shape and for using smaller pieces of leftover fabric yardage.

Anyhow I hope to get back to actually finishing some projects to post here soon, and I do still have some pictures of prior projects that probably haven't been posted that I may resort to if I don't get around to completing new stuff.  I don't feel quite as bad as I would if I have a real flu or something; I think I'm just worn down and hopefully will be much better by tomorrow or Monday at latest.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The projects I've got lined up

I'm back again, with lots of new projects done, a camera to actually take pictures of them with, a big stash of new fabric, and several projects lined up for another trip to NYC and for summer in general.  Not that we have a real summer here in San Francisco, in fact summer is downright cold here, but I try to keep that in mind as I sew and choose things that will layer well.

Anyway, I took pictures of the new fabric that I've decided to use first, along with the patterns that I will probably use with each one.  All of the fabric came from a sale on print cotton at Fabric.com and I have to say, it's all very nice and pretty good quality.  Best of all, it was very cheap.  In fact it looks like they have a similar sale happening right now, so check it out if you're into cotton print.

This first one I've already started working on, and if it turns out ok I will post pics when it's finished.  So far it's looking pretty good.  It's on my dressmaker's dummy (I call my dummy Estelle, I don't know why, it just seems like an Estelle to me) right now, waiting for my husband to come home to help me mark the zipper in the back.  Neil knows nothing about sewing but I often force him to help me anyway because otherwise my zippers always bag out in the back; apparently I'm a bit swaybacked or something, and I couldn't adjust Estelle to match my big old ass so that I can do the zippers myself.  

Anyway.  I'm using the version with the short sleeves and collar, the one pictured on the bottom left of the pattern envelope.  I hope to find a black patent leather belt to wear with it also.  I'm a bit doubtful about this print, somehow the color reminds me of SweeTarts, remember those?  We used to get them at the convenience store that was back behind my house when I was a kid, along with Bit O' Honey and candy cigarettes.  By the way, I recently went to a candy store in Calistoga that had all that stuff and more... plus every type of saltwater taffy you can imagine and awesome homemade fudge.  But I digress.  The fabric, it reminds me of SweeTarts.  But, the purple SweeTarts always were my favorite anyway, so maybe it's ok.

The next one is pretty flashy and bright red but I like red and flashy so I'm going to use it to make a maxi dress.  Because if you're gonna go flashy, you might as well go all the way! 

I've made this pattern only once before, out of some very ugly synthetic shiny fabric for a 70s theme party.  I didn't keep that dress.  It really was that ugly. But it seemed to fit fairly well, and I also have another version almost completely made out of some green knit jersey--in fact I should hurry up and finish that up, I think it just needs a zipper--that can serve as a test version as well.  The 70s one was the halter neckline, which I'm not using again.  This one will be the version pictured on the far left of the pattern envelope.

The next one is a very nice soft thick cotton with a dark brown background--not sure if the chocolate brown color shows up as well in this picture as it looks in real life--and I love how the flowers make it sort of summery but the colors can carry it into fall.

 

I have made this Retro Butterick pattern before, out of a black eyelet.  In fact it was one of the first wearable things I ever made, and it's been extremely versatile.  I wore it to a funeral in Oklahoma in July a couple of years back, and with conservative accessories it was totally appropriate.  But then I also wore it for my bachelorette party in the Zeitgeist beer garden with a cropped denim jacket and red belt and it worked fine for that as well.  (Oh ok, here's a picture of that particular occasion.  Hook 'em horns!)

Unfortunately that black eyelet dress which has served me so well for the last few years is finally falling apart, and though I might repair it I figured it was time to come back to that pattern again.

This time I think I will try adding the collar.  The first time I made it the collar was beyond my sewing skills, and in fact the neckline gave me fits even without it.  Now however I think it will be fun to try the same pattern again since I've had lots and lots of practice since then and I bet it will come out much better.

Finally, I have this green fabric with the crocodile pattern.  

I LOVE this.  Isn't it fabulous?  I love it so much I can't quite decide what I want to make out of it.  I don't want to pick something that makes it look bad.  I'm leaning toward the same Burda shirtdress I've made a couple times before, though I wish I trusted my fitting skills enough to find something new to do with it.  I really want to sew it up before I go to NYC in a couple of weeks though, so I've gotta decide pretty soon.

As per usual, it is extremely unlikely that I will actually finish all of these in time to wear on my trip, but I intend to try.  At the very least I should be able to manage 2 of them by then, maybe 3.  Wish me luck!

I'm here and I'm still sewing

I haven't posted in ages and I have no really good excuse, especially since I have been sewing and I've even taken pictures of some finished projects but just haven't had the chance to put them up!

I'm moving ever closer toward my goal of usually wearing at least one thing that I've made. Mostly because I've actually finally made some stuff that I want to wear. Still, the half-finished items are more plentiful than the finished, as are the mostly finished that aren't working out quite right and that I can't figure out how to fix.

I posted in the Sewing Pattern Review boards about my frequent problem of needing to take up the shoulders in dresses that I make and got some good suggestions about changing the patterns rather than trying to change the garment once it's put together. problem is I am lazy so I have to start by trying the easiest possible fix and then work toward the ones that are harder if the first try doesn't work. I had wanted to get started on some vintage patterns, but I don't want to try out any alterations on the vintage stuff until I figure out if they will work or not.

I picked up several new patterns on sale at the Vogue website so here are a couple of those, none of which I've actually made yet naturally. Although I did cut out 8108 with some fabric I got on my pilgrimage to Mood Fabrics, and I'm super excited to find some fabric that will work with that plaid thing.

Hopefully I will have time soon to post the pics of finished projects because I'm really really proud of them and want to show them off.

Playing catch-up

I haven't posted in several days, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, N. had surgery. Nothing really major, but he was out of commission for several days and I ended up with a lot more on my plate than usual what with running errands for food and drugs, walking the dogs, and doing various chores that he would normally have done. So I hadn't been sewing or knitting or crocheting as much as usual.

Also because it's Holy Week, and I sing in the choir at church, and this is like the busiest week all year. I had rehearsal last night, I have rehearsal and Holy Thursday mass tomorrow night, a noon service on Friday and then Good Friday mass later in the evening, a rehearsal Saturday afternoon, Easter vigil mass Saturday night, and then of course Easter mass on Sunday morning.

I plan to follow it all up by drinking margaritas and beer all day on Sunday. That's playing catch up in a way also, since I gave up drinking for Lent and plan to seriously start making up for it on Sunday. Hey, maybe I'll do some drunken sewing and take pictures of disastrous results to post here! Um, or maybe not. We'll see. And then we're going out for a nice dinner to celebrate my birthday which is actually tomorrow and which I have no time to celebrate on the actual day because of all the singing and religious stuff I have to do instead.

Fortunately a lot of the stuff we're singing is my favorite kind of music, really overwrought crunchy sorrowful dramatic Lenten stuff, like Gesualdo (who by the way is also famous for being a murderer, see the links for the juicy details), and Sanders' "Reproaches" (also notorious for being interpreted by some as anti-semitic... I see their point but disagree, or at least I don't find it any more anti-semitic than the gospels are inherently which is a whole other topic better suited to a post on a religious blog which who knows maybe I'll start someday, plus I just find the piece beautiful-sounding and great fun to sing) and Allegri's Miserere.

The third reason I haven't posted is that I'm starting to feel guilty that I never have any interesting photos of either finished projects or projects in progress. I've been procrastinating posing for pics of finished stuff because by the time I get around to it in the evening my hair looks crappy, my makeup has all come off, and I've put on my pajamas to chill out in front of the tv and don't want to change. And I am vain so I want to be in my pictures, and I want to look good!

So anyhow. I have very little to share, except that I've come up with a plan for the stuff I want to make and wear in NYC when I go.

I want to make my grey jersey dress from a Vogue pattern I ordered but haven't yet received (I will probably leave off the ribbon wrap thing on this version, but I'm not sure yet), and I'll wear that with purple tights and my black kitten heels if it is chilly out, or barelegged with my chartreuse and red slingbacks if it's warm. I don't have anything else to match those slingbacks so I'm looking forward to having a nice simple plain grey dress that I think they'll look good with.

I have my purple tunic top that is finished already, which I will wear with dark wash jeans and black kitten heels.

I want to make the black Burda shirt dress with white line drawings of flowers, and wear that with the black heels and footless black tights and white shrug that I am nearing completion on, or possibly red ballet flats and red cardigan from Thrift Town.

If it's warm I'll also take the black eyelet which is finished except for an alteration to make the waist slightly bigger, and wear that with footless tights and red ballet flats and cardigan. Oh, and I need to find a slip to go with it first, and I can't find any slips anywhere... what's up with that, doesn't anyone wear a slip anymore?

And I want to make a twist top out of some nice stretchy fabric in green and black print that I just bought, to wear with jeans and heels or with a denim pencil skirt I'd like to also make if there's time and room in the suitcase. Probably with footless tights also, we'll see. I may also take the awesome tunic shirtdress/blouse I scored at Goodwill the other day to wear either over jeans or with tights also. Have I mentioned that I love tights?

The gals at Go Fug Yourself seem to hate the footless tights look, (and granted those links go to some pretty bad examples) but for some reason I really love it at least when it's done right, which it usually isn't. For me though ot makes things slightly edgier looking or more casual looking I think. I'm sure it will soon go out of style but I think I'm going to wear the hell out of them till then. They're surprisingly practical for this in-between San Francisco weather too, they make my legs a little warmer but not too warm since they leave the ankles bare.

As I lamented earlier I have no interesting project pics ready for this post, but a post without pics of some sort seems naked, so here is an image of another vintage pattern I ordered but haven't decided what to do with yet. I kind of like how that view on the right looks like it's a sort of leopard print, so maybe I'll make something like that out of it. ooh, or zebra print, I've been coveting some zebra print lately, I thought maybe in a coat, but maybe I could carry it off in a dress if the design is simple like this one. I'll have to ponder, and see what fabric I can find on sale.

I have several more vintage patterns on the way to me from Ebay so I'm putting a moratorium on further vintage pattern purchases. Also on fabric purchases till I sew up at least the list of things I just mentioned for the NY trip.

Tonight hopefully I'll have time to finish the denim cheongsam-like dress I started on Sunday, and maybe cut out the twist top. I want to experiment with cutting more than one fabric at a time, since I have some of the purple fabric leftover from the tunic top and think that would make a nice twist top also.

The agony of indecision

I've started looking on eBay for vintage patterns, the cheap ones, which means the less popular ones, but still. And I've actually gotten a couple! I haven't decided yet what to do with these, but there is some green and brown plaid at Fabrix I've had my eye on and I think it would make a nifty vintage dress, maybe the 1950s style one. On both of these, I will probably make the skirts less full. I like the full skirt look, but it uses so much fabric, and I'm not sure it's the most flattering for me anyway.

I continue to buy and buy and buy fabric without managing to finish much of anything, but I think I don't care, at least not yet, because I have a few other things in mind. The aforementioned plaid, and some thin sort of sweatshirty material for a dress I talked about in an earlier post, and some dotted swiss of some type for some thin sheer little floaty tops I'll make just as soon as I learn how to do buttonholes. I've been procrastinating on the buttonholes. I think I'm scared. It seems weird to have a phobia of learning buttonholes. Like Billy Bob Thornton's reported phobia of antique furniture. Who could be scared of antiques? Well, I'm scared of buttonholes so now I guess I get it.

I bought a whole bunch of dark denim on sale at Discount Fabrics in the Sunset on Monday, and have been trying to decide what to do with it. I'm thinking I'd like to make a denim cheongsam. I think that would be a funky twist on a semi-casual sort of wear-out-during-the-day dress. I thought I could put red bias binding around the collar and armholes and maybe the hem. Then it would go well with my red ballet flats and my favorite red cardigan. and red lipstich natch. I love me some red lipstick. Plus if I make it up in denim it will be easier to undo and fit better if I need to so that I can practice on cheap plentiful denim instead of the rarer, more expensive brocade I've had for months waiting for me to get my courage up for the cheongsam.

Which reminds me, I'm obsessed now with bias tape ever since I used some I made myself around the edges of the Butterick retro wraparound (pictures coming, I promise, but there's something wrong with the lens on my new camera phone so none yet!). It's so easy to make it! It looks so cool! And I can use it to avoid hemming! How awesome is that? So I'm going to stay on the lookout for super-cheap fabrics that I may not use for whole garments but would be cool to make bias tape out of.

Right now I have so much unused fabric and so many uncut patterns stashed away for planned projects that I can't decide what I should do next. I've realized that most of the things I've been working on, at least as far as sewing goes, have been too summery for usual San Francisco weather so I think I need to prioritize according to some things I'll, you know, actually WEAR. Like, maybe even to work. But I do want to get a lot of things done specifically for the New York trip, and I don't really know what to expect weather-wise there, so I'm torn. It's keeping me up nights. The agony of indecision! Tonight I have too much work to do to start anything new, so I can put off the decision till Friday at least.