Nocturne in Silk

First of all, I would like to apologize for such an extended absence from the blog. I've had so much going on this year, it's really taken a back seat. That is not the case, however with my sewing and I have several projects that I'm finally getting around to taking pictures of that I'd like to share with you all.

One of my favorite (and most recent) projects from the past few months is this 1943 nightgown in black silk, trimmed with silk ribbon bows.

I bought this fabric some time ago with plans to make a pair of 1920s/30s combinations, but the company I ordered it from accidentally sent me twice the yardage that I ordered (at no extra charge) so I had to reassess my plans for it. At some point in the last couple of years I came across an original copy of McCall's 5441. The yardage required was just under what I had of this printed silk, so I decided to make myself a snazzy nightgown for lounging around the house while I grade papers and do laundry, because even those mundane activities deserve a little bit of fabulous, right?

Couldn't help sneaking a my darling Bruce into the picture as well. 

It was a very quick pattern to put together. I had the whole thing finished in a day, more or less. It did take me much longer to decide which color ribbon to use to trim the shoulders, but I got it figured out the next day with a little input from my main squeeze. He turned out to be a pretty good color chooser.

Please excuse all the wrinkles. Having just moved everything has been in and out of boxes and bags and I haven't had a chance to iron anything as I'm still trying to just get things organized. I decided it was more important to get pictures taken than to make sure everything was wrinkle and crease free. The nightgown is ankle length, with a rolled hem at the bottom and the armholes. The neckline is faced front and back and hand stitched. I will admit, I didn't get the shoulder straps lined up perfectly with the inverted pleats on the bodice fronts, so the bows were partly to camouflage my minor mistakes, but everything is better with bows anyway. It took me forever to decide what color ribbons to use, but my sweet Mr. S. decided the lavender and copper were the best of the bunch and asked why I couldn't use both. Good question. Both it is then. I think he did well.

Other than the gentle shaping in the pattern pieces themselves, the inverted pleats at top and bottom in the bodice fronts and the self-fabric waist ties are the only real shaping to the nightgown, which keep it looking just tailored enough while still being very comfortable. The silk itself is a dream where comfort is concerned as well. It's so soft and feels light as air since it's such thin fabric.

As far as the pattern itself goes, as I said it was a very easy pattern to put together, and while you may or may not be able to get hold of an original copy, Evadress has it available as a reprint in multiple sizes. I haven't used the jacket pattern yet, but I'm sure it's not too much more complicated than the gown. Being silk, it took a lot of pinning, but the pieces fit beautifully and the construction was very straightforward. The waist seam is top-stitched, I hemmed the armholes and bottom with my rolled hemmer on my Featherweight, and did all other finishing by hand. As the copy I have is a size 12 (just a tad too small for me) I added a little at the side seams, but this was done very easily without requiring any alterations to the pattern pieces themselves. I think this pattern would work up really well in a very light cotton as well, for something a little more practical perhaps.

The nightgown didn't use up all of my fabric, however, so I had to find something else to make and decided to try out the Pauline bra pattern I'd had sitting around for months. I was, as usual, impatient and didn't make a muslin, but it turned out pretty well for a first run through.

I ended up with a little bit of wrinkling in the left side of the bias band, but other than that I didn't really have any issues. The top edges are faced with a bias strip and hand stitched, and I made a matching bow from the silk ribbon I used on the nightgown to trim the center front. I used the findings I had cut from an old bra to finish the closure and straps. I really could have taken a tad out of the center back to accommodate the bra hooks, but it still fits pretty well, while perhaps not quite as snugly as I would like. This may also simply be a function of the fact that I generally wear much more structured bras. It's really comfortable all in all though, and great for hanging around the house when I don't want all the extra elastic and wires. I generally wear a 32C and this fit pretty well straight from the pattern, which says it is for a 34 inch bust.

I still have some of this silk left, even after the nightgown and bra, so I'm going to make myself a pair of silk knickers (with bows also of course) to use up the last of the scraps. Hopefully I'll have those together in the next couple of weeks so I can get them on here as well.

Infinity Dress

I've been wanting to make myself an infinity dress for a while, and after seeing one online that was a beautiful shade of coral I just couldn't stand it anymore. The dress was out of my budget, so I looked around for some fabric that was a similar color. I found some, and saved myself quite a chunk of change. It's been sitting around for a while now, waiting to be made, and yesterday after suffering yet another massive mental block (I just can't manage to get started on any of these four research papers), I decided to take a brief break for just long enough to make a dress. Not that I don't find analyzing textbook content for books designed to be used for classes of heritage speakers of spanish interesting, or the economic state of Brazil and it's various renewable energy sources for that matter, but I just can't seem to figure out where to start on any of these things. The weather has been absolutely lovely the last few days as well, which doesn't make sitting in front of the computer any more of an appealing prospect. My mental stresses have yielded a very pretty and extremely comfortable new dress though. I will be wearing this a great deal this summer, and still have enough fabric left to make another top or so. Without further ado, here is my new coral infinity dress (with my most recent tie variation. I'm particularly fond of this one I think).

And now back to paper writing....

1935 Florals: Progress

It was a long time ago that I decided my next project (before the cold weather was gone) was going to be a long sleeved dress in that floral rayon faille I've had forever. Last night I was so burnt out on homework and grading that I decided at midnight it would be a good idea to go ahead and at least cut it out. I got a bit further than that. The seams in the skirt are all sewn. I just need to finish the button plackets in the center front and the two kick pleats in the back seams. I also found the perfect fabric in our stash of scraps to use to pipe the shoulder yoke seams. It's a bit of gold silk left from some bridesmaids dresses I made a couple of years ago for a friend.

The fabric had a single edge border, which I ran down the right center front of the bodice and skirt. The gold silk is a perfect complement, and I was excited not to have to buy something to use. I knew there had to be something, somewhere in the house that would work. I just need to buy some buttons. For a pattern with no instructions, it's really going together really well. I can't wait to get it all finished!

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.