Found McCall 9036 and it's coming home with me....

Look what I found and bought yesterday that should be arriving in the next week or two:

aaaackckk! McCall 9036....yipppeeee.  This was one of the patterns missing from yesterday's post.  I had no idea it would be a blouse and a blouse with all the yummy features I adore in the dresses!  This one's definitely fitting in the 1936 slot in the Sewing Through the Decades Challenge!

Mission McCall Monday: 9031-9040

This week's Mission McCall covers pattern numbers 9031-9040.  My goal is to update the Vintage Pattern Wiki so that it's complete for all McCall patterns from mid 1936-1940.  If you have any source images for any of these patterns, email them to me and I'll add them to the Vintage Pattern Wiki!  A big thank you to Amanda who found McCall 509 on etsy.  I'll be adding the lot to vintage pattern wiki next week!

First up is McCall 9031:

 I love the way the buttons are spaced on this dress...

 And here's the back view:

Next up is McCall 9032--and the first maternity pattern:

I always find maternity vintage patterns so interesting as the construction is usually quite clever.  Here's a close-up of how it closes (and how it can expand):

Also our first junior pattern--9033:

sooo cute!

I've been drooling over McCall 9034 since the first time I saw it over at the Blue Gardenia.  It's already in the Vintage Pattern Wiki and isn't it beautiful?

I wonder how hard it would be draft up a collar like the one in View A?  I think the colours on the pattern envelope are particularly stunning as well!

Next up is McCall 9035:

It almost looks like there is a slight back peplum to this dress but the back view doesn't show this:

I'm missing 9036 but 9037 is a stunning gown:

I really want to make this one up at some point.  What's great is that this pattern is available as a reproduction pattern from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library!!

I'm missing 9038 but I do have 9039:

Which one is your favourite?  I'd have to go with 9034 or 9037!!

Missing images so far: 502, 503, 505, 507, 508, 510, 9000, 9001, 9002, 9003, 9006, 9007, 9008, 9009, 9011, 9012, 9013, 9014, 9017, 9018, 9030, 9036, 9038 and 9040. If you want to contribute to the Mission McCall--just email me the images or pattern covers and I'll update them in the Vintage Pattern Wiki.  myhappysewingplace[at]googlemail[dot]com.

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish the most amazing mother in the whole world a happy mother's day!!

Oh yes, I'm basing this week's outfit on this amazing pink suit.   Beautiful!

A big thank you to the Pin Queen and to Steph from 3 Hours Past the Edge of the World for advice on working with this unknown fabric.  I started the underlining process and let me say it behaves SO MUCH better with underlining.

 

I'm underlining it in a fabric that I've had in my stash that is also a mystery fabric.  It's also soft and has very good drape without being too stretchy.

I also did as Steph suggested and used a piece of fabric to test out how it behaves (in this case, I just used an extra bodice front piece).  The easiest way to explain how this fabric behaves is a mix between silk and knit.  It's so soft but also likes to shift around (the underlining helps with this).  Despite the loose weave, there is no stretch on the grainline.

I thought this would be the project where I finally learned how to do a bound buttonhole.  But after giving it a go, I've decided that I'm going to do a regular buttonhole that is extra reinforced.  For two reasons, I'm not super comfortable with bound buttonholes and this fabric is extra difficult because it is so soft.  I did try out a bound buttonhole and a regular buttonhole and the regular one looks just fine.

I will, however, get a go at bound buttonholes as the dress pattern I've picked out to sew for this next weekend's meet-up has quite a few bound buttonholes! phew! Best get on it...I've got two dresses to finish before next Saturday :)

I was super excited to hear that a few of you also have this fabric in your stash (Pin Queen and Suzie from Su Sews So-So) and Kristin from Snake Oil Sewing just picked up this exact same pattern at a flea market.  Isn't it fun when you see the same vintage pattern being made up by someone? Or the same fabric?

What I'm Working On...

Pin Queen had a good question: What's next on the agenda?  Well I am super excited to say that I am about to make my first stitches into this pattern:

Ooooohhh so excited!
I'm using this AMAZING fabric that I got from Croft Mill

It's a loosely woven tweed made from 70% Acrylic 15% Wool and 15% Polyester.  And let me tell you it is the softest, most beautiful fabric I have ever touched.  So much so that when I initially got this in the mail, I turned around and ordered more!!  I absolutely love this fabric but am yet unsure how it will 'behave' during sewing.  I'll keep you updated....

What are you working on?

Inspiration from a famous bear or my 1967 mod dress

This week's theme over at the Sew Weekly was drawing inspiration from a children's book (in honour of Children's Literature Week).  Guess which books I choose?

Awww...Paddington Bear...isn't he such an adorable character?  What I didn't know is that the first Paddington Bear book was written in 1958.  Paddington also didn't get his trademark Wellington boots until 1964 in the book 'Paddington Marches On'.  Did you ever read these books growing up or as an adult?

This week I decided to give it a go at making another 1960's dress.  This one is from 1967:

  
I love views A & B--but decided to go with View B for my dress.  There is something about the boat neck collar that reminded me of Paddington's Coat.  I also knew that I wanted to make this in the iconic bright blue that Paddington wears.

In the spirit of Paddington, I wore my red rain boots and trekked over to Edinburgh's Waverly Railway Station for some photos :)

Some pictures show Paddington with a red hat, some with a black hat--well, I have a black hat!!

The dress is made out of cotton broadcloth and I also underlined the entire dress following Tasia's method.  I really like how substantial it makes the dress feel.  That's great for Scottish weather--so now I can wear the dress in spring, summer and autumn!!

  I underlined the dress in a soft brushed cotton.  I love the way brushed cotton feels!

I also got to use two amazing buttons I got as part of the Sewing Circle notion swap.  I think they fit perfectly! I love them!!

What about you?  What was your favourite children's book growing up?  Did any characters especially stand out to you?

Mission McCall Monday: 9021-9030

This week's Mission McCall covers pattern numbers 9021-9030.  My goal is to update the Vintage Pattern Wiki so that it's complete for all McCall patterns from mid 1936-1940.  I'm really happy that I have images for every pattern this week except one (9030).  If you have any source images for any of these patterns, email them to me and I'll add them to the Vintage Pattern Wiki!  A big thank you to A.J.A. who added McCall 693 to the Vintage Pattern Wiki and Kerri from http://k2sewwhat.blogspot.com/ send me some photos as well!

Without further ado, I present McCall 9021-9030.  First up is this lovely dress, McCall 9021:

Interesting use of darts (or are they pleats) on the bodice and I'm such a big sucker for this kind of back detail (looks like a lot of 'western' shirts I've seen):

I really like the short sleeves version of this pattern with the split sleeve as seen in the photo above.

McCall 9022 is full of the 'Western style' detailing.  I am LOVING the bodice of this dress:

The details are mirrored on the back of the dress:

Next up is McCall 9023:

Rowr! That is one hot nightgown!

McCall 9024 is also a lovely nightie:

Check out the smaller picture for the back of the nightgown which has an interesting back!

McCall 9025 brings us back to dresses with this pattern:

I'm really intrigued by these sleeve caps that have the gathering lines showing:

McCall 9026 may be one of my favourites so far:

This is one of the patterns that I wonder what it would look like on a person--would it flatter the figure?

I suspect that McCall 9027 would be very figure flattering:

This pattern has the same sleevecap detailing as 9025.

McCall 9028:

ooohhh...love the neckline on this one!  Here's a close-up of the line drawing:

And here's the back which has a row of lovely gathers:

Last up this week is McCall 9029:

 

I'm loving the cuffs on this dress!  Here's the short sleeve version which has a split sleeve:

And here's the back:

Which is your favourite?  Could you see yourself wearing any of these?

Missing images so far: 502, 503, 505, 507, 508, 509, 510, 9000, 9001, 9002, 9003, 9006, 9007, 9008, 9009, 9011, 9012, 9013, 9014, 9017, 9018 and 9030. If you want to contribute to the Mission McCall--just email me the images or pattern covers and I'll update them in the Vintage Pattern Wiki.  myhappysewingplace[at]googlemail[dot]com.

Participating in Me-Made June

YAY! I am super excited that So, Zo is bringing back the me-made challenges and that the next one will be happening during some warmer months here in Scotland.   I participated in the Me-Made-May 2010 challenge but didn't have quite enough garments to make it through the entire month of May last year.

One year later and I think I definitely have enough to do June!  As such, I, Debi from fashionsfromthepast.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-June '11. I endeavour to only wear me-made or me-refashioned garments (excluding undergarments) each day for the duration of June 2011.

Which means I better get crackin' on some sweater refashions as I'll definitely need some top layers in addition to my cape, faux fur jacket and poncho....hehehee....will be an interesting month :)

Are you participating?

My Royal Wedding Dress and Hat...

 Just watched the Royal Wedding....so beautiful!  This week our Sew Weekly theme corresponded with the royal wedding and making an outfit to match a super fabulous hat!  I decided to sew up McCall 3544 from 1939:

You may remember I blogged about this pattern last year.  I bought it from Top Tottie Vintage esty shop and I think this pattern singlehandedly sparked my love of 1939-1940 McCall patterns!!!

I got both the hat and fabric in the Pacific Northwest when I visited my family last August.  The fabric is from JoAnn's in NewPort, Oregon and the hat is from Urban Eccentric Vintage--a store in Vancouver, WA.  The hat was such an amazing find (only $20!!!)  I got it at the same time that I got my faux fur tilt hat!

We took these photos on the Water of Leith--which runs through Edinburgh.  While taking photos, we spotted a beautiful Blue Heron!!  Can you see him in the background:

I was also able to use one of the notions I got in the notions exchange we did as part of the Sewing Circle.  Amanda from Australia sent me a lovely package of notions and there was a vintage zipper that matched this fabric exactly! How amazing is that?

This dress has a lot of unique details.  The neck is gathered in the back which creates almost pleat like gathering on the bodice front.  The bodice front is also gathered at the waist for a neat effect. I also really like the sleeves, which use gathers on the sleevecap to create a puffed up look:

My favourite part of the dress is definitely the neckline.

Speaking of necklines, did you see Kate's beautiful wedding dress?

The dress is absolutely stunning! And I love the length of the veil:

I love that neckline and the lace, oh the lace...how beautiful!!!

Here's a close-up of the sleeve of the dress and the exchanging of rings:

I really like how simple the bridesmaid dress was:

I must admit, I did like all the pomp and circumstance :)