A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Plaid, that's what! Worn twice, even. (No, this isn't the failed-tea dress; that is currently still in the naughty pile. This plaid was much better behaved!)

I've been wanting to have a vintage tea in the city for a couple of years now, and holiday season sounded perfect for it! Well, it ended up being somewhat less than perfect; couldn't get a reservation anyplace I wanted, several people bailed due to snow, and the dress I was making turned out horribly at the try-on point. (I'm still poking away at that dress, and intend to either make a "yes, I don't hate this dress" or "do not under any circumstances buy this pattern" post soon. It's a red and green plaid so I should finish it while it's still seasonably wearable!)

I think it's hardly fair to call this a sewing project; there were two short seams to be sewn on the machine that totaled maybe a yard! But I haven't seen any reviews online of this pattern yet, so this is me being helpful. I used the new release Simplicity 8452 pattern - what I have dubbed the "envelope blouse." Why? Well, the back seams reminded me of an envelope!

I'm going to try to be a little better at posting my "vintage" sewing here as well as the costumes; at least they're posts, however brief and less-interesting than proper costumes they might be! (I tend to "dress vintage" in everyday life so this type of sewing doesn't seem as interesting to me as, say, an 1860s ballgown might be. Still, it is sewing, and generally takes much less time than costume! So, might as well post about it, right?) And I put "vintage" in quotes because I wear very little real vintage; that is, clothing actually made in the 40s/50s/etc. I know the community tends to use the term interchangeably, but it bugs my inner pedant ("my dresses aren't actually vintage , I made that one last week!"). Calling them anything else is cumbersome, though, so on to the vintage, with or without quotes! This one is from a Vintage Vogue pattern , V8789, view A. The fabric is a lightweight linen/cotton blend, printed wit...

Just popping in to say that I have been sewing, but I keep getting rained out of events so I've got nothing to show for it! I was supposed to have a Regency picnic tomorrow, but this weekend's going to be a total washout - a couple of inches of rain predicted over tomorrow and Sunday! Not good picnic weather. So I'll leave you with a picture of a 1950s-style skirt I made at the end of April instead. (Worn one day when it wasn't raining, fancy that!) Just a plain old novelty cotton poppy-print, but I think it's cute!

I thought bunches about sewing, does that count? No? Fine. I poked at the trim on the striped 1770s dress, as I think I want to wear that to the Francaise Dinner next month...but the red silk is fraying like nobody's business, and I'm not sure I'll be able to leave it on for another wearing. So I gave that up in disgust after stitching one piece of sleeve trim on. Should worry about that now, but I won't. Laters. I also made a modern skirt. "Modern" apparently equals 1950s around here... I used the skirt of B5707 (OOP now), mainly because the fabric was a remnant and I just looked through my patterns til I found something that would fit on the fabric! Werry high-quality photo. I'm starting to suspect I may have to replace my poor little camera... The fabric's just under a yard of blue-and-black wool suiting - I got it when remnants were 75% off, and suitings were on sale...so I ended up paying less than $3 for it. Not Bad. It's line...

Back from our Not-So-Grand Tour of New England! We drove up Monday and stayed outside of Boston for two nights, then down to Plymouth on Wednesday, Providence Thursday, and drove home Friday, stopping in Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown on the way. The only time I'd been up to New England was a school trip to Boston about ten years ago, so I was excited to go back. So much Historical Stuff (I planned a lot of our itinerary; can you tell?), and the scenery is just beautiful. My mom agreed with me, Lil' Sis...maybe not so much. Don't worry, this isn't where I inflict all my touristy pictures on you, just my What I Wore. Since I spent most of the previous week working on some new dresses, I thought I might as well get snaps of them too. First off is a cheater. I didn't make it, it's vintage. (I had one more dress in the works, but ended up putting it aside in favor of Katherine Parr. Right, that's a thing I'm doing...) It's just a cheap little house dress, b...

And with this, I'm officially caught up; I made this dress last week to wear to a friend's birthday in NYC last Saturday night. I think that means I need to sew more things soon... This was a 24-hour deal; I started draping a dress to wear, and mostly finished it...and it was Bad. So I got home from work on Friday afternoon determined to have a new dress Out Of This Fabric, no matter how little sleep it meant. (Actually it wasn't too bad. I stay up late most nights anyway, and I don't think I was up much past three.) The fabric was actually scraps and picked-apart bits from a robe I made in 2006. I used a 1952 Butterick Retro pattern, and shortened it to knee length to make it look slightly more modern...I know, "modern" is not really something I worry about with my clothes! I also had to make it smaller, because those patterns don't go down to a size 4. Woe is me. And I found out that if I wanted to use this particular fabric, I'd have to piece...