Me Made March: Day One- My Favorite Handmade Pants

Zoe over at So, Zo, What do You Know? does a really lovely little thing called

I've kind of falling off the back of the Sewing Blog Bus
and the Fun A Day really helped me get going so I thought
"Let's GO with Zo!"

I only pledged one item per day, 

because lately I feel stretched a teeny bit thin sometimes

and I wanted to pick a commitment I could stick to, 

because I like to win when I play these silly games with myself!

I plan to post to Flickr what I'm wearing everyday 

and doing a weekly wrap up here.

If I make something new, I brag it up ahead of time!

Soooo...Here's a garment I made and I've been wearing and not blogging about...

My Japanese wide leg cropped pants from My Favorite Handmade Style.

(A great looking book, I wish I could read it!)

  I made these pants about 6 months ago and I wear them all the time. 

Sometimes things jump full fledged, off of your sewing machine, and into your wardrobe. 

This was one of those items.

I had some fun making facings and pocket linings from contrasting fabric...

 top-stitching and grommets... 

as you can see they are quite well broken in!

 

I may end up making all the lengths and even adding the drawstrings at the bottom!

The pictures in these books are irresistible! 

Sew There!

Work In Progress Wednesday: Fancy Footwork

Some girls collect shoes. For a year or so, I have been collecting feet. Sewing machine feet, for my vintage Singer. I buy them whenever I see them.

Threads magazine had this article on vintage sewing machine feet and their uses. I popped it open and it was pretty durn good. It wasn't the be all end all, so I also searched away in my vintage Singer manuals and Talbots Complete book of Sewing.

I hadn't set up the Farmer's Wife in awhile and I just got inspired.

I started out with the "tucker".

Easy rows of even tucks.  Seamed up one way and down the other.

And then tucking the tucks.

Can you say Addictive?

Then I tried the embroidery/darning foot...
Sweetly sketchy.

I had a drop by from a friend who does real serious art quilting. She helped me understand the  only problem I'm having is hand and pedal speed coordination. That takes practice. Practice sounds fine. After all, it's just thread and scraps.

Then there's the adjustable hemmer. Okay... it just  hems,  but it hems a Variety  of Widths.

I am really loving the mechanical way these devises work. Every one works with the straight stitch. No fussy width, length or tension adjustments. Industrial Elegance. With patience and practice at speed and guidance, the foot pretty well does the work.

And finally the button holer. Okay ... What? this absolutely SHAMES my modern machine. These button holes are gorgeous by comparison. And it does it by wiggling the fabric back and forth.

Three cheers for the good old days.

More footwork in the future... With some in depth tutorials, vintage how to book pages scanned and road tested vintage feet for sale on Etsy. ( Yes, exhuberence = multiple purchases = extra feet to share with you all)

And another give away coming right up from me and DIY Couture!!

Made It Myself Monday: The Preppy Piped Semi-Blirt!

Okay, first things first:

Thanks for all the entries in the Hundred Dollar Iron Giveaway!

Oh. My. Lord.

I thought a few folks might want a serious iron upgrade, but I truly had No Idea!

It's so fun to see my blogland friends in there with so many new Commenteers!

I do hope you newbies will keep visiting me and say hi whenever you have the time!

If you haven't entered yet there's still time!

Now... on to something craftier!

Well here is another example for a garment with piped seams a la the grande tutorial of yesterweek.
This was conceived as an Homage to the adorable Blirt (blouse'n skirt look but in a one piece dress) made by Dorie at Tumbling Blocks.

The empire waist kind of killed the blirt-y illusion, but dress is very pretty and comfortable. Made from linen blend from Sew Mama Sew and a rescued vintage curtain, it gave me a bit of a work out dealing with combining fabrics that have a disparite drape and weight. There were many seams that required multiple basting attempts to get the fall I wanted.

In this situation I am not sure if the piping trim is helping or hurting the structure of the dress.

And I need to find a better alteration for dolman sleeves and my slightly sloping shoulders, or are they supposed to do this? Double stick tape? I'm  open to suggestions.

I think I'm going to add little lingerie snaps in the shoulders to keep all my undergarments out of sight when I wear this one.

3/4 yard new linen: 10.00
rescued vintage drapery from thrift store: 3.00
homemade piping from thrifted bias tape and sting .50
3/4 yard lining fabric 3.50

Total dress cost:17.00

Not my cheapest but a pretty decent frock for the buck. My biggest regret was not doing a lapped zipper. It was just beyond my sewing courage level to combine the corded seams and the new lapped zipper skillz into one dress.

thanks to flickr's Norma Frances for this fantastic digital backdrop

Maybe Mrs. Home Maker is right and looking stylish for less can be easy if you sew for yourself.

Tutorial Tuesday: The Right Fabric for Your Pattern

Oh, do please click pics for legibility and possible print out.

Well, This is a quick cribbed checklist from The Complete Book Of Sewing by Constance Talbot, Published in 1943. The name says it all... this volume is a great reference resource.

You have to admire her correct, yet stilted, grammar.


I'm cutting out a casual fall jacket from a light weight woolen myself. And a cape from a coat weight boucle, a gypsy skirt from a striped rayon and a huge hole in my housekeeping standards.

( Oh, Balanced Life where are you?)

Thrift Store Thursday: New Pony For The Stable

Meet The Singer 15-91.
She was born in 1948, in New Jersey.


I met her at the thrift store and the General said she could be mine for 20.00. A man had brought her in the day before and she had belonged to his grandma, and the machine was working great the last he knew. And she seems to work just fine.


There are some online reviews that call this machine "The Workhorse" or the "Farmer's Wife's Machine". I find sewing with her delightful. It is her sturdiness that I find so appealing.

And she cleans up real nice too.
But I have wasted quite a bit of time on the E-Bay trying to get her all outfitted with accessories.
Still looking for a buttonholer, and a piping or braiding foot, if anyone wants to trade for one.
I have loads of neat vintage supplies and even all the plates for a dresden plate quilt all in original depression era flour sack cloth.



Oh and there were other goodies at the thrift store too, that made it into my basket. But there usually are, and they usually do.

Fashion Friday: Making It Up As I Go Along

you can click on the photos if you need a close up

This is a pattern free self designed top made entirely from thrift store fabric and buttons. Did you catch that folks? Entirely thrift-begotten supplies and designed by Me!

I did use new thread. But, hey, that's like 95% green. Super economic at 3.00 in fabric and MAYBE another 50 cents in thread and buttons, and it only took a day, plus hemming and attaching buttons. So it was also quick like a bunny.

this was supposed to show that it buttons up the back but ...oh well

And Voila. I am doing something that helps me define myself the way I have long aspired to.
"She is the kind on woman who designs her own clothes."



Yeah. That is definitely the kind of person I long to be. It does have more sophistication than
"She is the kind of woman who dries tomatoes in the back seat of her car."

And look how great it goes with the earrings that Susan made. I wore this when I had dinner with her on our trip to Portland... and she liked them so much she put more of these in her shop.
Must be said that she was as delightful IRL as she is on her blog... and I think Jacob was a bit smitten because he talked as much during our dinner together as he did the rest of the trip.

(You know you want to buy them.. Then we can be like twins, or sisters or something. And you can even be the younger sister with less gray hair, because I like you that much!)

See You Next Week,
Betty

Fashion Friday: You heard Rumors about My Bloomers

What do you get when you buy a beautiful handmade vintage sheet at a yard sale...



and you add it to an altered pj pants pattern ( amy butler's lounge pants + knee gathers - quite a few inches in length= fancy bloomers)

and throw in a hankering for some pretty little somethings to throw on under a skirt?



You get my bloomers.



Are you blushing?

Happy Long Weekend,
And Margaritas for All,

Betty

Made It Myself Monday: Flower Child Wear

Just keep your eyes on the darling daisy in her new birthday out fit. Perhaps she can distract you from the fact that I just don't keep up around here like I should.

I sewed it from a couple of the Portobello Pixies patterns and she loves it so much she wore it to Disneyland. A very fine compliment indeed.



Keep the faith, Craft Faithful, I'll be back on the blog pony, soon.

Sweaters to Sweden and some sewing

I have been sewing, I swear!

Sometimes it seems like so long between respectable blog posts with actual finished projects in
them, But today I will deliver some proof that I still really do craft it up here in the cabin.

These little goodies have long been in the hands of their recipients.

This is yet another western shirt. This one was for my punk-rock college roommate, Sue. I just love her to death, and I'm so glad we are still friends after all these years. I love the way it came out. That is now the pattern I have repeated the most.

This little A line mod mini dress was out of Burda Magazine with embellishments inspired by a Japanese craft book called Buttons and Lace. I got the vintage bark cloth from Diana, my thrifting mentor. And the design was created especially for a very spunky 7 year old who lives in the big apple.

Ullis won the book and Needles... Hooray! Crazy about a crafty Svenska Flicka, any day of the week!

I am sorry I haven't been blogging more.
Last week I got toally caught up in making a new tutorial for Sew, Mama, Sew.
Big Big Thanks to anyone coming over from there and to all the great commenters.
You all rule!
I have a piping tutorial I'm working on and I hit the thrifty vintage sewing motherlode. I promise to reveal all! ( Of the thrift, that is.)
And I have some finished New Vintage Fun just waiting for a photoshoot.

And a special shout out to Susan and Mary B. who sent and left me messages that totally made my day!

Craft On, Craftstars,
Betty

New Vintage Wardrobe Project #21: The Indoor Outdoor Personality Jacket

What we have here is Simplicity 6217 from 1965. One of the few "designer" patterns I have.

I put it together from a couple of yards of indoor out door upholstery fabric that I got off of a remnants table, locally. It adds the extra value of being fade proof and mildew resistant.
So very handy for a forest dweller!

This was my first suit jacket and I did modify the design a little to add the single large button at the neck. That would have looked bad with the floor length skirt ensemble but since mine was made to wear with the linen shirt I made and jeans... It worked perfectly for me.



I have to say I love this jacket. I wear it all the time. The heavy fabric was a little trickier to sew. Actually the sewing was fine. It was the turning and pressing that caused the challenges.
I definitely put my tailor's ham and my sleeve board through their paces getting the lines right. Because of that, this has been on my "to do pile" since last summer. But it's in the closet now!
And I can't wait to do my next suit!
My new trick was used to help highlight the large vintage button . I did my first bound button hole using the instructions from Sally Stitch.

And I did my second full lining installation. I am really starting to appreciate the beauty of linings. First, there are practically no seam treatments needed on a fully lined jacket, and second, there is nothing like adding a really pretty lining to make the indoor-outdoor spring jacket super deluxe... Which is after all, my very favorite flavor.

Little Boo Peep

Yesterday I got a rare treat. I got to help make a costume for my niece.
She is little Boo Peep.

We recycled or thrifted every bit and I think it came out just perfectly.
Rescued squashed vintage hat. Totally restyled.
thrifted eyelet top embellished with recycled ribbon.
1.25 for thrifted chintz swatch for over skirt.
borrowed petticoats
And a kid friendly "crook " from recycled pipe
insulation used to pack a bicycle,
wire hanger, bamboo garden stake
and recycled ribbon and trims.

Total cost 7.00.

It certainly restored my faith in chintz.
Shepherdesses look great in it!

Tutorial Tuesday: Sewing Stuff You Need

If you don't have all this stuff... just put on your shoes and go to the store.
This is your list of Equipment for Efficiency.
You must own it all.

white sewing manual 1947
please click images to make bigger

I have been doing a lot of brooding over a dress form that resembles my figure more exactly (duct tape vs adjustable vs paper mache...) and this tip here for making an existing dress form match your figure looks good to me. A padded muslin over a smaller form... duh. That makes sense. If I try it, I'll let you know how it goes. First I need to get a nice smaller form somewhere.
(Do you hear me thrift gods?)

Actually this is is great starter list... but it doesn't mention how important a decent iron, ironing board and sleeve board are. Personally I couldn't sew a garment without them. Now If I could just get my family to quit eating I could use that big dining room table as a cutting table. And I could save all that time on cooking too.
Now That is Efficiency.

Made It Myself Monday: the p.j. top modified

This blouse was inspired by a pajama pattern I picked up somewhere.
No vintage, it's from 2002.
McCall's 3854.
I made a modified View A.. I switched out the sleeves to a view C cap sleeve, and I completely changed the casing/ elastic/ drawstring configuration by sewing a wider casing of contrasting fabric on the outside of the top but I added openings on both sides.

I fed through a ribbon on the front and another on the back and I tied it on the sides. It wasn't really flattering but I recalled how the vintage dresses often have a smooth center front.. so I stitched in two darts 4 inches long and centered 6 inches apart in the front of the blouse that went through the casing, catching the ribbon. This means the front stays smooth while the ribbons gather it at the back and sides. A bit less poofy where I don't really want to look poofy and easy peasy.

We are at the river right by my little cabin.. Yesterday was the most beautiful day ever!

And I bet you can tell but I finally got my photographer back.

Thanks, Jacob!
xxooo


oh yeah, and I got finally got a haircut!