Victorian Sewing

Wow I actually do sew costumes still! It has been so long since I have done it I was beginning to wonder myself. This isn’t one of the fanciest dresses (well skirts now but will be a dress soon) that you would see at a large SASS event by any means but it is a big deal for me. I am not usually that good at going off on my own. If I have directions I tend to stick to them. I am fine if I start something on my own but if there are directions I am lazy & just following along like a lemming off a cliff. So for this one I really kind of took a picture of an outfit & made my own version from this & that, making it my own.

Let me give you a little crash course on Victorian Era Fashions. There are basically 5 periods; Pre-hoop & Hoop 1830-1869, Early Bustle 1869-1876, Natural Form 1877-1882, Late Bustle 1883-1889 & Belle Epoch 1890-1901. There are very distinct characteristics that set these periods apart & I do not claim to be an expert by any means. I just know the basics & just try to research the rest as I go along.

I like wanted to make a Natural Form dress. The big thing about the Natural Form period is that as the name suggested they primarily did not wear styles that required a hoop or bustle to hold the shape of the dress or at least nothing as elaborate as the earlier or later periods. When hoops & bustles could be huge! Also I should add that sewing patterns where nothing like what we have today they came in magazines all the pieces printed on one large page all over lapping in black ink, the lines of each piece in different combinations of dots or dashes. I will have try to find an example to show you all some time.

I drafted the overskirt from Fashions of the Gilded Age Vol #1 & the underskirt was made from Truly Victorian’s Fan Tail skirt, the trained version.

This was my inspiration from Fashions of the Gilded Age:



Here are my fabrics:

I used the diagrams in the book as best I could to get the general shape for the over skirt. Then I just pined & repined until I got the look I liked.

Here is the nearly finished product:






I still need to add a pleated ruffle to the underskirt & make a bodice, but I am so happy with the way that this turned out I had to share! I am still trying to decide what to do for the back. Here is a picture before I added the ribbon trim:



I will be sure to post some pictures of me wearing the finished dress hopefully at The SASS World Championships in June.

And the winners are............

Where did the weekend go????? My goodness it was Fri & then the next thing I knew it was Sun night. Yuck!

Ok so on with the contest……drummmmmmrollllllll…….

And the winners are:

#1 Springtime Pond Fiona Purse: Capello!

#2 Poppy Fields Amber Joy Messenger Bag: Bekka!

& last but not least

#3 Hippie Summer Fiona Purse: Finnyknits!

But wait there is more!!!!!



I had some (ha some that is the understatement of the year) fabric leftover so I whipped up a couple little zipper bags too. One from each of the color combos & drew names for those to from the comments as well.

The winners of those are:

#1 Springtime Pond zipper bag – Melanie of Taylor Design
#2 Poppy Fields zipper bag – Julie
#3 Hippie Summer zipper bag – Chara Michele

Yeah to all of you! If you all could pop me an e-mail with your address I will try to get those mailed out to you this week. I hope that you will enjoy them & thanks for everyone for your sweet comments.

Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled posting!

100th Post!!!!!!(finally) & Big News!

Ok kids lets get to it. I know, I know this has been a long time in coming but I think that once you hear the “Big News” you will understand. If not well that is just too bad, right?

So here is what I have cooked up for my 100th post give away: 3 of my purses.

I took inspiration from several places & have been working on getting these just right. So who ever wins will have to let me know what they think & give me some feedback & suggestions for any changes.

#1) I have the Springtime Pond Fiona Purse, named after my wonderful friend Fiona that received the first one I ever made! I have made a couple changes since then but the over all shape is the same. She made is made from vintage lily pad fabric for the pockets with vintage buttons. The lining is of chartreuse green variegated cotton with printed white polka dots & the exterior is of tan cotton. There is also an interior pocket.

#2) Next up the Poppy Fields Amber Joy Messenger Bag, named for my baby sister. She is a fun & practical bag that is made from vintage re purposed yellow poppy print fabric for the strap & lining with a vintage button on the front. The exterior is of green re purposed linen fabric. There is also an exterior pocket on the back & an interior pocket.


#3) Last but now least the Hippie Summer Fiona Purse. She is a hip purse made from vintage retro Daisy & Daffodil print fabric for the front pockets with vintage buttons. The lining is made sunny yellow & white gingham. The exterior is of navy re purposed linen fabric. There is also an interior pocket.

I will draw 3 winners on Sunday night (May 6th) from all those that comment. When you comment just let me know if there is a particular purse that you would like to be entered for or if you want to be entered for each of them, but you can only win one. Gotta share the love. So there you go Dears, I hope that it was worth the wait & best of luck to everyone!

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So now the reason that this has been so long in coming. We are moving to The Land of Enchantment, New Mexico!!!!! John was offered a job with the company that he worked for in FL & it is a God sent for sure. Many of you know that MI has not been kind to us. We are still dealing with our “house problem” that has no definite end in sight, but we have decided to forge forward & start our new life come Hell or high water.

As we can’t even begin to list our house here much less actually sell it at this point we are looking at some unconventional living arrangements in NM. We feel however that this is much better than the alternative, which is being apart for who knows how long.

So we are working out all the details but our hope is to be in NM no later than June 18th so that we can attend this which is all of 15 min from where we are going to be living! How exciting is that???!!! (Well if you are a SASS member it’s exciting, everyone else maybe not so much, but pretend with me ok?) I am so excited that I will finally get to me my friend Gina who makes this kind of beautiful stuff!



So in preparing for our move I have been trying to get as many projects done as possible & organize some so that I can still be creative when everything else is in storage. Also I have been looking at a lot of sites like this. Seeing as the first time I will be in NM is the day that I drive the moving truck across the state line. I really enjoyed reading about Finny & Kelli's Santa Fe adventure (high on the list of must sees in NM) & would love to hear anyone else's NM stories.

Let the adventure begin! I will try to post as often as I can to let you all know how it’s going.

Wish us luck & good luck to everyone on for the drawings!

New Amy Butler Patterns.

I have signed up for her e-mail newsletters I don't know how many times but I never seem to get them! Oh well.

Monkey Foot Designs as 4 of the 6 new patterns that Amy will have out this Spring & Summer on her Blog.

I really like the two bag patterns, Stash & Dash & the Frenchy Bags.

The Barcelona Skirt & the Blue Sky Hats are also very cute, but I mostly likely will not be buying them. But they are pretty eye candy to look at!

Holy Detail Batman!

I just had to share this!

As I was perusing my feeds I saw Shannon's Ralph Rucci-inspired jacket & I am just speechless!!!!

Really I am blown away!

It is amazing! Even if it’s not your style the amount of work (20 HOURS!) that she put into it & the attention to detail!!!! Oh my GOSH! The appliqué is even on the front facings people!

It’s is an incredible masterpiece & should not be missed for sure!

Go check it out.

Now! Don’t wait GO!

Or you know when you have the time, I don't want to be too pushy, but really you should.

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. ~Josh Billings

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground. ~Author Unknown

You maybe be wondering what became of my pile O’WIP's from last Fridays post. Weeeeellllll I got some things done that I wanted to but as always not as much as I would have liked.

Saturday I had hoped would be super productive because John was working, but the project I was working on too much longer than I had anticipated.

After this post about recycling plastic bags into crocheted shopping totes I have really had the whole plastic bag issue on my mind. I have my plastic bags all laid out ready to be turned into “yarn” but that is as far as I have gotten on that project. I did however have another idea. Creating reusable shopping bags from re purposed materials thus eliminated plastic shopping bags by using cute & stylish shopping bags made from materials that may have otherwise ended up in a landfill! Talk about killing two birds with one stone! (not that I regularly throw stones & certainly not at birds mind you, but you get the idea.)

That is the project that was giving me fits on Sat. The bag design that I was using as my inspiration was lined & I was trying to make my bag unlined but with just as neat & tidy of a finish. I had to try & try again to get the finished product to where I was satisfied. After many a seam being ripped I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.



All the seams as stitched & then encased in bias tape for a clean finish & added strength. The sides have gussets for added roominess. I added a pocket to the front for coupons, shopping list, pen, whatever.



So here is my WIP pile for this Fri.


Back left: cut out & ready to sew – 4 Western Heritage shirts, split skirt, AB Covington Bag
Back Middle: traced patterns – Onion 5036 blouse & vest pattern for the 3 vest I have an order for. I had to add 3” in the length for this guy!
Back & Front Right: More WIP’s to be cut out, another purse (haven’t decided on a pattern yet), more shopping bags & a plain split skirt (I think, I hate making just a plain one with the other fancy soutache trimmed ones, I have my reputation to up hold after all! Bawahahahah!I crack myself up!), some more purse fabric & other assorted WIPs.
Front Left: Cut & ready to sew - Reusable Shopping bags

So I didn't do too terrible, not as much as I would have liked but I think that even if I had an entire week to work non stop I still wouldn't make a dent in all the projects I would like to get done!

Here is a close up of the pocket for another shopping bag. I had stitched the rick rack on & I really like how it turned out.


How serendipitous is this? I started this post yesterday & was starting to finish it up this morning. As usual I was checking out my new feeds on Bloglines (is it just me or are the feeds like crack? I get so excited when I see new post pop up on someone’s blog! I would have to say that the Big Dance has nothing on Feeds when it comes to squashing productivity!). Anyway I am really enjoying the Adorn Mag blog as I mentioned yesterday (almost as much as the mag it's self I might add) so anyway what would the post for the day be about? Green crafters! (Hi Linda!) I just stumbled onto Sew Green the other day & have to admit that I haven't had a chance to delve into it as much as I want to but I was intrigued. Also LP mentions that she uses a tote bag to do her grocery shopping (See great minds do think alike!)along with how several other eco-conscious craft vendors are working to do their part.

Definitely worth checking out!

McCall’s Early Summer 2007

McCall's has posted their Early Summer 2007 patterns on their website.

I didn't see anything terribly exciting. There are a couple that I might pick up if I catch a sale.

Here is my very humble opinion on the latest offerings.

Dress 5379: I would completely passed this one by except that Stacy mentioned it. I passes it by initially because I am not much for handkerchief hems for me personally. I do however like View C very much. Also it is made for knits which seem to be jumping out at me lately.


Top 5388: Another pattern for knits. This looks very Anthroplogie –ish to me. I like View C minus the ruffles or D is cute too.


Pants/Capris 5393: Oh sure now that ordered the Onion fly front pants with a draw string no one of the Big 4 comes out with one! I have been looking for this style for years! Oh well for $1.99 will still pick it up. Can a girl have too many pants patterns? John, you just never mind!


Skirt 5390: For some reason I like View B, it's kind of cute. I am not sure how I feel about those massive pockets though. Hmmmm....

Knit yoga/lounge wear 5398: I might not actually buy it or make it but for some reason I like the look of it. It's cute lounge wear that I could totally see my shelf wearing to sit on the porch drinking coffee on a Sat morning. To bad we don't have a porch. It's cute anyway, although I am not sure how I feel about the little shrug deally bob yet.


Most everything else I found either already done to death or just not worth mentioning.

However I did find this & just had to ask.....
Really? We are going to revisit the legging? Even in sewing patterns????

Yeah I don't think that this girl will be. Too I didn't save all my clothes from Jr high because it appears that it's all back in. Well & too bad that I couldn't actually fit into it if I had. Oh well......

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~Jack London

WIP’s

Well we learned yesterday that John had has to work this Sat. Bummer! He has to work one Sat a month & it is supposed to be the 3rd Sat of the month but something with the # of Sat in March makes it work out that he has to work tomorrow. Poor thing. He was so looking forward to 2 days of rest as he is not over his sinus infection yet.

The good thing is that I should be able to get some sewing done! Lemonaid from lemons my dears!

Now I have a ton of sewing orders that I should be working on. A fellow shooter dropped off fabric for 3 additional vest to me last night. I need to draw up a pattern to fit his tall thin frame first. I might try to do that & get the vest cut out. Also I have another vest & 2 other shirts that still need cutting out for some other guys. I would like to get those cut out as well.

Then there is this WIP that I have been working on quite a bit lately.



It goes with these pockets.

When I was home sick it was the only thing that I could bare to work on because I didn’t have to leave the couch! It is the front panel of the split skirt. I need to get the rest of the skirt cut out. Maybe I will have a cutting fest & add it to the pile of cutting listed above.

I also have these WIP’s:



The 3 fabrics in the back row, left & center, are thrifted sheets & on the right pillowcases. I have an idea that I have been working out in my mind for something for my Etsy shop. You didn’t know that I had an Etsy shop? That’s because I have never put anything in it! I’ll keep you posted as to how that goes.

The purple fabric in the front right is going to eventually become the Onion 5036 Blouse. The other fabric is a slinky knit that I am not sure what I will make out if it yet. It matches a skirt that I already own & some fabric that has yet to become a skirt, but I haven’t decided on a top pattern yet.

One last item, a completed WIP! I know that you will remember how I was going on & on about my bosses’ daughter’s wedding and what to wear. I actually did finish the dress, but didn’t get to wear it. There was a wardrobe malfunction with the velvet duster jacket that I was going to wear with it. As it was in the teens the day of the wedding I did feel that I would be any where near warm enough in a sleeveless dress & no cover up. I opted for wearing something else. It was more business like than I would have liked but warm.

However when the next event that requires a dress arises I am ready! I like the way the dress turned out except for the zipper in the back. I don’t think that it was my doing but the zipper at the bottom wants to bow out. It could be because the skirt is cut on the bias I am not sure. I might be able to iron it into submission or maybe by wearing the dress it will work it’s self out? I am not sure & seeing as it is still in the 20’s I won’t worry about it right now. Here is the close up of the bodice detail.


I would love to hear what is on everyone else’s weekend to do list!

I hope that everyone has a great & productive weekend!

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path. ~Mason Cooley*

In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running. ~Jeff Bezos*

What a fun filled weekend!

Saturday was a waste between the Dr office & the over 1 hour & 15 minutes that I had to stand & wait for the prescriptions to be filled(Rite Aid you suck with trying to cut costs & only having 2 people on staff during cold & flu season!!!!). John has a sinus infection & a pretty bad one at that. Then it was home to load him up on a drug stores worth of meds. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner (with homemade noodles! Yum!) along with a loaf my favorite Sour Cream Banana Bread. Sorry no pictures & seeing as the bread is ½ gone & the lid to the Tupperware stuck to the top of the bread you wouldn’t really want to see it anyway, but it still tastes yummy!

So Sunday I actually got to sew! Yeah! The only really stinky thing is that my serger is a big o’l piece of ……Well you know! My mom took it back to FL to have “our sewing machine guy” work on it because here in SW MI even though you are a Pfaff dealer you apparently don’t have a clue about them but will still charge a girl $30 to tell her that the God awful clunking that her serger is making is just because it is a noisy serger! I didn’t realize that it still made the noisy till I got it home. FL Sewing Machine Guy sent mine back & it was ok, as ok as it gets when I first started sewing my Onion 5038 T-shirt. I went over the shoulder seam when I was attaching the neck binding (not at a breakneck pace either I might add) & Hello God Awful Clunking! GRRRRRR!!! John was able to get an allen wrench & readjust the thread guide right above the needles (which is hitting the underside of the case causing the clunking) but there must be something else that is happening to make this happen because the piece that holds the needle that the thread guide screws too can’t move. Once we get that fixed. Now my stitch is all crap. So it was back to sewing & then zig zagging the edges on the regular machine. Fine serger, have it your way. You will just be used for finishing.

Ok sorry about my serger rant & on with what I have to show for all my serger aggravation:

Ta Da!


It is the same pattern that Stacy recently reviewed , only I opted for the long sleeve version with the curved hem & haven’t add buttons yet. I made the small, as my fabric is only a cotton jersey (maybe some poly) but no lycra. I was afraid that there wouldn’t be enough stretch for the x-small. When I make it again from a stretchier fabric I will make the x-small.

I made it to go with my favorite lounge pants from the Jan 2006 - Burda WOF.

Not the best picture but you get the idea. The pant color & T trim are much closer in color in real life.

I love both of these & will definitely be making more. I have a stretch terry in the same pink as the T-shirt knit to make another pair of the lounge pants & more than enough of the aqua knit from the T trim to make another T. That one will have pink trim!

Then I would like to make this T in a stretchier knit. Also I would like to see how it would look in a print with a solid trim. Also I want to make a couple in more solid color combos to showcase some really fab vintage buttons. After all the wonderful Pink & Brown Goodness Heidi bestowed on me I am so tempted to get some nice cotton lycra in pink & brown to make one of each with contrasting trim & awesome buttons!!!!

Ohhhhh the ideas abound!!!!!!!


I can see this being a wardrobe staple for years to come! I am so glad that Stacy talked me into ordering it! (I totally blame her!)








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* Quote Garden After all the wonderful Pink & Brown Goodness Hiedi bestowed on me