Next up on the docket : 1935 Floral print dress

I just finished the scarf I have been working on for my fella this evening, which means not only that I can cross one more thing off my list, but he will also have another scarf to wear in the kitchen at work now, since the back of the restaurant is absolutely freezing.

I felt bad for him today, all bundled up with a hat and scarf under his chef's coat. This also means I can move onto other things though (and gives me one less excuse to procrastinate on other work as well). I still have that set of short stays to finish, but I have all three layers cut out at least. I plan on starting the assembly process tomorrow. That's my goal at least. I'm getting ready to make out a to-do list for the rest of my long weekend, and that is one of the first things going on it. I always work much better with lists, and haven't made myself one yet this semester (although granted school has only been in session for a week). Once I get that out of the way, though, and before school gets too, too busy (which I fear will happen more quickly than I'd like) I have one more project in the lineup for the cold weather.

I just received a pattern in the mail that I won as part of a giveaway hosted by Marie over at A Sewing Odyssey. I somehow missed the fact that I won the giveaway back in September, but she graciously held onto the prize for me, for which I am very grateful. The pattern is a 1935 McCall's dress pattern sans instruction sheet. The instructions for patterns of this age are generally minimal anyway, so I am taking it on without apprehension. What I really love about this pattern, however, is that it is not only printed, but it is trilingual! I haven't come across many (if any) printed patterns of this date, but much less one printed in English, Spanish, and French. I was very excited. I was looking at the pattern and suddenly had a stroke of genius. I have about three yards of a rayon faille that I hadn't actually assigned a pattern to, and that I thought would be lovely in the long-sleeved version of the dress. Then I thought about the seaming on the shoulders. Afraid that it would get lost in the print, I suddenly realized that problem could be solves, and rather smartly I might add, by the addition of piping. I'm thinking something to match the deep gold in the flowers. We'll see what I can find.

I've got a black belt that I wear with everything that should do the trick for this dress as well, but if not, I can make one that coordinates with the colors in the print. I'll have to see what I think whenever I get it all put together. Piping to match the bow at the neck, with big, shiny black buttons on the bodice and skirt are what I have in mind for the rest of the trim. I don't really have any winter dresses, and I've really been wanting to remedy that issue. I think I've finally found my first really good candidate. 

You can see the colors in the print a bit better in this photo. This is one of the few pieces of fabric I have allowed myself to buy in the last year or so that I didn't have a very specific purpose for. I new I wanted a 1930s or 1940s dress, but I hadn't selected a pattern. I think this is what it was waiting for. I can't wait to get to work on it. I'll need a relaxing sewing break soon I'm sure, but for now it's back to reading for my Pedagogical Linguistics class.

A Year in Stitches

Since so many other people seem to be doing these recaps of their sewing projects from the past year, and since I have not been nearly as productive over the break as I had intended, I thought I might as well do one as well (also in an effort to remind myself that I have still been productive, despite the toll that grad school has taken on my sewing). So without further ado, here is a recap of my 2011 sewing...

January

A 1950s vest and circle skirt in windowpane plaid (not the best picture of me, but oh well). 

A 1930s silk blouse.

A plaid wool skirt from a 1946 pattern.

February

I started an 1870s corset, but it has been put on the back burner for now. 

A 1950s reproduction top in an 1970s reproduction print.

March

A 1960s blouse in a vintage feedsack cotton.

1930s natural color linen/rayon lounge pants.

An early 1930s blouse in a vintage feedsack cotton.

A 1960s repro sundress with matching belt (not shown).

 A 1940s seersucker playsuit.

April

Sky blue knit DKNY dress.

May

Purple knit DKNY dress.

June

Black 1930s lounge pants.

Polka-dot knit DKNY dress.

Knit wrap top.

Knit tank top.

Convertible sarong dress.

Tropical challis maxi dress.

July

Navy wool sailor shorts.

1951 tomato print blouse.

1950s repro blouse with matching belt.

1940s denim shorts.

Denim cigarette pants.

1950s flocked sundress with sash belt.

1950s polka-dot halter dress with bow belt.

1930s inspired challis dress.

1950s repro dress.

1950s suit, still on the back burner.

August

Sari blouse for my cousin's wedding.

Aqua knit DKNY dress for my cousin.

Red 1930s lounge pants.

Black double-knit tube dress (pardon the dusty mirror).

September

Blue knit tube dress with bloused top. 

Version of tropical maxi dress for my cousin.

1930s inspired challis dress.

I also made another of the green 1930s inspired challis for my cousin, but didn't take photos, as it looks just the same. 

I took quite a break from September to December, since school and relationships didn't allow for much sewing/crafting time. I did however finish a sweater over the break...

December

1930s lace sweater.

And I also got half way through a scarf for the boy. Well, there it is; everything I've made in the last twelve months. Not too shabby really, considering that I've been so busy with school. I didn't realize just how many projects I got finished at the end of the summer. Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year! School just started back yesterday, so I won't have much time for sewing most likely over the next few months, but once I graduate at the beginning of May I hope to work through several more projects on my list.

***An amendment***

I realized later that the green dress I made for my cousin, was actually an October project, as I finished it over fall break, and I also made a tunic-dress from a pattern my little brother's girlfriend drafted in November. I unfortunately do not have a picture of that, but I'll make sure and take one soon. It's very comfortable, and I think I may make myself another one this spring. So, I actually didn't take a complete sewing break at all last year. I made at least one garment each month.

Finally a finished sweater

I finally finished this lace sweater I've been working on for so long. It's taken me forever to get it finished up, but I was determined to have it out of the way before the next semester starts back up. This is one project I can cross off the list at least.

It's a pattern from the 1930s that I found on Ravelry, although I can no longer find the link to the pdf. For those of you with Ravelry accounts it's called the 5 O'clock Surplice. I used a lace weight alpaca/silk blend yarn that I found at (one of our very few remaining) local yarn shops. It's incredibly soft yarn, as one might expect from silk and alpaca. I used one 875 yd skein (and a few extra feet) for this sweater, and I still have one skein left. I'm going to dig around and see if I can find another pattern to use the other skein for, since it feels so nice. It's alright to have two sweaters in the same yarn, right?? I just have to make sure that they look different enough that it's slightly less odd to have two sweaters in the same yarn. It's a teensy bit shorter than I was expecting, but think it will look really cute with my super-high waisted, 1930s lounge pants (especially my black ones).

While I have spent a great deal of time knitting in the last week, I managed to fit in a bit of baking (and lots of celebrating for my friend's wedding, my 24th birthday, and Christmas). I made a couple of batches of scones for my boyfriend's roommates: peppermint scones and chocolate-almond-butterscotch scones. They both turned out pretty well, but the latter was definitely the crowd favorite. The guys left me a nice note the next morning.

The wedding I went to was for a swing-dancing friend of mine, and as such there was lots of fun, vintage fashion that showed up to help them celebrate.

This lovely lady, in a stunning 1930s, burgundy velvet dress, is responsible for the beautiful suit the groom wore. She did an absolutely incredible job, making sure there was a perfectly tailored groom on the big day. The lining of the jacket and the back of the vest were really vibrant, bright coral, and the vest back was a giant polka-dot print. I would also like to commend her on her amazing welt pockets. She was very proud of them, as well she should be. They were perfect. She also altered the shorter 1940s dress that the bride changed into later, for ease of dancing of course.

Some of my favorite ladies. 

Her aunt (my mom's best friend) altered this 1930s wedding gown for her.

Finally, for my birthday I gifted myself with a pair of remix shoes. I've been lusting after these for months and now they are mine.

They are a bit darker than this in real life, a bit more mahogany, but they're absolutely lovely and I really want another pair. I'll take a picture of mine sometime soon. I'll be wearing them frequently. We all went out for sushi on my birthday, stuffing our faces with deliciousness, and then all walked down to have a look at the restaurant that my guy and his brother are getting ready to open. He got an urge to go see a movie, so the two of us went to go see The Adventures of Tintin. I hadn't been to the movies in months and months, and this movie was a lot of fun. The animation was pretty impressive as well. Overall, 24 was a pretty fun birthday. Now it's back to work on the next few projects on the list....

I finally have time to work on some things!

Hello all,

I've been MIA for quite some time now, as graduate school this semester has taken a serious toll on my time for sewing, etcetera. I turned in my last paper for my sociolinguistics class on Tuesday night, however, and I am officially finished until the second week of January. Despite the fact that the holiday season is always a busy one (with parties and family events and the like) I finally have a bit more time to finish up some projects and start new ones. I did some repair work on the boyfriend's favorite tie and smoking jacket last night, have to fix a dress that had too much Christmas party last weekend before I take it to the cleaners, and have gotten to work on the final sleeve for my merlot colored sweater. Just to remind you all what it looks like...

I'm much, much farther than that now, but I have yet to take another in progress picture. I can hopefully get it put together in the next two days and will take photos then.

Once I get this out of the way it's back to work on this suit...

I'd like to be able to wear it at some point next semester, while it's still cold. I'm not keeping my fingers crossed, but here's hoping. I've also got a pair of short-stays in the line up for break. They're for a friend of mine. The project list is much longer than this obviously, but these three are top priority. Casey is making me really want to start another sweater, but we'll see how that works out. That would require buying yarn, and I have so many fabric projects to get through I should really do those first. It's just such a cute sweater!

I haven't died, I promise!

Whew, it's been a long time! The last month has been pretty crazy, flying back to the west coast for another family wedding and then getting back into the swing of things at school, all while trying to finish a few projects. I am working on a few dresses for one of my cousins, altered a few dresses I didn't wear for her and also made myself a sari blouse and skirt to wear to another cousin's wedding. I haven't gotten any more work done on my suit, but I'll get there eventually. Once I get back  into the rhythm of school I'll hopefully be able to squeeze in a bit of sewing time here and there.

As you may have surmised, it was a Hindu wedding, as my cousin's new husband is from a South Indian family. They actually had two ceremonies (one Catholic and one Hindu), and more occasions for eating copious amounts of delicious Indian food than I could count (okay so really it was only four I think, but that's a lot of events surrounding one marriage. Not that I disapprove of taking full advantage of an opportunity to eat Indian food).

Mom, my cousin Mary and me at the wedding reception.

My little brother and me at the reception dinner (he hates this picture since he's making a totally goony face, but oh well).

And my big brother, who has always had a hard time not looking stressed in photos.

My cousin looked absolutely beautiful (as did my aunt, and my uncle was really enjoying his suit).

I made the dresses that both my cousin and me wore to the rehearsal dinner.

Incindentally, she's the lovely Target Pharmacist who's featured in their new add campaign. You may have seen posters of her at your local Target. 

I also made the teal dress she wore to the Catholic ceremony (in the center) along with my blue version of the same DKNY Vogue pattern.

I just finished a version of Vogue 2267 in a dark pink floral print, and am working on a purple version of the dress I wore to the rehearsal dinner. I'm also going to make her the green dress I finished several weeks ago.

School is definitely demanding most of my time, what with all the grading and things I have to do on top of my own homework, but I'm enjoying teaching so far. I don't think any of my students hate me, and we had a little impromptu salsa lesson yesterday in my second class, which not only helped wake everyone up, but I think they all enjoyed it. Tengo un breve descanso este finde por Labor Day que voy a disfrutar mucho, y espero que todos ustedes tengan buen fin de semana también!