Category Archives: vintage dress making
Pierre Lemond – Photoshoot
Hi, one thing I didn’t mention in my Olympia post is that Mum and I bought one of those Glamour Photoshoot packages, I will say that although what we were sold wasn’t quite what we got it was a good day out.
The lady at Olympia was very enthusiastic, the less interest in participating I showed the more enthusiastic the lady got and the lower the price. She sold it as pampering day out, you would get your hair, nails and makeup done, check, check and check, there will be a stylist who would help you with your dress choices and tell you what suits you, no, no stylist and no one to talk through your choices with.
Our appointment was at 2 o’clock Saturday afternoon. I was told when they phoned me to confirm the booking, to arrive 15 minutes early and if we arrived late there was a good chance that we would not be able to have our photoshoot. Looking at the way the day had been structured you could see why. The appointments were set an hour apart so as you were finishing one bit the next couple were getting ready start that bit.
We arrived in London about 12 o’clock, we had decided to have lunch before hand, and I had checked that we could leave our suitcases at the studio, (we took four outfits each, in expectation of the stylist Mum had taken a couple extra tops just in case, and I had an extra dress) we had lunch in a small cafe on the corner a couple of minutes from the studio. the food was good and not too expensive for London, they also had a very interesting Light installation.
When we arrived at the studio for our appointment, there were one couple waiting to get their hair and makeup finished, one couple waiting for their photos and one having photos taken.
We filled out a questionnaire on colours and hair styles and what type of photos we wanted, I think we probably over thought it, and as the girl asking the question informed us they probably wouldn’t look at them anyway.
I had my nails painted first, don’t expect it to last too long by the time I got home it was already chipped, the hair and makeup lady asked me about my clothes and as I have two 50s dresses she said she would do 50s style makeup and hair. by the time she got to my hair she appeared to have either forgotten that or gone off the idea as she just tided up my existing hairstyle.
before
after
The best bit of the whole day was the actual photoshoot, the photographer was brilliant, he put us at our ease he knew exactly what he wanted us to do, and I had a ball I probably got carried away into fake model mode, I made eyes at the camera, I stared off in to the distance it was great.
Most of the clothes I took I made myself, in fact the only item of clothing I didn’t make was the t-shirt I wore for the last segment.
After we finished the photography we had to wait around while they downloaded the photos then they called us into a small room to view the photos an choose which ones we wanted, apparently the photographer usually only does 80 but we had 100, we were left alone with them scrolling across the screen, if I’d have thought about it I should have videoed them with my phone.
Mum and I had both come out of the photoshoot, saying we had a bad feeling about the photos being too good to miss out on taking more than the four we had allotted ourselves which were the two free ones and two more I could use the deposit for. We were right, seeing as neither of us like having our photos taken they were very good.
We came away with more photos than we planned but less than we really wanted to.
Butterick 7781 part 1
It is surprising what experience will do for you. One of the first patterns I bought was this one Butterick 7781, the first time I made it was a disaster, the test fabric which was a seersucker probably didn’t help, it was exactly my measurements so I did no alterations, this was the result.
At this point I screwed it up in a ball and left it in a drawer.
Fast forward 30 months and i decided to have a second attempt, I made a couple of changes one of which was to shorten the bodice 1 inch and the skirt 2 inches as per my proportional dress pattern. What I didn’t do was a 1/2 in small bust adjustment, I still haven’t worked out how to do this satisfactorily for a full length front piece.
This is what the new version looks like so far.
Because of the inch I took out of the bodice, it isn’t as baggy as the first version which just hung off me, It was still too big across the front so I also removed half an inch from the front seam, tapering down to nothing at the waist line.
If we get any sun while I’m not at work, I’ll try and take some pictures outside, I also have two more dresses basically finished, one you have already finished and one other.
Bye for now
Dress for Liz the final part
Sorry it has taken so long to post, totally my fault, I took the photos on my ‘proper’ camera and forgot to change the iso speed for indoors which meant that most of my final shots came out a bit blurry.
I swapped out the invisible zip for a lapped zip, which toook me three attempts to get it in correctly and that was only after hand basteing it in first, (which of course I should have done first time)
Liz tried the dress on with her underskirt which was showing under the hem, it turned out that she had pulled it up higher when I measured the hem.
The full outfit, this photo provided by Rebecca Ray.
First finished WIP
Here is the first item of clothing from my WIP list that I have completed, it is a blouse and it is so old that I’m not sure what pattern it is. This was actually mentioned in my first UFO post.
I think it is a Blackmore blouse pattern, I have made the pattern with the side zip which is a very nice top, I do have some issues with it sliding forward but if I wear it tucked in it is fine, this is the version with the buttons up the front.
All that was left to do on it was stitch the facings down and put the buttons on. Now there are probably three reasons that have stopped me from finishing this top.
1. The hole in the sleeve facing – I’ve just darned it
2. I couldn’t decide what buttons to put on it – I’ve found some dark blue buttons, not sure if these were bought for this project but they will do fine- buttons stitched on.
3. The fabric was used on Strictly Come Dancing about two years ago, it was used for the sleeves of one of the male contestants shirts, I didn’t like the look of the outfit, and it probably coloured the view I had of this blouse and the unfinished dress in the same fabric.
I’ve overcome the obstacles in front of me, it is finished, I’ve even worn it, I don’t like it.
I don’t like the fit, and I don’t like the fact that the minor slippage I get with the side zip version is nothing to what I am getting with the buttoned up version, I’m fairly sure it will be off to the bin, but at least it is finished.
Unfinished projects
Anyone that has actually read through my blog, (and I thank you for sticking with it) will have realised that I do have a lot of problems finishing Items.
Anyway recently I was reading a blog that I follow, loweryourpresserfoot.blogspot.se and it appears that this lady has an even worse problem than I do, that could just be because she has been sewing and blogging longer.
She has made a decision to complete one Unfinished Project a month and she also wants to work out why she lets things become UFOs, I’m fairly sure I know why I let things become UFOs I do the initial fitting and either I don’t like the fabric after all, or it doesn’t look the way I envisioned it. There are a couple of other reasons, I can’t be bothered to do the hand stitching, or I’ve jumped into another project, the next big thing.
So starting this month I also want to complete one unfinished garment a month, but also I want to pledge that I will finish any stitching that I start before going onto the ‘next big thing’
There are a couple of things that I want to get into the habit of doing, one of which is not waiting until I have something finished to show you. If I can blog as I go hopefully there will not be long stretches of time between posts and also it should be extra encouragement for my UFOs.
Do you have trouble finishing projects? How do you deal with it?
Thanks for reading….
McCalls sewing
Hi, this week my friend handed me a sewing book, McCalls Sewing in colour copyrighted 1963, it is quite a large book, it also gives you a lot of handy hints and tips.
Considering that it is 50 odd years old, it isn’t in that bad condition, apart from the cover the pages are very good with very little foxing.
It starts off with handy suggestions on making you look taller and or thinner.
And obviously there is the tips for outfit as you what you are planning to do.
It then goes on to explain how to make some alterations like slopping shoulders and wide hips
As well as all these hints it tells you how to make several collars.
There are also the how to darn a hole and buttons holes by hand
This book is quite interesting, and covers quite a lot of information, I feel that it would be very helpful on making some of my 1960 patterns.
Denim Skirt -Simplicity 7995 (sort of)
After cutting out two pairs of birkin flares, I had just enough fabric left to cut out a denim skirt, I knew I wanted one with buttons up the front, but I also knew I had this pattern (Simplicity 7995) a size smaller thatn I usually wear, but it was stretch fabic that should work fine.
I have already made view 3 so knew that the skirt came up ridiculously long on me, so I started off by shortening it by 7 inches which should get it just above my knee, similar to the picture on the pattern envelope. I picked view 1 because I wanted the top stitching, but as you can see the front panel is cut on the fold, which I didn’t want, I wanted buttons not a zip, so I cut it in two peices and cut two lengths of fabric for the button bands.
The skirt was pretty easy to put together, having made the Birkin flares made it easier as I had already had a lot of practice with the top-stitching and putting on the buttons,also I used the same method of attaching the waist band as that in the Flares.
There was discusion with Simon as to whether there should be top stitching on the side seams, we agreed that it would probably look better with out, I had been toying with the 6-7 inch one you get on jeans but thought it might look iffy.
Here is the finished look
Hey June – Cheyenne Tunic
Hi, I picked this pattern because of it’s similarity to a couple of Fatface Popovers I bought in the winter sale and also, while researching the Birkin flares I came across several really beautiful versions of the pattern.
I made the tunic with 3/4 sleeves, it went together quite easily and the instructions were very, very detailed, they hold your hand through the whole stitching experience.
you make the tab first
Then you make up the back, using what I assume is the Taco method for the yoke
there are a couple of nice details on it, the cuffs for instance are surprisingly easy to put together and look very professional,
the whole thing has french seams even the arm holes, the shirt is put together flat then the side seam and underarm seem is sewn last.
The one thing that I’m not sure I agree with is the hem is stitched separately on the back and front then the side seams are done
If I was to make it again there are a couple of things that I would change, the front tab reaches my belly button definitely not sure about that, also the the tab on my Fatface shirts are thinner which I think I prefer.
I’m not sure if the fabric I used is slightly too stiff though I thought it was a light weight Lawn. the back doesn’t seem to lay properly but I think I might wash the fabric again before looking into this issue.
The reason this is not finished is because I can’t decide on the buttons, any suggestions?
Sewaholic Davie dress
Hi, since my brief look at knit fabrics I have been looking to complete Sewaholics Davie Dress, when I ordered it I hadn’t realised that it was made in a stretch fabric, but I was willing to give it a go. I had some fabric bought from eBay that I wasn’t all that keen on once I had it delivered so it was ideal for my test run.
My first problem is that I’m not a pear shape which is the shape that Sewaholic favours, at 33 27 37 I was alright for waist and bust with a US 6 but my hips are a US 2, what I have done before in this position is just cut a straight US 6 but I have ended up with too much fabric at the hip and it has looked just plain wrong, so I decide to grade down from the waist to the hip size, I used my new hip curve and was very happy with the results.
I did a quick pin to my dress form and it looked alright
My second problem is that I’m short 5ft 2in and I do usually have a problem with princess seam but I’ll cover that a bit later.
Who wants to see the first attempt at the dress.
I would like to say it looks a lot better on the dress form than it did on me and also by this point I had already raised the shoulder seams about an inch. The dress was just too big all over, except on the hip, the other problem was that without raising the shoulder seam by an inch the bust part of the princess seam was way too low, and even with the inch taken out it still wasn’t sitting properly.
Because of the amount of excess I had at the waist and bust I decided to try a straight size 2, after all there are 8 seams so I could quite happily ‘steal’ back 2 inches from the seam allowance. Also by going for a size 2 you already lost 3/4 inch from the shoulder.
What I didn’t realise was how rollyupy the already cut pieces were going to be and ironing them didn’t help 😦 however what I did find was that if I laid it on the ironing board it stuck to the cover like fuzzy felt, I managed to keep it flat enough to cut the new pieces out.
The dress went together very nicely, I used a normal straight stitch as this was only a test dress, zigzag is so hard to unpick, also I don’t like the way it looks on the outside. I might just use my overlocker in future.
Here is the dress with the basic seams put in it fits loads better.
There is something squiffy going on with the back, but I’m not sure if it is how I standing, the shoulder seam could do with coming up slightly which will might fix this and will bring the bust point of the dress up to the correct position.
I made the longer length which comes just below my knees, I’m not sure if the shorter one might be just out of my comfort zone.
I’ll be back with the finished article soon, also I like the fabric made up a lot more than just laying in the drawer so this might by my first dress for Florida.
It is a medium weight stretch fabric with a nice amount of body, I used my walking foot which is brilliant and my sewing machine didn’t try to eat it once, bonus!
Also on my cutting table is By Hand London Anna dress, more about that soon.
Butterick 6254
This is a great pattern and is the first Butterick pattern that the finished garment actually looks like the picture on the front of the packet.
The only problem I have with this dress is, it is either too late for Christmas 2015 which is what I originally planned it for hence the dark green with little silver holly leaves, or miles too early for Christmas 2016.
I actually removed an inch from the length of the bodice because of the proportioned dress and then I did a SBA on it removing half an inch across the pattern piece.
The details that I love on this pattern are the patch pockets which to begin with I wasn’t really sure about and the beautiful shawl collar which went together with no problem at all.
The collar is one of those ‘part of the bodice front’ collars where you put in a couple of darts in front then it wraps round to the back, and tada you have a collar, once you have fiddled about trying to get it to play nice with the back piece and wonder why you have ended up with a fold in the wrong place. I had no problem with the back and it just went in, I’ll be intrested to see if it goes together as well the next time.
Musings of a Craft Enthusiast 
