New Vintage pyjamas?!

Hello! Today's blog title is a bit of an oxymoron, but these are newly made pyjamas using vintage fabric and a vintage pattern.

Me pretending to sleep.

These were made in reaction to my lack of me-made jim-jams during MeMadeMay15.

I scored the pattern while out with my Mum and Aunt in a charity shop. I was thrilled with my haul: I got a 60s, a 50s and a 30s pattern! My companions were NOT of a mind with me nor the online sewing community however, as they both deemed my purchases rather naff!

I decided that the top as per pattern would be too neck-choking, so I went with the pyjama trousers and a simple box top.

Hugging middle child's bedtime bear. 

The fabric is a vintage twill, from my Nan's stash. It had a label on it saying it was a fabric sample and not for resale! I wonder how she got it.

 

I am really happy with these. They were sewn up in a burst of enthusiasm, jumping the queue in front of many other outfits that were patiently waiting to be finished! They have a bit of design interest over regular elastic-waist PJs, a flat-front waistband with soft pleats underneath, and elastic at the back. On the left, there is an opening that closes with a button.

 

 

That did, if I am honest, cause some head scratching. I just could not grasp how the instructions wanted me to conceal those raw edges. So, I cheated and used bias binding! I also used a loop of elastic rather than a buttonhole, although I could always go back and change that later.

 

 

I couldn't wait to have a lazy day wearing these rather than regular clothes! They are roomy to wriggle in (I have it on good authority that I do this in my sleep) and definitely comfy. 

  

More fake sleeping!

 

I'll see how much I wear them before I decide if I'll make more from this pattern. But I definitely like the idea of more handmade pyjamas. I can count this as one of my "Vintage Pledge" makes too! Oh, and not sure you can tell in long-shot but the top has a pocket. Rather cute!

 

 

I'm tired now, so I'll say night night!  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...





It's warm enough for a spring dress- just!

Hello everyone! I have been away from the blog lately because of Easter hols, but still finding time to read other blogs, and most importantly to keep sewing. For a change, I now actually have a backlog of finished items that need to be photographed and blogged. Up first: a Spring dress! 

It's just about warm enough to wear this, another of my Vintage Pattern Pledge entries. It is McCall's 6676.  Looks to me like c. mid 1960s.

Sadly, I don't look as glam as the lady on the cover; even so, the dress is a favourite already. It is made up from a cotton from my Nan's stash. I have never had a fabric behave so well! It pressed and sewed beautifully. Rather a cute print too.

 

 

 

The picture on the cover shows the dress just hitting the knee. When I held the pattern piece up to myself it hit my ankles! I had to fold the pattern up by over 8 inches!

 

 

The dress has French darts, a kick pleat at the back and a centre back zip. I really enjoyed making this, and everything inside is nice and neat with cute facings for the neckline and arms.

 

 

It goes perfectly with my favourite (thrifted) yellow glass necklace. They were made for each other.

 

 

 

The dress also sports a rather jaunty little belt. The belt is supposed to be held on by bar tacks at the hips. I tried that, but it feels more natural just slightly below my waist.

 

 



The dress has an extra seam down the front as the fabric was only a small remnant. I see this dress getting lots of wear in the summer, as it is so light and airy. For now, it's perfect layered with a light jacket.

 

 

 

Hope you have all had a good Easter. We still have a few days till the boys are back at school, so a bit more hanging at our new local park is in order. 

Selfless sewing #1

It's Saturday, hurrah! Nothing to do, so it's going to be a lazy day with some sewing done (if I can distract my three little mess-makers). First, though, I want to show you all a fabulous make; I am in love with this dress.

 

 

I had agreed to make a dress for a friend's lovely daughter ages ago, but put it off with excuse after excuse. Finally the guilt got to me: the little girl is so nice, I had to get started. I thought if I were going to do this, I wanted to enjoy it; so, I treated myself to a 'new to me' vintage pattern from ebay.

I love vintage patterns, the instructions are so clear and easy to follow. I even finally understood how to ease the fullness of the hem which had seemed like gibberish to me when I'd read about it before.

I am so happy with this make; if only it were in my size, I'd definitely wear it! The fabric is good old curtain remnants from the 70's so era appropriate for the pattern. (You may be wondering where you recognise it from - I previously made a pinafore with it for my baby girl here.)

I wanted to add a bit of colour so I added some applique flowers. I cut out three, but decided in the end that two was enough.

The flowers are attached with Bonda-web and then freehand machine embroidered on top. I have to say I love it!

It has a lapped zipper at the back, and completing it has helped stop me being so terrified of zips (still have not tried an invisible one yet, though).

 

The bodice also has a gentle curve to it, which gives a lovely shape. It is lined with a faux silk and has the cutest little cap sleeves.  

 

I enjoyed this make immensely, though it was very time-consuming. The only tough bit was giving it away!!!  Turns out I am a selfish selfless sewer. Hope she likes wearing it; I think she will...

Two birds with one stone

Squeal! My favourite make so far...

This is a fully-lined pinafore dress with cute curved patch pockets, and I adore it.

Those cross over straps! Love, love, LOVE. Oh, she looks so cute in this.

I think the thread and the buttons are a perfect colour match. My first ever buttonholes, too - not bad for a first attempt. I was a little nervous; but after doing several practice runs on scrap, it all worked out well.

She rather enjoyed posing and twirling on the beach to model this dress.  It's fab that my baby girl likes it as much as I do.

This make was spurred on by Kid's Clothes Week 2014 and by A Stitching Odyssey's vintage sewing pattern pledge.

All in all, I'm rather pleased that one dress can tick off two sewing challenges. Wahoo! I love this dress so much that I already have two more (yes two!) cut out already. Below is the picture from the envelope and it is just fab.

The pattern in a McCalls Toddler girl dress from 1975.  It's classified as an 'easy to sew' and I'd say it was. To line it, I just extended the facing pieces to full length.  I sewed the hem by hand (angel halo) only because I was watching the telly. But I think I may sew more hems this way, it has such a neat, clean finish.  It was rather therapeutic too!

Leaving you with one last picture of my little starlet!  Two more of these finished before too long (good sewing karma allowing).

Simplicity 6842

Bit late in the day (or year) but I decided to join in A Stitching Odyssey's  vintage sewing pattern pledge!

The idea is that you pledge to actually sew up some vintage patterns, rather than just mooning over them.  Admittedly, it is phrased a little nicer than that! I have pledged to sew up three items this year.

This is the first of my vintage sewing pattern makes.  It is from 1975, and I think it looks great; the pattern is a little bit battered but it's intact. The little tabs on the neckline and the flared shape at the hem are rather fun and lovely.

So here is my attempt.  It is not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not terrible.

I've used a nice soft knit in a 4-way stretch. The finished garment is so soft and comfy, I may never take it off! I don't think it was a very wise fabric choice, though, as it was too stretchy.  The suggested fabrics were a little more stable: crepe, double knit, shantung,or wool.

The dress looks okay, but due to the stretch it was a bugger to sew. I used a walking foot for the sewing and this made it a little easier.  But I made mistakes - I forgot to stay-stitch first, and this meant the neck and armcycles are not perfect.

Luckily those little tabs take your eyes off it, so it is not too noticeable.

I stabilised the shoulder seams with stay tape.  The instructions didn't say to, but I'd read about it a lot on other people's blogs, so I gave it a go. It really helps keep the shape of the seam and stops the seam moving.

I think I may give the pattern another go in a woven fabric. This would make it much easier for me to sew, but I may need to tweak the sizing a little. The pattern was a size 12; not knowing how to down-size a pattern properly, I literally brought the pattern in by a cm all around. It worked (sort of) and it is at least a workable base pattern for tweaking in the future.

Given the slightly stretched seams, dodgy sizing and fabric choice, I'm not sure I should wear this out in public much!  The only trouble with that is... it is so comfy, and I feel good in it!  So I'll just have to brazen it out.  Either that, or wear it as a fancy nightie.