New Pattern Lovelies

I recently acquired this book from Ebay France. Called Eclair Coupe Paris, it is similar to Lutterloh in that many sizes are included in the book that you must resize using the special ruler. The book did not come with these rulers but I can get reproduction ones so I'm not too concerned.  The auction included just one photo of the inside and the seller wasn't sure about the date but I guessed it to be from some time in the 30s and I believe I'm right. I'm so thrilled to have this and I'm thinking about making a coat from the book. I guess my pictures will go up in separate posts. For some reason I can't get the links to work.

I edited this post and added this from my desktop. I don't know why the link isn't working. Maybe I should go back to using Photobucket.

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100_1947.JPG, a photo by Sickofitcindy on Flickr.

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100_1949.JPG, a photo by Sickofitcindy on Flickr.

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100_1948.JPG, a photo by Sickofitcindy on Flickr.

Link to Vintage Patterns

I'm in the process of photographing all of my vintage patterns and hopefully my contemporary ones well so that I will be able to access them from anywhere at any time. I will hopefully be renaming the photos soon. Don't expect much photography-wise, these were all taken VERY quickly. Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sickofitcindy/

If you post them some where, please mention my blog.

Peggy Wood Tribute Dress

And we're back! I have been sewing. I just haven't been taking pictures or blogging about it. It's one part hating having my picture taken, one part annoyance over transferring pictures to my computer and one part having a slow computer. I saw this gorgeous Peggy Wood sarong on Etsy Peggy Wood Sarong dress and fell instantly in love. It would never fit even in my thinnest days but that is why draping is such a valuable tool. You know the Big 4 aren't going to make a pattern for this one.  Luckily I have the best draping teacher ever! She helped me work out the twists and turns on this pattern and I'm so happy how it turned out. It's hard to tell with the print but it does look like my inspiration photo. I ended up using my tnt circle pattern that I draped last summer.

Some construction notes:

• Silk organza underlined bodice
• Seam lines marked by hand
• Lined bodice
• Horse hair braid on full circle skirt hem (makes hemming so much easier).  If I were making a formal dress, I would have underlined the skirt and catch stitched the horse hair to the organza.
• Lapped back center zipper

I am in love with this dress and will make many more. Next time I may attach the bodice lining by hand as it was kind of tricky to line the bodice close to the top of the cups without stitching over them. I will also understitch the sweetheart neckline better.

Success!

After the debacle of the last top, I'm glad that this one came out so well.  A commenter suggested wearing it open over another shirt.  I hadn't thought of that but that might be the way to go until/if I make another one.  I will purchase more of the same fabric but I'm once bitten, twice shy.

Anyway, I will be participating in a wardrobe contest on patternreview.com.  After we came home from the car show last night I had an itch to sew.  I will be using 9 vintage patterns and 1 repro pattern.  One pattern I've used before and the rest are new to me.  As we are allowed to muslin, I've decided to start working on muslins for the tops.  I'm less concerned about fitting the skirts.  I chose Butterick 6927 as it seemed like the easiest to re-size at 11pm.  I used the Kenneth King method of using my sloper to compare to my pattern.  Based on the comparison, it looked like I only needed to add to the side seam allowance.  Luckily this pattern uses neckline gathers and released darts for shaping.  I didn't need really worry about bust points which I would have to if it had a bust dart.  I ended up taking out almost 2 1/2 inches at the bust during the fitting but the waist fit perfectly.  Because the sloper and pattern match looked good, I decided to cut into my good quilting cotton rather than using the plain muslin. 

The only change I made other than the sizing issue was to bind the armholes as well.  I love this top and will re-make it not just for the contest but in other fabrics.