I recently got this more modern pattern from the 60s and thought it had interesting curved seams and edges. I’ll probably convert the gathers to pleats in the waist area. It has no instructions but hopefully I’ll be able to figure it out.
2011 has been a crazy year for me, and hopefully 2012 will be better.
Sewing-related resolutions:
Make better pants. In the winter I wear pants a lot, and that means pants of all sorts. Here are some of my favorite pants I’d like to make or perfect: Wearing History high-waisted 30s (and could pass for 40s) style trousers, 1950s high-waisted cigarette pants, Colette Patterns Clover. In the warmer weather, it’s shorts, culottes and capri pants.
Learn how to drape. I received a draping book (possibly an FIT textbook?) for Christmas, and I fully intend to use it.
Draft more patterns. I really like being able to “copy” (or be heavily inspired by) other dresses and patterns that I’ve seen. It’s very freeing from using a pattern and trying to figure out what the pattern designer intended. Conversely, if something goes wrong and the fit is off, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Conquer your fear of sewing with knits. I still have no idea how to sew with knits, and I’m still intimidated by it.
Find your “sewing voice”. As a self-taught web designer/dev, I was always drawn to hand-drawn, slightly imperfect, lots of grunge, overlays, and the darker side of design. As someone who sews, I still have no idea what my “sewing voice” is. I know what my personal style is and what projects I tend to wear and what patterns I tend to gravitate towards, but if I were to design my own dress, blouse, pants, or even a collection I’d have no idea what it would look like. Perhaps this will come with time (and lots of sketching.)
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Personal life resolutions:
Test and perfect your rolls. I’ve been studying jiu jitsu for a few years now, and it’s taught me so much both on and off the mat. I finally (no idea how) learned my rear roll, and my front roll. The only thing left is to go up on the next belt test.
Just roll with it. I’ve seemingly inherited my mom’s tendency to be worried about everything, including things I can’t control. This year I’m going to learn to be happier with the status quo (not to be confused with being complacent), not take anything for granted, and learn to live in the present.
I have a 20s themed party to go to at the end of the month, and again I have nothing to wear. I don’t have any patterns from the 20s, so I decided to draft something that would look appropriate. Here are some patterns that I found inspiring.
Butterick 1856. I really like the skirt on this one, but the bow on the top part seems a bit much.
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Butterick 1191. I like this dress overall. I have no idea how to do the asymmetrical ruffles on the front part of the skirt — maybe make two ruffles and hand-sew them on, curving upward?
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Unnamed pattern, 5833. I really like the clean lines and the pleat detailing on the skirt, but is it too plain?
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Excella 2576. I really like the skirt treatment. It’s plain but maybe with the right fabric it can work.
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Excella 2576, back view. The pieces look simple enough to drape/draft and mimic.
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McCalls 4704. Or I could always cheat and draft something like this “50s does 20s” pattern.
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I’m sort of on the fence about the boxy dropped-waist silhouette. This might be as flattering as draping a rectangular burlap sack for a dress, but I don’t care, this is what the roaring ’20s is about. Period authentic (yet unflattering?) or flattering but not authentic?
I promised myself no more patterns since my box that holds patterns can’t close anymore and I’ve been getting more into drafting my own patterns, but I was really intrigued by Simplicity 4514. The corset-inspired bodice is interesting, and I haven’t seen this detail yet in many of the 40s patterns that I have.
Over the weekend I met up with Elizabeth’s sewing group to go the garment district. I didn’t get anything at Elliott Berman, but I found a lot of fabrics at the smaller stores in the area.
I know Fall has barely started, but I assembled a small calendar for my one season ahead style of sewing (also on the sidebar):
Jan-March: Summer Sewing
April-June: Fall Sewing
July-Sept: Winter Sewing
Oct-Dec: Spring Sewing
There are only two weeks left to Sept, so I am trying to finish my two wool skirts while I still have time.
Here are my fabrics for Spring sewing:
Bottom to top: gabardine, rayon polka-dots, light blue teal cotton voile, 50s-looking cotton voile, leftover cotton voile.
Bottom to top: wool/cotton blend, pink cotton voile, orange 30s-looking voile, yellow floral.
I’ve loosely earmarked these for many blouses, a dress, a skirt, and possibly (?) a Chanel jacket.
I got these patterns over the summer and only had a chance to talk about them now.
McCall’s 4589 skirt, circa 1970s. Could easily pass for 40s.
Butterick 4104, another 70s does 50s romper.
Simplicity 2331, circa 1950s. Love the sailor details.
Simplicity 3882. I definitely need more versatile blouses.
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Summer is still here but my F/W 2011 sewing is just around the corner.
Plans for F/W 2011:
- 3 tops
- 2 bottoms
- 2 dresses
- look: goth meets 1940s vintage
- colors: black, charcoal grey, off-white
- materials: leather, lace, cotton sateen, wool
F/W is still a good three months away so I’m keeping the storyboard flexible for now, but I plan to go fabric shopping for it soon.
I’ve been listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours non-stop lately, and though late 1970s is barely considered vintage, I’ve always been inspired to dress like my rock star idols.
Stevie Nicks is the frontwoman of Fleetwood Mac. She pioneered a unique gypsy-luxe bohemian look: long fluid chiffon skirts, airy capes, shawls, platform boots and lots of black.
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Stevie Nicks performing on stage, late 1970s. Note the beaded black lace shawl with a classic cotton tank top.
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Stevie Nicks in the early 1980s, wearing a white fringed shawl, low-cut dress with a ruffle, and high-heeled boots.
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Fleetwood Mac in the late 1970s. Stevie in the center wearing a black chiffon dress and a top hat.
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Stevie is on the bottom right wearing a lace blouse and an ethnic print handkerchief skirt (or dress?).
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Wearing a white lace shawl and a black dress.
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This photograph isn’t really a good example of her personal style since you can barely see what she’s wearing, but I love the rock and roll vibe of this shot.
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“I was very influenced by Janis Joplin,” Stevie said during a recent interview*, “the one time I saw Janis in person, and all the times I saw her on television with her feathers and her bell-bottomed pants and her beautiful silky blouse tops.” Stevie travelled to San Francisco to the Velvet Underground in at attempt to re-create her look. “It was a tiny little store, but it had the most beautiful things,” Nicks recalls. “Tunic tops that came down to your mid-thigh, and evening gown, old-lady nightgown material bell-bottoms that weren’t really wide, but instead fell straight over a really high boot.It was in that room where I thought ‘Wow! These are the kind of clothes I’m going to wear forever.’”
My new sewing motto from now on is: sew clothes that I’m going to wear forever.
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This leads me to my next sewing project, Butterick 6287 from the late 1970s:
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I don’t have any fabric for this yet, but I’ll probably modify the hem so it has an asymmetrical hem or a handkerchief skirt.
* (interview source: LA Times, 10/23/97, Airy Godmother)
The best thing about sewing your own clothes is that you decide the trends, palette, and what you will want to make for yourself based on styles that flatter you (as opposed to flatting the masses).
I made a quick storyboard for possible projects for Spring 2011. Since I plan to sew a season ahead, this would be in progress right now. I picked the items of clothing that most closely matched fabric type, cut, or color, and thus the details in the storyboard aren’t entirely accurate.
Items I already own:
Items to make:
Items to buy: