Catching Up: Rust Orange Shirtdress

This past summer I worked on a shirtdress project that was originally inspired by a dress worn by June Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley) in the vintage television show, Leave it to Beaver. It was full skirted, had bais-cut sleeves, and - the feature that attracted me the most - a pair of hip pockets with overturned flaps.

I started out by searching for a pattern to use so that I could make something like it, and this is what I found:



It wasn't a "carbon copy" of June's dress, but it was close enough to where I could use it as a base to be adapted to the design I liked.

The original dress was made of a printed material with small motifs arranged in a striped pattern. Since I couldn't really find anything close enough, I decided to try using a Rust Orange Shirting from Fashion Fabrics Club that features a subtle, tone-on-tone stripe.



Materials:
-Striped shirting fabric
-Batiste (for interfacing)
-7/8" wide Grosgrain ribbon (for waistline stay)
-Buttons (photo below)

Pattern Alterations:
First of all, I had to resize the pattern. It was a size or two larger than my measurements, so I graded it down using these instructions from Sensibility.com.

I also made a few fitting changes for my figure, which included taking extra room out of the bodice (SBA), making a short-waist adjustment, and adjusting the darts in the back of the bodice. I had to play around with the back and waistline darts a bit; I even had to take them in a little again - along with the side seams - when the dress was nearly complete.

To conform the pattern to June's dress design, I flared all of the skirt pattern pieces to be wider at the hem. I turned the sleeves and cuffs on the bias, too. In the original dress, it looked like there was a seam down the center of the sleeve, creating a chevron pattern with the bias-cut grain, but my fabric was a little too thick to make this feature work smoothly, so I cut each sleeve in one piece, instead. For the pockets, I needed to incorporate the pocket pattern pieces into the side/front pieces of the skirt, rather than attaching them as patch pockets. This caused me to split the side/front skirt piece in two - a top piece which meets the bodice at the waistline (and part of which is also the inside of the pocket) and a bottom piece (which makes up the rest of the skirt portion). I also made the pocket pieces to buckle slightly outward, so that they would stand out a little.

Construction:
For the most part, the construction was fairly simple - basically assembling the bodice and the skirt, then seaming the two together and working on the collar and button placket. I followed the instructions rather loosely, but I did use a sew-in interfacing, as directed. I didn't receive very positive results when I tried fusing the fabric with interfacing, so I used batiste by basting it to the wrong side of the areas that needed interfacing.

Originally, the collar/under collar pattern was supposed to be cut all in one piece, with a fold along the outer edge, but I made a separate under collar piece. This allowed me to make the under collar piece an 1/8" smaller around the outside edges so that the seams would pull slightly toward the underside of the collar, where they won't be seen. While I was at it, I decided to cut the under collar in two pieces on the bias, with a seam down the center.

(This picture is probably the most accurate in representing the actual color of the dress.)

I also stitched a waistline stay to the seam allowance of the waistline to help support the weight of the full skirt:



Last but not least, a better view of the buttons. They're not very easy to photograph because they're somewhat glittery and glow when I use the camera's flash. They're not quite as dark as they look below, but this is the best shot I could get ;-)

Butterick 4790

For a quick project this earlier this year, I used Butterick 4790, more commonly known as the "Walk-Away" dress pattern.




If you look at the line drawing on Butterick's website (linked above) you can see that this dress is basically like an apron. It goes on over the shoulders, then the front of it fastens in the back, and the back fastens in the front. The inner layer fits like a sheath dress. . .


. . .And it's fastened with a button and loop at the center back:



Details:

I was basically "testing the waters" with this version (thus the not-so-original color scheme). The changes I made to this pattern were adding about an inch on each side where it fastens in the back so that the edges would meet, taking in about a quarter of an inch at the shoulder seams (doubling to half an inch), tucking out a bit of length for my short waist, and removing a bit of excessive fullness at the bust.

The only detour I took from the instructions was to miter the binding at the corners of the dress rather than stopping at each of the corners and turning under the edges.

This pattern is pretty simple to sew and went together quickly, though I took my time with the binding. Unfortunately, the fabric and binding don't really seem to compliment my coloring, and even after my alterations it didn't look quite right on me (not sure why -- my short waist, perhaps?). My sister fit into it nicely, though, and these colors are more her style, so I'm letting her have this one. I'm not sure whether or not I'll be tweaking it to make another one for myself, but it's still a neat pattern for its unique design and simplicity of construction :-)

Navy Corduroy Jumper

Here's another version of Simplicity 3673. I made my first version during last December/January, and this time I made one for my sister.





The Specifics:

Fabrics:
For the fashion fabric, she chose a navy blue pinwale corduroy, with a polyester lining for the bodice. We also substituted an invisible zipper for a regular one.

Alterations for Fit:
None, other than slight adjustments to the side seams in the skirt.

Construction:
For the most part, I made the jumper following the pattern directions, with a few small additions/changes. . .

The first change was to add interfacings to reinforce a few key areas of the garment. I hand basted 1-inch wide bias-cut strips of silk organza to the wrong side of the shoulder and armhole seam lines before sewing in the lining. For the zipper seam, I basted in a 1-inch wide strip of batiste, which was cut on-grain.

I also hand under-stitched the armhole and neckline seams with a pick-stitch. The instructions don't actually say to under-stitch this area, seeing as it's too narrow to reach by machine, so I did it by hand to prevent the lining from rolling outward.

The third change I made was to insert the lining in such a way as to cover the zipper seam and waist seam. In the pattern instructions, the main purpose of the lining seems to be for finishing the neckline and armholes. After that, it's supposed to be stitched into the zipper and waistline seams with the rest of the bodice. I decided to leave the lining free of the zipper seam and tack in place later (I actually did this by machine; see my other version for details), also slip-stitching it over the waist seam.



The waist seam was supposed to be pressed down (according to the directions), but pinwale corduroy is relatively lightweight, so I "cheated" and pressed it up so I could hide it in the lining. The rest of the seams are simply overcast with a zigzag stitch.

Well, that's about it. It was a fairly simple and enjoyable project, and the corduroy seems to be a great choice for fall!

I'm sorry I haven't been posting very often (I say this too much!). I sew a lot more often than I get around to writing about, so I'm woefully backlogged with projects to post :-( I'll have to see if I can get some more pictures up!

Navy Linen Dress

Last summer I purchased a length of "hanky" linen with the intention of making a coat-dress from a vintage 60's pattern, but after a while, I changed my plans and decided to save the linen for another project. This spring I felt the urge to finally make something with it, and since I wasn't really sure that Vogue 7693 (see link above) was suited to me, I started searching for patterns with that called for a lightweight fabric in a length of 2 5/8 of a yard. After gathering pictures from several different patterns, I decided to use this one:


Butterick 6582

After fitting the muslin, working on the lining pieces, and planning the construction, the dress went together pretty quickly. Here are the results:




A Few Details. . .



The pattern doesn't include a lining , but I added one because my fabric is nearly sheer. Making the pattern for the lining wasn't difficult; all I did for the bodice pieces was combine the bodice facing pieces with the main bodice panels.

I started by tracing the front facing piece onto a blank piece of paper. I then placed the front bodice piece over it, matching the seamlines at the armholes. I pinned the sides and bottom of the pattern piece flat (this caused the fullness in the upper part of the pattern to buckle inward, which you can see below).



I then traced around the side and bottom edges of the pattern, and it ended up looking like this:



I transfered the darts after unpinning the pattern, then matching the side and bottom edges and tracing the dart legs.
One thing I should note, however, is that drafting the lining piece this way caused the lining to be slightly shorter than the bodice piece. After making the dress, I found that the front of the lining waistline seam was about 1/2" higher than the waistline of the actual dress (it ended up being alright, though, because it did not significantly alter the fit). So when making the lining piece, I would recommend adding about 1/2" to the middle of the bottom edge and gradually blending into the side seams ;)

I didn't even need to make a back lining piece; all I had to do was use the back bodice piece.

To avoid adding bulk at the waist of the dress, I altered the pieces for the skirt lining to be an A-line style. I simply started with the original skirt pattern, making the length of the waistline seam the same length as the bodice waistline seam (with the darts folded in, as they would be when sewn).


The hem was a bit uneven once it was sewn in, but I was able to use a hem marker to make it parallel to the floor.

Even though I wasn't using the facing pieces for this pattern, I still wanted to interface the neckline and armholes to support the edges. To do this, I cut silk organza from the facing patterns hand-basted them to the wrong side of the lining panels. I finished the free-hanging edges with a zigzag stitch and catch-stitched them to the linings (you can barely even see this in the picture).



Those strips on the outer edges are strips of batiste that are cut on the grain. I had originally applied them fearing that the neckline edges on the bias would stretch too much. After sewing the neckline seam, though, I found that it would be better to allow for a little "give," in the front, so I ended up removing the strip on the largest bodice piece and re-stitching the seam ;)

To keep my bra straps from peeking out from under the narrow shoulders of the garment, I also added "lingerie straps" to the shoulder seams on the inside. I made them by using 1/4-inch wide twill tape, miniature snaps, and following Claire B. Shaeffer's instructions from The Complete Book of Sewing Short Cuts.



This pattern actually wasn't very hard to make and I'm pleased with the results, so I'm glad that I saved my fabric for a suitable project! I've written a review about this pattern for PatternReview.com, so if you're interested in reading more about this project, click here. As always, if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask :)

Striped Shirtdress

Here is a recently completed "unfinished object" (UFO) that I started sewing over a year ago. I had originally intended to wear it myself, but when it did not fit me very well, I hung it in the closet, where it stayed until my sister asked me about it months later. "Are you ever going to wear that striped dress?" she said. Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Are you kidding?"(meaning, of coarse, that the answer was "No"). "Well, good!" she said. "Maybe I can wear it!" I told her that she could try it on and was surprised to find that it fit her perfectly!




For this dress, I used McCall's 4769.The fabric is a navy blue and white seersucker with an 1/8" stripe. I turned the skirt panels on the bias to create a chevron pattern, eliminating the button placket on the skirt and sewing a center front seam there instead. This caused me to change the order of construction by completing the entire bodice first, save for the left side seam and the buttons/buttonholes. In order to compensate for the shortened placket opening, I inserted an invisible zipper in the left side seam:

I also cut the button placket on the bias, as well. I didn't use the pattern's sash piece; my sister cut one out using her waist measurement, and I helped her sew it together. The fabric's stripes aren't particularly clear in the first two photos, but the details are clearer in the picture below, which I took before the dress was completed.





All that was required to finish this dress was making the buttonholes, sewing on the buttons, and finishing the hem. Now that it's actually done, I'm happy with how this pattern turned out, and I'm glad that my sister can wear it so that the project wasn't a "waste," after all!

1950's Can-Can Petticoat

I'm sorry that my posting has been so sparse over the past few months! Life has been keeping me so busy lately that I hardly have time enough to sew! I've been working on a few projects during my "spare time," however, and one of those projects was a petticoat from a vintage 1950's pattern:



The envelope description refers to it as a "can-can petticoat" because the ruffles are stitched to the underside of the of the petticoat, giving a "can-can" effect when it's lifted up.



The main part of the petticoat is cut as a circle skirt, and the ruffles are stitched to the inside of the skirt in three tiers. Most of the skirt is on the bias, which is, I believe, part of the reason that the stitching lines cause the fabric to pucker. This doesn't bother me too much, however, because the only part of the petticoat that will show is the underside, if at all.




The materials that I used were:
-Cotton sateen
-Petticoat netting
-1/4-inch wide ribbon
-1/4-inch wide bias binding
-hooks & eyes (to fasten waistband)

Details:
I used French seams on the side seams of both the skirt and the ruffles to completely enclose all the raw edges. To finish the bottom edge of each ruffle, I stitched 1/4" wide ribbon to the wrong side, having the ribbon just cover the raw edge. I then turned the ribbon to the right side and stitched it into place, where it completely enclosed the prickly edge.


On the wrong side of the ruffle, slightly overlap the raw edge of the net with the ribbon, and stitch along the edge of the ribbon that is farthest from the raw edge of the net.


Next, fold the ribbon to the right side of the the ruffle and stitch into place.

I also covered the raw, gathered edge of the topmost ruffle with a 1/4-inch wide bias binding to minimize irritation (this can be seen in the fourth photo from the top).

Pattern Changes:
I added several inches to the side seams and waistband, as the sizing was a bit too small. I also modified the side placket opening to be slightly deeper, making the opening sufficient enough for me to not have to wiggle my lower body into it ;)
The waistband was originally one inch wide, but I narrowed it to 5/8-inch in order to decrease bulk and make it more comfortable. I also fused the waistband with interfacing, even though the pattern instructions didn't call for it. This will hopefully lend a little stability.
When I cut the ruffles, there were many small sections that were supposed to be cut and joined together. But for each tier, I cut the pieces end-on-end, as suggested by one of the reviewers at Pattern Review, so that I would only have to sew the side seams of each ruffle. It saved me a lot of time!
Finally, I shortened the entire petticoat by one inch (I had planned on doing this ahead of time, so I applied the ruffles one inch higher than the original stitching lines).

All in all, I enjoyed this project, even though sometimes it may have seemed like I would never finish adjusting and pinning gathers on the eighteen yards of netting! I hope to eventually wear it with another retro project I've been working on. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm able to post again!

Simplicity Vintage Jumper

In early December of 2007, I started sewing view C of the 1950's jumper pattern the Simplicity pattern company recently reissued (3673). I had to set the project aside for a while so I could work on preparations the Holidays (including the aprons in my last post), but several days after Christmas, I was able to finish the last last few details. Here are the pictures:






Notes: This is a vintage 1950's pattern that Simplicity reissued in 2007. A couple months ago, Summerset of Pins and Needles did a comparison of the actual vintage pattern and the reprinted copy. I made some changes to the pattern and construction based on the knowledge that she shared, and I'm really glad that she posted about the pattern when she did (thank you so much, Summerset!)! I would recommend reading those three posts if you plan on using this pattern.

Materials:
-Fashion fabric - Black wool (100%)
-Lining - Polyester (100%)
-Interfacing - Black silk organza (100%)
-Notions include a 22-inch zipper, black all-purpose thread, and extra-fine thread for the lining.

Pattern alterations:
When I made a muslin test garment to preview the fit of the jumper, I was grateful to find that the only fitting issue was in the bodice. The top was too full for me because I have a small bust line.



This was easily remedied by trimming the bottom edges of the bodice panels. My modified pattern is about 1 3/8-inches shorter than the original pattern at the center front, but I didn't cut it all off at once. I began by trimming off about half an inch in the gathering area under the bust, but the trimmed amount gradually grew as I trimmed a little, tested the fit, trimmed a little more, and tested the fit again. I ended up altering the back bodice panel, too, in order to make the side seams even and the skirt hang smoothly.

Construction:
The main changes that I made while sewing the garment were: interfacing the neckline, armholes, and midriff, adding a skirt lining, and putting in a waist stay to help support the weight of the skirt. I also reorganized the order of construction to accommodate these changes. This is the order in which the jumper was constructed:

1.)After stay-stitching the neckline and sewing the shoulder seams, I interfaced the neckline and armholes with one-inch wide bias strips of silk organza (cotton flannel could also be used). I basted them to the wrong side of the fashion fabric before sewing the seams.



2.) I sewed the bodice lining to the bodice according the the instructions, but I left several inches of the back neckline seam open on either side in order to have a lining that covers the zipper tape rather than being included in the zipper seam (see the small blue arrow in the picture below).




3.) I under-stitched the neckline and armholes by hand with a prick-stitch, stopping and starting about 2-inches away from the beginning of the stitching at the back of the neckline seam. Under-stitching by hand can be advantageous in instances such as these because your fingers can reach small spaces that the machine cannot!

4.) Moving on to the skirt panels. . .
I interfaced the midriff portion of the skirt panels with silk organza, according to the vintage instructions that Summerset shared. I traced a copy of the the top of the skirt pattern to use for cutting the interfacing. The interfacing pattern ends about 3-inches below the points of the darts. I thread traced the darts before removing it from the pattern. I finished the bottom edge of the organza by tissue stitching over it with a zigzag stitch. After that, I decided to conceal the zigzagged edge with hem tape for a neater finish. I then aligned the cut edges of the interfacing with the cut edges of the skirt panels. To anchor it in place, I stitched half an inch from all the outside edges and down the center of each dart. Here are two pictures, showing how it looked from the both sides of the skirt panel:





When sewing the darts, I treated the wool and silk as on layer.

5.)I clipped each dart at the center and slashed it open to press it flat. I slashed from the top to within 3/4-inch from the point. I was left with raw edges, so I hand over-cast them to keep the organza from fraying too much.



I did not clip or slash the darts in the lining because the material was lightweight and wouldn't be a source of bulk. I simply pressed the darts toward the center seams as directed in the pattern.

6.) Next, I sewed the skirt to bodice, I leaving the bodice lining free. I graded and pressed the seam, then I proceeded to install an invisible zipper.

7.)Then, I opened out the lining and sewed the skirt lining to the bodice lining, in the same manner as the main jumper.

8.) Afterward, I sewed in the waist stay. I used a 7/8-inch wide grosgrain ribbon, which I cut to be 1/2-inch smaller than the finished garment measurements. Waist stays are often 1-inch longer that the wearer's waist, but my jumper is not closely fitted, so a small stay would cause it to buckle oddly.
I believe there are a few ways to sew in a waist stay, but I put mine in by pinning the ribbon over the natural waistline of the lining and stitching through the center of the tape to hold it in place. I positioned it in such a way that it would be slightly off-center in the back, to prevent it from creating bulk in the zipper area. To attach the stay to the actual garment, I tacked the stay to the seams, but only after I completed step #8!






9.) This is the point where I completed the back of the neckline seam. At the same time, I secured the lining to the zipper tape by crossing over the zipper seam by several stitches and pivoting the fabric so that I would be heading down the zipper tape. My description of the process may sound confusing, but if you look at this post about RTW-style zipper facings at besewstylish.com, you can get an idea of how I did it. I stitched about 5 or 6-inches down the zipper tape, then I stopped. I needed to go back an finish the under-stitching at the neckline seam and bring it all the way to the zipper. So I turned the garment right-side-out again, finished the under-stitching, turned the garment wrong-side out and continued securing the lining to the zipper tape. I hope I haven't confused anyone!
ETA: I wanted to mention that it is very important to make sure that the back neckline seams on either side of the zipper will align with each other before stitching the neckline/lining attachment seam. I've learned this the hard way more than once! Uneven neckline edges can sometimes be disguised by hand sewing a hook and eye above the zipper to help pull the edges into alignment while wearing the garment; but, needless to say, it's always better to *not* make this mistake in the first place ;)

10.) After the lining was sewn over the zipper tape, I went back to the waist stay and carefully aligned the lining/garment seams and tacked the stay to the garment seams, catching only the seam allowances.

11.) Almost done! I finished the outer garment with a hand-sewn hem and the lining with a machine-stitched hem.

12.) I completed the jumper by making thread chains to join the skirt and lining hems and by sewing the hooks and bars to the ends of the waist stay.

In conclusion. . .
I'm very pleased with this pattern and the outcome of the jumper! It would be neat to have a petticoat to wear under it, but that's another project for another time!

By the way, if anyone has a question, let me know ;)

Christmas Sewing. . .

One of my most recent projects has been to complete four aprons to give as Christmas gifts. Three of them were for children and the fourth was adult sized.









For the first two aprons, I used Simplicity 4286, view E. I sewed them according to the instructions, except that I added interfacing to the lengthwise half of the waistband that is closest to the outside of the garment, rather than using no interfacing at all. For the second pictured apron, I put a bow only on the pocket.





For the third apron, I use view A of Simplicity 4692, making no other changes than using three snaps in place of Velcroπ® for the closure at the back of the neck.





I made the misses' size apron using view B of Simplicity 5961, again, substituting snaps for Velcroπ®, this time on the crossover strap ends, as with the green apron.

All of the patterns were simple, but the last two could possibly be a little frustrating for a beginner because of all the curved edges and corners that must be bound. Yet, on the other hand, they are also great for practice! The key is to pre-shape the binding with steam to fit the curved edges and ease in extra length when binding an inward corner. I've learned that it seems to be best to leave several extra inches worth of binding at the ends when pinning the binding to a very curved pieced, such as the the yoke on the fourth apron, because the binding tends to shrink back while it's being stitched in place.

On another topic, the green knit top that I mentioned a few posts ago is still not finished because I was sidetracked with an unexpected and more urgent project. I had worked on it for several days and it was then that I discovered that my sewing machine must have an incredible hatred for knitted fabrics because the material is permanently stretched out of shape. It just so happens, however, that I started out with twice as much fabric as I needed for one top, so when I have worked up enough courage to try again, I'll cut out another one and give it another go =)

More Fall Sewing

Several weeks ago, I finished another denim skirt for fall.





I used Simplicity 5914 again; I must be one of those "pattern repeaters"!

I lengthened this skirt by 5 1/2 inches to make it super long for the cold-weather months. This caused the gored panels to become even more flared than they would have otherwise been, resulting in a very, very full hem (great for the twirly-skirt-loving people). Here are a few more details:

Materials and Notions Used:
- Medium-heavyweight denim. I pre-washed and dried it twice to discourage shrinking, then I soaked it in a salt and vinegar solution to help prevent crocking or bleeding, and finished the process with a machine rinse and dry. This is the first time I've tried this method of sealing the fabric's dye.
- Denim colored thread (black for the bobbin)
- Navy invisible zipper
- Bias cut strips from my fabric scrap box (used to bind facing and hem edges)

Seams:
For the side front and side back seams, I sewed welt seams. I used them not only to add detail, but also to minimize bulk and to prevent the seam allowances from being ruffled about when laundered. The side seams are plain seams.

Hem:
I hemmed this skirt the same way I hemmed my other denim skirt, except that this hem is deeper (a telltale sign that this skirt is not ready-to-wear! Generally, on a RTW garment, the fuller the hem, the narrower it will be).


I also made a jean skirt for my sister, which is identical to my last denim skirt, except that it's ankle length (sorry - no pictures!). Having used this pattern seven times, it's needless to say that it's one of my favorites when it comes to sewing skirts!

1960s Coat Dress - A Change in Plans

The reason I haven't updated on this project for such a long time is that I've made a change in plans.

Several months ago I bought a beautiful length of navy handkerchief linen, planning to use it for this dress. However, the coat dress pattern envelope calls for medium-weight fabrics such as twill or tweed, and hanky linen is very lightweight. I purchased this type of linen rather than regular linen because its texture is much finer (so fine, in fact, that it's almost sheer!). I kept telling myself that I could make it work, but deep down inside I knew that this type of fabric really doesn't have enough body to make this dress a success. I love the pattern, and I love the fabric, but I know they aren't right for each other. The linen was rather pricey, so I've decided that I'd rather wait for a better fabric to cross my path than be disappointed by the outcome of this garment. I'll still be using this pattern, but the project will be on hold until I find a material that is better suited to the design. It will work out fine, because the temperature is starting to drop again and I won't need the dress right away.

I also found a pattern that I really like that calls for handkerchief linen - Vogue 7693:

I'm considering blue dress in the center as a possible project. Coincidentally, I have just the right amount of fabric! Perhaps I'll make this dress for spring!

But, speaking of spring, I still need to sew for fall and winter! I'm going to experiment a little with sewing knits, so I bought Simplicity 4076. I'll be making view A (upper left w/shirred side seam), and I have a double knit that happens to be the same color. Hopefully this should be an easy fabric to start with, since double knits are stable with little lengthwise stretch.

I have a few completed projects that I've been meaning to share for some time, but I haven't taken any pictures yet. I'll try to do it sometime soon - this blog is suffering from a serious lack of updates!