Where it's #vintagepledge in polka dots

Hello there.

New week new energies to spend. This is hopefully going to be a good one. I've always been one to love Mondays: new prospects, new hopes, new planning...

Today is a special Monday for me, because it's D-2 to meet my Chéri again, after one and a half months apart. We'll meet in Rome and then spend a little less than one month travelling around Italy. We'll be at home but it's going to feel like holidays. Anyway, this dress is going directly into the suitcase:

It's my first make for #vintagepledge of 2015, and I completed it a couple of months ago. Since then, I've been wearing it regularly. The pattern is Modes et Travaux n.1176, and as usual I am having a hard time to understand which decade it is. From the styling I guess something around late 1980s or 1990s, but I can totally be wrong. Correct me if you have more informations or more pattern-dating skills.

I can easily say that is one of my favourite dresses ever. I liked the design since the beginning and then I've come to love it even more after all the details I hid into it: a lot of topstitching and a lot of satin bias binding, all handsewn. The inside is definitely more interesting than the outside.

The only thing I didn't make is a matching belt. I have the fabric to make it, and I have an idea in mind, but I started wearing the dress with a belt I already had and lost the motivation to make a dedicated one. Maybe one day. I think it is cute even without belt, but it is designed to have one and kind of looks incomplete without it.

Left: no belt. Right: with belt

The main feature of the design is the collar, with its sailor vibe. It is the collar which inspired the colour combination of this version. Maybe one day I will make this pattern again in a drapey silk and it will be very different, but the present version is perfect for summer and for my wardrobe.

I like a lot how the bodice is gathered under the collar both at the front and at the back. For this simple gathering it was quite easy to fit, since it has a forgiving shape with a lot of ease. I like that it looks fitted at the waist but remains quite puffy at the back and at the hips.

The construction was quite interesting: the front has separated pieces for bodice and skirt and the back is all one piece. You sew everything apart from the collar, which is eventually assembled to the rest with the visible topstitching. 

The fabric was a present from Chéri: last October he went to visit some friends of him in Bristol and dragged them into the fabric store to choose this very fabric. Imagine four non-sewing guys looking for fabric. Isn't he the sweetest?

Anyway, the fabric is a nice light cotton, printed in the tiniest polka dots, white on blue. Difficult to capture in pictures, but nice. I decided to emphasize the sailor look with red topstitching and big red vintage buttons I bought at the flea market here in Toulouse.

It is a wrap dress but I actually always leave it closed since I can wear it as it is, and I don't like to mess with my fragile buttonholes.

The pattern modifications I made concerned the collar and the waist, and shortening the hem. At the waist I added several cm. to comfortably host my characteristic belly; given the forgiving design with a lot of ease I could have maybe forego this step, but I wanted to be on the safe side.

For the collar, I had to widen the internal curve of 2-3 cm. to host my neck, and maybe I could have done a little more: as you can see from the picture it still lays a bit too much on my neck. Next time.

When I started working on this dress I muslined also sleeves, but then decided to go for the sleeveless version, and finished armholes with facing. I enjoyed sewing this dress, because I took my time and splurged on hidden details. Now I am enjoying wearing it because it is the perfect everyday dress with enough coverage but cute finishing, and I always get a lot of compliments for it. It makes me feel like a total vintage babe! French people often say that it looks perfect for my chic Italian style. Let's see what Italian people will think of it in a few days.

Where I use a vintage remedy against the heatwave

Hello there.

As I am sure you have been informed by everyone on the internet, temperatures are crazy in Europe right now. Here in Toulouse we have peaks of 38°C. 

Something you might not know is that I do not enjoy hot weather. I might be unpopular but it's not my fault, I just feel dizzy and deprived of any energy. Case in point: yesterday I fainted in the metro. 

So please excuse my non smiling face in these pictures, it is just enough that I was standing up. They were taken two weeks ago but never got around actually writing this post.

                      

This is my second make of the #vintagepledge even if you still haven't seen the first one. My life is quite messy right now so it seems about right to have no order whatsoever in my posts. Anyway.

The pattern is a new acquisition in my library and it is Modes et Travaux # 1087, year unknown. Please shout out if you have any clues about the date. 

I bought it one month ago at the monthly flea market for 2€. It is described as "Blouse bain-de-soleil en cotonnade imprimé". It is a wrap blouse which closes with a waist tie and back bow. Super cute, I know. 

It also has a second blouse pattern integrated, which I will make as soon as I find the perfect fabric for it.

I removed the waist tie because I didn't have enough fabric (more on that later on) and went with a few hidden buttons to keep it close.

The first time I wore it, I realized it had a too deep décolleté and ended up covering myself up until I reached the haberdashery and bought a strategic safety pin. Chéri was with me that time and he agreed. On the previous picture you can see how the safety pin is pulling in my chest area and changing a bit the overall look of the garment.

I like how this pattern pairs with my plain separates and my vintage sunglasses, and how easy and breezy it is to wear in the heat. I am also very pleased with the back view, since this is my only blouse with straps and low-cut back. I should make more like that! I look awful in every back picture, but I like to believe that reality is better.

As this was my second Modes et Travaux pattern, I already knew how to hack the fitting: I went for a size 48 grading up a few cm at the waist. My previous pattern of the same brand ended up being a bit tight at the shoulders, but this time the straps were easy to fit with simple adjustments on length and positioning.

The fabric is a scrap from another project (that you will see around here soon enough). I bought it in Remnant Kings in Edinburgh, composition unknown but it feels like a nice viscose. It is very drapey and probably not the best for this pattern, which I would like to make again in a more stable cotton or linen. I believe the drape covers a bit the interesting pattern features but all in all it is a nice colourful blouse to wear in summertime. Also, the fact that it was the first time with this pattern pushed me to use whatever nice scrap I had around just to play with adjustments and make something quick and rewarding. 

The pattern features French darts, which I had never experienced before, and I must say I love the vintage feel they add to the garment, and the bust shape they make, quite pointy to be honest. I wish I took more care in sewing the darts especially in smoothing their ends, but I felt I was in a no-pressure mindless project and went all the way lazy. And I can be a lot lazy.

Anyway, that's it for this blouse, and I am closing with a picture where I actually smile despite the heat, go figure!

Where we open the dances at the #vintagepledge festival

Hello there.

Today I am showing a vintage dress. When I signed up for the Vintage Pattern Pledge in March, I intended to sew two of my vintage patterns, and use one of my grandma's vintage fabrics. Too bad I did not remember that I already had two vintage makes which needed modifications. So now I am adding these two modifications to my challenge.

One of them is the Sophie French Jacket I used in a theatre play but still needs to be lined to be wearable every day, and the other one is the Burda 22691 dress, version A.

I bought this pattern when my parents came to see me in Toulouse one year ago and we went to the fleamarket. I started the dress soon enough, but discovered that the shoulder strap pattern was missing. At the time my fitting skills were less than zero, so I cut very long straps and started wearing the dress, only to discover that the size was wrong, with too much room in the bust area. So, never used it again.

Today I am presenting you the adjusted version of it. You can clearly see that the fit is far from perfect but at least now I can wear it.

What I did has been to shorten the shoulder straps. This changes the supposed fit from the original pattern, but surely I didn't want to unpick dress and lining and try to save it in another way. So I am ok with that. I take it as a wearable muslin and carry on.

This great fabric also comes from the same fleamarket. It is a lovely cotton, slightly rigid, which goes well with this particular pattern. I also tried to match the print across the 7 (!) panels which compose the pattern, and I am happy with the result. Also, that exposed zipper kills me every single time I see it, but one year ago that was the best I could do.

I am totally in love with the shape of this dress, so unusual for my style. I think I will try and sew more like that, maybe from a pattern which has all the pieces, and maybe experimenting a more drapey fabric.

I've searched all over the internet to date this pattern, but could not find any resources. I am guessing late 1960s, but that is only a humble guess. If you know more, please let me know.