Ahoy! Anchors away. Aye aye: nautical dress part 3

Hellooo!

              

The maritime themed dress is nye on complete.  Just a few finishing touches to be done.  

I tell you, it gave me a bit of trouble.  I stuffed up several times and had to unpick several parts. 

At one point I got myself in a real knot!

I found the instructions for this pattern a bit difficult to follow, they were a bit sketchy in places.  Sometimes the retro patterns can be a bit like that.  They were printed at a time when most women had been given an extensive education both at home and school in the art of home sewing, so a lot of knowledge is assumed. 

Still I kept on at it. Patience and perseverance is very much the key to this business. 

There was quite a lot of hand sewing involved in this project.  Basting, basting and more basting! 

Now I only have to hem the skirt, which needs some time to drop before I trim it even and get at it with the machine.  

I am hoping to use my new 'rolled hem' sewing machine foot for this job, but I need to practise using that. 

I decided to make a hair accessory to go with this out fit.

Here is how it looks:

 

Next week I will start a new project.  I have enrolled in a tailoring course at 'Liz's Sewing Centre'.  It is the type of course where you take your own project and get support to refine your cutting, constructing and sewing skills.  I am really looking forward to it.  It will be great to learn more.  

You can be assured I will be blogging my adventures.  

Well that is it for this week, I hope you all have a lovely week, staying safe and happy.

xo

History Heroine  

   

Nautical dress: part 2

Hia,
       Well, it has been a full on week here.

I have returned to the trenches (otherwise known as high school) to teach the troops (otherwise know as students).  As per usual the start of the academic year in Victoria has coincided with more hot weather.  

This is a pic my husband posted on Facebook.
I was amused :-)

I am not going to start complaining about hot weather now, because, it could always be worse and I am praising God that so far during this fire season our beloved hills have been safe. 

A view of Cardinia Lake from ours.

One of the local parks.

My heart goes out to those in areas that have been effected by bushfire this year and to those and the families of those who put their lives on the line to keep others safe. 

Thank you!

Nautical Fashion 

I have been looking into the history of nautical fashion.  Wondering when and why women started to borrow the styles of the navy and fishermen?  

This is what I have found:

According to The Vintage Fashionistas: 

http://www.backinstyle.com/blog/2013/04/nautical-not-new-the-history-of-nautical-style-in-fashion/ 

In 1846, Queen Victoria dressed her four-year-old son, the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, in a sailor suit to wear aboard the Royal Yacht.

  Sailor inspired swim suits came next...

Followed by the use of Breston stripes in men’s fashion of the 1930’s. 

Sailor collars were already being worn by women early in the 20th century but...

According to Vintage Fashionistas it was the wonderful Coco Chanel who caused the nautical look to truly take sail in women’s fashion. 

Coco Chanel

Whoever it was who let go of the champagne bottle and launched the nautical fashion trend, I salute them!  For it is a fine look, come rain or shine, come high or low tide. 

My own maritime inspired creation is coming along.  I have not yet completed it, but it is taking shape.  

This dress is the first I have made that is fully lined.  

Marking the darts with tailors tacks

I am a bit nervous and quite excited about that. 

Both the bodice and the bodice lining sew,
now to attach them to each other

 It has been quite a challenge doing under-stich around the arm holes, but almost there. 

Fabric finds a home

A couple of weeks ago I spent the day with an awesome lady, who is also a fan of fabric.  Off to town we went on a quest for good fabric at good prices and by the end of the day we had made a number of exciting discoveries.  Now don't get me wrong, I regularly shop at the big haberdashery chains but there is nothing quite so exciting as finding those little independent treasure troves and amazing fabric strewn grottos that provide a myriad of different textile types and unique bolts.
  

I was in fabric heaven, feeling all the beautiful textures and reading all the extremely pleasing price labels!

My problem came when I got home with a sack full of fabric, to add to my already bulging collection of textiles.  

The solution?  Ikea of course! 

Hey diddley Billyo, hey presto!...a new home for all my fabric, where it will stay dust free and can be seen and prompt inspiration.  Love, love, love!

The cupboard is part of the Billy range .
And look there is room for more!

So that is it for this week.  I hope you are all keeping yourself cool and safe. 

xo 

History Heroine

The Tablecloth Shift Dress: nautical dress interrupted

Hia!

I have a confession to make.

Last week I cut and started my nautical dress and
 I claimed that this week you would see it sewn.  

Sorry but you won't 

(Remorseful face!  Is there an emoticon for that?)

I had every intention of getting that project completed until...

I found this AMAZING tablecloth at the back of my linen cupboard!

I love bright colours and yellow is one of my faves.
I also adore daisies, as they are cheerful and timeless in their simplicity.

That is right, I got absolutely distracted by a tablecloth, an old tablecloth to boot, with a gorgeous 1960-70's print.

I thought...'Hello my lovely, I can work with you!'  

I have had it a while and intended to use it one day, but it was too large for our little round dining table.
  

It is a very light but sturdy cotton, that feels so soft to touch.

This tablecloth needed a new life. 

I also know we are in for some more hot weather here in Melbourne and I need a practical, cool dress for when I head back to the trenches next week.

The shift dress made popular in the 1960's was just the ticket. 

 



I have a couple of shop bought shift dresses already (Thanks Modcloth!), and they are so comfy and cool, but I don't have a pattern for one so I improvised.

I took the bodice pattern from Butterick B5748 and lengthened it.  Of course I brought it out on an angle so that it covered my hips and made a bell shape.  

As I wanted it to be light and airy I decided not to fully line it, but I did need to understitch the neckline's facing.  

New Skills

As you may recall, last week I did not know how to understich. During the week I read all four of my dressmaking books and still didn't get it.  My lovely Mum, also tried to explain it to me, but I am very much a visual and tactile learner and needed to see it done.  

In the end I found this Youtube tutorial by Professor Pincushion, which was quite helpful.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8WM4yjqawU

N/B: In fact I watched a few of her tutorials and found them all pretty clear and easy to learn from. Thanks Professor!

So after watching the video a couple of times I went straight to the sewing machine and this was the result:

One of the other tutorials I watched was on creating a patch pocket, so I figured I would give that a go as well:

Gathering the pocket edge

Pressed and ready to be sewn to the garment.
Yay for new skills!!

The appeal of the slip-over dress

Most of my dresses have zips but because of my 'T-Rex arms' I often have trouble zipping them all the way up.  I have one dress that I can just slip over my head and I think it is great for that reason, thus I decided the 'Tablecloth dress' would be the same.  

Finishings 

Even a simple shift dress needs some extras to give it that little something else.  I thought I would put the pocket I made on to the 'tablecloth dress', but found it too distracting.  Instead, I put a decorative front band down the centre in a contrasting green cotton topped with one daisy shaped button.  

Here is the completed dress:

The finishing touches :-)

And here it is on me:

 Up-cycling!

Not so shabby for a tablecloth hey?  I love the fact that this fabric is now going to be enjoyed for years to come instead of being shut up in a linen cupboard or worse yet thrown out (gasp!)

So, what do you have in the back of your linen cupboards that can be made more useful? 



Well, that's it for this week, we WILL be back to the 'nautical dress' next week.

Unless I have another "squirrel" moment :-)


xo

History Heroine

Getting a sewing space organised, treasures to sort and a Nautical Dress: part one

 Hia!

This week it has been sweltering in Melbourne, temps hovering in the early 40's (Celsius).  I have been very grateful for air conditioning and as it has been so hot it has been perfect weather to stay inside and play with patterns.  Hooray!

Sorting Treasures

A couple of weeks ago I had a delightful visit from a friend of mine.  She had been sorting through her sewing room and had brought me a car boot full of what she called 'old rubbish' but was undoubtedly gorgeous vintage treasure.

Goodies, lots of gorgeous goodies!

Lovely finishings and ribbons, sumptuous fabric remnants, pins, zippers, elastics of all varieties, dainty beads, antique laces, tatting, colourful ric rac, vibrant bias binding, beautiful buttons, delightful embellishments and some amazing 1940-50 children's clothing patterns to draft.  I could go on, there was so much it was like Christmas all over again.

I don't know about you but I absolutely love trimmings and finishings.

I was so overwhelmed by her kind generosity and enjoyed every moment she spent with me, going through everything, passing on her sewing knowledge and giving me advice and inspiration.  It is a true treasure to have such a friend.

With all these new treasures at hand I have had to reorganise my sewing storage and decided to more efficiently structure my sewing space.  All my sewing happens in the living room, so it is pretty important that it can all be packed away quickly, neatly and easily.

Before

I believe it is so helpful to have all my sewing bibs and bobs organised in a way that I know exactly what I have and where to go to get it.  That way things get used, not forgotten about and I avoid going to the shops for brown velvet ribbon when I already have some. Win!

So here are the results after sorting and organising

After

                        

Fancy Nautical Dress Me Hearties?

Also, this week I have started that summer dress I mentioned last week.  It is another Butterick pattern from their 'Retro Range' B5748 circa 1960.

I love nautical styles, reds, navy blues, and crisp whites.  Always have, always will.  

Over the years I have tried on heaps of sailor dresses (with their cute collars) but not found one to suit, so I plan to make a sailor dress when I find a good pattern.  

In the mean time, however, I am giving this dress a nautical touch.  

Red and white striped poplin with anchor motif and blue cotton for the lining

After my last fitting debacle, I decided to kick my fitting skills up a notch and learn the art of making a muslin.  Well, it is not really an art, but a great technique for getting a well fitted garment.  A muslin is a mock up of your garment in a similar but cheaper fabric.  It helps your see how the fabric weight works with the design and shows you where there may be fitting issues.  You create your muslin according to the set pattern measurements, then adjust the muslin to fit your body.

              

Cutting the muslin, I am using jars to weigh
down the pattern piece instead of using pins

Here you can see the gaping where adjustment
needed to be made in the shoulders, chest, sides
 and arm holes

Mark your adjustments onto the muslin, then transfer those adjustments to the pattern.  After which you can make up the garment and it should fit you well.  (Hopefully :-)  Haven't got that far yet). 

Marking adjustments to the muslin

Adding adjustments to pattern

As you can see I also decided to change the neckline in this process as well.

I have now cut out the fabric and lining with the adjustments, and it is ready to sew.  Yippee!

So next week there will be pics of the dress coming together in all its sea-worthy goodness, and no doubt I will have plenty to chat about as I learn another new technique: understitching.

I leave you with a pic of Betty Boots my Boston Terrier, who has been my little sewing companion.  She is so cute! 

Have a great week, stay cool! 

History Heroine :-)