Happy Birthday to me! :) I wanted to finish up a sewing project in time for my birthday today! With my megaproject jacket complete, I was able to resume some regularly scheduled sewing. Which right now is all about filling in my spring and summer wardrobe! I pulled a pattern out of my stash that I'd been wanting to sew forever. It's a 1962 McCall's pattern for a wrap dress. But some of you who collect vintage clothing ... Read more »
And the giveaway winner is…
Well goodness, with the volume of entries on the Popina retro swimsuit giveaway, my plan of putting all the names into our ice bucket was quite a bit more of a chore than I expected! But dear readers, I plowed on, cutting tiny little strips of paper and wondering all the while if I should have devised a plan to have our paper shredder do it for me. Not-so-fine print: I actually used my hands instead of our silver ice ... Read more »
Popina Swimwear retro swimsuit giveaway!
Hi everyone, do I have something fun for you today. I was contacted by the husband-and-wife team that runs Popina Swimwear, a small retro swimwear boutique in Portland. When I personally am out in nature I'm more likely to be found hiking on a trail or camping than playing in the water on a beach, so I declined to do a review... and one of you lucky readers get to benefit from that! So what does that mean? You could ... Read more »
Now for something completely different… The Refashioners!
Well everyone, I am overwhelmed by all your wonderful comments on my Sew for Victory jacket on my blog, Twitter, and Instagram. It's really tickled me to have that project complete and share it with all of you. :) And today I have something completely different to share with you! You may have seen it on a few other blogs already, but the refashioner queen, Portia, is running another Refashioners challenge this ... Read more »
My finished Sew for Victory jacket
Oh yeah! I introduce to you the best thing I've ever sewn. That's right, my Sew for Victory jacket is complete! Can you believe it? Be prepared for a bucketload of photos. Because let's be real here. Internally, I'm actually shouting, "HOLY SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE I SEWED THIS OMG!!" It started over a month ago when Rochelle announced the 1940s-themed Sew for Victory sewalong, and with my crazy little idea that since I ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: the last steps
While you're not seeing it today, my Sew for Victory jacket is now complete! I'm super anxious to share it with you, but I'm staying on track so I can just share the remaining construction bits. I'm also being sneaky and going to show only up close photos until the final reveal (soon!). When I last left off, I showed you the lining. Once the lining was complete, the final remaining steps were to sew the band at the ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: the lining (sewing & attaching)
Well everyone, my Sew for Victory jacket continues! I have never spent so long thinking about and working on a sewing project, so I'm sorry my non-jacket posts are few and far between right now. ;) I am so close to being finished I can taste it! But today I'm going to catch up where I last left off. The last post was about sewing the shell, and today's post is about the lining. This is a really long post, you've ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: the outer shell
Last Monday I started cutting out all my pieces for my Sew for Victory jacket. And let me tell you, fabric, underlining and lining... that's a lot of cutting. Phew. So far things have been going pretty well, so I thought I'd catch you up on the assembly of the jacket shell. One thing you may find interesting is that I'm paying very little attention to the actual instructions in my pattern. Why? Two important ... Read more »
Sharing "How to Tailor a Woman’s Suit" from 1946
Last night I stumbled across a great vintage sewing resource completely by accident! I was searching for suggestions on how to tack the center back pleat of the lining on my Sew for Victory jacket. I just wanted to do something slightly more decorative than simply sewing it a couple of inches at the top, middle and bottom like I've seen several resources suggest. My pattern tells you to use a bar tack, but I thought ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: supplies and such
Today is the next installment in my jacket progress for Sew for Victory! First, thank you all SO much for your comments and congratulations on my interview in Knit Now magazine. I'm still kind of reeling from that. :) But back to my project. I'm getting ready to start on my actual jacket which is exciting! Now as you know, my pattern isn't a fully tailored jacket. It has lots of casual elements like sleeve ... Read more »
I’m featured in Knit Now magazine!
Don't you love the feeling when you can finally share something you've been keeping under your hat for a good long while?? I was interviewed for Knit Now magazine, a British knitting magazine, and the issue went on sale today! I'm their featured blogger in this issue! A full page spread and everything, would you look at that! It's issue 19, and I'm on page 62 (the page opposite is an article on British yarns). I ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: the muslin
Well everyone, I am now fully ensconced in my Sew for Victory jacket project! For my project posts going forward, I'll add a little sidebar that links back to every post I tag with "sew for victory". I hope it may help someone in the future watching me take on the challenge of outerwear for the first time. Plus, I know at least two of you have this same pattern but haven't sewn it yet either! ;) I'm going to try and ... Read more »
My Sew for Victory project: first steps
I know I don't frequently talk a whole lot of shop during the construction of the garments I sew or knit, but I was thinking of doing it a bit with my Sew for Victory project. It's the biggest project I've ever undertaken, and I know a lot of you seemed excited by the idea of this project, so I thought I'd do more than simply show how it turns out in the end. And if you're new to sewing coats or jackets too, maybe you can ... Read more »
1942 inspiration: Finnish fashion & knitting drawings
Happy Friday! Thanks so much for all the comments on my Curlicute cardigan! ♥ That pattern was from 1940, which I'm going to use as a nice segue into today's post. Earlier this month I shared with you some scans from a small collection of vintage Finnish knitting booklets that a Finnish reader was gracious enough to send me. That post was from 1952, and this one is from 1942. I know I said I'd scan 1951 but the results ... Read more »
My Curlicute cardigan (and free vintage pattern)
My latest knit is a cardigan from a 1940 pattern and I'm kind of in love with it! The pattern name is Curlicute. Which is adorable, but also a play on words for the original yarn the pattern recommended, Bucilla Curlicue, a mohair and wool blend. Obviously I changed it to long sleeves, because a short-sleeved worsted weight cardigan just makes no sense where I live. I changed the shape of the front of the ... Read more »
I’ll be Sewing for Victory, will you?
If you haven't heard yet, Rochelle over at Lucy Lucille is hosting a fantastic sew-along, Sew for Victory! It's a 1940s themed sew-along, so of course I'm in! As you know I already do a fair amount of 1940s sewing, so I wanted to use this sew-along to really challenge myself in some way. I've thought a lot about it and have come to a decision that I hopefully won't be regretting down the road... ha! I'll be sewing ... Read more »