A Groovy St. Patrick's Day

I hope you all had a lovely St. Patty's Day!  I finished my dress just in time to go out and enjoy the town with my honey!

This was my first time sewing with a 1960's pattern!!! I used Simplicity 7120:

It's a basic sheath dress pattern and I had just barely enough of my fabric (a green and purple polyester charity shop find that was perfect for St. Patrick's Day) to make it.  I think this pattern still needs a bit of tweaking for my body shape.  I'm short waisted so I think I need to shorten the bodice bit from the shoulders and probably let it out a in the hip area as well.  But overall, I am quite happy and it was fun and comfortable to walk around in!

It is still pretty cold here in Scotland!  Not warm enough to frolick around in a sleeveless dress!  I'm quite glad that I had a knit top that worked well colorwise underneath!!

We saw this super cool tiki head carved into the railing of the fence where we were taking our photos (Leith Walk):

How bizarre is that?

There was green all around...it is definitely starting to feel more spring-like around here (even if the trees are still bare):

This walkway goes on for miles and is a beautiful scenic walk right in the heart of the city.  You can even access two major galleries (the Dean Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art) from the walkway!  I love that there can be this bit of nature in the city!

How was your St. Patty's Day?  Hopefully it was fun and groovy!!

Vote for Me, Pretty Please!!!

Hi Everyone! The contest entries for the Eva Dress pattern contest are up!  Head on over to Facebook and friend 'Eva Dress'.  Once in, I would love if you could vote for the 1933 outfit I made!!!  The entries are in this album.  To vote, just hit the word 'like' above the comments of the specific photo.  Sadly you can only get one vote per category (there are four categories--I'm in the 'Best Use of Pattern in it's Original Form')

 Voting closes at midnight EST on March 26, 2011. No votes will be counted after that time!  There are some AMAZING outfits on there including a few from Lauren of Wearing History and Adey from The Sew Convert. 

What does the winner get?  A $100 gift certificate for patterns from EvaDress! EEEP.....that would be soooo amazing!  If I win, I am definitely getting this pattern, I have the perfect fabric for it:

Wish me luck!

What I'm Working On....

Hello lovelies! Sorry it has been quiet in my neck of the woods!

This week at the Sew Weekly the theme is green for St. Patty's Day and I'm working on the dress below:

I think this might be my first attempt at sewing something from the 1960's!  I've got some groovy green fabric and I think it will look hot, baby, yeah! (giggle)....

What are you working on this week?

Pinafore Inspiration: Part 2

A few more scans of lovely pinafores from 1940.  This one is from the August 1940 American version of Vogue magazine:

This lovely one (in corduroy!!!) is from the 1940 Autumn Sears Catalogue:

My Purple Parfait...

I've been sewing up the Colette pattern 'Parfait' for the Sew Weekly theme last week and I decided to make it into a 40's inspired pinafore.  Usually when I think of pinafores I think of autumn...but they would be perfectly lovely for spring as well (especially if you live in cooler climates)!

Here's some photos:

I made it out of a lightweight purple curduroy that I've had forever.  Nathalie asked about fitting this pattern.  You may have heard that the bust sizes run a bit large on this pattern.  Gertie does a great small bust adjustment or SBA tutorial for this very pattern.  In the end I didn't do an SBA because I knew that I wanted to wear this as a pinafore and needed a bit more space to wear some blouses underneath.  However, if I were to do it again, I might do a slight SBA anyways to take out some of the extra fabric on the sides.

This was my first time ever working with a modern pattern!!  The pattern instructions were fairly easy to understand but I did get confused at one point because they have the pattern piece, the lining and the interfacing and attach it all at once....I'm used to vintage patterns that 1) don't talk about interfacing at all, and 2) only mention other facings as an aside (i.e. 'attach facing' or 'make a bias facing') and 3) only give lining instructions if it is a coat or cape or jacket.

I tried out a new pincurl styling following inspiration from Sailing Over a Cardboard Sea who did a pincurl set to replicate Lucille Ball's hairstyle.  Mine is less Lucille Ball (I don't actually have bangs--so the curls were pretty long) but it is definitely 40's inspired:

I paired my new pinafore with my 1943 blouse.  I used some nice vintage looking buttons but I may go back and put self-covered buttons using the corduroy fabric.  What do you think?

One of my favorite parts of this pattern is the pockets.  They are so adorable and usable!  I think I might use the pockets on other outfits as well:

Have you sewn up the parfait pattern?  Or have you made a pinafore?  Do send me a link!!

Happy March! It's hard to believe it's that time of year already!!

1940 Pinafore Inspiration: Part 1

I wanted to share some of my inspiration photos for pinafores from the 1940 August edition of American Vogue magazine:

This is the college edition of the magazine and I find the fashions absolutely charming!

 I think these two photos are of the same pinafore?  I love the bike too!

I think this is one of my favorite photos ever....it has everything I love: plaid skirts, plaid suits, sweaters, pinafores...

Apparently the pinafore in this photo is made of dark green velveteen! How lovely!!

Hope you are all having a lovely Saturday!

My Spring Palette

Since this week's theme at Sew Weekly was sewing with Colette patterns...I decided to do a spring palette.  I know I'm a bit behind but it looked like a lot of fun and I've been really inspired by everyone else's palettes.

So here it is:

I'm inspired by bright, bold colors for spring.  Like a glass of red wine (yes, please!) or freshly mown grass or cherry blossom trees in full bloom.  You'll notice I included a pattern I've already made...ahem...I always do that with lists, include something I've already done so that I can tick it off right away! hahaha :-)  But to be fair, it is in the color palette.

For the Sew Weekly theme this week, I've been sewing up the Colette Parfait pattern.  I know I'm supposed to be making blouses to go with my separates not separates to go with my blouses but I've been dying to make up a 40's inspired pinafore for awhile...  pictures coming soon.

Can you believe it's March already?

1931 dress scans

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend!  It's still a bit crazy around here workwise and I haven't been able to do any sewing but I wanted to post up some 1931 lovely dresses that are inspiring me to finish up my work so that I can return to sewing my 1931 suit!

The brown suit at the bottom left has a very similar jacket to the one I'm making (though this is in crepe...hmmmm):

Or what about the lovely lace trimmed suit below:

I really love the lines of the suit in the bottom left:

I've gotten a few blogger awards over the past week or so--thank you all!  I'm planning on doing a post soon for that and I'll be posting seven things about me and I thought I would ask all of you if you have any questions for me to answer?  >'.'<

Progress on 1931 EvaDress Suit

I've made some progress on the 1931 EvaDress suit.  I was able to finish the skirt this week and I really, really like how it turned out.

The skirt is made of flannel wool.  It's the first time I've sewn with this material and I really like the weight of it.  It's a bit heavier than some of the wools I've sewn with but gives a nice drape to this length of skirt.

I got the hat from a Monsoon Accessories on sale for £4.  Isn't it very 1920's?

We also took some photos at the Cannongate area of Edinburgh:

Cannongate is the lower part of the Royal Mile heading towards Holyrood Palace.  It was named after the canons of Holyrood Abbey and the Scots word gait meaning "road".  These last photos are taken at the Old Tolbooth building.  The Tolbooth was built in 1591 and it was where the tolls or public dues were collected.  It has a fantastic clock on top of the building:

I'm standing on the steps leading up the building:

Here's a close-up of the skirt.  I wore it to work and it was very comfortable:

I'm also making good progress on the jacket.  I absolutely adore the details on the sleeves and the collar.  Here's the pattern cover again:

And here is how my jacket is looking so far:

I just need to finish the sleeves, some of the facings and the belt!  I won't be able to work on it this weekend but I hope to finish it next week!

Grandmother's hat comes back

I thought you would enjoy some hat scans from the April 8, 1939 Picture Post:

It's a crazy work week for me here...I'm trying to finish up a large report by Monday the 28th! eeeep! Wish me luck!!  I'm sorry to say there won't be much sewing going on but I am planning to take a few days off once it is finished so that I can: 1) sleep and 2) get back to sewing! ;-)  How's your week going?

What I'm working on...

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my dress! I really enjoyed making (and wearing) it!

This weekend I'm working on the first year of my Sewing through the Decades challenge--1931!  I am super excited to try out another EvaDress pattern:

There are so many things I love about this pattern! I think it is super classy looking and will be great to wear to the office or out on the town.  I love the unique sleeve and collar details and am planning to use some of my left over faux fur fabric for this!  The instructions are very minimal but hopefully if I take it slow, I'll figure them all out! :-)

What are you working on at the moment?

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?