Vintage McCalls 6179: The Alterations & the Verdict

As you may have guessed, the general silhouette of clothing (and thereby, women) was different in 1962. This pattern's bust measurement matched my own, but the other measurements were a different story completely.

The waist measurement is 25" (mine is 28) and the hip measurement is 34, while mine comes in at 37".  To determine how much ease the pattern has, I compared the flat pattern measurements to those printed on the pattern envelope. The results:

Bust: 1.5" of ease
Waist: 2"
Hips: 2"

Which meant that I needed the pattern's final measurements to be 1.5-2" larger than my actual measurements to allow me some breathing room. :)  In total, I needed to add 2" to the waist & hips. Which amounts to 1/2" at each side seam. Just for good measure, I added 1" seam allowances. Just in case. 

I sewed up my muslin, and it looked pretty good, but I was concerned that there would be too much strain on the zipper in the waist area. I let out the waist a smidge (5/8" per side seam). Then I put the zipper in. (I'm so proud of myself, I put it in by hand-using Tasia's tutorial) Once I put the dress on, I realized it looked a little...frumpy.  After consulting with Austin (my husband/fashion consultant) he stated a few things:

"The fabric is...pretty boring" This is just my muslin, picture it as hot pink with white polka dots.
"It looks unfinished" It is unfinished, honey. This is the practice version. Use your imagination.
"It seems too long" I agree. I'll take the hem up a bit. 
"I don't know, It just doesn't show any curves."  


Bingo!! Now, I consider us some-what conservative. That & my clothes need to be comfortable. I'm chasing after 1 (if not two) children at all times, it seems. I don't do skimpy. Or skin-tight. But, that being said, I was envisioning this dress to be a little more...Joan (just a little!!). So, I put the waist seamline back where it originally was & shortened the hem line. By 2 inches.

And it is better. But it is not quite what I have in mind. The very design detail that I first fell in love with, the yoke, is it's down fall. And the sleeves aren't helping any, either.  I've done a lot of thinking about this & I just don't know that I would grab this dress out of my closet. There's just something about it.  Maybe it just isn't "me".

As sad as I am to see that this particular dress won't work for me, there were a lot of good things that came from the time & energy I put into the muslin.

I no longer fear vintage patterns. In fact, I found this pattern's instructions to be very straight forward & easy to follow. Also, it was easy to add inches where they needed to be.

I did my first hand-picked zipper & it turned out wonderfully. I also have a new outlook on muslins. This cheap, boring fabric saved me from cutting into (and ultimately, wasting) my chosen fashion fabric. 

All this talk & not a single picture of my muslin. Consider it a favor ;)  I do have quite a few smaller projects in my que, so there should be some finished objects real soon.

Just some sewing ramblings

It's been quiet around here on the blog front, but there have been some going-ons in my sewing space, I assure you. I figured I'd do one overview rather than 3 or 4 short posts. 

Vogue 8669- This should have been done, like, weeks ago. :) Really, all that is left to finish it up is to attach the sleeves & hem it.  I kept putting it aside because I didn't want to re-thread my serger. So, what have I been working on, you ask??


McCalls 6179- I saw that the Vintage contest on PR was going to start May 1st & I thought it would be a great opportunity to have some extra help from the other ladies that are participating. I haven't officially signed up, but my muslin is nearly done & it's looking pretty promising. I dare say, it looks much better than my Crepe ever did.

I'm sewing View B, the wiggle dress. It fits great in the bust, but I had to enlarge the pattern by 2 inches at the waist & hips. And even then, I'm going to have to let out the side seams at the waist another 1/2" or so.  I'm so glad I used 1 5/8" seam allowances on my side seams for the muslin. It seems that I just might be learning from past mistakes. :) 

As for fabric, I decided early on that I was going to avoid solids. Prints are just so much better at hiding sewing mistakes & figure flaws. I've been keeping an eye out for floral, but I just love this polka dot from fabric.com. I haven't ordered it yet, but I'll probably push the button later today. Also in my cart is a purple jersey knit, some tricot yardage (for a full slip!) and some elastic thread.  While I'm at it I'll probably throw in some wooly nylon thread, too. 

 Pattern Drafting: I ordered Don Mccun's book How to Make Sewing Patterns & have given it a quick look through. I really like it. The writing style is laid back without being overly casual. I probably could have waited a little longer to add this to my library, as it is a little more than I'm probably going to need right away, but it will be nice to use if I just want to make a simple adjustment to a commercial pattern. 

Sewing Classes:  I'm going to be taking my first official sewing class later this month.  There's a little sewing (and scrapbooking) shop that opened up this last month (yay!) and she'll be offering classes. I just signed up for the apron class, even though I've made aprons & honestly, I feel like I've "been there, done that" as far as teh skills required. However, one can never know too much, and also, I'm kind of scouting to see if maybe I'd liek to take private lessons.  That & I feel very strongly that I need to support this local business. The closest Joann is 45 minutes away from where I live & there are no shops any closer than that. 

Also, I've been watching the on-line classes at PR. They have a couple that I'm consdering coming up. The first one, Break Your Serger Out of the Box, is a basic serger course.  I feel like my serger & I have a love/hate relationship.  Of course, I felt that way about my sewing machine, once, too.

The other course starts in July & it's all about fitting skirts.  It even covers drafting & modifying your own skirts. Very tempting. 

Well. This post turned out much longer than I had expected. :) 

My First Vintage Pattern!

WIth my goals for 2011 in sight, I've been perusing Etsy's sweet Vintage patterns. During my search, I discovered I'm drawn to the late 1950s & early 1960s. There is something about that era that just says "Classic." And while some may find it demeaning, I like the idea of the "little woman" always being put together & presentable.

I also discovered patterns that include views for both slim & full skirts. What a great idea!! So when SewUniqueClassic was offering free shipping, I picked this "instant dress" pattern up. Here are some of the considerations I had when I was shopping & why I settled on this pattern:

Size
I never knew it, but most (all?) vintage patterns come only one size to an envelope. There are tutorials out there on how to grade up/down, but I wanted to get as close to my measurements as I could (particularly in the bust)

Pattern Pieces/Construction
Since vintage patterns have the reputation of assuming the sewer knows more than I do :) I wanted something that had few pattern pieces. With this particular dress, I can envision the necessary steps without seeing the instructions--I think. Hopefully that will help with the construction process.

This dress also has a reasonable amount of pattern pieces. Which is always nice.

Design Details
Ah, the belt. Almost all dress patterns from these eras are pictured with a belt. Some require a purchased belt and others instruct to make your own. I have doubts as to how thorough these directions are, but I didn't want to have to find a RTW belt that meshed with my dress. I prefer constructing my own. 

The neckline. I seem to be pretty picky about necklines. I didn't want to mess with a collar, and as much as I love square & scoop necklines that were/are popular, one of my biggest pet peeves are peeking bra straps (though it occurs to me just now that lingerie guards are an easy addition)

The sleeves I found many, many patterns that were sleeveless, but came with a view for a bolero. While I like that in theory-a little ensemble, I find it a little overwhelming. Other patterns included a sleeveless & long sleeved view, which I also considered.

The Concerns
Fit: Women were shaped differently then. Or, rather, maybe it was just the undergarments. The hip measurement for this pattern is 34". Mine is closer to 38". However, the pattern back does say, "If your hip is larger, adjust pattern as shown on Easy Sewing Guide." I will definitely be checking that out.


Closure: It isn't noticeable on the pattern front illustrations, but this dress has a front zipper. It's not something I've ever seen. I was contemplating moving it to the back, but with the dress yoke, it's impossible. I just don't know how I'm going to make it look ok. I mean, it actually kept me up at night. So, the next day, I went back & ordered this pattern, too. Yikes. It's got all the design details I liked about the first one, but with a traditional back zip closure.

Needless to say, I'm implementing a pattern buying ban immediately. :) But fabric purchases are allowed, of course. How else am I supposed to sew up some of these beauties?!