Saturday, June 15, 2013

Playsuit

well it's actually a bathing suit from Mrs. Depew Vintage but I figured I would make a playsuit first and then go for the bathing suit. I made the one piece with a chambray colored lining and a pretty floral for the outside. I bought the PDF pattern from Mrs. Depew and started to print and tape it all out. I found that I was missing one piece and I contacted her; not only did she send me the missing piece (I had been sent an older version by mistake) she also gave me a complimentary pattern for the inconvenience. I love dealing with her because she is so sweet and easy to deal with plus I don't know anyone else who would be as gracious when they made a mistake. 


I had to size the pattern down which I did by cutting both pieces of the lining into thirds and taking out a half inch at each cut to bring the measurements from a 30" waist to a 26" waist and the 36" bust to a 32" bust. For the outside I took off 1.2 centimeters of each piece  in the middle. This was the first time I actually graded the pattern before I started cutting. If we all remember the ill fated jumper, we know that this was something I forgot last time.
I ended up cutting the bottom off of my mock up and redoing it with a different pattern pattern because the Mrs. Depew pattern was made for swimsuit material, not non-stretchy cotton (kind of a no brainer there but I didn't really think about it.) After fixing some minor problems I have to say that this playsuit was a complete success! The only other adjustment I made was to put a panel in the front and side front pieces because I didn't have enough fabric to cut out the front in one piece and to make it look like it actually belonged there I treated the side fronts the same. I added two green buttons on the front near the straps for decoration. Also I had to adjust the hem on the shorts so they wouldn't peak out from under my skirt.  M says he loves it (though I have suspicions that it is because of the somewhat shorter length...) and I plan on making another one at least. The only thing I plan on changing on the next one it to make the waist a tiny bit bigger. That idea  came to mind because the first time I wore this out it was to breakfast with a friend and we ate a lot of food! Soooo I'm thinking about making the next one food baby compatible.
There are plans to buy more of the floral for a blouse and to make either actual shorts or a skirt out of the chambray fabric.


The Scoop:

Fabric: 100% Keepsake Calico Cotton Symphony Denim Blue 3 yards (one from the first try and two for the second leaving me with a yard extra) and 100% Cotton Keepsake Calico Flowers Cream 1.5 yards
Pattern: Mrs. Depew Bathing Beauties and Butterick 2198
Year: 1940's bathing suit pattern mixed with 1960's shorts pattern
Notions: One zipper and two decorative buttons
Hours: I try not to keep track between the redrafting and failed first run it took a good bit of time.
First worn?: July 14th 2012 to lunch with Julianne
Wear again?: Yes! Actually I wore it for Arts on the Avenue 2013
Make again?: Yup but with more waist room
Total cost: Pattern $5 Cream Flower fabric $8.39 Chambray type fabric $5.97 Buttons $1.37 and Zipper $3.29. The thread was from my stash, so the total comes to $24.02

Monday, June 10, 2013

Simplicity 3673

So another WW2 Weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum has come and gone. This year it fell over M's Birthday so I treated him to tickets to the event.
I made Simplicity 3673 for the event. I bought a reproduction pattern cheap on Etsy and I don't think I'll buy from the seller again. The directions were not complete and some of the lines on the pattern that should have been traced with a straight edge were not so I had to take time to fix them. Beside that the pattern wasn't too difficult. The shorts were ok in size I just cut off 2" of the top so they wouldn't be soo high waisted. The top needed to be larger by one size (2") so I split the front pattern and back pattern in half and added a 1/2" to each. This worked wonderfully and I didn't even need to change the position of the darts. The shorts closed with 3 cute red buttons with anchors on them on each side, I did hand-worked button holes on the top button and machine sewed the other two. The top closed with an invisible zipper and I trimmed the collar in red. The sailor collar was the only thing that gave me any real trouble but between the mock up and the real thing I figured it out. I would add an inch to the bottom of the top when I make it up again because it was a little too short to stay tucked in during the even but it still looked cute when I had it untucked too. While at the event we got lots of compliments. M looked very handsome in his outfit. I was told I needed an overseas cap for my outfit so I will be buying Mrs. Depew's Flight Cap pattern in the near future to make one up. At a stand in the flee market a vender gifted me with a 1945 Christmas catalog from Filene's Department Store because no one else wanted it. I plan on trying to figure out how to scan my new catalog for all of you to see soon. I also walked away with two patterns this year. (M kept saying the tradition was one but the other was only $3.50 so I couldn't just leave it there) They are Hollywood 1898 Circa 1946 and Butterick 8315 Circa 1939. They will have to wait as I have lots of other projects to do before them but I am very happy to have them in my collection. I finally found a vintage hat that I liked and it was a steal at $15.

The Scoop:

Fabric: Sew Classic Bottomweight Stretch Sateen in Medieval Blue (I used the wrong side of the fabric as the right side so it didn't shine) 97% Cotton 3% Spandex

Pattern: Simplicity 3673
Year: 1941
Notions: 6  red buttons with Anchors at 3/4", red trim, bias binding for the seams and an invisible zipper
Hours: 4 days of off and on work including fixing the pattern and doing a full mock-up of the top
First worn?: June 8th 2013 for WWII Weekend
Wear again?: Yup! It's cute and comfortable. I can wear it as an everyday item and not just for WW2 events
Make again?: I think I'll make the shorts again and I might make the top again in a thin wool with long sleeves to wear in the winter. There is a matching skirt to the pattern and I might make that up one day too.
Total cost: $39.97 Even thought it was a little costly I paid with all of my supplies with a gift card except for $0.65.  Plus I still have one and a half spools of red trim left, fabric for another project, buttonhole thread and some bias binding.