Category Archives: hollywood

Hollywood 1412: circa 1940s

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Pattern used:

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Hollywood 1412: Franken-Suit, circa 1940s

Project Details:

Pattern: Hollywood 1412, circa 1940s. I used 2 other patterns to replicate the look found on the envelope: Burda 8155, a modern pencil skirt pattern, and DuBarry 4390, my TNT (tried and true) 1940s shirt-dress pattern.

Pattern Sizing: Size 16, 34 bust. However this was missing the entire bodice top (and was replaced by a much smaller looking bodice top with a different collar and facing altogether.)

Description: Jacket with skirt and peplum.

Did it look like the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, except for my modifications.

Fabric: Mystery polyester/cotton (?) that I got the last off the bolt of at the garment district last month. It has wonderful drape and I can’t stand singeing a piece to check for fiber content.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, had I chosen to read them.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I can’t say, since the bodice was from DuBarry 5390 and the skirt was from Burda 8155. I do love the peplum and I think it’s very flattering.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: This pattern was missing the bodice and was incomplete. For the skirt I used Burda 8155, a modern pencil skirt pattern, and for the bodice I used DuBarry 4390, my TNT (tried and true) 1940s shirt-dress pattern.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I don’t think I need another one of these in my closet, but if I did I sew this one again.

Hollywood 1412: Construction Details

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More progress shots of Hollywood 1412. I added tapered three-quarter sleeves with a button cuff.

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Pin-basting the peplum. I wanted to make sure the side seams lined up and the peplum fit precisely. Hollywood 1412 was missing the top bodice pattern entirely. I was cobbled together the top bodice from DuBarry 5390 and wanted to make sure the peplum fit precisely.

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Closeup of the facing and the fabric. The fabric is loosely woven and is made up of pink, black, and white weft threads that unravel easily, giving it a plum/brown color and an interesting texture.

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H1412-021311-vintageSeamBinding

This fabric unravels easily, so I used this (vintage?) rayon seam binding for the seams. This was only 1/2 inch, so I trimmed my seams to 1/4 inch and applied the seam binding.

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Sewing area #1, my living room/dining room. Esteemed Sewing Assistant doesn’t like looking at the camera.

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Sewing area #2, my windowsill. This is where my pressing and pinning happens.

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Progress so far. I revised the sleeves so they’d be 3/4 sleeves and would taper inward. I also drafted a button cuff. Still needs buttons and buttonholes, and the facings need to be hand-sewn. It still needs a good final press.

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Shoulder closeup.

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Closeup of the inside part, trimmed with navy rayon seam binding.

Hollywood 1412: Sewing Updates

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Hollywood 1412, in progress.

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OK, maybe it’s not as bad as I thought. After sleeping on it, I’ve decided to plow through with Hollywood 1412 as a blouse and skirt.

I once heard somewhere that sculptors believed that the essence of their creation is already in the marble itself, in the stone that they’re about to carve, and their task is to realize the marble’s true potential and portray it to the world. I feel the same way about sewing projects sometimes. This project is clearly trying to communicate to me that it wants to be a dress and that I should forge ahead.

Musings on Sewing at 1 am

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Oh Hollywood 1412. Does anyone else sew really late at night and attempt to tackle an involved project thinking it won’t take that long?

Note to self: Blouse and skirt patterns are not suit patterns. Attempting to translate a blouse and skirt pattern into suit pattern with missing bodice pieces and no muslin at 1 am might prove to be a disaster. It also doesn’t help that I didn’t consult any of my pattern drafting books on translating a blouse pattern into a jacket pattern, and that this is my first time making a jacket.

There is still a possibility of salvaging this project as a top and a skirt and not as a suit, but we’ll see. It all depends on how ambitious I’ll be with making muslins and drafting a jacket from a blouse pattern this weekend.

Work in Progress: Hollywood 1412

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Part of the charm of sewing vintage patterns is knowing that there is one (or two, or more) seamstresses before who had their own version and vision of the pattern at hand. Case in point: Hollywood 1412.

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I recently started tracing Hollywood 1412.

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Illustration of the pattern. It seems straightforward enough.

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Here’s the pattern pieces that come with this pattern. Again, seems straightforward enough.

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However, upon opening this pattern, I noticed this rogue piece. What is this collar? Where is it illustrated on this pattern? A former seamstress must have had her own vision of this project. A different collar and bodice pieces are included for the top half. All complete, and yet all different. I’ll still be making Hollywood 1412, but will be using different bodice pieces.

Future Projects: January 2011

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I’ve also decided to organize my sewing time by pairing up my stash with projects for the next month or so, in batches of four. Fortunately I don’t have much of a stash, since I’ve broken out of the habit of going to the fabric store and haphazardly buying cloth just because the fabric is beautiful. I plan to streamline the fabric I have in the future even further, partly my planning projects out of fabrics that I already have.

I plan to sew a season ahead, and these are garments for the Spring/Summer. Here are some future projects I have in mind for the next month or so:

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S3668-a

Simplicity 3668, in blue gabardine with white small rick-rack as trim.

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H1412-a

Hollywood 1412, with three-quarter sleeves. I’m pairing it with a lightweight textured fabric of unknown fiber content that looks like plum (grey and pink together.)

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AA4571-a

Anne Adams 4571, in striped black and pink cotton. I’ve made this once before in yellow seersucker in a color I wasn’t too comfortable with, and in a fit that was a little baggy. I’ve worn that version once since making it, and have salvaged the buttons and have since sadly donated it. This time I’m using a color combination that isn’t as foreign to me or off-putting.
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Eva-S4536

Eva Dress reproduction overalls, in black denim with red contrast stitching and buttons.