Taffeta Circle Skirt

A while ago I promised to post about the fancier circle skirt I made. Well here it is:

I made this out of blue taffeta, not silk unfortunately, but acetate. I got the fabric on sale last Christmastime for really cheap. Its a good thing too because as I stated in my other circle skirt post, this skirt takes almost 4yds! To remind you here's the pattern I used:

Its Butterick 7257 from 1955. Overall I really like this skirt, its light and appropriate for winter parties, concerts, the symphony, etc. But boy does it wrinkle. To take these pictures I had to do some serious ironing, and it was still wrinkled. Here's a photo with a petticoat underneath:

The actual color is between the first and third photo. The geniuses that built our apartment apparently thought a light fixture in the living room wasn't necessary.

On me with the petticoat it looks a little something like this: (the puffiness anyways)

 

image courtesy myvintagevogue

A Vintage Find, and an Old Bedsheet

Last year, during our beach vacation in California, I found this pattern in an antique store in Cambria:

It was only $4, And all the pieces were there, And the instruction sheet! Most vintage patterns on Etsy aren't even that cheap.

It was a size 16, so a 36in bust, which is my proper size, well, except for the waist and hips. I had to "re-size" the pattern from the waist down. I used Gertie's help instructions for re-sizing vintage patterns found here: http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2010/06/vintage-pattern-sizing.html.

So I sat on this pattern for over a year, making other things when I had the time. A month ago I decided why not? I dug through my fabric stash, not able to decide on anything, when I remembered I had kept some twin-size bed sheets, intending to use them as fabric at some point. They were my bed sheets when I was an undergrad sleeping on a small lumpy bed in a room without padding under the carpet. Ah, the good ol' days, not!

So this dress presented me with a few new challenges. First of all: the buttonhole. Oddly enough with all the things I've made I haven't had to do any buttonholes. Lots of "invisible zippers," but no buttonholes. I practiced a lot on scrap fabric before I sewed them onto the dress.

Another thing was the stiff, i.e. interfaced collar. This wasn't hard, and I must say, I like the effect. While sewing it I realized why some collars on shirts you buy are wrinkly and don't stand up: no interfacing. My husband always complains about Old Navy shirts being this way. I must say, unless they are using a really, really, thin interfacing, there isn't any in their collars.

Lastly, I learned the french tack stitch. What is that you may ask? Look on a men's tie. See the single but thick stitch on the backside of the tie where the seams meet? That's it, a french tack stitch. Super useful. I learned how to do it from FashionSewingBlogTV in this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TP8rgH37Qo
In the construction of this dress it is used to attach the lining to the dress.

All in all, I like this dress. With a belt it looks pretty good. I like it with a thicker belt than the pattern suggests though.

Here it is:

Image courtesy of wikia

My Black Go-to Dress

At some point last year (can't remember when) I made Simplicity 3673:

I used a black suiting material from Joann's. I can't remember the type of fabric. I think it was polyester (isn't everything) or some kind of mystery blend. I've really gotten my mileage out of this dress. I've worn it to the symphony, nice dinners, and my MA graduation!

Here it is:

I know, I know, doesn't quite look like the picture. My middle is slightly bigger than the model's, and the shoulder straps are bunched on the hanger. (I really want a dress-form, maybe for Christmas, fingers crossed)

It wasn't the simplest, despite the Simplicity brand. There are twelve darts around the middle. Yep, I said twelve. Technically not difficult, just time consuming (and boring).

Close-up of the darts:

The bodice is lined and the sems are all turned to the inside. You have to pull the whole thing through a 3 inch opening in one of the straps. Pretty cool technique.

There is a zipper down the back with a hook and eye closure at the top. The skirt is pretty full. With a petticoat underneath it looks pretty sweet. I especially like wearing it with a green silky top that has a bow at the top, gives it a real 1930s look, oddly enough.

The Pineapple Shawl

Earlier this year I made a mint-green pineapple shawl. 

 I crocheted this one, but pineapple shawls can also be knitted. Although you can find several examples of this pattern from mid-century patterns, the pineapple stitch to the best of my knowledge was first published in 1917. (ok, technically Edwardian)

Here are some examples of mid-century pineapple designs:

Get a load of this baby! One huge pineapple on the back. Haven’t seen a lot of these. Most patterns I’ve seen of pineapple shawls are like the second image.

Wasn’t able to find an image of an earlier version, but the puff stitch (which looks remarkably similar to the pineapple design) shows up in a lot of older shawl and garment designs. The antique pattern library is an amazing online resource for crochet and knitting pattern from the last two centuries. The Corticelli Lessons in crochet book n. 13 (published in 1920) demonstrate the puff stitch. A lot of pineapple designs also show up in doily patterns.

When I made mine it took a long time. It wasn’t technically challenging (all the stitches were ones I knew and had used before), but time consuming. Each pineapple you see takes several rows to complete.

I chose to do this one in a baby yarn mostly because I needed a good mint color, and well, baby yarn and pastels go hand-in-hand. Although the dingly things on the edge aren’t typical for most pineapple shawls I’ve seen, they’re pretty and I liked them!

Images courtesy of amazon and pintrest

Like the one I made? You can buy it here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/151217667/mint-green-pineapple-shawl?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_search_query=pineapple+mint+green+shawl&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all