Simplicity 5030, Version 2

Have you ever thought up a project, and you couldn't make anything else until you've seen if that project can work? Yep, this is one of those projects. Here's how it came about:

Step 1: Daughter Laura cleans out her drawers when she graduates, and presents me with 2 large shopping bags full of t-shirts, and wants a quilt.

Step 2: I make a quilt.

Step 3: There's still a overflowing bag of t-shirts left. What else am I going to do with them?

Step 4: Get inspired by a girl I see at a folk art festival who is wearing a pillowcase-style sundress, clearly made of t-shirts she (or someone) has sewn together to make a new "fabric".

Step 5: Decide Laura wouldn't wear that kind of dress in public, but she might wear a nightgown.

Step 6: Make Simplicity 5030 for myself, and decide it would be a great pattern to use for this project.

OK, enough with the steps... this is a project that just took on a life of it's own, and words just can't do it justice. So, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Sam (the dog) is just mesmerized with the awesomeness!

Scarlet is Ready for the Beach!

Recent interchange in a restaurant:


Roland (husband... observing a woman walking by): I hate maxi dresses.


Kyle (son): Me too.


Me: I'm making me one.


Silence.


Me: It's from a vintage pattern that is remarkably similar to the dress that lady had on.


Me: For the beach trip.


End of that discussion.


So, not only have I made a maxi dress from a vintage pattern, but I made it from fabric that used to be curtains a la Scarlett O'Hare. If she were going to the beach and not to a prison to see Rhett Butler. These curtains:

About 4 yards of a soft cotton batik. That glinty spot you see is some beading I had added for fun. It became a problem.


The pattern I used, McCall's 3246, copyright 1972:

I don't actually have that much to say about it. Bust 34 is really a little small for me, but there isn't much fitting. I did a tissue fit, resulting in a full bust alteration (FBA) which added some needed width for the midriff. I made the midriff bands
a little longer on each side (somewhat unscientifically), and added 1/2" to the lower side edges of the back bodice which was plenty. I did narrow the shoulders about an inch.


I didn't have the instructions, but this is a pretty easy and straightforward pattern. It doesn't call for lining, and I didn't want to anyway. Remember, beach. Hot temps. The V-neck has a foldover lining, and I secured it with some machine embroidery using one of the fancy stitches on my machine. I used the same thread hogging stitch around the midriff as well.

Oh! When I did the FBA, it also lengthens the bodice a bit. I removed that length along the center edge, eliminating any gaping. That's also what's causing the midriff band to sag a bit at the sides, something I can live with. If you want to see the embroidery better, I think clicking on the pic zooms you in a bit.


I did have to shorten the dress a bit, and initially, I just gathered the full widths of the rectangle, but that turned out to be way too much volume around the middle. I had traced the skirt pattern, which has an a-line shape, effectively removing about 8 inches per side.

Yep, the midriff band does sag a bit around the sides, and while I know why (see above), I didn't realize it until after all the embroidery was done. Remember... beach dress, not a couture gown.


I used an invisible zipper which admittedly is not as 1972 as it is 2012, but it was the only matching one I had. The seams and embroidery don't match up perfectly... beach dress. Now for a little test... the back skirt panels had to be pieced because of the fancy beading on the curtain which was sewn into a seam, not just put on top. I'm hoping it's not too noticeable.

I haven't gotten Roland's opinion, but frankly, my dear... well, you know the rest!

Vogue 7903: A Refashion

I finally turned on my sewing machine this weekend, and came up with a quick refashion of one of my husband's dress shirts, into a blouse for me. Months ago, I bought this Sandra Betzina "Today's Fit" blouse pattern, and kept flip-flopping on what fabric to make it up in.

Vogue 7903

Then, Roland ripped a shirt. And it became a great source of fabric. (He ripped the sleeve, and not along a seam, but just in a random place by the shoulder.) And this:

Became this:

The only changes I made were to grade out at the hips and narrow 2 of the front darts for a bit of room for the fluff, and I narrowed the shoulders by 1". I'm thinking the shoulder narrowing resulted in a sleeve that is a tad too tight, and that lowering the armhole a bit should relieve that. I had meant for the cuffs to not be contrasting, but an error in sewing made that not happen. I used the contrasting color because I didn't have enough fabric, and I'm happy with the "mistake". I was able to cut the collar out of the yoke. And there is very little left. BTW, wearing my Clover pants!


If you're looking for nice shirting fabric, thrifting an extra large men's shirt is a great source. And it made it quick because I used the original buttons/buttonholes. You'll just have to get used to the buttons on the "wrong" side. Why is that anyway?


Notice the patio? Remember this?

The patio is almost finished! Yay! In other news, in my other sewing blog, I'm doing a feature every Monday on fantasy sewing, choosing a pattern for sale in my Etsy shop, and then picking 3 or so different fabrics on how I would make it up. Come on over and take a look. Click here for today's installment!


Finally, a close up of the blouse:

Roland said that it looks better on me than it did on him! I was a little worried about it looking too masculine, so the sparkly necklace (doesn't look so sparkly here) is a nice touch.

A Refashion: But is it Better?

Normally, things don't get refashioned so quickly, but you may remember this:

I made it in May, and wore it officially the first time in June on our vacation. The whole time I wore it though, I just felt silly. Like I was wearing either a maternity top, or one that just felt too elementary school. I think a 9 year old would look adorable in this. Not sure if it's the style or the fabric or a combination of the two, but I just wasn't feeling it.


A remake was in order, and I knew just what I was going to do. A Frankenpattern combining the Claire cami for the bodice and McCalls 5522.


OK, we're friends, right. I'm only showing you this because I like you. So, be nice. Anyway, I know what the problem is. The top to just below the casing is where I cut it off, and that part of the Claire cami is longer than the McCalls top, and I didn't take that into account, so the fit is off. But I'm not going to go back and change anything. Nope, third time will not be the charm.

There's a serious buttoning issue. It's pulling for one thing, and for another, I can't comfortably button the bottom button. Now, I'm kinda working on that issue, but for the time being it now doesn't really fit. When we got ready to go out to lunch yesterday, Kyle gave me the look of horror, as in "mom, what are you wearing?!! and will I be seen with you?"


So I decided to try to "style" it another way. How about as a vest?

Um. No. Ok, it does address the buttoning issue, but for one, the necklines don't work. As a vest, the neckline is really all wrong. Kyle gave me another thumbs down, and I changed. One of the sewing bloggers has a "magic closet" (I can't remember who, if you know, please let me know... it's a great name for it) and I'm going to let this live in the magic closet for awhile. Either I'll lose some weight and revisit wearing this, or hmmm, maybe it will fit Laura.

New Life for a Wadder

Too wide?, a photo by downthestreet on Flickr.

Remember these? One of the comments I got when I made them last summer was to simply go ahead and donate them. Well, I didn't. I stuffed them into a drawer where they've been taunting me ever since.

With Me Made June looming, and one successful pair of shorts made, I decided to see if I could salvage them.

Voila!

It took about 15 minutes. Basically, I cut them apart at the inseam (no seam rippers were involved at all), turned them inside out, folded them in half, drew a line at the center back and front, and stitched. Still unusually big through the waist, I pinched out about 2" and sewed a new right side seam. There's an invisible zipper on the left side seam, which I totally left alone. The result is a center back seam that is no longer in the center, but can you see it?

(It was getting a little windy here.)

So, there you have it. For a skirt for me, it's a little on the short side, but it'll do. After June is over, it still may be destined for Goodwill, but ya never know. It may turn out to be the skirt of the summer. Or not.

For the record, my top was made by Talbots.

Refashioning

Back before I started reading sewing blogs, when I went shopping for RTW, the thought never crossed my mind to change something I didn't like on a particular garment. Oh, sure, I've hemmed more than a few pairs of pants, but that's because I'm short, not because I was changing the look. Now I look at things with a completely different eye.

Remember last spring, when Target had that Liberty of London tie in, and had some cute inexpensive things? I bought a couple of tops, and one of them was just not right for me, but it had a really easy fix. I was going to use this as a UFO, as this top has been crumpled in a pile in my studio since last March, but this refashioning idea is pretty fascinating to me. I've put aside a few things that normally would just go to the charity pile, but I think they can be reworked.

Back to the Liberty top.... loved the 3/4 sleeves, and the peasanty vibe. Hated the ruffle around the hips. It took, oh, about 10 minutes yesterday, but the ruffle is gone. What do you think?

Yeah, I took the before picture back in March.