You had it coming!

And not the "Cell Block Tango".

I've been working furiously to get my cruise wardrobe finished. Flu?! BAH! Bronchitis that makes me cough so hard I pee myself? Piffle!

I've got the luttlerloh blouse (155) on the dressform. It needs two MORE buttons at $3.25 for two buttons. GAH! By the time I'm done, I'll have $8 worth of buttons on it. A casual blouse to wear with capris (154)!!! RAWR.



The coordinating capris are done (but for the hem). May I just say how awful the sketches are for the luttlerloh patterns? Especially when you're used to vintage pattern envelop illustrations.

The luttlerloh skirt is finished and has some nifty crystal fringe on the hem. It also goes well with the blouse, but is much more dressy.

I've got the Butterick 3052 pattern graded up (fingers crossed it works).



This will be made in two different views (A lower left & B) in two different fabrics. One is butterflies/flowers to go with the above skirt. The other is in yellow/black/grey to go with the skirt (yellow) and slacks (grey) from the Simplicity 4044.





Speaking of which, I'm headed out today to get that pattern copied at my local blueprint copy store. It will run me about half what Kinko's would charge. Once I've got my pattern copied, it can be graded up a bit and then ONWARD!

The Golden Rule?

OK, so I made my first Lutterloh outfit last night. Well, mostly made. Not sure what I think of it. It went together easily enough and my invisible zipper rocks, but for some reason, using the correct measurements, I have to make my seam allowance 3/5" instead of the 5/8" that I measured out from the pattern. Once I'm finished with it I'll post pics. Hopefully. ;-)

Hah. Proof that nearly anything can be found on the interwebz! The skirt part of the picture below is what I'm making.

Image courtesy of LutterlohSystem.com

Oh The Huge Manatee

You'd think I have enough on my plate with regard to sewing, right? Obviously my childrens' new school thought I had plenty of spare time on my hands...

Yesterday, I registered the girls for school and got the news that uniforms were being required this year for the first time ever (thanks! I just spent all my clothes budget buying my oldest clothes for school because nothing fit her already yet) and I could conveniently array them in polo shirts (for GIRLS??? WTH??? Say it ain't so!!!) and either khaki, navy or black bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts or skorts). Oh yes and by the way, mom, you can get those polos at The Evil Empire.

Now let me go on record as saying I despise Wal-Mart. I understand that for many, many folks, that place is the ONLY place they have to shop and I'm sorry that is the case. Aside from that, I'm unimpressed with their so-called "everyday low prices" because at my last comparison shop, they weren't any cheaper for the same items I buy at my local Super Target. So here I am, trapped in a no-win situation. I have to give Big Box Mart my hard earned cash because it's the ONLY place to get the shirts required for school at anything resembling a *reasonable* price in the correct colors. ORANGE??? NO ONE sells them except BBM. No one. Unless I want to spend $35 for an already embroidered "eurostyle" shirt. For a child. Oh hell no. So BBM got $50 (that's ten shirts) + 7% sales tax.

And on top of that, I'm going to have to alter each and every shirt to get them to fit my children. because obviously size XS (4/5) means Muy Gordo in BMM-ese. I'm not kidding when I say that my 5yo would be able to wear these shirts well into high school. Heck, *I* could have worn them in high school. She's such a TINY little thing. She still wears size 1-3 dance tights and can wear some 18-24 months pants. When I sew for her, it's around a size 2-3 and those still have room to grow. So yeah, mommy is going to have to de-sleeve, take in and re-sleeve and then hem all ten of these mother-lovin' shirts. Because the 7yo swims in them, too.

Add to that the necessity of britches. I *could* send my kids to school in the unaltered shirts and call them dresses, but I'm pretty sure that isn't what the school admins had in mind. So britches it is. And I'll be doggoned if I am going to spend $10 to $Infinity on school bottoms. No Way No How. $5 and they might have had me. So off I go to Joann's because the rules say "khaki, black or navy" and there's NO restriction on what kind of fabric I can use. OR the style. Heh. I'm obeying the letter of the law, I promise! It's not my fault I conviently have

Simplicity 4384

and

Simplicity 5540

in both of my girls' sizes... ($1 each a couple of weeks ago on sale!!! WOOT!!!) AND that Joann's had all their bottom weights and suitings (except Sew Classic) on 60% off sale. How could I resist that? For $51 & change, I was able to get enough fabric to sew each girl at LEAST half a dozen bottoms (if not more) which will last them at least 2 years each. That breaks down to ($51/12)/2. Or $2.13 per item per year. Now tell me, is there ANYWHERE you can manage that (inlcuding sales tax?) For custom tailored pants/skirts/shorts? In really AWESOME fabric that has spandex for better ease? I.Don't.Think.So. Heh.

And I don't mind ironing on a few school patches. Not at all. Really. Because it's not as if I've nothing better to do with my time.

3 down, 9 to go...

So here I am, done - all but for the hem - with Vintage Vogue 2636. I like it and I'll probably make it again... After my tummy tuck. It really needs a nice slim waist to make it look right. Otherwise it looks more like a feed sack than anything else. But I'm happy with it. Mostly because I did my first *successful* invisible zipper.

[picture]

Some details about this project:

1. I serged all the raw edges. I'm very happy with this as it makes everything lay smoothly and the bonus is that it looks like a "store bought" dress. SCORE! Since the fabric has a tendency to shed small bits of fluff, this is also a good thing.

[picture]

2. The invisible zipper. I had to frankenstine two sewing machines to make it work, but work it did. Basically, I had to take the whole shank thingy from my White machine and attach it to my Athena. This was done with many prayers and crossed fingers, but it held on long enough to use the zipper foot from the White machine.

[picture]

3. The hem. I used flexi-lace hem tape and sewed it to the serged edge so that when I sew the hem, it will be an invisible hem and not bulky. Bulky isn't good with this fabric since it's so smooth and hangs so nice.

[picture]

For a Vogue pattern (supposedly the complicated brand) it went together with no hiccups at all. I've had worse trouble with Simplicity for directions/pattern piece mismatches/etc. Of course there was one weird thing with the instruction sheet. There were basically no instructions for putting in the sleeves other than "easestich between circles" and "match notches on armhole". No instructions at all for how to construct the sleeves, hem the sleeves, etc. I'm betting it's because it's a vintage reprint and some things were just taken for granted.

I'm going to rate this one 4 out of 5 scissors.

There's nothing like the smell...

of devil's food cake cupcakes baking in the afternoon. I haven't baked a thing since March and I was going through baking withdrawal. It's amazing just how *soothing* the smell of chocolate is to the savage beast menstrual female psyche. Even if I can't *eat* them myself, it's taking me to my happy place.

Unfortunately, I missed entering ICE: Savory. I had the ccakes made but didn't follow through. Too much going on. And I'm not entering June's because I just am Way Too Busy. Maybe July or August, but definitely in September depending on the challenge ingredient.

Tomorrow is the last day of Pre-K for the middle child and I volunteered to make treats for the class. It's also "water day" which means bathing suit, towel & spare clothes. Water day is fun day for sure.

Well, the timer is about to run out on the second batch of cupcakes. Can you smell them from where you're sitting? Maybe I'll even post a picture. ;-) But then I'm evil like that.

Progress Update

Vogue 2636 is about 70% complete. Bodice needs to be attached to skirt, sleeves to bodice and zipper to side. Hem also needed but that means yet another run to the fabric store to get the appropriate hem tape. I'm thinking that happens on Saturday...

Round Three

Of my sewing-capades is in full effect. I cut the pattern on the largest size because my measurements differ anywhere from 2" to half an inch from the [cough]size 22[cough] on the pattern envelope. Talk about demoralizing. Anyhoo, the pattern is kick-a$$ awesome. I never thought I'd like it as much as I do. And this fabric that my MIL gave my nana who didn't want it and gave it to me because it was "too expensive" to have it made up is to DIE for. The picture just doesn't do it justice...




Here's the project in progress...

Sew Say We All...

Today I finished the two piece vintage skirt/midriff top (except for buttons). I'm saving the buttons for TV time. See? I can multi-task. One thing though... Simplicity 9978 only calls for FOUR buttons for that outfit. For the top. It's plain to see that the skirt buttons, but I guess we're just supposed to *guess* how many we need for the skirt. Meh. I bought some lovely sand infused ones that are semi-transluscent and they totally go with this better than the mere FOUR buttons I purchased earlier that there were no more of today. I guess it was meant to be since I wasn't really keen on the first set anyhow.

I also started on the Vintage Vogue 2636 I posted about earlier. Because I've got a weird shape, of necessity I must pin-baste the thing together FIRST and then go back and sew it. Which is PITA but oh well. I'm 98% done with that step and tweaking the fit. I will say that it looks very nice on the dress form. Better than I anticipated. The backing of the fabric is super silky polyester knit. No slip necessary, yay! The skirt on it isn't nearly as full as some of the others, but it's got plenty of ease.

And in other news, I bought a new pair of scissors. But this time, instead of buying the "chipper chicken" (name the movie this references & win a prize), I sprung for the spring action knife edge Gingher scissors. Sure they were a mere $44 & change. But I was SICK TO DEATH of having to find the doggone "sweet spot" on my POS spring loaded scissors so as not to mangle whatever I was working on. And did I mention I got 40% off? WOOHOO. So they only ended up being $26 + tax. Not too bad, really.

Also, I've begun conceptualising my oldest's First Holy Communion Dress. That's for Easter 2010. I've already got the fabric and the pattern and the thread. I've had those for years now. Today I scored (on my button run) a pearl headband for the veil. Tissues out... I'm going to use the pearl enhanced netting from my wedding veil for hers. Sniff sniff. My baby is getting so big. And I got 40% off the headband, too. I had a dream about it last night actually. And there it was.

Last week I got the most adorable cuddle fleece for oldest daughter's winter coat. Again 40% off. Which since it was already $13/yard was VEEERY helpful. It will be lined with cotton interlock fabric that is super soft so it has a little extra warmth and body. I found the perfect pattern for ONLY $1 folks. A BUCK!!!! Crazy, no?

I'll post pictures of all this madness later on. Right now, I'm too pooped to pop, so I'll sign off and check you on the flip side.

Hidden Treasures

It's funny how the Universe gives you little surprises.

I've been cleaning out my pattern stash. Not the "good" ones that I keep in acid-free envelopes and protected from wind, rain, sleet, snow, fire-breathing monsters from outer space and small children... You know the ones. The ones that you have no idea how you got them, where they came from, or maybe even they were the ones from when you were a kid and now they're missing pieces and parts.

I realized as I was cleaning out my last bin - hacking, coughing and wheezing all the way - that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had NOT intentionally bought them. Nope. Because if it's a vintage pattern, I'd have all the bits-n-bobs that go 'long with. Then it came to me... There was ONE pattern envelope that didn't contain what it was supposed to. I only paid a quarter for it, so no big, BUT! Goldmine!!! THREE vintage patterns in varying stages of completeness... All Simplicity...

Simplicity 3335 which is either from 1940 or 1950. My money is on '50 based on the style. See?




Next is Simplicity 1790 which again could go either 1946 or 1956. Since S3335 has more stuff printed on the pattern paper, I'm going to say that S1790 is from '46. It also has these AMAZING little transfers for embroidery. I wish I had a picture of this one....

The next one is from 1972 - Simplicity 5214. Again with the "no envelope/cutting directions" stuff. This one is an easy pattern to figure out though. I've got 6 out of 7 pieces which means it's definitely functional.

Strictly speaking, ALL of these patterns are functional because I can always redraft what I'm missing. I can't wait to make these up. Except for one small problem... None of my kids are small enough anymore. I guess I'm going to have to wait for grandchildren. Which had better not happen ANY TIME SOON. Otherwise I'll have to kill someone. And then it will end up as an episode of Law & Order: SVU...

Armchair Archaelogist

I always wanted to be an archaeologist in the grand style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and dig up ancient cultures. Alas, I was born about 150 years too late and with too much of a love of air conditioning. However, I still love to seek out new worlds and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before: vintage sewing patterns.

I've been archiving my collection in Silver Comic Book sleeves with acid free cardboard backers. $3.99 for 100 sleeves and $7.99 for the backboards. I've been labelling away and had a little trouble with a couple of patterns' dates. I knew from the styles that they were without a doubt from the 30s, but other than a decade, I couldn't get much farther. One was a Ladies' Home Journal pattern sold by Ed. Sarrazin of Fayetteville, TX at his general store and the other was a New York Pattern. Both LHJ and NY Patterns' information are hard to come by since not much detail is known about them.

However, both of these patterns had something in common... A strange little symbol of an eagle holding something and the initials "NRA". Now in modern parlance, NRA means the National Rifle Association. But in the 30s, notsomuch. In 1933, FDRs New Deal was supposed to help ease the effects of the Great Depression through the creation of numerous federal entities that would oversee different aspects of industry and commerce. There's a little blurb on this at History Matters. I'd say history is repeating itself right now...



But aside from current politics, the symbol intrigued me. I looked up the slogan "We Do Our Part" in Google and was led to Wikipedia's entry. Basically, that little emblem and slogan narrows down my patterns' ages to between July of 1933 and Spetember of 1935. That's less than a two year spread!

Once I'm done archiving these patterns, I'll be scanning them and fixing them to upload to the Vintage Patterns Wiki.