A review of Wearing History's Smooth Sailing 1930s Sport Togs- Blouse & Trousers Pattern

Wearing History recently expanded the sizes of her Smooth Sailing 1930s Sport Togs- Blouse & Trousers Pattern. The original pattern package has bust sizes 30-40, and now there’s also a plus-size one in bust sizes 41-53, and waist sizes 34-46.

My previous sewing experience: I have been sewing for 35 years, and I’m used to commercial patterns. I have also used a lot of E-patterns previously. But despite making clothes for so many years I have never before made a pair of trousers with a fitted waistline, and I have never made a blouse. The pattern: This was an e-pattern, which means you need a printer, a pair of sharp scissors, and either glue or tape. Also, a certain degree of patience as you need to cut out and assemble the pattern yourself. I found this pattern very easy to put together. If you print it in colour the sizes all have different colours for making it easier to cut the right size, but I printed mine in black-and-white and still found it easy. You use your bust measurement to determine the size of the blouse and your waist measurements for the size of the trousers. My measurements are exactly a 47 bust and a 38 waist. The pattern pieces are clearly labeled and when sewn together they also fit together very well. The trousers went together like a dream and very quickly. Well, the blouse went together like a dream too, and if you are used to sewing blouses it would probably be a fairly quick sew as well. As it was I referenced the instructions often, but I didn’t run into any problems. I found the instructions clear, and easy to understand.

The fit: I confess, I'm impatient and I didn’t bother with a mock-up. In retrospect, I could have lowered the waist on the trousers a little, but they are perfectly wearable as they are. I have narrow shoulders, and I would have needed to change the pattern to accommodate that, (the pattern includes instruction for that change) but I opted for small shoulder pads instead. Otherwise, there was nothing that needed to be fixed. Both trousers and blouse fit well, but on the roomier side- if you hover between sizes you might want the smaller size. But that also depends on how snug you like your clothes to be. The fabric: I used cotton for both trousers and blouse; red corduroy for the trousers and stonewashed medium-weight yellow cotton for the blouse. The colours were inspired by clothing advice from a 1940s book; to pair dark red with yellow. I would never, ever have thought about it otherwise.

The verdict: I’m super pleased! So comfortable, and I think the clothes look great! I love the colour combo too- very autumn. I’m also pleased that I had enough yellow fabric left for a skirt, and so much of the corduroy to make both a skirt and a 1930s style blazer. So basically I got a whole autumn wardrobe out of this.

Writing and sewing

It has been quiet here, but the rest of my life has been pretty active. Some time ago I was asked by Talia of The Gibson Girl's Guide to Glamor if I wanted to write an article about stage makeup in the 17th and 18th century for a website she runs about Commedia dell'Arte. Which I, of course, wanted and you can now read the article here.

I have also been sewing a great deal and have recently finished a fake fur coat and a tartan beret, but I haven't managed to take any pics of it yet. I'm currently working on three projects, all of them in rather tedious states right now. I'm hemming the purple 17th century bodice, making boning channels in the lining of the bodice for the white national gown and covering the seams of a pair of brown linen stays with strips of chamois leather.

 

I started these last Autumn, so when they are done I can cross off yet another project of my UFO list. They are made of brown linen with yellow boning channels and I will edge it with chamois leather as well.

Plan your sewing and sew what you planned

Finished; 18th century stays, started in early 2010.

As I said yesterday I was a bit amazed when I counted this years finished sewing projects and found that they number sixteen. That’s probably more finished projects in one year than I have ever managed before and there are still 1 ½ month left of 2013. However, these projects are both UFO’s and brand new projects. I have finished eleven UFOs and still have thirteen to go before that pile is done, so I’m not halfway through. However, some of these may be stuff that I will need to let go of and decide not to finish. I have also started nine new projects this year, though most of these had been planned for a long time and five of these are finished.

I know that the UFO pile I had at the beginning of the year was rather extreme, and probably still is. As one of my workmates put it when I told her; “How on earth do one get to have so many unfinished things going at the same time?” Indeed, how? Well, not quickly, that’s for sure. The oldest UFO I had was the Edwardian blouse that I finished early this year, which I started at least fifteen years ago. I have learned a lot this year and I would like to share with you what I have learned.



Finished, tartan skirt started in September
2013 and a brown silk noil blouse, one
of this year's new, but planned, projects.

First; Analyze your sewing. As I sew multiple periods, I started with an analysis of what I actually sew and grouped my projects into four lists; 18^th century, anything else pre-1930, the 1940’s wardrobe project and anything else post-1930. I used a free app for that, which also allowed me to give every entry priority A, B, C. I gave A to the projects I wanted to finish next and B to everything in the UFO pile, reserving C for purely planned projects. I know not everyone needs to do this, but for me it was vital. For the first time I realised how many UFOs I really had and also were most of them were- in the 18^th century, in my case.

Then, think a bit of why projects don’t get finished. A rather difficult process. I isn’t like someone forbids me to finish what I do, but I have only myself to blame. I found four major obstacles to why my UFO pile has been growing for years.

1. Making clothes for a special occasion. At first this looks like a good example of getting things done, but in fact it usually means starting something new and with a time restraint which means I push everything else on hold. By the time it is finished I’m usually in a very bad need of a sewing break and by the end of it I have lost momentum and inspiration on whatever I was doing before and as often as not, I start something completely new.

My solution: No more short term deadlines and definitely not with a fixed date. I know that a lot of people feel that they need a deadline to get things done, but I just get stressed and stop enjoying what I do. After all, I sew because I like to do it, so why should I push myself into disliking it?

2. Not having an overview I have touched on that already, not really knowing what I had started on made it easy to forget them altogether.

My solution:  Making lists. I have several, actually. The ones I mentioned already, which looks like this:

My 18th century list. Next is the embroidered polonaise, started 10 years ago, then a pair of brown stays, started one year ago, followed by a banyan for J, which I think has been an UFO for 2 years.

I like to use the app because it is easy to move projects around and when I am finished I tick them off and those get stored at the bottom of the list, making it easy to keep track on. It is very encouraging to easily see how much I have accomplished! Then I have a few paper lists. A sheet of paper and a pencil is all you need, but I really like the free downloadable templates The Project Girl offers. I use these two for listing every started project with notes on what I need to do and what I need to get and for one big list with every project I have, sorted after priority, with the most pressing project at the top.

I need to allow myself to work on more than one project on any give time, because otherwise I get bored, so I proclaim the four top projects on the list those I’m allowed to work on. And I can't work on anything else until I have finished something. Then I just take the next one. This has worked amazingly well for me! Because of the 40’s sewing project I have a lot of projects planned that I want to work with as well as my UFOs, my list have two 40’s style UFOs, one period UFO and then a new 40’s project, and then back to two 40’s UFOs. Right now I’m hemming a black dress and re-fitting a toile for a brown jacket (40’s UFOs), the 1640’s gown (period UFO) and the faux fur (new 40’s project. When one of these is finished, I’m going to make a 40’s grey wool gown, another UFO, and so on. At the moment all my new projects are long-time planned 40’s clothes. Any period projects that are on the planned stage will have wait until next year. I revise this list regulary, as things change and a static list wouldn't serve my purposes. If changes are needed, changes are made!

3. Perfectionism. The main reason to why so many of my projects get stalled when they are nearly completed is a fear that I won’t like the clothes when I’m done with them.

My solution. Allowing myself to accept that not everything you do will be top notch. And that’s OK, because I can sew, so I can change things. Or make something else. Very simple in theory, not so simple to apply, but I work hard on it!

4. Clutter. That is actually something that stops me sewing anything, just not UFOs and is something I have been working on for years. I don’t think chaos breeds creativity. Of course, while you are working on something, things can be pretty chaotic around you, and that’s fine, but for me to be able to work, I need to have an underlying order. I need to know where my things can be found. This is an ongoing process and it is slowly getting better and the better it gets, the more productive my sewing time becomes.

My solutions, so far:. Having all my fabrics in a card catalogue. I have to store my fabrics in the attic, so having a card for every piece with a fabric sample, a note on how much there is and perhaps what I plan to do with is, as well as in which box it is, helps enormously. It took a long time to make and it needs to be maintained, but I love it. I always know exactly where my fabrics are and never have to go throuigh box after box to find it.

I store sewing notions in stackable boxes from IKEA, all labeled.. I don’t have a whole sewing room, but rather one half of a room, so there isn’t that much spade. Still, I can have my sewing machine permanently up.

 Working hard on keeping it uncovered too…

I also have several shelves, as well as various cupboards for storing books, fabric and this and that, which is very much a work in progress, but there is a much better order in my workspace now than it was a year ago. I also took the time to sort through my gigantic box with ribbons, mostly untouched since I inherited from my grandmother almost 10 years ago.

 

Now all ribbons have been wound on cardboard if the didn’t have their own spools and is generally much easier to find!

 

I must say that my working on solving my “sewing problems” have worked wonders for my productivity. I get things done on a whole new scale and I no longer feel bad when I start something new, because they are part of the plan. I won’t be finishing all my UFOs this year, but I think I will in 2014!

Want-list for 2014, my new hair and a mysterious 17th century gown

I’ve been in a sewing funk lately. Or rather, I have been so tired that I haven’t had any energy to sew more than a few minutes at the time. A combination of the season and a cold that just doesn’t want to break out. Still, this year I have finished 16 sewing projects! I couldn’t quite believe it, but I have! Not all of these were UFO’s, but I have made a huge dent in that pile. I still have plenty left, but I hope that in March most of them will be finished as well. So I dare to make a to-do list for 2014 that will include some brand new projects, as well as some old planned ones. I do have UFO’s too, but I’m not listing them here. I doubt I will have all these finished by the end of 2014, though as I have promised myself that I will only work on one of these projects at the time. I also have my 40’s wardrobe project to work on as well. Another promise is to not do any last minute sewing. I will make deadlines, but rather long-term ones.

First out; A Swedish court gown, ca 1780. I need to buy fabric, but I plan to start this in January. It consists of petticoat, bodice and robe, plus decorations. I want this to be finished by July.

Lady in court gown, engraving by an unknown artist, 1786

A 1650’s outfit for J. Doublet, breeches, collar and cuffs. The doublet and breeches will be in black wool. To be finished by October.

Doublet and breeches in black silk, worn by Karl X of Sweden, 1650's, 19326 (3403:a)

1640’s collar and cuffs for my purple 1640’s gown. (Stalled at the moment- I managed to sew the gussets the wrong way, and ended up with two right fronts… I haven’t stopped being annoyed with myself yet) Also to be finished by October.

A mantua. I know I want to make one, but I don’t know if I want to make one that would fit both sides of 1700 with a stomacher or an earlier one with a closed front. Colourwise I’m thinking of making up this one:



Recueil des modes de la cour de France, 'Dame de Qualité en Manteau' by Nicholas Bonnart, 1682-1686

Which would make it an earlier one by default, but I’m also thinking of a brown/red with gold or a black with silver. I do know that I want a mantua, though. Speaking of which, my friend Johanna draw my attention to this mysterious “mantilj” from the 1690’s. It is made of white embroidered silk and black silk gauze, and is more like an enormous shawl, than a gown. The “sleeves” are no real sleeves; the fabric is just draped to look like that. It is basted to the stomacher, and the skirt is split both in the front and the back, according to the description. I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you? It is impossible to tell much from black and white pictures, and the gown in store at Nordiska museet in Stockholm. I would dearly love to se it in person!

From Mode. Klädedräktens historia genom fem sekler by Carolina Brown

An Edwardian skirt. There is a pretty active 19^th century group in Stockholm and several of my friends participate, so it would be fun if I could go too. I’m rather under-whelmed with 19^th century fashion, but they do stretch into the 1910’s, and I rather like Edwardian fashions. I finished my embroidered blouse earlier this year and I have a really nice blue-grey linen that would make a lovely skirt and with luck, a little jacket too. I also need to make a hat.

Ladies skirts, 1903

An embroidered early 17^th century jacket. (And skirt). I’m still working on a little frog purse, but when it is finished I will need a new embroidery project.

Lady Elizabeth howard, Countess of Banbury by Daniel Mytens, ca 1619

I also need wigs! I cut off my hair a week ago, and now it looks like this.

 

I’m so pleased with it, but it’s kind of difficult to make period hairstyles with it. It’s is a little longer than chin-length at the front, so I guess I could do a mid-18^th century style if I cover the back of my hair with a cap, but that’s about it. So I will need:

A 1640’s style

Frances, Countess of Portland by Sir Anthony van dyck, 1640

A late 17^th century style. I’m really tempted to try a fontange hairstyle, which would suit if I make a later mantua.

Louise Françoise de Bourbon, mademoiselle de Nantes by François de Troy, 1688-1693

An Edwardian up-do

Source

I also have an old wig in a rather horrible brassy colour, which I think could work for an early 17^th century style.

Margaret Hay, Countess of Dunfermline by Marcus Gheeraerts, ca 1615

Sewing plans for September and October



Source

2013 has three and a half month left, and, once more, I have revised my sewing plans. I feel I have made a good dent on my ongoing projects, when I look back I realize that I have finished quite a lot this year. But with such a great backlog of projects, well, I guess one year isn’t enough to fix it. Many projects are still in the “almost done”-category and my goal for the rest of September and October are to finish one project every week. That is my ambition, at least.

Week 38, this week

Finish:
The striped 1790’s gown. The sleeves needs to be hemmed and drawstrings to be attached.

Continue to work on:

The reversible raincoat. Pockets to attach, hemming and closure.
Matching wool skirt. To be hemmed
Brown silk noil blouse. Sleeves left as well as zipper and hemming.

Week 39

Finish:
The reversible raincoat

Continue to work on:

Matching wool skirt.
Brown silk noil blouse
1640’s purple bodice.

 

Week 40

Finish:
Matching wool skirt

Continue to work on:

Brown silk noil blouse.
1640’s purple bodice.

Start

40’s style fake fur coat

Week 41

Finish:
Brown silk noil blouse.

Continue to work on:

1640’s purple bodice.
40’s style fake fur coat
18^th century blue stays. Needs some additional boning and to be bound at the edges

Source

Week 42

Finish:
18^th century blue stays.

Continue to work on:

1640’s purple bodice.
40’s style fake fur coat
Brown wool jacket. Second fitting

Week 43

Finish:
40’s style fake fur coat

Continue to work on:

1640’s purple bodice.
Brown wool jacket
Maroon wool skirt. Needs to be hemmed

Week 44

Finish:
Maroon wool skirt

Continue to work on:

1640’s purple bodice.
Brown wool jacket

Start

Grey wool blouse

I’m going to focus more on my ordinary wardrobe than my historical one, but I still want to finish a few of those as well. You may think that there are a lot of projects to work on in one single week, but I know from experience that I need to change projects as I tend to get bored when just working on one. Some of them are in need of machine stitching and some hand sewing, which is another reason for the need of more than one project. I always sew when I watch the TV, so I always need something that is suitable for hand sewing. I will start a few new projects, but they are still projects that have been planned for a long time and fits well into my winter needs when it comes to clothes.

Source

By the end of October I will need to plan the last two months of the year and also look back and see how much of this I will be able to accomplish.

Hand sewing and the 18th century

A peak inside a blue silk brocade gown, 1775-1790

What a nice response I got on my post on hand sewing! Thank you!

If hand sewing is often thought as hard work or taking too long, I also think that there is an air of superiority and elitism over it that can probably feel a bit daunting to someone who has never tried it. I would really love to see that tought go away!  I do think that hand sewing gives you a better feel for the garment you sew, especially if you sew historical clothes, but it doesn’t, automatically, makes it better than one made with the help of a machine. Sewing skill is one thing, then there is the matter of choosing the right pattern, fabric and colours and knowledge about the fashion you want to re-create. I have heard, though thankfully only once, someone with a badly cut gown worn without the proper underpinnings, trying to trump a beautifully executed one with the right silhouette and colours with a “Well, mine is totally hand sewn”.

I really, really don’t like “I am better than thou”-sentiments. And a badly made garment is still badly made, even if it is sewn by hand.



The inside of a pair of silk broacade stays, 1700-1720

With that said, I still think hand sewing can really alter the way you perceive the garment you sew and I would like to talk a little how it  has helped me understand the fashion of the 18^th century better.

An 18^th century bodice usually has an outer layer and a lining, but no interlining or extra stiffening like men’s wear, though boning is frequently found. That does change a bit toward the end of the century when masculine garments like the redingote find its way into the female wardrobe and stays may have extra layers for stiffening, but those are exceptions. The lining may mimic the shell fabric in cut, but sometimes the lining forms a close-fitting foundation on which the outer layer are pleated. The Robe Française is an excellent example on that. But for the sake of simplicity, I will talk about a bodice where lining and shell fabric looks the same. 18^th century clothes are also cut very economically. Sewing allowances are as small as possible and when there are not, the excess fabric are not cut away, but are left, so a later un-picking would result in larger pieces. A good example is petticoats. To look right, a petticoat worn over hoops need to be longer at the sides than they are CF and CB. You can cut the fabric, but 18^th century petticoats often have the excess fabric just folded back to give the needed curve.

This yellow jacket is beautiful, isn’t it?. Looking at it like this it is easy to think that all the seams are made up the same, but in fact they are all made differently! Some treats the lining and shell fabric as one layer, some don’t. Some are sewn from the wrong side, some from the right, each chosen to fit that particular seam and its purpose.

Silk brocade jacket. Dated by Pernilla Rasmussen to the mid-late 18th century, though the fabric is older.

 

When I first started out making 18^th century clothes I usually made up lining and shell fabric as two separate pieces. I sewed the pattern pieces together with putting the right seams together, sewing a seam, and pressing it apart. Then when they were finished, they are put together, right side to right side,  and finished. Not very historically correct, but quite fast.

A couple of years ago I decided to make a gown after a pattern taken from this extant robe.

Silk brocade gown, 1790's

 

It has a fitted back and a gathered front and was made in the 1790’s. The fabric, however, dates back to the 1770’s and it is very clear that is re-made from an old gown, probably a Robe Française. There is a lot of piercing going on, especially in the trail. The bodice look like it has a very narrow back, but in reality it has a center back seam and then the narrow fabric piece is sewn on top of it. An illusion, in other words. The armscye looks larger than it is as well. It is normally sized, but the sleeves are sewn well into the back to enforce the look of a narrow back. If unpicked, the back would provide much more fabric than it looks like from the outside.

As I wanted to sew my gown as closely as possible to the original, I had, for the first time, to really look into the way it was made and I found that there was no way around it, I had to do a lot of hand sewing to pull it off. The back piece, for example, is not functional for the gown’s construction and you have no choice but to sew it from the right side. By hand.

The skirt is cartridge pleated to the narrow back pleated, then pleated until the side seam. The front is gathered with the bodice front.

The sleeves, as they aren’t sewn into the armscye at the back, also had to be sewn in by hand. And they were so much easier to do that way! The lower half, that does match the armscye, is sewn like you usually do, right sides together, but then then the sewing allowances are folded under and the sleeve is finished from the right side.

The way the sleeves and its lining was put together was also fun and for me unusual. The technique can be dated, at the very least, to early 17^th century and it remained used during the 19^th century.

 

This is a two-piece sleeve. If not, the first step is not needed. And that is to sew one of the sleeve seams. As well as the same seam on the sleeve lining.

Right click on the pictures for opening a larger version in a new window

 

Then you put sleeve and lining on top of each other, pin (baste) and sew that seam as one.

 

 

Please note that you should put right pattern pieces together. I didn't. I put the sleeve together with the identical lining, when it should have been the opposite. It should NOT look like this:

 

But like this:

 

Hmm, I realise that it's hard to see the difference as the lining is a bit sheer, but trust me- on the second picture the pieces mirrors each other.

Press seams and then start to pull the sleeve the right way. Don't bother with the lining at all, concentrate on the sleeve itself. Because when it's turned right, the lining is neatly right inside as well. You probably need to fiddle a little to make it all wrinkle-free, but I thought it really easy.

 

Tadaa!

 

Check out Katherine's post on the same method.

 

As I have said before, I do use my machine, mainly for long, boring seams, but I find that I sew more and more by hand as the years go by. And I can heartily recommend anyone to give it a try! I had in mind of making a post about the different stitches, but I think there already are plenty of good instructions online. I have included several links, even if the information overlaps a lot. I have done that in the hope that everyone can find an explanation that suits them.

The inside of a Robe Francaise, 1765-1775

As for the bibliography I must once again lament the fact that costume books rarely seem to be translated into English. Both Kvinnligt mode and Skräddaren, sömmerskan och modet are treasures when it comes to construction analyses. The latter also have schematic illustrations on different seams and when they are used. Both contains pattern of extant clothes, especially Kvinnligt mode. Skräddaren, sömmerskan och modet have fewer patterns and those are mostly the same as the first one, but with a more in depth discussion on the sewing techniques. There is also a pattern for a bed jacket dated to the 1790’s-1810’s which I would love to make!

Links

Archaeological Sewing

Basic Hand Sewing Techniques at The Renaissance Tailor

Medieval Sewing Techniques

Stitches and Seam Techniques Seen on 18thCentury Garments in Various Museum Collections (pdf)

Stitches and Seam Techniques Seen on Dark Age /Medieval Garments in Various Museum Collections (pdf)

The inside of a silk jacket, late 18th century

Bibliography

Arnold, Janet, Patterns of Fashion : Englishwomen's dresses & their construction. 1, C. 1660-1860, London : MacMillan, 1977

Hammar, Britta and Pernilla Rasmussen,  Kvinnligt Mode Under Två Sekel, Lund : Signum, 2001

Rasmussen, Pernilla, Skräddaren, sömmerskan och modet : arbetsmetoder och arbetsdelning i tillverkningen av kvinnlig dräkt 1770–1830, Stockholm : Nordiska museets förlag, 2010

The joys of hand sewing

A Girl Sewing by Philip Mercier, ca 1750

I’m stitching away on my 17^th century shirt and I thought that a post on hand-sewing wouldn’t be amiss. I think it needs more love. I know that many thinks that it is difficult to sew by hand, but as any other skill it is more a matter of practice. Most garments can be made with some very basic seams that aren’t hard to do, but it does take practice to get them neat and even. But, hand on the heart, what did your first machine stitched garment look like? Mine looked awful, with crooked seams. To be able to use a sewing machine takes practice too.

I don’t sew my historical clothes completely by hand, well, not all of them at least, but I do a lot of hand-sewing on every project nevertheless. I use my machine for assembling my clothes, to stitch a skirt together, or a bodice. Basically because it is faster. And I sew my stays on a machine, because my hands can’t cope with sewing so many seams through all those layers of fabric. But hand sewing can offer a lot that a noisy machine can’t.



The Needlewoman by Diego Velázquez, 1635-1643

Looks Finishing a garment by hand does improve its general look. For example, imagine a beautiful 18^th century silk gown, made after a correct pattern, but with the hemming made on a machine, leaving a very visible stitch line all around the petticoat. I have seen that, and it isn’t pretty.

Period accuracy Well, duh, of course! The sewing machine didn’t reach the general populace until the last half of the 19^th century, so of course you are period correct if you sew you clothes by hand. But what you may not think about is that the clothes were designed to be sewn by hand, not with a machine, and if you try to sew a period pattern on a machine, you may have difficulties that disappear when you do it by hand. My big revelation on this subject was 18^th century sleeves. I insisted for a very long time to do them on the machine, fighting a very uneven battle and a lot of seam ripping and teeth grinding. Then I tried to set the sleeves as they are described in one of my books, completely by hand, and everything just feel into place and the sleeve looked so much better. Some things are easier to make by machine, but trust me, not everything.



Interior with Woman Sewing by Wybrand Hendriks

Control When you stitch by hand, it is much easier to control the fabric. It is, I admit, a bit of a skill to make sure that your stitches end up exactly where you want it, but fiddly and tiny bits are so much easier to get right if you can use your fingers to control it rather than your pressing foot.

Social One of my favourite things with hand sewing is that you can do other things while you sew. At the machine you have to concentrate very closely on what you are sewing and it is usually not noiseless either. I can talk with family and friends while I hand sew and I can watch movies or TV. My son and I are currently having a Doctor Who-marathon and I do a lot of sewing while watching.

Mobile Small projects or smaller parts of one are easy to bring along. I have a friend who always sews on her train commute. I sew at breaks at work, or in a waiting room.

 

Young Woman Sewing by the Light of a Lamp by Georg Friedrich Kersting, 1823

 

Sewing plans



The Embroidered by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, 1736

April is more than halfway through and I feel the need to reevaluate my sewing for this year. I started out aiming to not start any new projects, but only finish off all my already started ones. That hasn’t been an absolute success. I have finished two of my old ones, the Edwardian blouse and the late 18^th century hat, but I have also started two new ones, the covered stays with sleeves and a 1930’s evening gown. As I managed to get the flu, the evening gown didn’t get done for the party I had planned it for, and is right now on hold. The stays with matching petticoat have to be finished in May. I have also started two projects that were planned, J’s wild man’s dress and the piemontaise.

The To do-app has been a very good help. It’s easy to see what I have planned and it’s easy to change priority of projects. As of now my A listed projects are these:

18^th century: The covered stays and petticoat in pink brocade. I’m currently covering the stays, which is the most finicky part. The sleeves are probably quite straightforward and I can sew petticoats in my sleep. Only they take forever to hem.

The pink A-line jacket I started years ago. It still only needs a stomacher and as I plan to wear it in May, it has a deadline as well.

The 40’s wardrobe: Raincoat with two sides, the two fabrics needs to be attached to each other.

Brown jacket. I’m making adjustments for a second fitting

Other historical costumes: A dark purple 1640’s gown

Other sewing projects: Checkered skirt. Needs buttons and hemming.

The idea now is to really, really not start anything new the rest of the year. So many of my projects are in the almost done-state and if I set my mind to them and finish them, I will feel terribly accomplished. For example, the blues stays only have a couple of hours work left on them, and the embroidered polonaise is more than halfway done as well. But as it has been a lot of 18^th century for the past months, I plan to concentrate more on my 40’s wardrobe now. I have one white and one dotted dress that are almost done, for example.



Late 18thc. sewing box with straw work and parquetry

I don’t want to get myself any more hard deadlines either; there have already been too many of them this year, and after May I will try to work without stressing out. I’m still going to try to fit in as many projects as I can into Historically Sew Forthnightly, but f I won’t make it, I’m going to let it go.

One damper on my sewing this year has been sore neck and shoulder, at times it has been so painfully that I haven’t been able to sew. This is only my own fault for not taking breaks and moving. The last month I have re-started my Pilates and try to do 30 minutes of it every third day. I have also started to time my sewing and take a small break after one hour of sewing to move a little, My shoulders and neck has got so much better in just a few weeks, so evidently I do something right.

Sewing plans of 2013

The Tailor by Pietro Longhi

I guess a lot of you are very busing today, but as I’m Swedish I had the big day yesterday and today I’m working. The joys of irregular schedule- trains have to go every day. I hope you have had or are having a great day! My Christmas Eve was very nice and I think everyone was pleased.

I’m sitting here and thinking of next year’s sewing projects. I have continued my sewing room cleanout and have sorted all my A projects into a cupboard, all my B projects are sorted into individual zip lock bags and stored together on a shelf and all C projects have been packed into a large bag and been packed away a bit better. I still need to buy some lidded boxes for sewing notions, but just sorting my projects have made a big difference!

The Tailor's Shop

I have been thinking of trying to give myself deadlines to try to finish things properly. First I was thinking one project every week but felt that was a bit too ambitious and decided on one thing finished every fortnight instead. Funnily enough I decided this and then went blog-reading and found the Dreamstress 2013 challenge; The Historical Sew Forthly.

For every two week there will be a challenge and it’s up to each one who participate to decide if they want to make each and every one of them, or just a few. She draws the line for historical at 1938 which means my 40’s wardrobe falls outside the frame, but most of my projects do fit, so I will jump on board. If you want to start at once there is a bonus challenge to finish something before December 31, otherwise the first challenge due 14 Jan. Sew something from __13, whether it be 1913, 1613, or 13BC. I don’t think I have anything that fits into that challenge, so I will do something from my 40’s wardrobe instead and try to finish my raincoat instead.