Are you tracing your sewing patterns when you sew? I have for years, and it's one of the keys to my sewing progress (and prowess)! If you search my blog for the words trace or tracing, dozens and dozens of results come up. I trace sewing patterns all the time! Both vintage and modern. But why should you be doing it? As I'm kicking things into gear on YouTube (I've been having way more fun than I expected!), I ... Read more »
Search Results for: tracing
Plaid flannel dress
Last month, I sewed a plaid dress. Not just any plaid dress, but a plaid flannel dress. It's cute, warm, and comfy. What could be more delightful for fall and early winter? This dress is from McCall's 8989, a pattern from the 1950s. The wing collar is annoying to construct... the type where you sew to the seam line on both sides of a seam, and invariably I leave a huge hole or puckers and have to re-do at least ... Read more »
I just needed a sweatshirt
Do you ever just drop everything you're working on to sew a quickie project? I almost never do. But I did recently, and can understand why people do it sometimes! In the middle of my latest jeans project I suddenly had the urge to try out a pattern I've been thinking about non-stop since finishing my Carbeth pullover. The cropped shirt in Butterick 7557, from around 1956. Meant to be more of a sweater, or a ... Read more »
Tropical seersucker capris
Cross two things off my summer sewing to-do list: work out a hidden inseam pocket, and sew capris. Done and done! Frankly, I'm elated about these capris, even though they just appear to be a simple project at first glance. And technically they kind of are, but they signify a lot. Do you ever have sewing projects like that, where the project itself has a much more far-reaching impact than just the item you ... Read more »
Change of coat making plans: now I’m doing a vintage pattern!
Hello, friends! No 2016 roundups or 2017 plans from me, although this is my first post of the new year. There's so much crap going on in the world that it's still sometimes difficult to focus on seemingly inconsequential things like sewing and knitting when you want to tear your hair out at the madness of it all. But when those things bring you great joy and pleasure and ease stress, to help balance out other things or ... Read more »
Bye Bye Birdie blouse
What's blue and tan with birdcages all over? My blouse! And it's another Vintage Pledge item! Sometimes, I really love the terms used to describe various elements of a garment in vintage sewing patterns. Today's treat was Butterick 6223, a pattern from the 1950s, featuring a "small rising collar" for the view I sewed. It's a perfect description—says exactly what it is! This is actually a blouse I've sewn up twice ... Read more »
Turtleneck fit for a beatnik
Truth: I blame a lot of my fashion dreaming this early start to the year on Vera Ellen's wardrobe in White Christmas, from 1954. When watching it over the holidays (a yearly tradition), there were a few things that just spoke to me. I mean everyone's wardrobe in that movie is amazing, but Vera Ellen's wrap tops and her turtlenecks (and a turtleneck dress, even)... those fashion basics really grabbed me this time! She ... Read more »
Pattern hack: Lengthen the Butterick B6285 wrap top bodice
We've hit mid-week in my wrap/surplice top miniseries! Aaaand I'm supposed to sew up another surplice top for Friday but it hasn't happened yet, so we'll see about that. ;) But today's post is the first of two pattern modifications that I've worked out for the Butterick B6285 wrap top pattern. Pretty much everyone I've chatted with on Instagram or in comments on my blog who has also sewn up this top has had the same ... Read more »
Seeing spots
Here's a post full of polka dots on a couple of projects for you! I finished up my first Lady Skater dress, a pattern by Amanda from Kitschy Coo, and I definitely understand why this is another knit dress I've seen all over the sewing blogosphere! This outfit ended up looking a bit twee with the polka dots, light shoes and hair bow, though I didn't mean to dial up the saccharine so much. Yak. Apparently I have a ... Read more »
Fall for Cotton: thoughts on setting in sleeves
Hello, Fall for Cotton sew-alongers! How is everyone's project coming along? I just got going on mine. Unfortunately my thoughts of doing a smart outfit consisting of trousers and blouse flew out the window when I started facing the reality of the amount of work I need to put in for a special project I'm working on right now. I've had to scale back my goal, so now I'm only going to sew the blouse. It was a difficult ... Read more »
How to make shaped & lined patch pockets (with a few tailored touches!)
When I was working on my Sew for Victory jacket, I was quite tickled with how my lined patch pockets turned out, and I've used more-or-less the same technique ever since. It's based on tailoring methods for patch pockets. I can't claim credit for inventing these steps by any means, but like anything, I tweaked the process until I had a series of steps I really liked, so I wanted to share how I do it! I love this method ... Read more »
Swing dress sewing misadventures
This weekend was one of those weekends that really made a somewhat novice sewist want to chuck her sewing machine out the window.[from Sensibility.com]In Casey's Swing Dress Sew-Along, we started the muslin. Because not only have I never sewed a dress before but I've never sewed anything with that kind of overlapped v-neck, I have been very diligent in going through all steps. I cut my pattern pieces out of Swedish ... Read more »