1970s Awesomeness?

Wow, where did the week go? So, my window seat still sort of looks like it did on Monday, though I have starting sewing its muslin. In the meantime, I go upstairs and unload boxes into the kitchen, then I go downstairs and work on my Etsy shop. And then sometimes, I just lay on the couch in a state of overwhelm-i-ness. I know this shouldn't be that hard, but it seems to be. Maybe I should decide to host a dinner party over Labor Day and that would give me some sort of motivation to get it all done.

Or not.

Yeah, what does all that have to do with the title of this post? Well. Sometimes I come across patterns for my shop that trigger memories. Sometimes they're patterns I've actually made before, and sometimes they are just patterns for types of clothing that I actually might have worn.

So, back when I was in junior high school (yes, this was what it was called before it was called middle school) in Dallas, Texas, in 9th grade (you didn't go to high school until 10th grade), I was on the drill team. Not the kind of drill team that flipped rifles around, but the kind that danced on the football field during halftime. The drill teams in Texas (maybe other states) in the 60s, 70s and maybe the 80s and 90s were patterned after the Kilgore Rangerettes (clicking on "source" will give you some more info about them).

source

I was in 9th grade in 1974 and there was a drill team for both the junior highs and high schools. My junior high was T.C. Marsh and we were the Matadors. And the drill team was the Cuadrilla. I just did a Spanish-English translation and it means group or gang. Hmmm, what a clever name. For the record, I was on drill team in high school too, but I'll save that story because this is getting kind of wordy, and you are probably wondering about what the heck pattern I could possibly be talking about.

You can buy it here!

Have you ever heard of a hop-in? Views 3 and 4 are sized for wovens, so our moms might have used this pattern, but without the collar, sleeves and pockets, and maybe a modest scoop neck. We voluntarily wore these outfits (without a skirt or shorts) to practice in during our early morning practices. Our colors were gold and white, so we made one side gold and the other white in an awesomely comfortable broadcloth type fabric, a la:

CUTE! Right? So we wore these to practice in before school, and if you were super cool and had long enough hair, you pulled your hair into a ponytail on TOP of your head, and then divided it into 2 or 3 sections and wound those sections around orange juice cans. Anybody? Did anybody else do this? My hair was too short, and I was never one of the super cool, so I had to settle for just wearing my hop-in. (I don't need to explain why we called them hop-ins, do I?)

Since I have already stunned you with the awesomeness, how about a picture of me in my performance uniform? A stunningly hot satin type outfit. Remember, this was in Texas. In September and October.

Oh, and do you see those little pom-poms on the hats? They would get tangled with the hat of the girl sitting next to you, or even worse, when we were marching in a line and got too close. Not pretty.

Doesn't that picture look instagram-y? Nope. Authentic 1970s!

Have a great weekend!

Remember

The Matchy Siblings -- Easter Edition

As promised, just a bit more cuteness to fill in while we're all waiting for Self-Stitched September to start! Are you participating? I just placed an order to Gorgeous Fabrics and fabric.com, so fall sewing planning is in full swing. I'll give it to you buy the numbers tomorrow. In the meantime, the Easter edition:


Easter, 1991. This is Kyle's first.

 Kyle's pattern is one called "Allan's Bubble" that was in the now defunct Creative Needle Magazine. Laura's is the Basic Square Yoke by Chery Williams. I used commercial smocking plates for the picture smocking. I think I might have made Kyle's little shirt, too.


I stayed with the pink and blue combo in 1992 as well.

I do not remember at all where these patterns came from, but probably a magazine. You can't really tell from the pictures, but Laura's dress is open from the waist and an eyelet slip peeks out. Kyle's outfit is a shorts romper with the matching patchwork pattern. I know I made his shirt. I made all the piping on all their outfits, and used a thin crochet cotton to make that baby thickness.


I can almost guarantee that Laura was talking as she opened each egg in her basket!


In 1993, I got really fancy! And they didn't really match, but they certainly went together!

Laura's smocking is called Counterchange, and is a type of pleaterless smocking. The design on her dress is called Lydia's Basket by Ann Hallay. The stripes on the fabric are used to help form a grid that makes the pleats as you embroider. I don't remember the dress pattern I used.


Finally, because these are not digital pictures, I can't really manipulate them that well, but I wanted to enlarge Kyle's picture so you can see just how cute he looks.

 

This was taken a couple of months before his 3rd birthday. The pattern is the boy's button-on suit by Ginger Snaps Designs. And his dad told me not to make little smocked shirts with bunnies for Kyle any more. It was a sad day. I did make a few more things for Kyle after that, but things like camo pants and Halloween costumes. No more bunnies.


By the way, I've kept all these special outfits. They were passed on to my sister for her girl and boy, and when they outgrew the outfits, she sent them all back.

The Matchy Matchy Christmas Siblings

Did you know that September is right around the corner? Yep. And since there will be lots of Self Stitched Sept (SSS) pictures, I thought I would take a walk down memory lane a la Carolyn, and show you just how adorable my kids were when they were little. I am just a little biased, I suppose.


I liked for them to match on Christmas and Easter, and so of course, I had to make them matching outfits. Even with a boy and a girl I didn't have any trouble finding what I wanted to make. And so as not to make your eyes glaze over, I'll just do one holiday at a time.


Christmas 1990 was Kyle's first.

I'm not sure what these patterns were, but undoubtedly one of the Big 4. McCall's maybe? Anyway, I used 2 different green cotton checks and red satin ribbon as trim. You can see that Laura's vest has a bigger check than her skirt. Her top is a RTW, and I think Kyle must have had on a long sleeve onesie. Oh, before I get any farther let me apologize for the picture quality... way before digital!


Christmas 1991 I got a little more ambitious.

Yes, navy blue velvet. And Laura's pinafore bib is organza. Kyle's turtleneck is RTW. I'm not sure of her dress pattern, but the bib was from a company called A Garden of Smocking Designs. The applique design was from Sew Beautiful maybe? I'm also not sure about Kyle's romper pattern was, but it had buttons at the shoulders and snaps down below for easy diaper changes.


Apparently, they still fit the next year, and they were super cute, so I didn't bother with new outfits for Christmas 1992. The pictures don't lie. I'm including the 1992 pictures because they show the applique so well.

I'll let y'all absorb the awesome cuteness of these, and do the Easter outfits in another post.