McCall's 7016

So...haven't updated for a while.  In my defense, I was wrapping up my last semester and looking for work, so I was a bit busy.  Oh, by the way, I graduated college!  The 89-page thesis has been presented and turned in, so that monument to historical rambling is done.  I'm still looking for work, but for now, it's nice hanging out with my family and Christmas prepping.

Anyways, my first completed project since I moved home -- McCall's 7016!

                                    Internet, meet Jane the dressform.  Jane, meet the Internet.

Ta-da!  Not bad for my first crack at this pattern.  I cut a size small, going down to a extra-small at the waist, and I still had to take in the bust about an inch.  The shoulders came out as a drop sleeve on me, which is not how the pattern is supposed to be.  I corrected it a bit, but they still droop.  It actually looks kinda cute, but on the next one I'll shorten the shoulders so they hit at the right place.  The fit overall on me is pretty good, and it looks nicely professional.

The fabric is a thin ribbed gray knit I think I got at Hancock, and which is probably not great for this project.  It's definitely more suited for a heavier knit.  You can see the bump where the shawl collar goes underneath the top layer, which doesn't look great on either Jane or myself.  It also makes it difficult to fit the bust.  The reviews I read noted this, and it holds true.  I think the way to fix it would probably be to make the collar a single layer and just hem the edges, but I feel like that would lose the nice drape.  Something to puzzle over.

Vintage Pattern Haul! (with added Gnome)

No makes this time, but there are vintage patterns!


I work at the local public library two to three times a week, and last week's shift highlighted just why libraries and librarians are the best.  My supervisor had mentioned earlier this summer that she had a box of vintage patterns I could have, and I completely forgot about them until last Friday, when I found this sitting on the desk.

                                        Gnome and vintage wig box on my bed -- thanks, boss!

 There are days when I really love my job.

The box was absolutely stuffed with vintage patterns, mostly from the '50s, with a few '40s and '70s thrown in for good measure.

                                            Look at all of it!  Mr. Gnome can't believe his eyes.

About half of it was children's patterns, which aren't much use to me, so I left those in the box -- the collection is going to a few other people in the department after me, and I know at least one person has kids.

The others were great -- a lot of housedresses, one really pretty evening gown pattern specifically designated for those 5'4' and under (i.e., not me -- eh, I'll make it work), and a lot of embroidery patterns for specific dresses.  There was one '70s embroidery pattern that had designs straight out of Modcloth.

                                      Mr. Gnome surveying his prize, including a spats pattern.

Pretty much all of them were bust size 34" to 36", which also happens to be my size!   Yay for vintage patterns that I won't have to resize!

Besides this, I also finished up a few projects this weekend that will get blogged eventually.  I'm going as Katniss in Catching Fire this Halloween, so I knitted the cowl using this pattern.  I went as Katniss from the first movie two years ago as well; Mockingjay better have good costumes, or I'll have to break the streak of Hunger Games Halloween.

I made two pairs of So,  Zoe... underwear this weekend and have ordered 5 yards of 6" stretch lace, so there are more pairs upcoming.

Gray and Cream Lady Skater

Two posts in one week!  Progress is being made!

Continuing the theme of posting this summer's makes, here's a revamped Lady Skater dress from Kitschy Coo.

                           Surrealist phone strikes again, this time accompanied by beauty products!

I actually made this dress last spring, but never wore it, so I reworked it this summer to get some use out of it.  It's a ponte knit from Fabric.com in a pretty silvery-gray.  It recovers pretty well, though I think it may have some trouble with pilling later on, as the other ponte I ordered and make into a skirt has a bit of pilling cropping up.  The new lace bits are a cream stretch lace from the Hancock Fabrics remnant table.  God, do I love that remnant table.  It's been particularly full of soft knits and laces lately.  So tempting.

 The original version was cut to a size 4, although I think next time I make this I'll go down to a 3, at least on the waistline.  The original version also had 3/4 sleeves and the slightly dropped waistline in the pattern.  The 3/4 sleeves were a little too big and hit at exactly the place that 3/4 sleeves are uncomfortable (the elbow -- 3/4 sleeves should be above or below to be comfy on me) and while the dropped waistline was pretty flattering, especially as I have a short waist and high hips, it felt dowdy and unfashionable.  It was all in that gray as well, which meant I felt like a dowdy elephant wearing it.  A shame, too, since it was actually warm enough for a Minnesota winter.

So, I fixed it.  I raised the waist to my natural one, which meant another inch or so was taken off and about another inch taken in.  (In the first picture it looks like the waistline is still dropped, but that's the line from my tights.  Fleece-lined tights rule.) This raised the hem too, but since that was bit long on the original, it was an improvement.  It's just barely above knee-length now.  I also cut off the sleeves and hemmed them.

                                                                     Action shot!

Next step was to cut off a long strip of the cream lace and add it an inch above the hemline.  The edges are just turned down and topstitched with a zig-zag stitch.  I've also been loving all the shoulder details that are in style right now, so I marked off an area on each shoulder and did more or less the same process to create the lace shoulders.  It's not the neatest way of doing it, but it works and most people don't notice.

It's much more wearable now than before -- I've been waiting to break it out for fall weather, which officially hit this past week.  Brrr, Minnesotan winds are brutal.  I feel so cute wearing it, and it might even be appropriate for future employment if the office is more casual.  I got a lot of "why are you so dressed up?" comments in class yesterday, which are always nice.  The dress code around campus is of the sweatshirt, black leggings, brown boots, and hair-in-a-bun type, which makes wearing a dress, heels, and blazer a bit unusual.

Still working on other projects, which I'm going to make E., the roommate, photograph.  That, or get a more interesting phone case.

McCall's 6996

So, the second post appears a few weeks after the first...not a great way to start out, but I blame it on my phone.  We had some disagreements about what comprises storage.  Totally doesn't have anything to do with my general laziness, no sirree.

Anyways, here's the first make!  It's actually from this summer, but it's the first one I'm blogging.  It's McCall's 6996, ViewA.

With my phone like that, I look like an Surrealist painting.  Maybe that should be my new look.

It's in a thin cotton jersey knit that I picked up at SR Harris (or possibly Hancock Fabrics) a while ago; it's probably been in my stash for about a year, maybe less.  I only really started getting into knits in the last year, so that part of the stash is finally being used. I had just enough of this blue to make it. I cut a size small, which came out perfectly.

As for fit issues, there are none.  This was perfect right out of the envelope.  The peplum in the back (which I couldn't get a good picture of without being a contortionist) gives a really nice shape.  I didn't have to do a swayback adjustment or anything.  I sewed it with a sapphire blue silk thread I bought from Tuesday Mornings ages ago; it shows up a little on the hems, but otherwise isn't noticeable, and actually looks kinda pretty.

There are more of these in the works, once I find another jersey that I like as well.  Most of the nice stuff in the stash is gone now and I have to use up the synthetics first.

As for other news, I bought a French curve and another design aid at the local thrift store for 50 cents this past week, so I'm pretty jazzed.  Now hopefully when I make pattern adjustments, they won't look so harsh.

I did make that Star Wars dress that I mentioned in the first post, and it will get blogged soon.  Right now, I'm focusing on underwear -- the So, Zoe pants pattern is waiting to be sewn as I type.

Hello Everyone!

So as the title says...Hello Everyone!  My name is Grace, and I am a seamstress.

Hi Grace.

Hi, fellow thread addicts.

So, background first.  I'm a college senior in Minnesota, graduating in December with a degree in history.  Not the most lucrative major, I know, but I love it.  Surprisingly, I don't do a lot of historical costuming, mostly because I'm cheap and I need clothes for theoretical jobs in the future.  I do have the material for an 1870s bustle dress sitting in my room at the parents' house right now -- maybe I'll get to that after graduation.

I probably learned to sew around third grade or so; there isn't really a time when I didn't know how to work a sewing machine.  My grandmother quilts and my mother grew up sewing her clothes, so it was a natural progression for me to learn.  I didn't get really good at it until freshman year though, when I took a Intro to Costume Design course from the Theatre department.  It basically re-taught me how to actually take my time when I sew, as opposed to finishing things half-assed because I want to move onto the next project.  It's also where I got the title of the blog -- the class mantra. (Clarke, if you're reading...thanks!  Also, when I'm a big sewing star, you will get the royalties.  Of course, I need to be a sewing star first...Working on that.)

As I said, I'm graduating soon, so I'm trying to upgrade my wardrobe to a more work-appropriate style. With a few exceptions, I'm putting the kibosh on fun sundresses and bright circle skirts (Star Wars dresses excepted.)  I love working with knits and I'm a huge geek, so the trick is to combine the two into a professional wardrobe.