Almost Done!

I'm almost done with my birthday dress suit.  I really love it.  I just need to hem the dress and the jacket and attach the last of the buttons which I'll do tomorrow after work.  My goal is to post the outfit photos before my birthday month is over!!

Here's a sneaky peek:

You can check out the pattern I used (a 1937 McCall pattern) here...

My esteemed sewing assistant, Echo, was very helpful during the dress construction phase:

YAY!  I'm super excited.  My sewing mojo got a major upswing after the Crafters' Ceilidh meet-up--and I'm sewing non-stop!

What are you working on at the moment?

Special Day

Today is my Pa's birthday. Happy Birthday to the best Dad ever! I love you and wish I was there to celebrate with you!

Mission McCall Monday: 9111 to 9120

Thanks for all the comments on the last post! It was so much fun to meet-up with everyone in Edinburgh and to even hear of some plans for future visits to the city!

Back to Mission McCall Mondays and today we are covering patterns 9111 to 9120 from 1937.

I'm missing the image for 9111 so first up is McCall 9112 for these fabulous culottes:

I must say that I really adore the fit of these culottes and the two small pockets on the hip line!

Crafters' Ceilidh OR The Perfect Day

 Crafters' Ceilidh Group Photo, From L to R: Kerry, Karen, Winnie, Rachel L., Kari, Roo, Carolyn, Amanda, So-Ha, Kiran, Rachel, Debi B., Kristen, Franca, Alana, me, Hannah, Katie and Melizza.  Not pictured: Clare, Anneleen, Tom and Cat.

Wow, oh wow! Yesterday was the Crafters' Ceilidh--or the most perfect day ever!  Twenty-three of us met up in Edinburgh, Scotland for a jam-packed day of chatting and shopping.  It was so much fun!

The preparations began last month in earnest when Kristen, Kerry and I met-up and decided it would be great to hold a fabulous meet-up in Scotland!  Full credit for the idea goes to Dibs who's been wanting to come up to Scotland for some time (Dibs, we missed you so much!!!).  We had several planning meetings and after phone calls, emails and even crafting we sat anxiously waiting in Frederick's Coffee House for the first folks to arrive from all over the UK!

 Photos: 1. Kristen, Kerry and I chatting, photo by Roo; 2. Clare, Alana, Debi B. and Anneleen chatting away, 3. Karen and Winnie, photo by Karen.

We started out the day chatting and mingling as folks arrived and grabbing some food and caffeine for what would be a whirlwind trip around Edinburgh!

We walked through Prince's Street Gardens and took a group photo at one of the most picturesque vantage points in the city:

David was our lovely photographer and yes, we did bring a Scottish flag (teehee).

We walked first to the Grassmarket area and had fun at W. Armstrong and Sons vintage store, K1 Yarns Knitting Boutique and Fabhatrix.  We then ventured onto three fabrics stores: Edinburgh Fabrics, Mandors and the Cloth Shop.

Karen looking gleefully at some fabric with Winnie and Amanda contemplating fabric choices.

Rachel and I in the Cloth Shop

1. Rachel explaining what could be made with the fabulous 80's patterns, 2. some of the many goodies up for grabs, 3. Rachel L. showing a really beautiful gown pattern--can you believe no one wanted to take it home...that is except for me..*rubbing hands together*

We then headed to the soon-to-be-opened Sewing Bee Cafe--Edinburgh's first sewing space!  The lovely Kal gave us an introduction to the Cafe and generously hosted us in her space for our pattern/fabric/yarn swap.  We had so much fun and hilarity ensued with a contest for the funniest cover art of patterns in the giveaway.

We then headed to the Voodoo Rooms for a wonderful group dinner where we were joined by Tom and Cat.

It was such a fabulous day! Thank you to everyone for coming and for those that weren't able to come at the last minute due to illness or injury (Kate, Donna, Jane and Dibs), we're hoping to have many more meet-ups!

And did I hear a rumour at my dinner table that there is a desire for our next meet-up to be in Bath???....hmmm...what are the chances?

1907 McCall Pattern Leaflet

Lauren from Wearing History sent me this fabulous leaflet she found in a 1907 McCall's magazine to share with all of you.  It gives details on what all the notches and holes stand for in the early unprinted McCall patterns.  What a find! Thanks Lauren!!

Preparing for the Crafters' Ceilidh Meet-Up

I'm so excited for this upcoming weekend! I wanted to do a post about what to expect at the Crafters' Ceilidh meet-up.  Those who are coming will be receiving an email soon with all the details but I thought I do a little showcase piece on some of my favourite sewing related offerings in the beautiful city of Edinburgh.  Now, it's no Goldhawk Road or Garment District....but we've got a few Aladdin's Caves with hidden treasures.  I know I am horrible at spur of the moment shopping and prefer to plot and plan a little before my fabric and sewing related excursions--so I thought I thought I'd share some photos to get your creative ideas flowing!

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know that I love Edinburgh Fabrics (they don't have a website).  They have everything: consistent offerings, great quality and excellent prices.  I've made many of my garments from fabric bought at Edinburgh Fabrics.  Here are a few of my favourite things:

Fun Buttons photo credit: Tilly from Tilly and the Buttons

Edinburgh Fabrics is small and jam packed with goodies.  I always find something new every time I visit.  Some of my favourite things they offer includes amazing British wool (at good prices approx. £15-20/mtr), crepe back satin in virtually every colour, fun buttons (including rhinestone vintage looking buttons), loads of trim, beautiful Chinese brocade fabrics, great linings and some beautiful netting (think petticoats) in nice muted colours.  Edinburgh Fabrics is family run and I think you will love it!

We also have a store called the Cloth Shop (run by Remnant Kings):

 Photos from Remnant Kings Website

Looking for home furnishing fabrics, fun stretch tartan fabric or funky prints?  The cloth shop is a great store.  I never know what I'm going to find but I always love having a look!  They also have  accessories such as shoulder pads, etc.

And last but not least in the fabric store category is Mandors Edinburgh:

Mandors Store photo credit: rovingreporterseca

They have their flagship store in Glasgow but have a two-floor shop in Edinburgh.  The basement holds the quilting cottons and furnishing fabrics and the ground floor is dedicated to dressmaking fabrics.  Let me tell you...they have an A-MAZING wool selection.  Mandors is know for their colour coordinated stores and it is so fun to browse their amazing offering.  There is a huge range in prices from bargain bin half-priced fabric to Alpaca and Wool coating going for £50/mtr.  It just so happens our visit will coincide with their winter sale....hmmmmm

But wait....there's more. 

Fancy knitting?  K1 Yarns Knitting Boutique is a cute little shop with some very nice yarns.  They also have a short stack of wool fabric and batik print fabric in the store (though it's a bit on the pricey end).

Do you have an embroidery project or are you thinking of starting one?  Well....the Grassmarket Embroidery Shop (again no website) is the equivalent of handwork heaven.  Every colour of floss, embroidery canvases and fabrics, speciality kits....

Do you love vintage?

 Photo credits: Gloves and hats photos from La Poubelle Verte, Cashmere sweaters photo from Rosie and Gracie Vintage.

Armstrongs and Sons is THE place in Scotland for vintage clothing.  Some of my favourite things include their vintage hats, gloves and of course, cashmere jumpers/sweaters.  They also have vintage patterns and fabrics.  Every time I've gone, I've walked away with some fabric at a fabulous price (in December I came away with three yards each of two separate wools!!)  Plus, the store is such a fun experience--it's packed from floor to ceiling with pretty things.

I'm currently checking to see if any of these places will give us discounts.

What else?  Bring your camera and plan for cold weather.....of course, you do realise we are all totally crazy for planning a meet-up in January in Scotland??  heheheh.  The high is expected to be 6 degrees Celsius with light rain and wind--so bundle up.  You don't have to wear a me-made creation, unless of course you have made a coat recently.....

We'll probably do a bit of traveling by bus around the city (Edinburgh buses are fantastic)--so plan to bring £3.20 in exact change to purchase a day ticket.  Unlike other buses in Scotland, the Lothian buses do not give change so you have to have the exact fare.

If you have fabric, patterns, yarn or other crafty stuff that you're not using--bring it with you and put it in our swap!

More details on the actual meet-up location and other logistics will be sent soon!  I can't wait for Saturday!!

I'm in Sew Magazine!

I'm so excited!  The lovely Mary Jane who blogs over at Mary Jane Makes interviewed me for a piece she was writing on sewing with vintage patterns for Sew Magazine.

I am SO EXCITED! How neat is that??  You may recognise in the photo that I'm wearing my very first sewn garment--the 1940's DuBarry pattern blouse.  A big thanks to Rachel for letting me know she had seen the article.  I'm picking up a couple of copies at the train station tomorrow! Thanks so much Mary Jane!

A Look Inside Early McCall Patterns: 1910's to 1930's

Today I thought we would take a look inside some early McCall patterns to see how the patterns themselves evolved over time.

I want to give a special thank you to Lauren from Wearing History (a fellow McCall pattern lover) as she helped me put together some of the information for this post and kindly contributed several pictures!

Here's what a pattern piece from a 1910 McCall pattern looks like:

 Photo credit: Lauren from Wearing History

Notice how it's unprinted but does include notches and circle and triangle holes?  That's the guide for different construction techniques such as darts, etc. 

The earliest McCall pattern I have is from the 1920's.  Here's a look inside at both the instructions and the sleeve pattern piece:

A few things I noticed right away with this 20's pattern is that the instructions (called 'Printo Gravure') are printed on the same tissue paper as the pattern.  You'll also notice that the sleeve pattern piece has a pictorial guide on it on how to alter the sleeve for special measurements.  I've only seen this on 1920's patterns but I really like it.  In the last picture above you can see that the instructions contain a lot of real photos including how to make a bound buttonhole (in photos as opposed to drawings).

Sew Grateful Week--Rescheduled for February

January is sure flying by!  I've decided to reschedule the Sew Grateful Week to the first full week in February to give us all some more prep time.  There's been little sewing around these parts as I am completely re-organising my sewing room at the moment.  It's almost done and it is so much better!

You may recall from the first Sew Grateful Week that the idea is to use fabric, pattern, book or other item that was given to you in a giveaway or as a present from a family member or friend and to showcase that project on your blog during the Sew Grateful Week.  Haven't received any material sewing items lately?  That doesn't matter --we can be sew grateful for the time people put into organising sew-alongs, tutorials, etc.  Why not jump in and participate in that sew-along you missed or make something from that tutorial you've been thinking about?  Even if you don't get around to finishing a project, maybe spend some time blogging about what you're grateful for in relation to your hobby and the sewing community?

I hope you'll join in for the Sew Grateful Week in February!  Button coming soon...  Now I just need to figure out which lovely gift to sew!!

In other news, have you heard about the "Vintage-Inspired, Modern Style Design Challenge" hosted by BurdaStyle?  It sounds really fun.  You basically take one of the patterns from the 'Vintage Notions' book (a book that my Dad got for me that I absolutely love), or a pattern from Amy Barickman's other lines and update it for your style.  You then post it as a project on BurdaStyle and they do some judging and award some amazing prizes!  The U.S. winner gets one of these 160th anniversary limited edition Singer machines:

Unfortunately, the international winner doesn't get one of those but they still get some cash and neat other swag.  I am SO IN!

Anyways, check out all the details here...

Like I said before, I just adore the Vintage Notions book and I'm looking forward to trying out some of the projects and adding my own unique twist!

Or why not join the U.F.O. (i.e. Unfinished Objects) Party that Marina from Frabjous Couture is hosting?  I just organised all my UFOs today and I could definitely use a party to get those finished!

Another exciting challenge is the 'Sew Colette' Sew-along, which is hosted by two of my favourite ladies--Sarah from Rhinestones and Telephones and Erin from Miss Crayola Creepy. 

They are planning to sew all the patterns from the book (one a month).  It sounds fantastic!  I am happy to say that I've just joined the rest of you.  I just got my book in the mail today!!!  A birthday gift!  YAY!

My, my....I best get a move on and finish tidying up this sewing room!

Mission McCall Mondays: 9100-9110

My regular 'Mission McCall Mondays' post series seems especially appropriate this month! For those of you new to the series, my goal is to update the Vintage Pattern Wiki so that it's complete for all McCall patterns from mid 1936-1940.  I am admittedly behind in uploading these to the Wiki but I know I'll get there soon.  All of the patterns this week are from 1937.  The pattern envelopes were uploaded into the pattern Wiki by VintageMartini.com--a great online pattern seller.  The other images (alas just the images not the patterns) are from my own collection.

We start off this week with a  pattern already in the Wiki, McCall 9100:

I really love this pattern between the double collar, the neat rows of buttons up the front to the interesting sleeve details, I think it's just perfect!

Preparing for the Crafters' Ceilidh Meet-up

Today Kerry, Kristen and I got together and did some planning and prepping for the Crafters' Ceilidh Meet-up later this month.

We're just wrapping up some of the details--more to come but I can promise you it will be a fun day!

Thank You- You Are Amazing!

Thank you all for the sweet birthday congratulations!  It made me so happy reading through all your comments and well wishes!  I had a fabulous day ..(more pictures to come later)...

I wanted to share a really fun video that Oona put together that I think you will enjoy (I know I did!):

hahahaha! Isn't that great?  We sure do know how to bust a move :)  Happy Sunday everyone!