Favourite vintage McCalls pattern

Lately I've become a little bit obsessed with this McCalls pattern from 1958. It is a very simple, easy to make pencil dress. 

It consists of three main pieces; the front, which is cut on the fold, and the back, which is in 2 pieces. Then there are the straps and the facings (Joy! It's not lined! Or rather, the pattern seems to call for lining AND facing... complete waste of time in my mind)

Just going off track for a second, I absolutely hate lining things. It's like making two of something but ending up with only one. I don't mind lining coats; you're supposed to see it then, so you can make it pretty and part of the garment. But lining a dress? I mean, maybe a winter dress, so it's warmer. Otherwise, No.

Anyway back to this amazing dress. I've made a few now, so rather than bore the pants off anyone who still reads this blog by ranting about it over and over again, I've decided to show off everything at once.

First up: Blue florals.

This first attempt is not quite right. It looks nice and the fabric is very pretty, but I didn't get the sizing right. The pattern is a size 16, and it's not too far off a modern size 12 as far as I can tell. I took in the seams and altered the darts a little, but it's still a little loose, especially around the bust. 

I suppose I could fix it, now that I've made a few and I know what I'm doing, but, meh... I don't really want to. It's wearable.

Second attempt: School plaid.

Yes, this looks like school uniform fabric. However, it does not look like MY school uniform, so it's ok. As you can see, I got the sizing and alterations right this time.

Then I made this dress pattern version, which I have a feeling I've already posted up here before. Just in case I haven't, here it is (possibly again).

I'm not wild about this version. The fabric is nice but it feels too busy. I feel like it doesn't do the pattern justice.

Final and most recent version: Barbie pink.

I looooove this one. The fabric is stiffly stretchy (is stiffly a word? It looks weird but I'm not being asked to spell-check it) and really comfy. The top edge around the bust is really firm, so I can't take any deep breaths when I'm wearing it. There must be too much stitching up there for it to stretch properly, or maybe I just didn't allow the fabric to stretch when I was sewing it.

 

I will probably make more of these dresses. 

 

Christmas dress 2014

So I'm a teensy bit late getting back into blogging this year, but better late than never... or whatever.

Every year I make a Christmas dress. It doesn't have to be made of Christmas fabric specifically but I like it to have Christmas colours at least. Last year's effort was white with red and green, which is Christmassy enough for me.

This is a standard bodice/circle skirt pattern I use a lot. It fits well and it's very easy to make. I lined this one in a fairly stiff satin to make the skirt puff out. The outer fabric is a poly/cotton.

The first time I wore it I got a tiny little bit of chilli oil on the front, but it's so small it's not terribly noticeable. 

Oh! And I have a new tattoo. I had my lower left arm completed in December. Three roses and a spidey on a web. 

And of course, what would a Christmas dress be without my Christmas earrings? They are little dancing mice.

The end of my year was fairly low-key. I work in retail now and it was absolutely mental in the lead-up to Christmas Day! I can now gift wrap absolutely anything like a pro. I also never want to hear the words 'gift wrap' ever again until next Christmas. Afterwards, I sat down a lot.

New Year's consisted of a burger and a beer with my boyfriend, which was perfect.

New Year's resolutions?

~* more yoga (at least 4-5 times a week) *~

~* learn more recipes and cook more *~

~* try something new each month to be healthy *~

That last one can translate to anything - Sugar-Free Month, Walk More Month, 

Don't Injure Yourself This Month, etc.

China blue

Damn and blast all washed out photos! 

 

 

This fabric - a bed sheet I picked up in an op-shop - was originally white, which looked far too stark for a dress and since when do I wear white anyway? So I took to it with a packet of China Blue dye.

The pattern is New Look 6587, view D.

Alterations: I took the bodice waaaaaay in. It looks loose on the model on the pattern envelope but fitted in the design drawings. Considering it has princess seams I don't really understand why it would be so loose-fitting. So I took mine in.

The other alteration is I used a zip instead of buttons. I really just don't enjoy the fiddlyness of buttons and matching them up with button holes, blah blah blah... and I just happened to have a zip which matched perfectly.

Brief life update: 

I have quite my job of 10 years, and my final week is next week. This is rather scary but I am looking forward to a change. 

 

Jay and I have split up. We had a wonderful time together and I am glad I can still call her a friend.

And, and! I have a new tattoo! You can see half of it here and in the third photo above. It is two swallows, one on each shoulder. I only had it done on Wednesday so it's still quite bruised and tender.

AND in a few short hours I'll be attending the debauchery that is Helgastock2014! There may or may not be photos, depending on how incriminating they are...

So yes. New dress, new tattoo, new life. Loving it.

(final gratuitous photo just because I like it)

My eyebrows and other first world problems

So I wrote a post all about my two year anniversary of blogging, made sure people knew I was still around and then promptly disappeared from Blog Land. 

Way to guarantee my continued online presence.

I've been thinking about blogging a lot lately, whilst not actually doing it, and I really want to get back into it. I had various reasons for stopping for a while, one of them being I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my blog. It was always, dress this, skirt that, sew some things, here are some photos. Same old same old. I wanted people to read my blog and was really just focusing on trying to make it interesting for other people.

So now I'm getting back on track, fer realz this time, and I'm going to make this blog more interesting for myself. There will be more written/less visual posts, a bit of sewing, more daily life happenings. General self-absorbed natterings.

And things I'm just thinking about lately.

1. Eyebrows

Here are my eyebrows.

 

Now that I'm wearing my hair in a longer fringe, my eyebrows are covered up and I haven't been maintaining them as much as usual. They're thickening up and I'm wondering what to do with them.

Part of me wants to wax them right off and draw them on every day.

Jay draws on her eyebrows and they look quite nice.

Here are some other eyebrows I like.

I also really like 1920's/1930's style brows.

2. And I'm wondering if I should change my fringe. It's gothier to have it shorter, but when it's long I can (inexpertly) curl it up, which I like.

Yes, it's Katy Perry. I want this hair.

3. Tattoos. I have some tattoos on my left forearm, and I've always vaguely planned to turn it into a sleeve.  (I am scratched from pulling sticky weed out of the garden the other day)

 

 There is a long blank patch of arm which I've so far considered covering with a fairy, based on a pin up girl or show girl, a dragon, some flowers on a vine/branch, or a couple of mice playing on a toadstool. I can't remember where I found all these, I saved them ages ago.

 

 4. CHRISTMAS. I do love Christmas. Here is my little tree. 

I have yet to decide on a Christmas dress style/fabric this year... not sure if I will actually get around to making one, but I will try.

I will also try to catch up on other blog reading this week.

And hooray... first blog post in months :)