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.

Got my big girl pants on

I absolutely love, love, love lingerie. I love looking at it, trying it on, buying it, jumping around the house in it, although not necessarily in that order.

One thing that often irks me is the lack of variety in briefs styles when matching them to a bra. More often than not, bras in my size come with teeny tiny matching undies which are so low cut in the waist, I feel like my stomach is going to just hang out over them.

 Because we all have bodies like this. Not.

I much prefer full briefs. Luckily these days you don't have to buy granny pants to be comfortable. There are lots of styles and pretty colours. The catch is that I can usually only buy them separately, because ironically, they only match teeny tiny bra sizes.

 

I have these undies. I would need both halves of the bra for one boob. And even that wouldn't fit.

Come ON, lingerie designers. Girls with substantial bosoms like substantial bum coverage too, you know.

Anyway, rant over, I decided to try making some to see how easy it was.

First attempt was a disaster and I am not even going to show them to you. The gusset didn't match the front and back seams, the side seams were all over the place.

I went back to my pattern, which I had traced from a favourite pair of undies, and refined it, this time making sure the seams were all the same lengths (kind of helps).

 

Ta-da.

Of course, I had to make them in purple velvet. Duh.

Don't they go splendidly with my zombie pony tshirt?

The waistband is a little baggy still but that is easily fixed by using a shorter piece of elastic for the waist.

For the legs, I just turned up a hem. The material is stretchy and comfy enough.

It's really not easy trying to take photographs of yourself in your underwear without getting a serious case of camel-toe. I can only assume lingerie models wear massive incontinence pads when they're jumping around in front of the camera.

Anyway, pants ahoy. Maybe I'll just make my own to match my bras from now on and save myself some money.

Sew buttons?

This is the sister dress to the Peonies Dress, made using the same Simplicity pattern 1873.

I love the print of this fabric! Because the print is so tiny I wanted to use a very simple pattern and let the fabric speak for itself. 

The dress, for some reason, came out very tight at the waist. The peonies dress fits pretty well so I have no idea why this one was different. It fits, but it's best if I don't eat a lot while I'm wearing it. Maybe I should call it the Diet Dress.

This was made back in June... I can't believe my hair was that long! Sadly it is quite a few inches shorter now. Two years of hair dye and bleach, bleach and more bleach have taken their toll and I had to give it a chop *sob*

Thank you for the kind comments on my blog re-launch! I'm still getting the hang of things again and will endeavour to reply and comment as much as possible.

xx

The show must go on

The blog is back!

It seems longer than 6 months since I last posted anything. A few months ago my enthusiasm in blogging waned simply due to life taking over. 

New relationship, new house, new job.

All within 6 months.

Or less.

I'll have some catch-up blog posts to write for a while, as I've been busily sewing even whilst maintaining a life.

For now, here is my latest creation. I've become obsessed with this 1950 McCall's pencil dress pattern.

 

I've missed the written aspect of blogging. I miss writing about my creations and how they came about, the failed attempts and the successful victories. I am looking forward to writing about these again.

Successfully yours,

GD

xx

Peonies dress

 I wouldn't have known these little flowers were peonies if it wasn't helpfully printed on the fabric for me.

I made this dress using Simplicity 1873, View A.

Absolutely no alterations required. I have never made a dress with this type of pleated skirt before. It was not terribly difficult and I think I may have found a gathered yet flattering skirt style I can finally wear without getting the old pregnant-stomach look.

I ran out of fabric for the lining but I figured leopard print would be acceptable!

I made this specifically to wear to the Love Vintage Fair in Melbourne this weekend! Very exciting... just need to remember to keep my wallet tucked firmly in my bag at all times....

The Helgastock2014 dress

I received this fabric from the lovely Helga von Trollop at Helgastock2014 a few weeks ago! It is just fabulous and exactly the right fabric for a new frock. Thank you Helga, I LOVE it!

As the fabric is so bright and busy I kept the pattern very simple. 

This is the slip dress from McCalls 6646.

I added in a second should strap as one on each side looked a bit insubstantial. No other alterations.

 

Here are some of my photos from Helgastock2014 - other installments from saucy wenches Sarah and Helga can be seen here and here

I have not been commenting on blogs for the last couple of weeks as I am still getting my bearings with my recently revamped life. I feel bad for this but I am still responding to comments at least! I start part-time work next week and have been industriously buying home wares in purple to decorate my house... when I'm not sitting on the couch watching all the Harry Potter films for the billionth time.

xx