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Thursday, 25 November 2010

Turning my eyes to the fifties

This year begun with preparation for the move, then the move itself and right after surgery and then the unpacking. Somewhere along the line I lost my sewing mojo. Easy enough when you are tired and you don't exactly know where your sewing stuff actually are. Well my stuff is finally more or less in order, but I still don't want to sew. Correction, I want to sew badly, I just don't seem to find a project that grips me. Part of that, I know, is because I have gained quite a lot of weight after my surgery, weight that I intend to loose. And it's so fiddly to change historical clothes. I don't want to sew something that complicated that will be too large in 6 months time.

At the same time I have problems with my wardrobe, particulary my skirts, as they don't fit anymore. I gain weight around tummy and hips, and somewhat around my waist- my breasts stays the same. (Thankfully, as I have a HH-cup under any circumstances...). Thóugh I love clothes I hate, hate, hate shopping for them and I don't really have the wallet to renew my wardrobe anyway. What I do have is an awful lot of fabric and a pile of unused Vintage Vogue patterns. During my current bout of sinusitis I have looked through them and my fabric stash and decided to leave the more ancient history for the moment and turn to the 1950's instead. I need new clothes and even if I shrink, they won't be too difficult to change.

I think I'll start with this one:
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I have some black fake fur that I think would be neat, and if I interline it with a rather ugly brown wool, then it would be warm enough for spring. Or I may do it brown grey flannel and make a matching dress from this pattern:
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I need to do a mock up first, though. I'm not quite sure if my hourglass figure would look good in a sheath dress- perhaps it's a matter of fitting. If it does fit, then I have a nice green wool for another one. It would be easy enough to change the neckline so they wouldn't be exactly alike. And I might do both a fur jacket and a flannel one.

I have a very nice printed cotton in green and yellow that I think would be nice fot this one:
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It's a rather dark green, so I plan to make the long sleeved version so I can wear it in winter too. I do have a sheer cotton with blue flowers as well, and again, if I like the pattern, I might do another version of it.

I have a three day weekend coming up and as I have planned to take it very easy and stay at home, I think I will have a go at some new clothes. I badly need something to ´feel pretty in, I have felt so dowdy and dull all autumn!
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6 comments:

  1. American Duchess25 November 2010 at 04:10

    Yay vogue patterns! Can't wait to see how these come out - I have a couple of the same patterns, and I haven't made them yet. Keep us posted!

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  2. Rowenna28 November 2010 at 20:53

    Love these! I've drooled over that last pattern before :)

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  3. Isis29 November 2010 at 08:49

    Duchess: I sure will. Working of a grey wool skirt as we speak. :)

    Rowenna: I first thought it looked a bit boring, but then I looked closer... I think it will be very neat.

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  4. Lizzy2 December 2010 at 21:22

    Hi! I saw you post in Sew Retro.
    I see we have simmilar taste, I mean, we both like same patterns, I ordered in vogue patterns the paterns you post about in Sew Retro, I have the last pattern too, just I haven't finished because I found kind of difficult for me to sew, as my native language is not english ( I am mexican) they were little difficult to understand.
    I want to see your dress finished and I hope you posy pictures about how you sewed it because I need to finish mine!

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  5. Christina2 December 2010 at 23:12

    Hi, Isis. I saw your post on Sew Retro, too and I looked at your older posts on this blog. You do FABULOUS work! You inspired me to buy Vintage Vogue 2903, actually. I had been very wary of it because a mother's friend tried to make it for her for our high school play and it turned out to be a project that required many other people to help put it together (in all honesty, though, my friend's mother isn't a seamstress. She tries, but sewing is not one of her skills). I was also wary because, as someone who has an hourglass figure, but is not particularly small, full skirts tend to make me look really big, but I see the skirt on this isn't as full as some others. Please keep sewing, whether its clothing from the '50s or 18th century clothing!

    Another note: Definitely make up the pattern with the green sheath. I find that sheaths are best for hourglass figures. I always look my best in a sheath. Just buy a pattern that fits your torso (measure your chest above your bust line and right under the arms. Use that measurement as your full bust measurement, which is what they give you on the back of the pattern, and then do a full bust adjustment. That will alleviate some of your problems with fitting your back and your ribcage. I have a small ribcage and narrow lower back myself, so I can appreciate the fitting problems that you have. If you want more information on the full bust adjustment, see if you can buy a copy of the book "Fit for Real People" by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto. It is the best source of information for fitting in general). Once you have something that fits your torso, just adjust the hips (and waist, if needed) accordingly. You just can't go wrong!

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  6. Isis5 December 2010 at 13:36

    Lizzy: Yes, it does seem a bit complicated, though I hope it will be worth the work. :)

    Christina: Thank you! I like the dress very much, but it was a little tricky to sew. In a nice way! I wear a petticoat but it's not a very full one. It's not layers upon layers but simply three starched frills.

    Thank you for the book tip. I don't have it, but will certainly look into it! And it's nice to hear that you find sheathdresses flattering.

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