Ms1940McCall: Sewing through the Decades Challenge

Sunday, September 4, 2011

The 70's never looked so good! A Sewing through the Decades Spotlight

I'm super excited for the first interview in a series highlighting participants in the Sewing through the Decades Challenge. Sarah (from Rhinestones and Telephones) and I are co-hosting the challenge which isn’t a sew-along (as there are a lot of great sew-alongs happening at the moment) but a chance for people to make their own challenge--and tackle some of those lovely vintage patterns in your stash! You can go as fast or as slow as you want as there are no deadlines. The basic thought is to challenge yourself to explore different time periods (which can be several years in one decade—1943, 1944, 1945, etc.) or several patterns across several decades (50’s, 60’s, 70’s). The patterns can span both vintage and modern years.

I'm delighted to have had the chance to interview Lisette--who's been sewing up a storm! So without further ado, here's the interview....

Tell us a little bit about yourself
Hi! My name is Lisette and I blog over at What Would Nancy Drew Wear. I started blogging around the same time as Debi, although I am pretty sure she has surpassed me in skills by now! I have been sewing for about six years now. My mom always tried to get me to take sewing classes but I was a very gloomy teenager at the time and thought it was really dorky! Then, I had to take Sewing as an elective class and I ended up really enjoying it. In college I studied Costume Design and French. I now work as a costume designer, which I really love because I get to make some crazy stuff. I also knit, usually when I get tired of sewing so much. Right now I am obsessed with making mittens.

Photos of costumes created by Lisette for the musicals Annie and Pinkalicious

What attracted you to the Sewing through the Decades Challenge?
I definitely had the materials because I collect vintage patterns and I have a huge collection - over 300 patterns from as early as the 1910s - but I didn't think I could stick to the project. I have a hard time following a sew-along and while I love doing Sew Weekly challenges, it is only because I can do it when I have time. New and interesting sew-alongs are always popping up and I get distracted! In the end, I found that I sew a lot from 70s patterns anyways, so I decided to try it. It is a good way to get yourself to make a wardrobe from that decade and get a complete look in your closet.

Tell us a bit about what you have already made for the challenge (ups, downs, your favourite, the most challenging, etc.)
I am honestly surprised how quickly I was able to cross off the years! Some years I even have more than one garment. Of course, 1970s patterns are fairly modern, so there isn't usually anything too complicated, sewing-wise.

1970 - Simplicity 8788 This was one of my first 70s patterns. I eventually accepted that I don't like the early 70s look! The necklines are usually too high for me.

1971 - McCall 3035 I only made the bloomers for this one, they make great gifts, actually.

1971 - Simplicity 9835 When I was attending school in Quebec and had no job I decided to try to make this pattern as a faux-regency costume. It worked pretty well, but I got some strange looks when I wore it to class one day.

1972 - Simplicity 5047 This I sewed for the MPB Mens' Shirt Sew-Along. My boyfriend loves it, but it took almost four months to finish it. It was really hard, mostly because I had never done flat-felled seams before. I also made a 1970s shirt for my dad, and that went much faster because then I knew what I was doing.

1973 - Simplicity 5804 This was my entry for the 70s theme over at the Sew Weekly last week, I call it my Velma Dinkley skirt. So far it is my favorite 1970s pattern! It took a lot of finagling to get the fit just right but it is super flattering. I also tried out a grosgrain ribbon facing instead of a waistband and I am totally won over to them.

1974 - Butterick 4022 I can now make one of these in 3 hours. I want to make one in every color.

1976 - Simplicity 7811 I have a love-hate relationship with this one. It is very maternity looking and is puke-colored! But I end up wearing it a lot because I prefer to wear separates.

1976 - Simplicity 7377 I have made both the vest and the skirt on different occasions. I would love to make a skirt/vest suit out of corduroy.

1977 - McCall 5526 This is another Sew Weekly outfit - I was inspired by Chrissy Snow on Three's Company. Sadly, I can't sit down in the shorts, they are too tight!

What are your upcoming sewing plans?
A giant bluebird costume! I am working on a musical called Pinkalicious for the Hartford Children's Theatre that opens in a few weeks, and one of the characters is a bird. I'm excited because it is a really funny costume. For myself, I am working on a pair of jeans-style pants and some renaissance fair-wear for me and my boyfriend.

Where can we read more?
I blog at What Would Nancy Drew Wear and I also have Burdastyle, Ravelry (if you knit) and Etsy accounts under the name wendybirde.

Thanks Lisette for sharing your projects with us! It's inspiring me to get back to some of those 70's patterns in my stash!

Are you participating in the Sewing through the Decades Challenge? Let me know if you would like to participate in the spotlight series (email me at myhappysewingplace{at}googlemail{dot}com). I find it so inspiring to see everyone's challenges!!

Don't forget to check out the Sewing through the Decades flickr group and grab your button if you are participating!

Sewing Through the Decades PEEPS

You know what time of year it is? Peep time!!! I thought it would be fun to do a little retrospective of the Sewing Through the Decades a la Debi style and then peep style. So without further ado, let's take a walk through the decades...

1930's
My 1932 gown that I just posted about:

The Peep version:

1940's
You may recall earlier in the year my 1940 faux fur jacket:

Well...the peep wanted a faux fur jacket and topper hat as well:

1950's
I really haven't done much this year (so far) from the 1950's. I did make a 1950's inspired skirt:

Not to be outdone, Ms. Peep wanted her own version of the skirt:

1960's
I've only sewn one thing from the 60's and that's a classic shift dress:

Now for the 1960's Peep:

1970's
Oh yes, I've ventured into '70's patterns and came out with this:

And the 70's Peep:

Happy Easter everyone!!

My 1934 Wearing History Gown

Here's the gown I made for Valentine's Day:

The dress is from the fabulous 1934 Wearing History Pattern called 'Manhattan Melodrama'. It's a fantastic pattern--I did buy the last one! However Lauren said she might bring it back if some of you want to give it a go! Let us know in the comments!

I adore all the details on this dress! I graded the pattern through the week and didn't cut out my fashion fabric until late Saturday night and sewed all day Sunday. Then I raced home after work and finished it up. I was literally hemming about 20 minutes before we walked out the door for our dinner! I did omit the belt from the pattern but I think it looks fine without. I'll still make it for the blouse and for future wear!

This was my first time ever grading a pattern (see this post) AND my first time ever making a gown!

The fabric is a great crepe back satin (both the red and pink) and I really enjoyed working with it. I would love to make something from the crepe side one of these days!

Here's more details of the back. There is a neck zipper hidden under the middle panel:

Here's a clearer shot of the back. I really adore how it is constructed. I did make things a bit more difficult by making this dress into separates. I really wanted to wear the blouse on it's own and to use it as part of the Sewing Through the Decades challenge. So I added a zipper on the side of the blouse and made the skirt separate (with it's own zipper).

However, one of the things I hadn't anticipated in making the top separate from the dress was the ability to get the waist portion over my head. When making as a full dress, there is a side opening that extends the length of the blouse and part of the skirt. I had already inserted a small zipper (that didn't quite extend the whole length of the blouse side) as well as a zipper in the neck back (under the panel). However, I went to put it on and I couldn't get the waist bit over my head! EEK. I started to unpick the zipper and was going to put in a continuous lap with snaps down the whole side. Luckily, David suggested I should put a zipper (upside down--i.e. with the head of the zipper at the waist bottom) on the other side of the blouse. As luck would have it, I had another of the exact same zipper (from a great charity shop find). So, that is why this outfit has 4 zippers! (3 in the blouse and one in the skirt). That solved the problem perfectly with only a small amount of work!

We went to the Voodoo Rooms for our Valentine's Day dinner. They have a fantastic space.

Here's a photo of the front of the building:

And inside the main bar area. I really love the windows:

And the ceiling lamps:

We had an absolutely lovely dinner! David made the matching bow tie and kerchief by hand! Check out this post for more details:

We are so made for each other! I love this photo:

And David gave me a beautiful brooch from the 1930's as a sweet present....how lovely is that? I am wearing it on the neck of the dress in the photos! David is going to do a guest post 'Behind the Scenes' sometime this week! That should be lots of fun!

As an added bonus, the faux fur jacket I made two weeks ago went together perfectly with the dress!

YAY! I am super happy with the dress! Have you ever made a fancy dress?

McCall 8501: My 1935 cape

oh goody, oh goody, oh goody! I am super excited to show you all pictures of my finished 1935 cape!

I started this cape in December using McCall 8501:

You can see some of the design features from the cover. It is basically a faux jacket (i.e. there is only a jacket front piece) attached to a cape.

I got the fabric in one of those bizarre charity shop experiences. I am super happy I did--because it is a wonderful blue and grey checked tweed (I got 3.5 meters) AND I got the grey lining from the same fabric store! How perfect is that? Here's a close-up of the fabric:

This was my first time interlining AND lining anything! It was a great learning experience. I think the cape took longer than I thought it would because I hemmed the cape, put in the lining and attached the collar all by hand!

Here's a close-up of the jacket front. I used a belt pattern piece from another 1930's pattern. I got the belt buckle for really cheap on ebay UK. The buttons you may recognize--I used the exact same ones but in brown for my 1933 EvaDress outfit (there is a limited supply of vintage looking buttons at my local fabric store!):

I absolutely adore the way capes drape. It is such a lovely feeling walking down the street with a cape...I don't know why but it feels very classic!

I matched the checks on the jacket front but not on the shoulder seams. Tasia just did an amazing post on matching plaid! Luckily, my plaid is muted enough that it's not really noticeable if it doesn't match perfectly. And the back is in one piece (which makes it really nice for plaid)...

And capes are fun for twirling:

How amazingly beautiful is this alley/lane? It's called a 'close' and there are tons of them off the royal mile in Edinburgh. This is one of my favorites...it's called the 'Advocate's Close':

There are probably 30 different ones off the Royal Mile! They are amazing...you walk through a small tunnel:

And come out on the other side! It reminds of a place that Sherlock Holmes would be solving mysteries some dark night in the fog :-) OR where batman might hang out: