School Clothes

Two Skirts:

Patrones #271 #20

BWOF 6/08 #133

Here are two more skirts that I've completed recently. I've finished a dress and another skirt, too, leaving me with one more blouse to make. I will show you those things next week!

Some details from the Patrones skirt:

Originally the skirt only had elastic in the back and a facing in the front. I decided to do elastic all the way around.

I found a satin in my collection that perfectly matched the color of the corduroy so I made the ties and underskirt (originally in tulle) from the satin. The skirt also needed to be a bit longer than the model as shown. The only problem with adding length was that the corduroy was only 45" wide, and not wide enough to cut the pattern piece for the front and back. I added a band of fabric cut on the bias and then was able to cut the skirt. It's not too bad, and gives the skirt a little more interest.


I also stitched down the pleats on the inside to help them keep their shape. Since the corduroy is so thick, then tendency would be for the pleats to fall out.

Now for the details from the BWOF skirt.

I changed the zipper position from center back to the side because I didn't want to interrupt the pattern of the plaid.

The only other design detail I changed was to leave off the belt loops. My daughter rarely wears belts so there was no point to adding them.

I have finished last dress and skirt, I hope that tomorrow I'll be able to finish the last blouse! I show you those next week and I'll be done with the school clothes (at least I hope so!).

Parting Shot: Saturday Football. My husband and son were out having fun this afternoon playing a little football. My husband says my son learns quickly and naturally throws well. He should, his grandfather played football in high school as well as some of his uncles!

The Winner Is . . .

Plus, More Discussion on Vogue Couturier #800

Thank you all for entering the contest! There were a lot of new names this time around, so now I have new blogs to check and add to my reader. The winner I pulled out of the vintage hat box today is:

Bea, Please e-mail with your address and I will try to get your goodies in the mail this weekend or Tuesday at the latest!

BTW, if you want to check out a very cool piece of thread painting, check out CathieR.'s squirrel! Very cool!

I enjoy doing the Inside the Envelope posts because they generate some interesting questions and information. Thank you all for the comments - it is interesting to read them and to think about things in a different way. Let's take a look at some of the things that were said so that we can all learn from them.

Many of you wanted to know about the "stiffening", and there are some good ideas for what this could be. CogdillDJ said in the comments, "And stiffening, is just tolle or netting! I can still remember the "stiffening" that my mom and my grandma's put into some of my dress'es when I was a little girl! . . . .Let me tell you, you sure want to make sure that the pieces between you and the "stiffening" is covered! Cause man that stuff itches like crazy! Specially the netting!" I agree, netting is an excellent, yet scratchy stiffener. I also think it could be some sort of interfacing, stiffer than what you'd use for facings, etc. My green vintage dress had some sort of stiffening at one point in time, I took another look at it to be sure and what remains in the seam allowances before it was cut out is like a stiff non-woven interfacing-like fabric. I think either netting or some sort of interfacing or even silk organza could be good stiffeners - it depends on your preference - you're the one making the garment! I would have to think that each dressmaker would use whatever was available to them (no ordering over the Internet in 1954!) or whatever they liked to use. I think this one has no clear cut answer, but a lot of possibilities.

CogdillDJ also gives us a clue about the ribbon: "ribbon wasn't neccesaryily.... ribbon! It could have been a sash that was made, but because it was tied, they called it a ribbon!" Excellent point! I didn't know the word was used that way at one time. I think that most of us think of ribbon as something you buy off a spool and use for trim. Regarding this pattern, while there is no pattern piece for the waist ribbon, you could easily make one out of any fabric you'd like to, by cutting a long narrow rectangle and either hemming it or stitching it right sides together and turning it to the right side for a narrower ribbon/sash. Below you'll see the only instructions in the pattern regarding the ribbon. Do remember, the seamstress could do what she wanted, and make her own!

Lastly, Paco used the French term "robemanteau" in his post. Due to the translator, that word remained in quotes, but Paco is correct in pointing out that this dress is a form of what we would call in English a "coat dress" because of the way it overlaps and buttons down the front. (Many thanks to the Big 4 for printing on the pattern tissues in English, French and Spanish, at least. This is how I've learned many of my sewing words in other languages over the years, such as "robe" and "manteau" - "dress" and "coat" repsectively.)

Tomorrow, I will show you the skirt I was supposed to show you today, plus another skirt I've completed, too!

Parting Shot: Potential. These paper bags are waiting to be transformed into textbook covers. Hopefully they'll look better when I get done with them. I'll show you how they turn out next week.

Inside the Envelope

Vogue Couturier #800, 1954

Let's start with the back of the pattern envelope before looking inside.

In the photo above, I'd like you to take note of two things. One, that "Skirt Stiffening" is needed for the skirt, which is separate and different from "Front Interfacing". We'll look at that again later in the instructions. Second, that 1 and 1/2 yards of 10" wide ribbon is needed for the "girdle" or decorative ribbon belt, shown on the envelope front in yellow worn with the white dress. Where would you find 10" wide ribbon? Anybody have any ideas? I'm lucky to find ribbon that is 2 1/2" to 3" wide where I live. Ribbon any wider is a rarity around here.

From the instruction sheet you can see that there are not a lot of pieces to this dress. There are special pieces for the skirt stiffening, and a piece for pockets.

Since the sleeves are cut in one with the dress fronts, there is a need for an underarm gusset. There is not a separate piece for a gusset, but the fronts and backs have an area, which is reinforced, slashed and then each edge is sewn to the side fronts and backs, giving space in the underarm area and allowing the sleeve and side seam to be sewn in one seam.


As is common with many vintage patterns, the interfacing is not applied to the facing and then the interfaced facing is applied to the garment. The interfacing is applied to the dress, then the facing is stitched on after the bound buttonholes are made. Remember, too, that fusible interfacing wasn't available, so the interfacing would be sewn into the seams.

The skirt stiffening has two pattern pieces of its own and is assembled independently of the dress, leaving openings in the side seams for the pocket bags. The stiffening is sewn to the front interfacing and to the dress at the body darts and side seams. This is very similar to what I found in the green velvet dress. I'm assuming there was more stiffening in my green dress at one time because it looked like some had been ripped out. I can understand the need for such a product. Keeping those skirts standing out and looking full is hard to achieve with petticoats alone. The skirt itself must be stiffened too, so that it will stand out. It is similar to using an underlining to change the drape of a particular fabric.

As usual, there is the inside belt:

The stiffening is hemmed as a lining would be, after the fashion fabric is hemmed:

I am still working on the school wardrobe. I have four more pieces to go and I hope to start on another skirt this evening!

Parting Shot: Sunshine. Don't you wish you could just take a nap in a square of sunshine?

School Clothes

Jumper - Simplicity 5234

Thank you for the compliments on the REC shirt! I appreciate the time you've taken to follow the project. Keep coming back, as there's still pants and a jacket to go before I'm done!

For the rest of this week, I am back to sewing school clothes for my daughter. I have to sew up five more pieces and I'm done. That's three more skirts, one dress and a blouse. At least I think that's it until she needs turtlenecks for this winter and we can't find RTW ones in coordinating colors. I'll worry about that in a few months!

For my tastes, Simplicity 5234 is not the most exciting pattern in the world. It is a good basic pattern, but it does take some imagination and creativity to make it interesting.

To make this jumper more interesting, I cut both the yokes and the pockets on the bias. I then trimmed the pockets and yokes with ribbon left over from my daughter's striped dress.

The construction of the pattern is very easy and goes together quickly. The yokes are stitched to the front and back, and then joined at the shoulders and side seams. The yoke linings are stitched together at the shoulders and then stitched around the neck opening to the jumper. Once they are turned to the inside, the raw edges of the armhole are finished with bias binding as shown below. Add a hem and you're done! Of course, adding trim and pockets takes extra time, but it is time well spent to add a little personality to the garment.

This turned out cuter than both either my daughter or I expected. It just goes to show you that a little bit of trim can go a long way.

Parting Shot: New Fan. We're still working on painting and updating our living room/stair area. This fan is part of that project. It replaced a very large one that squeaked and had large glass globes and rattan on the fan blades. Not quite the look we were going for, so it got replaced. As a bonus, this fan has a remote control.

By Request: Thread Painting

Plus a Bonus!

After showing some thread painting quite a few months ago, I had a reader email me asking for a tutorial on thread painting. I haven't forgotten and here it is!

Let me preface this by saying that this a popular, well-documented technique and that there are more ways than one to achieve it, although basically they are all the same. The idea is to use your sewing machine and thread like a colored pencil or paintbrush and create an image in thread. To start, you will need a piece of fabric with an image on it. You can use commerically printed fabric, which I do quite a bit. The picture is already there, and so are the colors, all I need to do is fill it in! You can also start with a piece of muslin upon which you've drawn your image first in water soluble or other marker depending on if you want to keep the outline or not. You will also need to stabilize your image with stabilizer. The type depends on your preference and how much stitching will be done. I prefer a water soluble stabilizer, such as Sulky Solvy.

As a side note, the more stitching that you do and the more densely you stitch the more your piece will shrink. Stabilizers will help, but if you want the piece to remain relatively flat do a few practice pieces to see how much shrinkage you will get.

To set up your sewing machine, you will need to lower the feed dogs. There is usually a button or switch on the machine near the bobbin case and free arm that allows you to do so. This drops the feed dogs so that the machine will not be moving the fabric under the foot. You will be the one moving the fabric under the foot. You will also need a darning foot, shown below. Sometimes these are called free motion quilting feet or something similar. They have a spring arrangement and do not have the pressure on the fabric that the regular foot has so that the fabric can move freely underneath.

As far as settings for type of stitch and length, there are two options. I prefer to set the machine for a straight stitch with a length of zero. Others prefer to set the machine to zigzag. Try both and see what you prefer or combine the techniques.

Once the thread is loaded and you have installed a needle appropriate to the thread, you can then start stitching. You will need to move the fabric under the needle and keep it moving to fill the spaces of the image with color. The faster you move the fabric, the larger the stitches will be. The slower you move the fabric, the smaller the stitches will be. Experiment to see what you like. You could also use a combination of both for a different effects in different areas.

You can see that I have filled in only certain areas of the this flower with stitching. I didn't want to do the whole thing, only accent certain portions.

Here is the piece from the back - even the back is kind of pretty.

Now for the bonus! Because I have been away part of the summer and while I've been home I've been extremely busy, I missed my two year blogiversary last month! So in honor of all you have faithfully come here everyday to see what nonsense I've been up, to see my darling children, cute cats and occasionally my handsome husband, I have a give away:

Please leave a comment if you'd like to be included in the drawing for this post card, as well as a few other goodies in your box, which I will leave as a surprise.

**Edited to add: Please leave a comment by 6:00am Friday, Aug. 29. I'd like to get this in the mail before the holiday weekend if possible!**

Parting Shot: Vogue Couturier #800. This one has similar design lines to the Vogue Special Design that I compared with the original with the reprint in a post in the past few months. We will be going inside the envelope on this one later in the week - there are some interesting details on the inside of the dress.

Ride 'Em Cowboy - Shirt - Part XII

Not So Final Details!

The shirt is finished. You won't be seeing it on my son until the whole ensemble is complete - there's still pants and a jacket to come - but I will show it to you on a hanger.

I'm mostly happy with it. I am going to have to take off the stars on the front yokes and move them over towards the sleeves. Right now the collar partially covers them. I didn't realize that would happen when I designed it. I'll get that done soon and when you see the final version it will look better!

I finished off the insides of the cuffs with small squares of fabric to finish the cut edges. If I make another one (doubt it!) I'll finish it like I do for the insides of a man's dress shirt cuffs and I won't have to do it this way.

The last thing that needed to be done was the snaps. These went on very quickly and easily with the snaps and snap tool I bought from Snapsource.


Now, onward to making the trousers!

Parting Shot: "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". Yes, today was the first day of school. Here they are, ready for fun and adventure at their new school.

Ride 'Em Cowboy - Shirt - Part XI

Almost Done!

I am almost done with the shirt! I stayed up last night until 1a.m. working on it, but it is almost complete. My husband and son went camping for the night so after my daughter had her fill of watching Olympics and went to bed, I got back to work.

Last night's task was the cuffs. Let me tell you, they were not easy to put on! I think if the shirt would have been a larger size it wouldn't have been so difficult. The problem is that the cuff and sleeve placket are all integrated, and the most difficult topstitching on the most extreme curve (shown below) is in a spot you can't get to easily. Thankfully, the second cuff was easier than the first and I know now how to do them.

Here are some of the details of the shirt as it is currently. First, the sleeve and side seams are flat felled seams. I do not have a flat fell foot for my machine, so I do these the old fashioned way, by stitching the pieces wrong sides together first, trimming one seam and then folding, pressing and topstitching the other seam allowance in place over the trimmed one. In the photo below, the upper portion in the inside of the garment and the lower portion is the outside.

Here is the cuff, done on the outside.

It is not quite finished on the inside. I will take a small square of fabric and hand stitch it in place over those raw edges to finish it off nicely.

After I get that done, it is time for the snaps and the shirt is complete. I'm hoping to get that done tonight, plus get the trousers cut out and ready for stitching on Monday.

Q/A: Clare has asked for tips on piping and how to get close enough to it to stitch it properly. My first tip is to baste everything in place, preferably by hand (you knew that was coming, right?) so as to get things just so and to not have to think about the piping wandering off by itself to places it shouldn't be. My second tip would be to find a machine foot that allows you to get right up to the piping. I use the foot shown below. I bought this foot a long time ago and I'm not actually sure where. I believe it is a zipper foot of some sort, but it works very well for piping because I adjust the foot so that the needle enters right beside the piping. It might take a trip to the sewing machine shop with a sample and some trying out, but finding the right foot helps tremendously.

Kathleen wanted to know where I got the snaps shown on the my son's pillow. They are the same ones I will be using for REC, and I got them and the tool from Snapsource. Ann who owns Gorgeous Fabrics recommended this company on her blog a while ago, that's how I heard about them. I just filed the information away, knowing I'd need snaps eventually!

Parting Shot: Tired! My son is exhausted from the overnight camping trip - he had a lot of fun swimming in the lake, canoeing, kayaking, tubing, etc. and came home and took a nap!

School Clothes - Dress

Simplicity #3546

We picked up my daughter from camp this morning and she was very happy to see that I had completed her new dress while she was gone.

She picked out the pattern for this one, Simplicity #3546.

This is one of the "Inspired By Project Runway" patterns and I was pleased to see that one of the pattern sheets has a croquis and all the different elements that you can combine - bodices, sleeves, skirts - to make a dress. My daughter thought this was very cool and set about right away picking out how she wanted her dress to look. Now, of course, picking and chosing elements of a garment is not a new concept - all the sleeves, collars, etc. within a pattern envelope are interchangeable (for the most part!), but it does take some imagination to visualize combinations not shown on the envelope. The croquis and elements really helped to see that you can mix and match and get exactly the result you want. Of course, that's one reason we sew, now isn't it?

She chose the higher necked bodice, the sleeves with the gathered ruffle and the longer skirt. The pattern itself sewed up nicely and I only made a couple of minor changes.

One, we chose to use extra ribbon as the back ties to match the trim, instead of making matching fabric ties.

Two, I added some hooks and eyes to the inside of the front because the slit opening was too low without them. I could have sewn the slit closed, but then she wouldn't have been able to get the dress over her head! The hooks and eyes give the same look to the bodice without becoming a design element in an of themselves as buttons and loops might be.

From the back:
From the front, closed:

Overall, I was pretty impressed with this "Inspired by Project Runway" pattern. I like the concept that that teaches that you do have options for style and embellishments when you sew.

Now, I need to get back to working on REC! I only have to add and finish the cuffs. I'll show you yesterday's progress on the shirt tomorrow and the cuffs next week.

Parting Shot: Wish Book. I bought my Sept. issue of Vogue today, along with a packet of page tags. I knew the magazine wouldn't be sold out here! This weekend I'm going to look at my magazine!