One of my favorite notions . . .

Every seamstress has a couple of "can't do without" notions. The typical list includes: scissors; seam ripper; rotary cutter; cutting mat; etc. For me its my measuring guage. I'm not talking of the adjustable gauges:




But for me its the fixed 14 in 1 measuring gauge. These gauges allow you to measure from 1/8th inch to 2 inches.




I have two of these; one from Bernina and one from Viking. I found mine at a little antique mall in Wyoming for 50 cents each. Sewing Machine companies used to make these to give to customers; but I don't' think they do so anymore. Dritz still makes them. I've seen them ranging in price from $2.50 (ebay) to $5.00 (online).

I like these way better than the ones with the adjustable slides. When I use the adjustable slide, I have a tendency to nudge the slide out of place. This isn't the case with these. Then there is the added fact that because of there size, they are very easy to travel with (I can just stick it in a pocket in my purse). That's also the downfall; because of their size, they are easy to loose. So far I have managed to keep up with these two; with a lot of determination. (When I can't find them I start to panic).

I still use the one with the adjustable slide; when I need to measure more than 2 inches. But these are my first choice for anything 2 inches or less.

Happy Sewing . . . .

More Vintage Patterns . . . .

Pray for me for I have gone to the thrift store, and found a treasure trove of vintage patterns.  My nearby thrift stores have patterns and from time to time.  So earlier this week I decided to drop in and see what they had.  This time I lucked out and found some, in my size!  So let me show you what I found for 99 cents each!

Don't you just love the cutout in the bodice.

I like the fullness in the back.

 A nice summer dress; I love the removable caplet.

Just a simple skirt.

Check out the cowl neck; "Everything old is new again".

Check out the pleating in the bodice.

Of course there was no way I was leaving this one; I love the pleated neckline.  This will be one of the first ones I make.

Well that's it for now.  I did finish my border print vintage dress.  I'm working on the petticoat.  Hope to have pictures by end of next week.

Happy Sewing. . . .

By the Pound

Well I finally made a skirt from one of the "by the pound" pieces. It was a designer fabric. The fabric was a light weight sheer chiffon. It was over 8 yards of the fabric and cost me about $7.

I used 3 widths of the fabric, and a light weight brown to underline it. For the waistline I just did 2 rows of elastic: 


I did a one inch deep double roll hem (to add a little weight at the bottom). Talk about taking forever - approximately 180 inches of hemline!

I have a wide elastic belt with metal buckle that I paired up with it:


The skirt is light and airy. I wanted to run around outside and let it just blow in the wind.

I found a black cowl neck top at TJ-MAXX, which worked out nicely:

 BTW, guess what my sister saw at Marshall's in Texas!  A designer dress made from the fabric that I purchased at Michael Levin Fabric Store. 

I think I like the skirt version better.

Happy Sewing . . . .

Hidden Fabric Haven

As you may have realized, I'm a vintage pattern junkie. I love the dresses with the full skirts. I love them because that means I only have to fit the top and not the bottom of the dress :).

Well I decided I needed to make a petticoat slip to go with my dresses (rather than lining of each dress). So my sewing group leader recommended that I go to a little store known as Allyn's Bridal shop.



It's actual name is Allyn's Millinary and Bridal Supply. Its located at 2306 East 6th Avenue, Denver, CO. This store has been here for at least as long as I've been in the Denver area. I've never really gone in; primarily because I just assumed it specialized in bridal related wear only.

Boy was I wrong! I went in to get some light weight tulle to make my petticoat. But when I went in I saw all types of supplies for hat making and bridal wear. There was ribbon in all styles and widths. I purchased some of the extra wide gross-grain. I saw lace which made me have flash backs to the smocking and heirloom sewing I used to do for my daughter! I've already made a mental note; that the first grandkid will have a smocked outfit from G-ma.

There were also some of the most beautiful fabrics you could imagine! The store was stocked from floor to ceiling in all types of silks, laces, knits, etc. Each time you turned into one room there was another room just around the corner filled with fabric. I never knew this place existed in Denver.






Pictured are two of the many rooms of fabric. I will definitely be heading back here. I spotted this piece of silk fabric, that I have got to go back and get; now that I know what I want to make out of it :).



So if you are in the Denver area go by and check it out.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thank God for the stash!

I've been browsing the sewing/fashion blogs; along with the magazines, and have decided that I want a pair of 'print' jeans. I've always shied away from print jeans but after seeing this layout in InStyle magazine (July, 2012 issue), I decided if Beyonce can do it then so can I ( I mean she's a woman with curves and a rear and is able to pull it off right!):

So for the last couple of weeks I've been on a fashion hunt for printed denim.
This is what I found at JoAnn's the other day:

A acid wash and a paint splatter denim with some spandex in it (great for fitting over the rear). Well after getting my skirt done from the previous blog, I remembered a heavy cotton weight spandex I had purchased a while back to make some capri pants:

What do you think? Maybe I'll add some solid to tone it down a little? I'll be starting with the acid wash first, and then work my way to this. So does anyone have any suggestions!

By the way, As you can tell, I'm catching up on my blogging :).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Burda Skirt 4/2010-111

So here is one of the projects that I have just completed. I came across theis pattern when I was doing my Burda Pattern organizing:


It wasn't very complicated at all. I used this cotton print I had in my stash .

The pattern calls for approximate 2 1/4 yards. I had 2 yards; but was able to squeeze the skirt out of the fabric.
The modifications I made were:
1. Lengthened by 4 inches; but next time will add 5 inches instead. The skirt
stops directly at the knee. The 4 inches put me where I wanted the final hemline
to be. The skirt has a 1 inch hem. So for this skirt I added Lace on the hem,
so I was able to fold 1/4 inch on the hemline. I've already altered the pattern.



2. The other thing is that the pattern called for quite a bit of top stitching I
chose not to do any top stitching, since my fabric print was somewhat busy. I wanted the focus to be the print. Besides since I had gotten the fabric from
my stash, I didn't want to have to buy thread to match the print.
3. Placed interfacing on the pocket edges and waistband for stability
With the Burda patterns, I'm finding that I very rarely need to do a full rear adjustment.
4. The tie was to be edge-stitched to the waistband. But as I stated I didn't want any edge stitching to show, so I attached the tie by hand.



This is the finished product: (front and back)




I've got an African print that I will be making this out of, after I add the additional length.

Maturing and "Valuable Time"

I have been a busy bee over the last couple of weeks.  Right after my last post, I went to LA to see my cousin.  While I was there I met up with other seamstresses for a fabric district romp with Mimi.  That was the most fun!  I even got my sister to join me (Finally after 20+ years she has decided to take up sewing!).  I fell in love with the garment/fabric district.  The NY trip prepared me for it!




A snippet of one of the many blocks in LA garment/fabric district



BY THE POUND!!!  We found the Michael Levine's outlet store; Can you say Sewing Heaven!!! We found a couple of designer pieces here.  You just have to be willing to dig.  And they'll cut it if you only want part of piece!

 Since then I've been sewing, sewing, sewing.  I've made a couple of dresses, a petticoat for my vintage dresses, started on some pants, etc.   I'll have to post the pictures later (I'm trying to convince the hubby I need a camera with a remote; he's almost convinced).

In the meantime, as most of you may remember, I've been going thru an organization phase.  Well I got my patterns put into Microsoft onenote and got a fabric stash binder completed.  Then I decided it was time to organize the magazines.  I have all of my magazines (Burda and Patrones) in magazine holders.  I have a stash of Burda Mags from about 1998 to current.  Anyway I'm discovering with maturity (SMILE), that I just don't have the patience to thumb thru the magazines to look for a pattern; so I figured why not put the line-drawings for my Burda's in Onenote, and then I can just look thru those from my laptop, iphone, or ipad.  So I've been in the process of scanning those in.  So far I have the scans from the current back to 2009 (and still going):

 

Scanned line drawing (jpeg) for Burda.  The URL for magazine archives is at BURDA



Line drawing in Microsoft OneNote

 So now I can scan thru my Burda mags to see if there is a pattern in Burda that meets my needs, no matter where I am at.  (eventually, I'll add text to the pages so that I can do searches).

NOTE: If any of you are interested in accessing the line-drawings please let me know and I will make them available to others.  Also, if some of you are interested, I found another link for looking at the line drawings and pictures (it seems more organized than the Burda site).  Burda Online Magazines; its in Russian; so I've included the link via Google translator.  It also has line drawings/pix for La Boutique, etc.