Plaid Tidings: My Husbands New Nightshirt (M8379)

In my November and December podcasts, the theme was plaids and tartans. 

I'm in the mood to sew more than one this winter season. Hope I can make that happen

My husband's nightshirts were wearing out - he usually needs one or two new ones about every two years. Since the last ones I made him, I've misplaced the pattern. I found McCalls 8379 on the web. It seems to be out of print, but there are probably still many available the same way I found this one. I liked the front tuck and simple neckline. 

I got the side seam plaids matched, but since I quilted the pocket, the flannel in the pocket tightened up quite a lot more than the flannel in the front of the garment. So the plaids didn't match up when I laid the pocket down. My husband doesn't care! He's glad to have a place to put his iPod or reading glasses when he's hanging out on a Sunday morning reading the paper.

He likes it!

Lucky Locket's Mobile Device Pocket Bag

 

Lucy Locket lost her pocket,

Kitty Fisher found it.

Nothing in it, nothing in it,

But a ribbon round it. 

traditional Nursery Rhyme

I'm right up there with Lucy Locket when it comes to the value of a portable pocket.

I don't sew as many pockets in my clothes anymore, now that I've gotten in the habit of wearing cross-body bags.  I need to have my iPod and iPhone handy, especially since my phone has an app that tracks my exercise. I also listen to audio books a lot on my iPod, so I pretty much always have this kind of bag on me. Mobile devices are pretty hard on clothing pockets, and there's always the chance they'll slip out too.

Here's a new portable pocket bag I just finished. It has a very sturdy zipper across the top and the strap is made from a recycled leather strap on a 1930's binocular bag - the binocs are still good but the strap was coming off. I punched two holes in each end of the straps, then fixed it inside the corners with a button on each end to keep things secure.

No pattern, just lots of folding and thinking and working with the scrap I had leftover from the tapestry cap I posted about last time. Thanks again to Susan for the fabric. I used just about every inch of a 25x25 home dec square for these two items - both of which, I know from experience,  I will use until they wear out.

Antique-Retro Threads: Plum-Purple Pocket Dress - Mid Twentieth Century

   

 I have  been thinking about adding embellishments to basic patterns lately, as I've been working on creating a rather

challenging embellishment on the straight skirt I've been sewing, using a pattern I created from my sloper. I haven't blogged about that project yet, other than a posting describing how I created the pattern.  

My own embellishment work got me thinking about this plum-purple frock,  that caught my eye at  the exhibit From Rationing to Rationing at the Museum of Vancouver. I saw it on our visit to Vancouver Canada in the fall of 2014. Yup, that's the visit, for which, I created my audio show  Embellishment Via Vancouver B.C.

 ~ ~ ~ 

Pensamientos/Thoughts for this plum-purple pocket dress...

Fashion doesn't necessarily move as fast in real life as it does on the pages of a magazine. I recall dresses from my own childhood, in the 1960's, that harked back to many of the design elements in this dress, which is probably an end-of-the war, or just post-war creation.
* The fitted bodice is very mid-twentieth century
* Dainty collars added a popular innocent look
* No-button buttons were a simple embellishment many home sewers added. Buttons were often recycled from worn-out garments, so sewists had them around
* Short puffed sleeves stayed in style for several decades, certainly through the seventies
* Yokes also stayed popular through the late seventies
* Lots of pretty edging and trims like these, served up on plain fabric backgrounds,  are really reminiscent of the mid-century, before the mid-sixties, when dresses got much shorter and styles became all about crazy prints. Sewing up prints was in vogue, because printed fabrics were suddenly much more affordable and available.

And what about that pocket!

I created a similar pocket on my favorite black velvet bath robe, a few years back, by angling out the sides of a rounded pocket pattern. This one looks even more full. I must try fooling around with a pocket pattern to get a similar effect.

The pocket also  dips down in a heart shape in the center. And what about that beautiful embroidered velvet trim! It really tops off the pocket nicely.

* Lots of detail on the yoke was again very popular. It works because of the plain-colored background, even this peach colored lace can be over-embellished. I think that trim worked with ribbon is called insertion.
* Dark colored velvet bows at the neckline have a very mid-twentieth-century look as well. Doris Day often wore bows like this in her movies, especially black ones. Velvet bows were also popular as hair adornments. That was a signature style for Rosemarie in the Dick Van Dyke show, of course. Well into the sixties we could buy velvet bows on hair clips at the 5 and 10 cent store. I guess that would be the 5 and 10 dollar store now!

Reflecting on styles that affected fashions from my childhood, and considering embellishment elements that still work today - That's the kind of thing that keeps me ...

Enchanted By Sewing!

Inspired by London (historical fashion)

On my recent trip to London I hopped the tube over to The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, to take in the exhibit, In Fine Style, The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion (if you're headed to London yourself that show is on through October of this year).

Sure the wealthy ladies and gentlemen in the exhibits portraits indulged in a lot of intricate garments that aren't practical today (nor were they then, for regular folks), but they still inspire plenty of details that do more than just make me utter a long drawn out romantic sigh. They give me ideas for my modern sewing projects.

Here Mary of Modena (a Duchess of York in the late 17'th century) wears a lovely riding habit. Although the lace at her neck may have been unaffordable for the majority of the population, I bet the beautiful hang of her sleeve inspired many a delicate blouse or shirt among the less monied people she encountered. Many of us might still enjoy stitching up a poet shirt with similar drippy hanging sleeves, perhaps in a soft white cotton batiste?

What do you think about her color scheme? I'm pretty partial to the way the soft peach in her turned back jacket sleeve and lining, picks up the brown tones in the primary fabric. A modern day vest (think waistcoat in the U.K. of course) or jacket sewn in an embossed print with a peachy lining would be a beauty!

My very favorite detail in this habit, is the welt pocket. It caught my attention the minute I spied the portrait. Though I think of a welt as being a subtle little detail, her ladyship's mantua maker drew everyone's eye to this practical little pocket, by displaying the lining and not hiding the opening with the welting strip I associate with this feature. (So does this really count as a welt pocket? No matter, it plays the same function in the garment.) She highlighted the pocket even more by embellishing it with an oval of the same carmel/honey colored buttons that would nicely suit our modern jacket or waistcoat. This gorgeous opening also looks to be farther down the hip than we might typically find it, but oh so practical for our spare change, or the handkerchief many of us still carry there, just as Mary very likely did.

Historical Inspiration keeps me enchanted by sewing!

The Lady Wears Trousers: Inseam Pocket Checklist

Inseam Pockets

Elastic Waist Pants Under Construction
The long strip is the Stay for the garment front
The pocket and stay are cut from "Drill"
The Leash running from the top of the Drill pocket
up into the waistband is cut from Silk Organza - sturdy yet light

* 1. Notes 

* 2. Checklist

1. Notes

1.   Pocket bags can be cut any shape that works for person wearing. Make sure they are cut deep enough!

2.   Remember to add extension to pant front and back when CUTTING OUT pattern

3.   Adding extension to front and back of pants (skirt) helps match up where pocket bag fits in better (for me) than notches

4.   Use continuous stitching wherever possible

5.   Remember to mark F and B and Right Sides (RS) of all four pieces

6.   Cut pocket leash from Silk Organza for front of pocket only. This will tie into the waistband, will not add bulk and keep pocket in place

7.   This is also an excellent time to stay the fork of the crotch (fronts only)

2. Inseam pocket checklist

1.  Cut stays from selvage edge or folded muslin strip at least an extra inch above and below

1.           Make sure opening fits hand At least six inches wide

2.  Reinforce front and backs along pocket opening an inch or two above and below hand opening

1.           Sew Stay openings to fronts and backs

3.  Press stays

4.  Pin all four pocket bags carefully

1.           Eyeball check both fronts to backs, make sure it all seems to be laying correctly for the garment

2.           Sew all four pocket bags to fronts and backs. Use a 3/8” Seam Allowances (SA)

5.  Press SA

1.           Towards pockets

2.           With Pockets facing out

3.           Press each SA open

6.  Grade front SAs only

7.  FiNISH seam edges

8.  Hand baste front pocket bags to back along across opening

9.  Sew side seams above and below

10.      Reinforce stressnpoints

11.      Press step three

12.      Sew pocket bags

13.      Deal with extended leash here. BASTE to waistline marking

14.      Catch front seam in stitching

15.      Seam finish edges

16.      Clip bottom, back SA to but not through

17.      Press open below clip

18.      Press pocket towards garment

19.      Catchup pocket leash with basting in waist area

* I take sewing classes in the Cañada College Fashion Department, Redwood City, California

Do you Love Butter? In praise of the Buttercup Purse

My latest buttercup purse is
still in the construction stage.
I sew it as one long double sided bag,
then just stitch across the bottom of the lining
before tucking it down inside the bag.
The big bird image above is part of an inside pocket.

Some  favorite postings

* Romancing the Dress Part 1: Dainty

* Romancing the Dress Part 2: California Romantic asks do skirts really fit into her active and arty modern life?

* Romancing The Dress Part 3: The Dress Comes to Life

~

Back in the 1920's, when my mother was a little girl, there was  a game amongst her friends in regards to buttercups. They tickled each other under the chin with the bright yellow flowers and giggled "Do you love butter?", then checked to see if any pollen had stuck to their little chum's chin. My mother, not being a sentimentalist, recounts this activity with a curling lip. The fact that she still recalls it, tells it's own story.

I happen to love the buttercup purse pattern by Made by Rae. I first  discovered it on the purses/bags/wallets forum at Crafster.org. It's a free, easily downloadable purse pattern, with the caveat that it's not to be used to create items for sale. I've probably made close to ten of these winsome bags by now in a variety of sizes. Wonder what you'd find stuck on the bottom of my chin?

Eva's Cowgirl Purse was a Buttercup

The basic pattern produces a rather small pocket-sized purse (which also made it perfect for 4 year old Eva). But that's just the right size to hang across my chest to hold my iPod, keys and reading glasses and accompany me on a walk or when I'm attending to domestic activities. Essentially I use it to replace a pocket and it keeps my pants pockets from wearing out. I don't think the original pattern includes a long handle, but mine always do. I've started interfacing those handles with Peltex interfacing for a really sturdy strap.

I made this goodly sized Buttercup in purple velvet
cut from a never-made-but-cut velvet suit
I turned up in my own sewing stash

However quite often, as in the case of this bluebird buttercup above, I enlarge the pattern for a regular purse-sized bag.

Techniques: 

After downloading the pattern (it's only a couple of pages) and stapling or taping them together, I photocopy them at a couple of different sizes. I think 129% is the biggest my local copy store goes, so sometimes I've enlarged an enlargement. I also like to simply extend the bottom of the little purse to make it deeper.

My in-progress buttercup purse is a recreation of one I made from the same quilting-cotton fabric last January. I loved the bird embellished fabric so much that I pretty much wore it out. I didn't line much more than the top pieces and it didn't stand up to the weight of the items I put in. So I started over with fresh fabric.

This time through I stabilized the buttercup's bird fabric not only with fusible quilt batting on both the outer and lining layers, but also with a layer of crinoline on the inside of the outside pieces. I also did some simple quilting on the outside layer.

This buttercup should really standup to the service I expect of her.