Flip-flop thinking over which pattern to use

I've spent the past week+ dithering over which pattern to use for the linen fabric.

I had been thinking of  either of these Mail Order patterns but the first (4698) has a more enclosed neckline than I even want to think about.

 The second #3356 is more likely though I might scoop the neckline a little lower.

 The third  #9039 will take more work as I need to franken pattern it to a pattern that fits (as it's smaller than me).

I'm even more indecisive on the subject of sleeves.  I really don't like my upper arms - they've been beefy my whole life and the combination of them with narrow shoulders and I feel less like a weightlifter when they're covered.  The point of this dress is to not overheat so no 3/4 sleeves. Short sleeves kinda draw attention to my bust - it's like a solid line across my body.  Cap sleeve, hmmm, they're a bit irritating but perhaps an option.   I'm more than likely overthinking as until I've checked the fabric layout of either of the last 2 patterns (altered to fit me) then I don't know if I have enough yardage for sleeves.

November dress plan

I'm flip flopping between making the vintage aqua cotton or the rayon print of blue flowers on black.

I'm leaning towards the cotton, so the next decision is the pattern. I'm tempted to wait for #4936 to arrive but instead will frankenpattern #9039 bodice, with 3/4 sleeves. As soon as I've finished the mermaid (July) dress then I can franken pattern and cut out my November dress.

Other half size patterns in my stash

The lobster fabric arrived so quickly from the east coast of the USA, despite oddly being tracked going to/from Jamaica.  I could afford to let that amuse me as the deadline for needing this fabric isn't until February next year.  I pre-shrank it today, so whenever I'm ready to sew, it is too.  The crays (crayfish/lobster) are more orange and less red than I expected, but shopping online has this risk and it's not going to stop me from using it - though I'll need to be very careful to make sure I wear the right makeup when I wear the dress. I think I'll make this version button through the front rather than just the bodice.

I have other half size mail order patterns in my stash that I had to pick from when planning the next 9 months dresses.  All of these I bought at affordable prices - I find most mail order pattern designs to be great every day styles. Not the cutting edge of fashion from the day, but they suit my sewing purposes well.

These are the ones that haven't been selected so far.



and these aren't half size but over time I added these to the stash because they appealed.


and a couple of larger size petticoat/slip patterns - I need to make one of these soon

Frankenpattern concept for the cocktail fabric

I'd forgotten that I have this (maybe 1960s) Butterick pattern in the stash. There are 3 for sale on Etsy at the moment so it's not that rare.

I'm strongly inclined to use the bodice details from Butterick 9796 and merge them with the AA4571 (eliminating the centre front pleat on the skirt).

As an unrelated side note, every time I look at this 1960s pattern cover I think the woman on the left looks like Sarah Jessica Parker.

  

Stashing another half size mail order pattern - 9030

Despite my foot issue, yesterday I managed to change the overlocker threads without resorting to profanity or alcohol.  Given past thread changes I view that as a definite victory.

I also unpicked the side seams, side bust darts and repinned the first of the two that it's being split into.  From my training & books I know that my decision to not have an arm extending all the way between the dart ends to side seam isn't technically correct, but I'm fixing it in progress not during drafting. If it works, it works.

I've also added another half size vintage mail order dress pattern to my stash - #9030 dating to the late 50s or 60s.

I'm fairly sure that this will be used this year, but I'm trying to decide which fabric will best work with it.  I'm wondering if the rayon print I got *cough* years ago from the states would be good.

the older dress pattern, from the stash

For the curious, this is the pattern I bought the bundle for, it's an un-marked mail order pattern, for a 48" bust. I'll need to narrow the shoulders more than I would if it was my size, but it might make a nice dress for at home in a lawn. Maybe, but as it's not what I'd wear to work then it'll have to wait a little longer.



Look at those step by step sewing instructions on the pattern envelope! 9 steps in total with no pictures

Vintage dress patterns staying as eye candy

That is to me they're eye candy.  Years ago I bought a job lot of pattens on eBay, to get a specific 1920s/30s dress.  In the bundle were these 2 patterns, and a couple others that I couldn't see myself wearing that I've since given away.  I love the cover art, as well as the design lines. Sadly as both are sized for a 38" bust they won't fit me even with an FBA.
Somewhere I saw the Simplicity dated to 1949, not sure how accurate that is, and the Advance looks like the same timeframe.




I could grade them to my size & alter, but I might just borrow collars & sleeves and franken pattern with another pattern me-sized.

a second vintage pattern in the mail ... plus patterns I already have

I couldn't resist buying another pattern - simple but that's what I'm really after! it's what happens after staying inside my work building while a big thunderstorm rolled over Sydney. The thunder started just as I was about to leave the office, so I thought I'd wait it out inside. So I trawled the interwebs looking at vintage patterns and new underwear.


Then, when I got home from work I looked in my vintage patterns to remind myself what I already have that I want to use very soon, and was a little gobsmacked to discover that I'd bought the same Home Journal pattern TWICE, in exactly the same size. The 2nd copy will have a home with Desir Brulant(assuming she likes it!).


I also have in my stash Marian Martin 9251 - but will need to add a photo to my album before I post a pic.

pattern buying as a substitute for sewing

Well, sewing for myself that is. I'm making an evening dress for a friend's daughter, and a bit behind though it will be ready on time!

That mountain of laundry I had to to (or felt I had to do) to eradicate the flea has seemed to have a flow on effect. I've never quite caught up. Mount Washmore is a little relentless!

Anywho, today it's payday and I celebrated by buying a 1940s day dress pattern from VPLL via ebay. Mainly cos I was already in ebay so why not. I have fabric and can make it over my xmas/NY holidays if it arrives in time. I may need to fetch my pedestal fan from storage so that it's not too uncomfortable to sew.



I've worn my Wonder Woman inspired dress a few times lately and that has been a very strong reminder how much cooler a skimming soft cotton dress is than a skirt+knit top.

On the sunshine side of stashbusting, I'm down 50m from the beginning of the year. Always a nice place to be. 2-3 dresses and it'll be 60m+ for the year

Hunting for a missing vintage pattern Anne Adams 2163

I haven't abandoned all hope of finding my missing vintage pattern (the Anne Adams dress).

So, I've bought a similar but different one to indicate what I think of that pattern going into hiding. As I sms-ed to a friend today "it's probably on a tropical island drinking cocktails without me".

One of the reasons I wanted to find it was not just to finally stop procrastinating but to enter the pattern review contest where you use a pattern brand new to you.  I've sewn enough years that I've used most of the ones I'm likely to. Though I do have Sewholic Renfrew to hand.

The other reason is that I want to make the dress!

Here's a pic of the new pattern winging it's way through the post to me, also Anne Adams #4483.

And it's my lucky day - I was looking for another ASG group ig could get to on the 2nd Saturday of the month, and Top Ryde meets then as well as on a Tuesday.  My motivation is that if I'm at a dedicated space then I get more done than at home where I might procrastinate doing housework (cos that is eternal) or trawling the internets. I know myself well enough that even allowing time for travel, going somewhere else is more productive for a whole day.  I'm happy to skip a sewing saturday if something better is on offer, but otherwise why not.  In fact I'd love to be able to go somewhere on a Sunday.  It comes from living in a bachelor flat ... I'm starting to find it cramped for sewing.

 

blast from the past - a pyjama pattern

I was looking for a vintage pattern online and came across this pattern from *cough1977cough* and it was one I made a couple of times!

Now the qualifiers, I was still at school, but my mother had decided that I could make my own clothes cheaper than she could buy them (and yes, that included a new uniform skirt when I needed one.

parcels and what Sesame Street calls "sometimes foods"

It's been a good parcel post this week.  I bought a selangor pewter jug and goblets on eBay, partly for more upper class regency reenactment and partly cos it reminded me of Game of Thrones.

It will get used, so it's not entirely impulsive and just for the pretties.  However another parcel that arrived the same day was Buried in Treasures: Help for Compulsive Acquiring, Saving, and Hoarding.  The co-incidental timing didn't escape me.  There's hoarding in the family, and I know I've a tendency to find it hard to let go of things.  This is to help me not get to the level of stuff that it becomes a problem for me. It started to while I was so sick if only because it had become disorganised, because you can't organise too much stuff.

Most of my stuff is sewing & costume related, but I can do an overall cull. I've done it in the past when I moved home a lot, however staying in the one place for so much longer has meant a build up of things.  Plus I can learn to think about objects differently.

The other thing that arrived was the costume patterns. I spent time this evening reading them and might even use the Tailor's Guide stays pattern as the base for my hobbit bodice.

I'm off my food today - there's a bug going around work and I came home at lunchtime yesterday and slept til 5.30pm.  I was ok enough to go to work today but didn't want brekkie.  I did get to eat a chicken quiche for lunch, and it was very chicken tasting. That is rather than faint hints of chicken I could see the pieces and taste it.  I'll buy it again, though it was fairly pricey, simply cos the filling was quality.  I got it at from the frozen section at an IGA on the way to work, and it's by a Queensland company Glutenfree Bakery.  I don't have a photo of it, cos it's in my tummy.  As it was frozen I heated it in the microwave at work, but if I was at home I'd take the time to heat it in an oven after defrosting. Last week I bought a twinpack of their Chicken Pies. YUM. This is something I've wanted repeatedly in the past 5 months and I finally found one I could eat.

Tailor's Guide - pattern range

A company I'd never heard of with, to quote their website, patterns from the "colonial fur trade, civil war, western frontier".    My finger isn't as on the pulse as I'd thought, cos despite trawling a whole lot of sites that sell historical type patterns I'd not spotted them before. Which is crazy considering the range of patterns Tailor's Guide have.  There are other patternson Amazon & Patterns of Time that aren't on their website. Yesterday I added to my pattern stash by ordering their 1725-85 Partially Boned reversible stays.
I also got Past Patterns 705 early to mid 19th century stays. I've wanted to look at it for ages and it wasn't going to add to my cost of postage so snaffled it. So yes, my obsession with underpinnings continues unabated.  One day I should work my way through every single pattern ... a scary thought!

more 1930s vintage patterns

My 2 patterns from Woodland Farms arrived today, and I'm definitely happy with them. The Anne Adams is a good size for me, and I'm looking forward to trying it once I can get back to sewing. The good news is I meet the surgeon on Tuesday, and he'll be able to say where I'll get placed on the waiting list. I hope my living alone is a factor for speedy surgery, ie if anything went wrong at night getting help might be a problem.


The NY wasn't in a great match size wise, bit I'm sure that I can grade it without losing my mind.  The skirt section will be good on it's own too, as would the top.

a giant extra extra long photocopy pattern

Or so it seems.

The copy vintage pattern from the UK arrived today, and it's on a long continuous piece of paper - something like 2 metres or more. It looks like a photocopy, although not like office copies, if that makes sense. The instructions are copied in full & it comes with a notebook with pattern sizes, vintage fit alterations, a page to list your own measurements, a garment history page (ie for what you've made, a notes page and something else my brain can't recall.

I'm happy to buy from this seller again, although once I'd unpacked the pattern copy & realised how long it was, it was a chore to cut it up into manageable pieces. Cos it's just so big, impossible in my small place to work out how to refold it as it was,  and it started to tear at one point.

It's on my wish list for summer, maybe I'll even get it done before the end of this one.

not sewing, shopping

I'm not feeling very adult about not being able to sew for so long. Though I'm starting to have energy now I'm on holiday, and have slept all the regular and irregular sleeping times. So I need to get some small amounts of sewing done *before* I go back to work next Thursday. I'm hoping to get the skirts done for my hobbit, and maybe the chemise blouse cut out.

Anyways, it's true that as a consolation for not sewing I've trawled museum galleries for eyecandy to pinterest - so much so that I've used 80% of my interwebs data allowance in 66% of the month, so I'm not going to be doing that for the next 10 days.

I also bought fabric, which isn't supposed to be happening, but I did get this linsey-woolsey which is supposed to be a dark navy but looks more charcoal to me - which is just as useful to me thankfully.  I got 5 yards, which I'm hoping is enough  for something regency or georgian.

The sample wool challis arrived and I don't know if it's the comparison or the purple in it but it looks more navy/purple to me. It's very lightweight & floaty, so I'm seriously considering this for the seabathing dress - even though it's not purple/pink & green. Though I should order a sample of the cotton that I like - even lightweight wool can be overheating in Sydney.

The sample stripe is a 70:30 wool/cotton. I could justify a skirt length for work, the stripe is about a 5/8th inch repeat but I'll not order it now.

Yesterday I also bought a vintage pattern copy from the UK, a 1930s Marion Martin:

pattern MIA for too long

late last night I decided that as I'd been missing half the pattern pieces for a year, that I would replace Decades of Style skirt pattern 3004.

That way I might find the half cut out skirt ... started on the first Saturday in 2012 and packed away in June/July. Now I can't find that, so I figure if I replace the pattern I might find the skirt and if I don't at least I have the pattern again.

While I was at it I ordered a 1926 negligee, I've always liked the look of it and if I was going to pay more for international postage than the single pattern, then I might as well add another pattern.  I'll change the neckline of the negligee, either a slit or v at the front. I hates things around my neck.