In Sewing News Today...

Another end to National Sewing month and even though September was a blur there was some sewing. This year's theme, generations of memories, seemed appropriate when it came to revisiting vintage McCall's 8548 at the beginning of the month. I haven't been inspired by the latest pattern offerings. It's been the oldies, the tested and true (TNT) patterns that I've been revisiting.  Although there was one new design that made it to the sewing table. My current sewing project continues with revisiting an out-of-print pattern (OOP), Simplicity 2372.  

During National Sewing month, Carolyn from Diary of a Sewing Fanatic has been hosting give-aways and I was blessed in winning a gift card from Emmaonesock.         

I just have to decide on what to get.  I know that it would be something that is near impossible to find is my corner of the world, wool knit. According to the local fabric stores, I live in polyester polar fleece country so it is a real treat to pick natural fibre fabric from Emmaonesock. It's between a teal blue or a soft pink colour.  And then there is the question of quantity, do I want to make a sweater, Simplicity 8529, or a sweater dress, OOP Vogue 8939 or another Iris dress? Decisions! 

Well, that's all in today's sewing news. 

Happy Sewing!  

Butterick 6509: Fancy Pants Fall Jacket, Coat, or is it a Bathrobe?

Butterick 6509 See & Sew pattern is a very easy jacket, only three pattern pieces. I picked up this pattern for the short jacket but then lengthened the long one to make myself a fall jacket coat. 

The longer jacket on the pattern envelope appears looser or at least A-shaped on the model. This is not the case. Although it has very generous ease at the bust and waist, it is not as generous at the hips. And that hood is huge!  It actually reminds me of the hood shape from a bathrobe I made back-in-the-day. Come to think about it, that hood may have been smaller than this one.  

All of this works for layering now that the cooler weather is on its way. 

The outer fabric is a silk that I found in the home décor department. The lining fabric is a striped silk duponi making this a reversible coat. I wasn't thinking of a reversible coat when I started the project, I was just looking for enough fabric that I could line it with and this is what I found in the stash.  

There were a few changes to the pattern.  As mentioned, it was lengthened.  I added five inches to the length.  The side seams were reduced to 3/8" to give me some more ease around the hips.  And the hem at the sleeves were also reduced to 3/8" as I was limited to a size small length sleeve based on my fabric width.  

The Stats:  

Fabric:  4.5 metres

Pattern:  Butterick 8509

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, pins, scissors, tailor's chalk, silk thread for basting, polyester thread for the sewing machine and serger, sewing machine, walking foot, thread clippers, iron, ironing board, clapper, hand sewing needle, thimble, and a bandage for pricked fingers.  

Happy Sewing! 

McCall's 7946: New Top

Sometimes you just need to have basics.

And right now I could use a basic crew neck style top to layer with, now that the mornings and evenings are not quite as warm as the day time temperatures. Four pattern pieces and not much of a design challenge. An easy peasy project with a fit that I all smitten about. Thank goodness for vintage patterns that are not all about drop shoulders and over-sized fit.  

The pattern is vintage McCall's 7946, circa 1995. It's a Laundry by Shelli Segal design. The fabric is a soft cotton knit. It wasn't pre-treated and my fingers are crossed that there is not a lot of shrinkage. The shoulder seams and hemlines were stabilized with Knit-N-Stable tape. The seams and top-stitching were stitched with the lightning bolt (knit) stitch.   

The Stats:  

Fabric:  1.4 metres (150 cm wide)

Interfacing:   2 metres Knit-N-Stable tape

Pattern:  Out-of-print McCall's 7946

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, scisssors, silk pins, pin cushion, tailor's chalk, iron, ironing board, sewing machine, walking foot, threads (for the sewing machine and serger), serger and thread clippers.  

Happy Sewing!  

Vintage McCall's 8548: Plaid Jacket

There are some patterns that just make it to the cutting table over and over again.  Vintage McCall's 8548 just happens to be one of those patterns.  

What can I say about this pattern other than how cute it is? Oh wait, it's a well-drafted pattern and all of the piece for the jacket went together just as well as for the pants and dress.  The only pattern that I haven't tried from this offering is for the little boys' cap.  Maybe one day... 

But back to the jacket.  

  

My favourite part is the little patch pocket with the self lining, sturdy enough to carry rocks or shells  that a little fella can find.  It has a twelve inch separating zipper and hi-low hemline. It is unlined with a front facing. 

The Stats:  

Fabric:  0.70 metres of a medium weight polar fleece type fabric

Zipper:  12" separating zipper

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Burda tracing paper, pens, cutting table, pins, pin cushion, hand sewing needles, iron, ironing board, sewing machine, zipper foot, walking foot, threads, serger, tailor's chalk, measuring tape, scissors, and thread clippers.  

Happy Sewing!  

Simplicity 8687: Pinstriped Dress

Doctor T questioned if Simplicity 8687 was on one hand modern and scandalous. I didn't get that vibe at all when I fell all smitten over this pattern. To me I felt that it had a retro 1920s sort of vibe yet I agree wholeheartedly with Dr. T observation that "styling can change this look." That's one of the things I enjoy about sewing. One pattern, countless takes on it.

So, here's my take on this simple shirtdress with a front overlay.  

I don't know what happen here in the photo, but the fabric is actually a pin-stripped stretch poplin. Maybe the other photos will display this better? Let me first say that Simplicity did a great job at writing the instructions geared to a beginner. And the pattern is well drafted. I would highly recommend this for a beginner who isn't afraid of a little scandal and buttonholes.  

Underneath that mock wrap dress front is a full blown shirtdress, it's the perfect merger of two classic dress styles.  

And it gets better, this pattern has side pockets.  I love a dress with pockets.  I did make some changes though. I started with view A and added two inches to the length.  I thought about swapping the sleeve pattern and placket from Vogue 1503 but decided to just go with a straight sleeve, no cuff, or other details. I will mention that this Simplicity pattern does offer several sleeve variations. Instead, I went with sleeve A, lengthened it by one inch for the hem and omitted the sleeve band.  The dress is cut as a size 12 with the exception of the sides where I went up to a size 14.  The other changes were to the construction method.  Even though I was impressed with the thoroughness of the instructions, I did stray into my own way.  I flat fitted the sleeve instead of doing a fitted sleeve.  

And I chose another way of sewing the back yoke lining.  Instead of sewing the inner yoke to the front facings, I sewed the two yokes to the back and then hand stitched at the shoulder seams.  And almost as thrilling as a dress with pockets, this project came together quick quickly.  Minus cutting, I was able to sewing this in a day.  

The Stats

Fabric:  4 metres of stretch poplin

Interfacing:  1.2 metres of fusible interfacing

Buttons:  9 - 1/2" shirt buttons

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Pins, scissors, tailor's chalk, cutting table, ruler, measuring tape, iron, ironing board, sewing machine, serger, thread, seam ripper, buttonhole cutter, and hand sewing needle.

Happy Sewing!  

One More: Vogue 1455

Really, I just can't get over this dress pattern. It is one more reversible pullover dress with ribbon front ties.  

Happy Sewing!

Just Can't Get Enough: Vogue 1455

Seriously, in my humble opinion, Vogue 1455 is one darn cute child's dress pattern. And it's fun to sew. 

I've lost count of how many times I've made this pattern but I will say that this one was the most challenging of the bunch. It's made for a little one whose favourite colour is turquoise. I didn't see that one coming! I'm used to hearing answers of "pink" or "purple" as favourite colours, never in a million years, "turquoise."  

The challenge came in trying to find turquoise coloured fabric. I found some lovely turquoise fabric at Fabricland recently but it was a cotton / silk blend that was much too sheer for this project. And when I was about to give up on ever finding turquoise coloured fabric, I remembered I had this in my stash. Thankfully, there is still enough to make a pair of pants or a skirt because it's rare to come across this gem. It's hemp fabric that I found at Marshalls a few years ago. But it's turquoise, or as close to turquoise as I'm going to get. It does look like turquoise, right? Well, we'll find out soon because children are honest and will tell it like it is. 

The reverse side is my favourite but it's not for me, I'm just hoping that the recipient of this dress will be please and will enjoy wearing it.  There is one more to finish sewing for their older sister. I have creative rein of the next one. 

Happy Sewing!