vintage may guest: probably actually

May 22, 2012May 25, 201227 Comments

please forgive the long introduction, but i have to tell a little “how we met” story about today’s guest, gail from probably actually. in my pre-blog flickr days, i noticed a gal posting one lovely creation after another under the handle “supergail” (which made me like her right off the bat). we were both active in the oliver + s flickr group and it turned out that we often commented on each other’s creations. one day, she mentioned fabric depot in a description and i realized that she lived in portland too! we started emailing back and forth, then after a bit of that i asked if she might want to hang out sometime? i was so nervous to ask, but she agreed! we met up at a park (you know, just in case she was a serial killer) with the kids last summer, and we’ve been real life friends ever since. our first meeting was really fun, comparing blogs that we read, sewing books, projects, life. i’m trying not to be overdramatic here, but it was a dream come true for someone to just KNOW what i was talking about! i’m so lucky to have a local friend as nerdy about sewing as i am. 🙂

so anyway, gail started her blog almost a year ago and she is awesome. she sews for her adorable little gal lila, she dabbles in sewing for herself, and she makes the greatest mini projects (tea bags, felt pasta, doll swaddlers, etc.). her style is peaceful, her use of color is incredible, and her sewing is pristine (especially in person!). oh yeah, she’s also really funny.

i’m excited to have gail here today with a beeeyoooootiful remixed oliver + s dress that takes two of their classically-inspired patterns and makes it feel even more vintage!

Hello fine readers! I’m so pleased and honored to be at Skirt as Top today, celebrating Vintage May along with all these lovely guest bloggers! If you’ve ever visited my blog, you know that I have a bit of a love affair with Oliver + S patterns. In case you’re not familiar with Oliver + S, there are several reasons why they’re among my favorite patterns. First of all, each one is like a mini sewing lesson, full of tips and tricks for future use. The styles are always clean and classic, the fit is spot-on, the directions never let you down, and even the packaging is adorable (and vintage-looking!).

Have I sold you yet? Anyway, I think I’ve tried eleven of them so far, and have used many of those eleven over and over again. So when Kristin asked me to be a part of Vintage May, I immediately began brainstorming my Oliver + S options. Several of the patterns have a vintage or retro look to them, and I ended up combining two of my favorites into one dress, adding a few vintage elements along the way.

My starting point was the out of print Playdate Dress (EDIT: now available as a digital pattern!) – there’s something about that yoke that gives it a definite retro feel.

And I borrowed the cuffed sleeves from the Puppet Show Dress (also out of print, but also available to download as a pdf), which is another great vintage-looking pattern.

The fabric reminds me a bit of a vintage sheet, or a William Morris floral, or a Liberty print (and is probably as close to a real Liberty as I’m ever going to get!). It’s a soft and breezy cotton lawn called Spring, from Robert Kaufman’s London Calling 2 collection. And the colors definitely evoke spring! This is Vintage May after all, not Vintage November…

There’s pink and white mini gingham in the side-seam pockets and in the hem facing. I love a pattern that allows for hidden surprises like that.

And to throw a little more vintage into the mix, I added mini pompom trim under the yoke. Because pompoms make things look vintage, right?

Now this was a bit trickier than adding the flat piping that the pattern calls for, since the pompom trim has barely any seam allowance. So I’ll attempt to show you how I did it.

First, I sewed a line of basting stitches 1/2 inch from the raw edge of the neckline, which gave me a line to follow when I placed the trim. Then I matched the trim (where the poms meet the wee bit of seam allowance) to that line, pinned, and basted it in place along the line using my zipper foot – that way you’re not sewing over the poms. There should be 1/2 inch between the raw edge of the neckline and your line of basting stitches that attach the trim.

That second basting line becomes the guideline for placing your yoke. Do you think I used enough pins? The tricky part was stitching the yoke in place AND catching the pompom trim underneath – I had to sew very close to the edge of the yoke in order to catch it. The zipper foot comes in handy here, too.

In retrospect, it might make sense to actually sew the trim to the neckline rather than just basting. That way, even if you miss a spot as you’re top stitching the yoke in place, the trim is securely anchored under there. Or better yet, maybe there’s pompom trim available out there with a more generous seam allowance?

Thanks so much for having me, Kristin! I’m looking forward to the rest of Vintage May, week two!

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thank you so much, gail! i gotta get me some of that amazing fabric! today jess has katy dill showing you how to make a fascinator. don’t know what a fascinator is? go see!

vintage may guest: running with scissors

May 21, 2012May 24, 201210 Comments

kicking off week two of guest posts for vintage may is a good friend, jess of running with scissors! i knew of jess’ blog before we competed together in project run & play (due to her awesome dino tails, which took blogland by storm a while back) but i became a big fan of hers during our season, where she sewed some really amazing garments – check out this suit! jess’ designs are often heavily influenced by history and she is especially great at designing for boys, so i asked if she would do a boy look for vintage may.

jess came up with this fantastic modern take on lederhosen and a tutorial for you to make your own! as a gal with german heritage, these make me especially excited. check it out!

I’m excited to be here participating in Vintage May! I love looking to vintage or even historical clothing for inspiration, and trying to take the old fashioned styles and make them modern. It’s a challenge for me to design clothing with the influence of the vintage piece, but make something that doesn’t look like a historical costume. I also love to sew for boys! So how I was inspired to make modern lederhosen. My neighbor is German and immigrated to the United States as a child, and was showing me a pair of heirloom leather lederhosen her brothers and sons wore. They were so cool, over fifty years old, and had metal exposed zippers for the side front closure. So I pinned quite a few lederhosen for inspiration and got thinking of ways to take a traditional Bavarian short design and make it modern and hopefully cool.

This top photo in the collage is my favorite, specifically the boy on the far right. {top}, {left}, {right}

So I designed a pair of knee length shorts with the double exposed zipper front, slant pockets, and a side flap-patch pocket.

The front of the shorts unzip into a front panel. To secure the front panel to the rest of the shorts, Velcro attaches at the waistband. I thought Velcro would be easier for little guys to get them on and off rather than two snaps, buttons, or hook/eyes.

I added my son’s nickname “RJ BOY” to the front of the flap on the side pocket, and you can see the contrasting orange stitching that I used throughout the shorts.

I also included standard back pockets on these shorts, as boys need lots of places for their treasures.

Here are the shorts as is, and below with the orange vinyl belt I made him.

We found the shorts were perfect for running and playing, and he liked how easy they were to get on and off himself.

CLICK THROUGH FOR THE TUTORIAL:

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vintage may guest: cirque du bebe

May 18, 2012July 2, 201319 Comments

my guest today is sophie from cirque du bebe, and she is quite the impressive lady! she sews for herself, she sews for her boys (be sure to check out her tutorial for sarouel pants), and her vintage-modern style is so dang cool i can hardly stand it. i love gals whose styles stretch my comfort zone a bit, and sophie does that in a really inspiring way. sophie also has an awesome sense of humor that makes her blog a treat to read, and her post today is no exception.

today she has put together a fantastic vintage-inspired but oh-so-modern outfit for her little guy, complete with tutorial. take it away, ms. ringleader!

When Kristin first announced Vintage May, my thoughts were ‘how has this not been done before? Genius!’ Needless to say I was a bird with a French fry at the thought of putting together an outfit celebrating hand-made, vintage kiddie style. Pretty much all my favorite sewing criteria in one. Here, I’ve taken two modern patterns you know and love, the Oliver and S Sailboat pants and Made By Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee and busted out a vintage remix and a how-to to go along with it!

~ Le Pants~

They’re charming, swanky and oh so yesteryear, yup, I’m talking boys in bloomers. Once a skeptic but now a convert, they add instant vintage style to any outfit. For this version, I started with everyone’s favorite, the Oliver and S Sailboat shorts. To add that ye olde touch, I found a rather vintage looking (but probably circa last year) thrifted fabric, piped the top edge and added bloomer cuffs to the legs.

~ Le Shirt~

I once had a particular fondness for poaching brand new men’s shirts for their vintage images to re-fashion into boy’s t-shirts, see here and here. I had it totally justified that I was supporting Etsy sellers but it soon dawned that hey, what if I could transfer my own images onto tees? And since then, I’ve been on an endless quest for an easy and washable transfer method that doesn’t involve a screen print, messy solvents or the plastic-y feel of iron-on transfer paper. Last week I discovered the Lesley Riley TAP Artist Transfer Paper. This stuff is worthy of an eternal happy dance. Think super high quality iron-on transfer paper, with a matte finish, washable (apparently not just the once) that works on knits! I bought the ‘gentleman with antlers’ as a digital image from here. If you’d like to find a million more impossibly vintage images search for ‘digital download’ on Etsy and let the fun begin. The t-shirt here is a short sleeved version of Rae’s ‘flashback skinny tee‘ and I decided to leave off the ribbing at the neck and cuffs for an edgy effect. We’re all about the edgy.

~ Le Fedora~

The best part of this challenge was being able to take ‘vintage children’s outfit’ and take it where you like. I set out to make an outfit that was both modern and comfortable, with a vintage flair. So it needed a fedora hat with this pattern, made from a candy striped vintage men’s shirt. I didn’t read the size guide before buying the pattern and it says the largest size will fit a three year old, not a four year old with a big head. Somehow it works!

~ ~

and now, won’t you please…

~ Click through to Cirque du Bebe for Le Tutorial ~

Adding instant vintage with a bloomer bottom!

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see what i mean? argyle bloomers! antler-bowtie man! sophie is simply the coolest. head on over to CINO to check out a lovely lace dress tutorial by jessie of i’m thinking!

vintage may guest: made by rae

May 17, 2012November 20, 201228 Comments

not sure if i can introduce my next guest without gushing all over the place, so i’ll try to restrain myself. it’s rae of made by rae, and she’s pretty rad. i believe i discovered her during the very first “celebrate the boy” series that she co-hosts with dana, and i’ve been an avid (rabid?) fan ever since. she’s funny, she’s opinionated, and she can sew like the dickens! she makes fantastic patterns (i’ve used six of them and loved every single one), and aside from celebrate the boy, she also hosts an annual spring top sewalong and helpful learning events like the kniterviews. just go buy her flashback skinny tee pattern if you haven’t already, seriously. it’s a must for remixing – you’ll never have to create a bodice pattern again!

today rae is sharing a bubblegum dress so sweet, it’ll rot your teeth! (that’s what i told rae when she sent it to me anyway, and i’m standing by my statement.)

Hello skirt as top readers! I’m so happy I was asked to make something for the Vintage May series, it was just the excuse I needed to finish this 50’s-era dress for my daughter Clementine!

A couple years ago my mom gave me this vintage pattern in a toddler size 2 that had been passed down to her from my grandmother. I immediately fell for the cute design:

The trim! and the double-collar!! Trim always adds such a smart effect for very little effort.

When I started it last year (yes, yes, it actually got abandoned somewhere around putting in the invisible zipper), I was hoping it would fit Clementine, who was almost a size 2 at the time. Now, well…she’s nearly a size 3. But vintage baby patterns tend to run a bit wide and I used a 1″ hem instead of the 3″ hem (?!) built into the pattern pieces, and what do you know, it’s a perfect fit for this summer!

The dress is made with a lightweight bubblegum pink voile and white eyelet lace that reminds me of the stuff my sisters and I sewed on all of our doll clothes back in the eighties. Not sure how 50’s it is, and the color is pretty bold, so let’s call it a modern remix?

Bubblegum Dress

I feel like I’m the only person who feels this way because everyone seems to love the voiles but I find them a bit difficult to work with. For some reason I just can’t get nice crisp, smooth seams. They tend to pucker a bit even after they’ve been pressed. I ended up hand-sewing the hem and the neck and arm facings as a result. So she’d better wear this one is all I’m saying! But the weight is so lovely and light for summer, so don’t worry, I’m still glad I chose it. This dress might also look really incredible with a poplin or similar fabric that would really hold the shape well.

And what’s a vintage dress without a pair of bloomers to go with it? Those took less than a half hour to make and are totally worth it; bloomers are kind of like a pettiskirt, and they add a little lift to the dress which I love.

She seems to enjoy the bloomers on their own.

One final thing: I wanted to give you a quick look inside the pattern package. The diagrams are beautiful, as to be expected:

But one thing I wasn’t expecting was tissue paper pieces that were entirely un-marked, at least in the traditional sense:

These delicate pieces are marked by a series of perforations, which all mean different things: where you must mark the fabric for gathering and such, the edges where the pattern should be placed on the fold, and the direction of the grain. Very mysterious and a bit perplexing at first, but once I figured it out, it wasn’t a big deal.

I did trace each piece onto Swedish tracing paper (as you can see above) so I wouldn’t accidentally cut into or rip the original pieces when I was cutting out my pattern. An additional bonus: the pattern will last much longer.

Thanks so much for having me, Kristin! I hope you’ve all enjoyed the dress and the peek at this vintage pattern!

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clementine is so cute i could just squeeze her to bits! thanks so much, rae! head on over to CINO to see what the shwins have cookin’ for you today…

vintage may guest: girl.inspired.

May 16, 2012May 24, 20128 Comments

my guest today is stef from girl.inspired. stef and i were on season three of project run & play together, and while our styles were quite different during the competition, we had very similar experiences and really bonded via email once it was all over. stef sews classic, feminine, lovely clothes for her three beautiful daughters, and i know my Em would adore wearing every single one of her creations! she sells a selection of frocks in her etsy shop, and oh did i mention this lady can throw one heckuva party?

today stef is sharing a sweet dress that feels vintage but is actually made with modern fabrics and a modern pattern!

Isn’t Vintage May such a lovely idea for a sewing series? I’m so excited to be included! I do love some vintage goodness – furniture, dishes, housewares, sewing notions, clothing – I love to get lost in the stories of old items, imagining how these “vintage” items might have played a role in someone else’s life. History makes everything so much more interesting and fun! Children’s clothing from years past, in particular, conjures up images of innocence, attention to detail, simple embellishments, carefree play…it’s different in so many ways from today’s clothes. It was hard for me to choose a direction for a vintage-inspired outfit – so many fun options to try!!

In the end, I created a sweet little dress with tucks, pretty piping, and embroidery details. The fabric for the dress is Pink Mini Rose from the Annie’s Farm Stand line by designer Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Dry Goods. Love this fabric! The dress is cut in an A-line shape with cute little tucks across the bodice. I used a new pattern – Butterick B4176 for this main part of the dress.

But a vintage dress HAS to have a collar, right? So, I added a crisp, white collar and embellished it with handmade piping. A little satin bow finished it off.

In the back, truth be told, I ran out of fabric, and had to get creative.

I actually love how the dress came out with the pieced white panels on each side of the center. Rather than a zipper, I closed the dress with these great pink, vintage buttons all the way down the back. And then I couldn’t resist throwing some embroidery on there, too.

With so many “pretty” details, I decided to leave the dress sleeveless, with simple hemmed armholes. Cute, puffy sleeves would definitely fit the vintage bill, but I think that by omitting them, I’ve created a lovely dress that is vintage-inspired, while still remaining current.

Pretty, playful, and sweet.

This was such a fun and unique challenge. Thanks for having me over, Kristin! Come visit me at girl. Inspired. for more sewing and crafting inspiration!!

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thanks so much, stef! what a pretty dress, and still so wearable and comfy for a little gal to play in!

today jess has simple simon providing great tips on sewing with vintage patterns. head on over to learn more!