Finally Showing the 1940s Trousers Finished

Months ago I saw Debi on Sew Retro had made 1940's trousers using a reissued pattern, Simplicity 3688.  I liked them immediately.  I bought the pattern and set it aside.  About a month ago my husband started asking me when I was going to make "those Katherine Hepburn looking pants."  I got out the pattern, sewed them up, and never showed them to you.

I didn't bother to fix myself up any for these photos!  I'm wearing a shrunken not-quite-white T-shirt that I usually clean in.  I do like the green wedges I slipped on though.  And I have my vintage looking black pumps on in the last photo.

Although I haven't shown them till now it's not that I didn't like them --on the contrary, I love them!  And I don't think my photos do them justice --they look better than this.  In fact, just go look at Debi's photos...hers turn out better than mine.

Because it's been so wretchedly hot I haven't worn them much.  I usually wear them to places that I know run their AC to the point it feels like a refrigerator.  These have been the perfect trousers for then.  I made them out of the last of my linen/rayon blend fabrics I had found on sale.  I wanted a wearable fabric but not something I would miss too much if they didn't work out.  (I wasn't too fond of this shade of brown at first).  As it turned out they did work out, so much that I have a shopping list of fall clothes I want to make and these trousers in a fall/winter fabric are on it.

My husband was photographing me and saying such things as:  "You look exquisite.  I love these pants!  They're like some my favorite old movie stars would wear.  You need a 1940's style shirt to go with them or maybe a wrap top."  That's a pretty good reaction for some trousers it took only one afternoon to make.

Maybe I'll Sew It, Maybe I Won't

I keep a small stack of pattens by my sewing table that I intend to make.  This McCall's pattern, dated 1950, gets put in the stack and pulled back out repeatedly.  I think I'll make it and then change my mind.  I've had it for over twenty years and it's still not made!  At the moment it's back in the collection and not in the stack.

Do you see the bug on the yellow dress?  I photographed this outside on the patio table and just noticed that.

Being Frugal Is Ok, But...

I have more than one pincushion: my main one, my quilt pin one, a needle one, and some miscellaneous ones from here and there.  My mother had several too including the wool one in the above photo.  When I cleaned her sewing room I put it in a box.  A couple of weeks ago I came across it and put it on my sewing table.

Last week while sitting at my machine I needed a pin and had left my pincushion on the ironing board so I reached back to the little wool one and pulled out a pin...it was bent into almost an L shape.  I pulled out another one --also bent.  And another --bent.  I picked up the whole pincushion and sat back in my chair pulling out several pins and inspecting them.  All bent.  I started laughing...my mother had a bent pin pincushion.  She saved everything!

I remember this pincushion sat on the back of her long sewing table.  There was also a small plastic box with used sewing machine needles sitting back there too.  She didn't throw them away either.  I can only guess she kept them for "just in case" she might need them.

Retro Designer Vogue

Paris Original Vogue 1900 --Karl Lagerfeld.  Since this is from the late 1980's I don't think it qualifies as vintage although I'm seeing more 80's patterns in vintage categories.  Unlike some patterns where I like maybe one or two things in the envelope, I liked (and still like) everything in this one.  When I bought it I intended to make both versions of the blouse and the skirt.  But, intentions...the short sleeve blouse got made.  And I must confess, I didn't make it --my mother made it for me.

I had the blouse for years and spent time yesterday looking for it but couldn't find it.  It was made of a beautiful silk crepe --green, of course.  This pattern was my first designer pattern and introduced me to more advanced sewing techniques.  Even though my mother made the blouse, I started trying out such things as flat felled seams and bought a few more designer patterns.

Here's the cutting diagram for that skirt:

Impressive and daunting. 
This is a reminiscent pattern for me..it always makes me smile, remembering the fun I was having at this time.

Willimantic Thread Ad

This is another old advertising card from over a hundred years ago.  Most of the thread trade cards have a spool of thread somewhere on them to show what they're advertising but not this one --just a Victorian girl with pet dog.

Finished Project and a Question

I finished this quilt early last week.  I don't usually buy fabrics with animals on it but last year I spotted this one and really liked it.  It think the soft green color got me.  Green is my favorite.  I also thought it had a vintage look to it.  (Some colors are so hard to capture with the camera.)

When I have fabrics I like so much that I don't want to cut them up too much I make a bar pattern quilt.  Simple horizontal stripes.  They're very refreshing to sew too!  I sewed this up with my backyard animals and some red polka dots.  It's turned out to be one of my favorites.  (Remember the black flowered quilt I was making a few weeks ago?  I finished its quilting and didn't like part of it--it's waiting to be fixed).

I did straight line quilting on the stripes and free motion meandering on the animals.  Warm and White cotton batting.  After washing it had that perfect all over crinkly look I like.

All right...I enjoy making quilts and normally have enough people around having babies to give them to, but I had a surplus back in February and decided, like so many people, to open an Etsy shop.  The day after I opened it (and hadn't put anything in it yet) my dad called and said he was having chest pains and was going to drive himself to the hospital.  Really!  I convinced him not to drive himself and wait for me or my older brother who is a medic since he refused to call an ambulance.  My Etsy shop got put on hold.  For a while I maintained two households. 

Now things are settled and I thought I might stock my shop.  Here's the problem...the kids and I had decided LazySusanSews would be a good name.  We have a joke about it.  Only now I think that is probably the stupidest possible name I could have thought of.  I know the importance of words and their implications.  Lazy is probably not a good word when used with something someone has made...it implies lack of effort and quality.  Doesn't it?  Etsy doesn't let you change shop names --you have to open a whole new shop.  I've put four quilts in it this past two weeks, but maybe I should stop and reopen under a different name.  What do you think?  Am I making too much of a name?  Or should I change it?  One good thing about it is that it is memorable.  (I checked for shops with names that have Spare Time in them and there were over a dozen of them, so I wasn't sure about using anything similar).  Opinions, please!

Presents For Me

My birthday was last month.  I tend to ignore such things but my guys didn't.  I finally have got it through their heads that fabric does make an excellent present.  They surprised me with two Moda jelly rolls and charm packs --along with some other fabrics too.  For those of you that don't quilt Moda sells precut fabrics in different cuts and calls them jelly rolls, honey buns, turnovers, etc.  In the above photo you can see one jelly roll still rolled up.  The other one I've already started sewing on and is the sewn stripes in the back. The fabrics are beautiful in color and feel.

I've never had precut fabric before!  It's kind of exciting.  The only drawback in my opinion is that it can't be prewashed and I'm a stickler for prewashing all my fabrics.  That's ok...I'll let it go for these.

I think I'll make a baby quilt using the old Chinese coins pattern.  Here is a sample of it in an Amish quilt book I have:

Being Amish these are in darker colors --I'll be using my jelly roll and an unbleached white Kona cotton.  I'll skip the outer border too.  I think this pattern is popular again and you can find it easily on line. Oh, yep, I checked and here's a link to the Moda site.  Go to Fun Stuff and there it is in the free patterns.  It's under a different name --quilt patterns are always changing names over the years.  I've never used a pattern for this design I decide what finished size I want, do a little math, and cut accordingly.

The Usual Monday Vintage Pattern Post But With It Made Up

This must have been a popular pattern; I've seen several on Etsy for sale.  I bought a few 1960's patterns recently including a small lot that had this in it.  I cut out the square neck version in a linen rayon blend.  (I bought this fabric in three colors back in the Spring when it was on sale).  I wasn't sure how this chartreuse would do, but it's ok.  This isn't a spectacular dress --just a casual everyday one.

 As usual with these late 60's dresses this was super easy to make.  It consists of a front, two backs, and facings.  Darts create the subtle shaping.  Of course, these easy-to-make dresses can be a bit boring, but with the temperature in the upper 90's and high humidity all this past week it's the comfort that counts right now.

The 34" bust was a bit too big, so I took it in some on the top but not the hips.  I also knew to stop those French darts about an inch below where they were marked on the pattern.  If I make it again I will need to remember to lower the entire bust darts down some too.  I find these 60's patterns waste fabric in length.  On the pattern models the dress hits right above the knee.  I measured and took off five inches from the pattern length and still had a good size hem.  I had enough fabric left over I might be able to get a skirt out of it.

I'm happy with this dress.  I'm also ready to start some Fall clothing.

Thanks for all the nice comments Friday about the brown dress.  I set it aside for a few days and tried it again yesterday with a spaghetti strap top under it.  I was much more pleased with it than I was last week.  I even tried it without the top under it and it wasn't so bad.  I think I thought there was too much cleavage because of my perspective--looking right down on it all!  It's true that sometimes you need to step away from projects for bit.

The Sewing Machine Line Up

If you have more than one sewing machine some are going to get used more than others.  Some lucky people have sewing rooms where they can have several machines set up and move around to whichever one they want.  I have a sewing wall which has a door on the left leading into a bathroom and a door on the right leading into a hallway--my sewing table is right in the middle --therefore, I don't have all my machines set up.  Here's the order of my machines:

Number One:  The Singer 15-91 sits in the big sewing table always ready for use.  Nearly all of my sewing is done on this machine.  It rarely has its dust cover on (the yellow and black print that can be seen in the background of many of my photos).  This machine sews most of my clothes, domestic sewing things, quilt pieces, and free motion quilts.  People talk of  bonding with their sewing machines--this is my special machine.

Number Two:  The Elna Air Electronic Su dating from about 1980 is second in the line up.  This was my mother's sewing machine for years.  You could go to the moon and back with the number of stitches this thing has made.  It normally sits on the back left of my sewing table and gets pulled forward for use.  Or...if I know I'm going to use it a lot it has its own table which I flip out and place against the other table to form an L.  This works beautifully for me and no one has run into it yet. 

It's not the prettiest sewing table around but it was made to fit the Elna, and I can't begin to tell you how much I love having sewing machines sitting flush in a table or cabinet.  The table top pulls down  for free arm sewing.  And, yes, my sewing area is a mess right now--I was working there though!

Number Three:  Surprise--it's a modern machine.  A Brother Pacesetter Embroidery machine.  This was one of my mother's machines.  She had this and a Janome embroidery machine.  My sister had used the Janome a couple of times so mom gave her that one (she broke it within a year of having it).  I embroider about once a year.  I use this machine for sewing knits and straight stitch quilting.  I was playing with it yesterday because it has some overlock stitches I was trying out and wondering if I might want to get a serger sometime--maybe.  When I use this machine I put it on the Elna's table which sits a bit low when the top isn't pulled up.  This places the machine at a perfect level for me so my neck and shoulder don't get strained as they do when I try to sew with it on the higher 15-91's sewing table.

Number Four:  The Singer 201.  Why isn't it first when it's a better machine than the 15-91?  My preference.  I like to free motion quilt and I prefer the 15-91 for it.  I do think the 201 sews better in general and has a lovely sound--smoother and quieter than the 15-91. (Ok, Peter called me out on that comment and now I have to correct myself after thinking about it.  I do think the 201 sounds better but its stitches are not any different from the 15-91.  I find the 15-91 better for free motion work, but otherwise they're the same).  The 201 is normally in its Queen Anne style cabinet but the cabinet has needed repair and I took it out for now.  The machine sits with a dust cover on the bookshelf for now.

Numbers Five and Six:  These aren't getting much use right now.  I'm not sure about the Singer 500 yet.  It still needs work because it hesitates when I lift my foot off the controller and then press again.  I'm wondering how it would do with straight stitch quilting once it's fixed.  The Singer 301 still has tension knob issues, otherwise, it sews nicely and has a quiet sound.  I never intended for it to take the place of the 15-91--I wanted a somewhat portable machine which it is.

Number Seven:  The Singer 128 "Godzilla".  I consider this machine a bit of a novelty.  It's hand crank and has a vibrating shuttle.  Son #2 likes to sew with it.  It's fun to use and has a remarkably nice stitch.  I get it out occassionally.  I can sew if the power goes out.

The sewing machines get intermixed with books and stuff on the bookshelf.  Sure, no one needs this many sewing machines but they're fun to play with!

1960's Hats (And a Few Extras)

New Vintage Lady has been doing some interesting posts about buying vintage patterns with a lot of information about the prices a buyer can expect these days.  Her last one was about accessories.  I don't have many of this type pattern --mostly the ones I do have are 1960's hats.  This particular one in the photo is about the only one I have that I like. 

As I was looking through my patterns the other day I decided maybe its time to part with some of them.  A number of them are 36" bust which I'm not (32"), and I don't grade patterns more than one size up or down.  I think this fall when I get some energy I'm going to put them up for sale or maybe swap them for ones in my size.  Most of my 30's and 40's ones are my size.  It's the late 50's and 60's ones that aren't.  Of course, these beauties...

                                          

...aren't going anywhere.  They have always been some of my absolute favorites!

Victorian Blouse (Or Edwardian)

I don't know if this blouse is Victorian or Edwardian era.  Either way it's quite beautiful.  When my parents bought their old house back in about 1970, this along with another blouse was in an old trunk in the basement. 

I've put it on my dress form with a black turtleneck underneath it to show the details better.  The front has a center lace strip with embroidery, tucks, and more lace and tucks on both sides.  The bottom of the whole center panel has a peplum like section that is only there--it doesn't go all the way around.

The sleeves are full on top with a narrow cuff on the bottom with lace insertion and tucks all the way down.  A not too full mutton leg.

 The back is equally nice with a covered button placket and numerous tucks.  The buttons are mother-of-pearl.  (The neck wouldn't button because of the thick turtleneck under it.)

I thought the waist was a bit loose for a blouse that would have been worn with a corset until I noticed some alterations had been made.  Barely visible in the next photo are the tiny holes of where something had been stitched on to the bottom of the blouse--about three inches up from the hem. The last section of stitching was separate from the other, and large tuck like creases are still visible.  I wonder if whatever was removed was a way to cinch the blouse in.  Also visible is age damage.

Unfortunately someone (I suspect my mother) ran a serger stitch around the bottom of the blouse.  The hem must have been damaged.  The serger stitching is an inappropriate fix for this but no matter, it's still a lovely piece.  The shoulder seam is very nicely done:

An Abusive Sewing Machine

Remember the old Singer 301 with the tension knob issues?  I set it out on my table yesterday determined to fix the problem.  Since I can't seem to get the new knob on it and it only needs the number dial and thumb nut, I took those off the new tension and put them on the old one.  I did try this before but they wouldn't stay on.  I left the machine sitting while I did other things and came back to check-- the dial and nut were still attached-- unlike before when they kept dropping off.

I started sewing a bit to check the stitches.  Of course, the tension was off, so I adjusted the knob just a tiny bit.  And wham!  That thing shot me in the chest with a thumb nut!  Rude, to say the least.  I put the pieces back on to try again...same thing happened again.  So now, not only are the number dial and nut not going to stay on the machine, they are going to be quite volatile about it.  Needless to say I shelved that machine again.  I'm not in the mood for fixing fighting sewing machines right now; I'd rather be sewing (on my better behaved 15-91).  In fact, I've made a brown pencil skirt, a pair of 1940's trousers, and two quilts in the last couple of weeks.  I'll get around to photographing them one of these days.

1940's Overdress

This is an interesting 1940's pattern.  The outfit is in two parts:  the slip style underdress and the sheer overdress.  The pattern doesn't have the slip dress in it, only the overlay.  It claims to be "easy to make" and certainly looks it.  There are the front pieces and the back pieces--that's all.  No facings.  For the edges around the neck and sleeves there is a choice of finishes, including simply turning a narrow hem or fringing them by doing a row of small stitches in from the edge and then pulling out the outer threads. I never made it nor is it in my teetering stack of  patterns I intend to make, but I always pause when I come across it and consider its possibilities.