Butterick 2611

My next project: Dress has a square neckline with shirring or ties at the corners. Fabric is what I would call jersey, but am not actually sure as I'm not super good with identifying weaves. It's really soft and drapey though. Grey background with white flowers and red and black ribbon. I have a black straw tilt hat with red flowers that I will probably wear. No black shoes though! I do have a pair of black heels that I love but are way too narrow. I'm going to have to part with them and use the money to buy new shoes.

Mock up of the bodice. (Pardon the horribly unkempt bedroom) I wasn't sure how it would look with the gathers at the shoulders and the shirring. I was worried about it being too blousy, but it seems fine in the that regard. The neckline is all wonky though. The cotton I used for this isn't very drapey and I think (/hope) that it works better with the jersey. It will....right?....

I'm going to use the ties instead of the shirring so that it's adjustable. I like the open neckline on this.

Goal: Cut out pattern tonight.

GO PENS!

My latest aquisitions

Both patterns from Vintage4me2 on Ebay. They are the seller's pics and I hope she doesn't mind me using them because she obviously puts a lot of time into creating these illustrations. I'm always amazed at how much time she puts into this because many of the black and white patterns she will color in like the one above.

I think the pattern illustration conned me into buying the Simplicity. I love tweed. I can't resist, really.

Love the little puff sleeves on this blouse and the shaped waist and front buttons.

Damnit! (Or, A lovely pair of brown oxfords)

*Edit* I got my shoes last night and they are AWESOME! Being short presents all sorts of problems not the least are my feet - ridiculously short but semi-flat and wide. But these shoes fit like a dream! Dare I say they are comfortable? My only problem now, is that it's nearly summer. I probably won't wear these much till fall!

I bought another pair of shoes. I suppose I should feel embaressed and I kinda do but it's not often that I see oxfords in my size so I bought another pair. They're brown leather, embossed to look like alligator.
Picture from seller's website. Purchased from Marian's Vintage Vanities. She was really friendly and helpful. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Quite excited for these shoes from Venus and Mars etsy store. They were listed as 1940s oxfords but I feel like they could even be from the late 30s. Either way, cute! I hope hope hope they fit. Buying vintage shoes is such a crap shoot with me. The most comfortable pumps I own are 9 inches long by 3 inches wide....somehow though, it just doesn't translate when I buy vintage shoes.

Speaking of shoes....

These dance shoes from Aris Allen are absolutely my kind of shoe. I adore them! From the cut-outs to the tie to the round toe...yum! I would even pay $65 for them no problem, but they are dance shoes with a suede sole. Somehow, I don't think they are meant for street walking. And that makes me a sad panda.

Endless.com has some Re-Mix Vintage shoes discounted as does Amazon.com. Since Re-Mix is *barely* affordable I haven't decided which shoe or color I am going to get. I know that I am partial to navy, red, and green so anything I make in the future will probably have those colors or shades of those colors. I'm thinking white, green, or red.

Cutting into one vintage fabric has made me less afraid to cut into another. So here are some options that I'm considering:

Poor picture but this is a Hollywood pattern I picked up with a bunch of other patterns. Bodice is in, I don't know how many pieces...a bunch...there's the midsection with a dropped waist that is seamed up the middle with ruching at the center and the sides; the top is made up of four panels that are gathered in the center leaving a keyhole opening. I'll probably use cap sleeves because I'm all about short sleeves or even sleeveless year round. I figure I can always throw on a cardigan or jacket or coat no matter what season. I like that you can mix and match whatever color combinations you want, even though, I never do. The one illustration looks like satin panels in the center. Anyway, I don't have any evening dresses. My vintage wardrobe is mainly what I consider sportswear, which, come to think of it, mirrors my every day wardrobe. So I have a navy crepe (I think it's navy) that I think will work.

Option number 2. I love shirt dresses. I don't know why because I get awfully bored looking at my patterns sometimes when all I see are shirt dresses or some variation on the shirt dress. I would hate to waste my vintage fabric on a boring shirt dress. I'd love to do something with these two fabrics....but what.

The apple trees are kinda cutesy....is it even age appropriate? I never know.

Tropical Dress part deux

Ok, so here's the first look at the dress. It still needs a zipper put in, shoulder pads, the sleeves hemmed, bias facing around the neck, and the bottom hemmed.

So here's the gaters under the bust. They're not very even but actually do look better in person. I don't know why I have such a hard time with gathers.

I haven't decided what to do at the neck. The pattern calls for a worked eye and button with a bow tacked on. I don't like big things at my neck like that (according to some past life expert dude who was on the radio, it means I was strangled or hung or some such in a past life...whatever) so I was thinking that instead of a bias facing, I may face the neck with fabric and extend either end out for a little tie and then forgo the button; or just leave a button at the neck.

Dress was easy to construct, though I did change it a bit. The directions say to fold under the seam allowance for the skirt pieces and top stitch to bodice. I've never had much luck with that for some reason so I was lazy and just stitched the pieces together and then top stitched. It definitely has a slightly different look to it than it would otherwise. The only thing that bothers me is that the point of the skirt in the front isn't as sharp as it would be if I had follwed the directions. The bodice is just a tidge too short. It doesn't look bad (I don't think so, at least) but I may have been able to leave as it was. Also, for some reason, I was supposed to leave the left side open around the tie and then face the opening and put a snap there. I'm really not sure why so I stitched the whole thing shut and it's fine.

So that's it! More pics when it's finally finished.

Tropical summer dress!

(Fabric is vintage cotton plisse. I would never really know the differenc between seersucker and plisse but according to the all powerful Google search, plisse is fabric that is puckered because of a treatment to the fabric and the puckered fabric of seersucker is caused by the weave. Is that why seersucker puckers in straight lines and the puckering of the plisse weaves all over the place? My technical knowledge of all this stuff is about nil.)

Currently making this pattern fit onto this fabric with a half yard less than it calls for.

1. Skirt is about 28.5" long from natural waistline to raw edge - I only need it to be 22 inches long when hemmed, and I don't think all two inches is necessary so I shortened each skirt piece 4" and "cut" about an inch off the bottom (10 inches saved)

2. Pleated the bodice to shorten it by 2 inches (4 inches saved)

So, that only saves me 14 inches, not the 18 I'd need.

BUT I laid it out and it works (dare I say perfectly)! Pieces are cut and marked and my fingers are crossed. My luck, I will have laid it out improperly and something will be backwards. I would be super super super pissed. I'm being optimistic, though, and saying everything was done correctly.

Hopefully, forward progres on Saturday or Sunday. I'm all aquiver.

Old pic from January of last year, just before deployment.

The husband heads off to drill this weekend, which is usually great for my productivity levels. I just get so bored that I have to do something...even cleaning. It's horrible. So much to finish, so much to start. I'm bad at finishing things so I will probably start ten more things!

Vogue 8599

Got this pattern in ebay for $6. My only concern is all the gathering and how poofy it's going to end up being on top. The skirt can be gathered or pleated. I think the pleats will ultimately be more flattering. I should get it today. I'm excited to do a mock up and see how it looks.

Also watching this:

Love this blouse with the sash at the waist. I have some sheer green and white silk that I hope will work. I only have 2 yards so it should be just enough.