Other sewing projects

Its been quite  a while since I sewed a 1912 Project pattern. I have though, been very busy sewing and learning about how to get more use out of my sewing machine and reading sewing technique books.  And developing a manic determination to get things right.

Sewing Books

The latest books I have are The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible by Wendy Gardiner and Lorna Knight. This book prompted me tocontact my friend that I have given my old Bernina to that had odd sewing feet attachments I never did learn what they were for. She said she would never use them so I asked for them back. I also invested in an invisible zip attachment.

Then my sewing machine lost its setting for automatic buttonholes and I took it to the shop for a service. So I haven't had time to practice with the new toys:tailors tacking foot, embroidery foot, invisible zipper foot, pin tuck foot and hemmer foot.

The Complete Photo Guide to Fitting by Sarah Veblen is a book I like a lot because it has 650 photos of how clothes don't fit then shows you the adjustments to make to make it fit better.

I was then inspired to make my own duct tape manikin form of my husband so I can stick pins into it without it complaining.   I stuffed it with newspaper, stiffened it with gap filling foam and he put it on a frame with lockable wheels. I followed the instructions via a  u-tube video. The foam over expanded and changed his shape humpback with one side of his chest bigger than the other.

I had to disassemble it, cover him in recycled duct tape and try again. Not before I had to clean off the sticky adhesive from around the edges of my kitchen bench that I had attached the end of the  recycled strips of duct tape on to, so I could use then again.

How to make Sewing Patterns by Donald McCunn- I haven't got into this one  much yet but I hope that it will help me understand the patterns better when I adjust them and they don't sit right.


 4 Greek Robes for 'Immacculate' a prodcuton by BackYard Theatre

I finished these in a long weekend for the cast of four. I make up my own standard pattern using their measurements and they went together well. The material was from the Fabric Warehouse a black stretch material with a wide satin band stripe, it had to be full length and quite thick to cover their actors own costumes.

The feedback I got from rehearsals was 'Awesome!'. Another person has made the masks to go with them and the opeing night is in July. Hopefuly I will get photos then too.

VPLL Checklist for Ladies Afternoon Wrap #0291

1. Pattern Name Ladies Afternoon Wrap #0291
2. Sewer’s Skill Level: Advanced, Intermediate, Beginner- Beginner
3. Pattern Rating: 1-Not a Fan, 2 – So-So, 3 – Good/Average, 4-Better than Average, 5-I LOVED IT! and why? 3. Good/average, The pattern is simple and quite dramatic with the feature of the four tassels. The wrap is comfortable and sits well on the shoulders and arms held in place by the front fastening and belt and weight of the sleeve tassells.
4. What skill level would someone need to sew this pattern and why? Beginner for plain fabrics if the wrap is not lined. Trying to get a professional finish for the wrap was most fiddly for the satin and silk cotton fabric I selected and to get the collar to sit evenly and correctly.  This was probably due to using incorrect serger tension that I had used to control the fraying fabric.  I needed to use my sewing machine walking foot earlier. Hand finishing was minimal but careful pressing was very important.
5. Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, but it did assume you knew what to do to ensure the collar points and front edge was aligned at the front seam.  I chose to line the wrap and followed the instructions for lining. If not, what needs to be changed? Advice on the collar fixing would be good with simple diagrams and marks on the front piece where  the collar is to align with would be good to ensure each collar point is even. The pattern layout picture showed 2 pieces cut out on the same fabric placement, that is incorrect.  I joined all the lining right sides together with the wrap fabric after fixing the collar first. I sewed the seams from the back neck down either side separately to even up the seam sewing line due to the  stretch of my misbehaving fabric. I left the bottom back open to minimise hand sewing and ensure all final checking was done before competing the last seam.
6. How was the fit/sizing? Did it correspond to what you thought? It printed out accurately to advertised size 34 inch waist.  The bust and shoulder darts did not need adjustment and fitted nicely. The pattern made up unlike the pattern diagram that shows the sleeve length well above the elbow.
7. Did you make any pattern alterations? If so, what alterations did you make? Where they fit or design alterations? I enlarged it to fit a non- Edwardian body shape to fit for a size 44 inch bust. Adding a few centimetres on each of the front panels worked well and spread the enlargement proportionally but I should have added more for an overlapping front.  I altered the fastening with two buttons with a ribbon loop.I made a belt that was wide enough to cover the button fasteneing and gatther in the waist a little, if I chose to wear it that way too. I lengthened the sleeves and I did not put in the waist gathers. I did not overlay the sleeve trim as the instructions said, as my trim fabric was transparent and showed the pattern through. I would have had to line the sleeve trim as well otherwise making it too thick to drape nicely. So I cut four sleeve trim bias strips and sewed two pairs together then added them on the end of each sleeve. This effectively lengthened the sleeves that then sat just past the elbows. I positioned each tassel along the middle seam line.
8. Other notes: I would recommend the best kinds of fabric to use. I would recommend this pattern to others as it feels wonderful to wear and looks exotic.  The belt  material I used was a wide indian bead embroidered trim that I lined with the same fabric as the wrap. It covers the two front buttons if I choose to wear it that way.

Conclusion: I will make this wrap again in a different fabric, it is very flattering and feels elegant to wear.

 

Final Blog Afternon Wrap #0291

The techinical difficulties of using very slippery and stretchy fabric took a lot longer to sort out after what I thought was good progress a few weekends ago. I was not satisfied with the collar and recut it using the lining fabric as the collar lining, as the fabric I chose- (a fine cotton silk blend) was far to floppy, very strechy, easily creased and didn't sit correctly when sewed to the satin.  The material needed a rounded needle too - I only had a sharp pointed set of needles.

The wrap without the belt

I ended up unpicking most of the work this weekend that  I had done and resewing it using a walking foot that gave a more even stitch by moving the fabric evenly under the foot.  I tried using it before on this wrap but it caught on the sile fabric, making uneven pulling marks, so I didn't use it.  Once I used the lining on the recut collar though, I could sew along the neckline with the walking foot without it catching the fabric.  Otherwise I would have to revert to sewing with tissue over the top of the fabric.

I still have problems with the seams stitch pulling along the seams under the arms. It sits well once it is ironed, but then contracts back again to look rumpled. When I wear it it is not so noticable. Part of the problem is my overlocker tention was incorrect for this fabric and tended to have a slight gather depending on the direction in which trhe fabri seam was sewn.

The white tassels using two large buttons

The white tassels were used to pick up a white fleck in the fabric pattern but looked very boring jyut hanging there. I used two white and gold buttons threaded through each of the 4 tassels cords placing the buttons back to back for additional interest.

Wrap fastening using two buttons and a ribbon

As I hadn't made the front quite wide enough to overlap as per the wrap pattern, I elected to compromise and have two orange and gold buttons placed under the each collar piece that were joined by a yellow ribbon that hooked over the buttion to hold the wrap together.

I have made a belt to go with this as another wearing option using the indian orange beaded border that I also lined with yellow lining same as the wrap.

Ladies Afternoon Wrap # 0291

After a few weeks break I can now start sewing on the VPLL 1912 Project again.

HINT: I now put all my VPLL patterns resealable A4 plastic bags, including my enlarged patten so I can see the pattern image at a glace, I have 2 pattern sizes available to me and all the instructions are kept neatly together

I selected some beautiful fabric and decided to be bold in the fabric colour and beaded trim for the belt and white contrasting tassels. I chose plain gold coloured satin lining.

The next step was to enlarge the 32 inch  pattern to fit a 44 inch with lengthened "sleeves", back width and waist to neck measurement.

I used a slash the paper pattern method and pinned the extra paper between the joins as you can see how it looks on the body form. 

I worked out where to cut the pattern for enlargement so it would minimise alterations for the collar other than length, using commercial patterns as a guide as to whether to alter the pattern. The final paper pattern was checked to fit, and adjusted against the body form adding a belt to see if the waist and slashes aligned.  

I also checked it with my trusty aqua curtain lining fabric by cutting out just one side only to see how it hung for length. I will then use this as my new  paper pattern template by transferring the final enlarged shape to tissue paper. 

WARNING: The #0291 pattern cut out guide has an error. The two front back pieces would cut out so two pieces would be the same side so watch out! They need to be cut out as be mirror images so that the right side of the material is the same on left and right sides


By enlarging the one 'front & back' piece so much, it would then not fit on the lining fabric in one piece, following the grain line guide. Knowing that changing the grainline without consideration of how the lining fabric would fall, I decided to cheat by cutting the shape separately adding the extra fabric on the back sleeve point see left -I'm sure no one will notice.










So here are the pieces all cut out and over locked (serged) but not sewn to show how it will look. The main fabric is actually inside out as I am checking how the main fabric and lining behaves when hung overnight incase they stretch differently.

The contrasting collar is very thin silk cotton and the main fabric is polyester satin. So I have some sewing stretch problems and the fabric is very slippery to sew.

I will add to this post tomorrow when I have sewn it together.

VPLL Checklist for Ladies Skirt #0200

VPLL Checklist

1. Pattern Name Ladies Skirt #0200
2. Sewer’s Skill Level: Advanced, Intermediate, Beginner- Beginner
3. Pattern Rating: 1-Not a Fan, 2 – So-So, 3 – Good/Average, 4-Better than Average, 5-I LOVED IT! and why? 3. Good/average, The pattern is simple and quite dramatic with the feature of scallop trim and buttons. The high waist is comfortable and goes well with the Edwardian style short length of their blouses.
4. What skill level would someone need to sew this pattern and why? Beginner for everything except for the bias scallop trim. Trying to get a professional finish for the corners of the scalloped trim  was most fiddly.  This was probably due to me reusing old bias binding and pinning it on for effect for the muslin photo below.
5. Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, but I had to read them over quite a few times as the pattern is so different from modern patterns. If not, what needs to be changed? Advice on the bias trim corner fixing would be good with simple diagrams. The skirt pattern picture showed the scallops on the wrong side.
6. How was the fit/sizing? Did it correspond to what you thought? It printed out accurately to advertised size 34 inch waist.
7. Did you make any pattern alterations? If so, what alterations did you make? Where they fit or design alterations?  I enlarged it to fit a non- Edwardian body shape to fit for a size 22-24. Adding a few centimetres on each of the front panels worked well and spread the enlargement proportionally. The back was more problematic. I had to add a lot more at the back as well as two darts and add more of a design pattern curve to fit my sway back shape. I took the added dart placement and depth from a modern pattern I knew fit me well. I made fit and length alterations for all the  pattern pieces
8. Other notes: I would recommend hand covered buttons in the same material or colour of the trim would look very smart.  I would recommend this pattern to others, but only for slim women if you don't want to redraft the sizing like I did.




Ladies Skirt #0200

Conclusion: This skirt would also look smart made up as a shorter calf length version with Ladies Blouse #0191 that I have also blogged about. I will make this skirt in heavier winter weight wool with contrasting buttons along the scalloped edge.

VPLL Checklist for Ladies Blouse #0191

VPLL Checklist for Ladies Blouse #0191

1. Pattern Name Ladies Blouse #0191
2. Sewer’s Skill Level: Intermediate
3. Pattern Rating: 1-Not a Fan, 2 – So-So, 3 – Good/Average, 4-Better than Average, 5-I LOVED IT! and why?  I thought it was 3 Good/Average as I had to make so many size and fit alterations I relied on the pictures to get the look and the proportions in the pattern were not reflected in the picture. The neck trim vertical side panels were not as long as in the pattern picture.
4. What skill level would someone need to sew this pattern and why? Intermediate, is it was very different to modern patterns. The 6 front pleats, collar neck trim, different sleeve alignment to the side seam lines and adjustments to fit the neck trim to the blouse and lining were complex.
5. Were the instructions easy to follow? If not, what needs to be changed? Explanation of ' Fell stitching' would be good as well as how to mitre the trim corners tidily. I follow diagrams better than words and that would be very helpful if they went alongside the explanation.
6. How was the fit/sizing? Did it correspond to what you thought? No quite different. Adjusting the front blouse to size 22,  E cup and allowing for pleats was difficult and took numerous attempts to get it to right.
7. Did you make any pattern alterations? If so, what alterations did you make? Where they fit or design alterations?
• altered for fit and enlarged all the pattern pieces using a slash technique. 
• kept the design seam lines and added a side bust dart.
• reduced the front blouse pleats to 4 from 6 for a better fit.
• modified the neck design,ommited the beads, enlarged the neck trim for a square neck but kept the overall effect of the collar trim design, and added a trim to the front bottom blouse to gather it slightly. 
• did not line it as the cotton fabric was thick enough.
• because of my blouse neck alterations I did not need to put any zip or other fastenings on the blouse as it was able to be  pulled on over my head.
• made 3 trim fabric covered buttons one large one for the front blouse collar fastening and one on each sleeve to hold the cuffs up.

Blouse #0191 front

Blouse #0191 back

Other notes: This blouse is so unusual but I do like the design especially for the potential for the blouse back 'v' diagonal stripes.  I will make it up again and have another go at getting the trim more even in the corners. The contrasting trim fabric I used for this muslin was too thick for this purpose.

Afternoon Wrap #0291 pattern has arrived

I received my next Vintage Pattern Lending Library pattern from Kimberley today. I was inspired to ask for this pattern by seeing what a fantastic job was make by other VPLL project members on this afternoon wrap.

Afternoon Wrap Feb 4 1912 size 22 inch bust

I will have to enlarge it to a size 22 again, as its so pretty I want to wear it too. The pattern is made up of just two pieces and has tassels attached at the front and a buckle at the back, with contrasting material collar and sleeve trim.  


I will use a muslin first to test out this pattern as I have done for the others. This has saved me so much wasted good material by learning the foibles of these authentic patterns and pattern enlargement to fit me and decide whether it really suits me at all.  I have never sewn mock ups before until I started this project. I was usually in a such hurry to get a finished product to wear.  It is really worth while to spend the extra time doing this for a professional finish.


As its a long Easter weekend this weekend, I will try to finish off the hand sewing of the neck trim for the  Ladies Blouse pattern, finish my Victorian steampunk outfit, and get my husband's Folkwear Victorian waistcoat pattern mostly finished before I embark on this wonderful pattern.

I have been entering the ClubBMV ClubBMV@ClubBMV.com fabulous florals material giveaway competition  just in case the material would in handy for this VPLL project.