Vogue 1107, Got It!

I got a steal on the Vogue dress 1107 that I spotlighted in this post. The description says it is a lined, A-line dress, fitted at the bust, above knee length. It has edge stitched princess seams, welt pockets with flaps, pleats with underlays and bound buttonholes. It says it is "advanced", but never to shy away from a pretty pattern I think I can tackle it.

I will probably do it in a black as the pattern front shows, mainly because I am partial to black. I don't have the fabric yet and may save a bit so that I can get better materials to work with. It suggests Peau de soie, lightweight garbardine and shantung with china silk for lining. Since I sew on a budget I probably won't be getting silk, but some compatible fabric with the same drape. Most likely I'll sew this first in a poly satin of some sort or find a lightweight garbardine as suggested. Lining will be poly, no doubt.

I don't know when I will get around to sewing this but it only goes up to a size 20 and I'm a 22 so I will have some alterations to do on it to grade it up to my size.

I also managed to pick up another 3 yards of denim to make another pair of jeans. I know I have yet to post about them, but it is coming up. I still have yet to hem them.

Intermission - The Good, The Bad and The Hideous

I'm a slacker, I admit it. I promised another post about the shorts that gave me fits, but I just haven't gotten around to taking pics of it (what I really mean is I haven't bothered Ed to take them for me; he's got a lot of school work this week). But yesterday I got an email from Vogue Patterns showing the recent stuff they have out and all I have to say is:

What were they thinking?


This is Vogue 1116. The top isn't so bad, but those pants. Those pants! Is it supposed to be a cross between those parachute pants worn by MC Hammer in the 80's, and some sort of weird chef outfit? I'm seriously puzzled over this one.

They have an asymmetrical top pattern, Vogue 8582 that is pretty cute. The line drawing looks bizarre, but shown in fabric it has a nice flow to it.



And I do really like this dress, although I'm not much of a dress person. I may even see if my local JoAnns has it on their next Vogue pattern sale day (which is coming up I think):


Vogue 1107. I think the pleats in the skirt are really cute and I like how it has sleeves. I've got some arms on me, so I like patterns that help me hide them. There are a lot of sleeveless patterns out there that are cute, but I just like my sleeves I suppose. I know I could adapt a sleeve for a sleeveless pattern, but frankly it is too much work unless I really love the dress. and then I'd probably just bite the bullet and wear it sleeveless.

But man those pants just get me. I can't imagine wearing them, or making them. I'm sorry if some of you out there like those pants from 1116, but I just can't stop laughing!

Halloween Costumes - Details Part 3 - The Vogue Vest

Vogue Vest 7488

The Vogue vest 7488, version B. I made mine out of a home dec weight velvet, or velour (I'm ignorant of the differences). The fabric was pretty thick at the seams and gave me a couple problems. One was that the instructions want you to line the vest and pull it through the shoulder seams and then fold over the lining and stitch it closed by hand. Since my seams were so thick, I didn't have enough lining fabric to do this. So, what I did instead was to sew the seams as normal and then trim them down. I then covered them with ribbon to hide the exposed seams.

Shoulder seam covering

The double breast is supposed to have buttons for the closure but I found a very cool washer "thing" at the hardware store that I painted copper that I wanted to use instead. So since I couldn't make buttons or buttonholes I decided to use snaps as the closure. Each washer had a single stitch on each side to hold it on, using the matching topstitching thread. It matched perfectly was was very hard to tell that it was stitched on. Behind each washer I stitched a snap that corresponded with the opposite side.

Front of vest

Copper painted washer

Snaps

And finally instead of using a buckle for the back, I ended up using a large hook and eye, leftover from another project, stitched on with the matching topstitching thread.

Back closure

The vest, is a rather involved pattern, but the result is wonderful. I will make this again, for another Steampunk event, or just for a fancy shindig.

The Halloween Costumes

And we have pictures!

A Victorian Steampunk Halloween Costume

The details of the costume will come later. For now, I'll tell you what each piece is. Ed's vest is Vogue 7488, view B the double-breasted version, and his shirt and pants are store bought and something he already owned. My shirt is Simplicity 3990 the pleated version, while the vest is a vintage 1979 McCalls 5297. The skirt is a repro of an actual Victorian/Edwardian walking skirt made from instructions here. I decided not to use a bustle since I had plenty of rear end once I tried it on!

The hat and cane I made. The hat went over extremely well at the party! People couldn't believe it was made out of poster board (and fabric of course). Overall, we were very happy with the way our costumes turned out. More details to come...

Steampunk Halloween - a long post

This Halloween Ed and I have been invited to a steampunk Halloween by one of our Browncoat buddies. A few Saturdays ago the invitee and I went on a thrifting and craft store hunt for pieces of the steampunk costumes. She walked away with gorgeous dupioni silk (albiet from JoAnns) and some pretty red tag sari fabric. We also hit some of the local thrift stores and found some tablecloth things that were edged in scalloped eyelet, which was just perfect for the bloomers she had in mind. This Sunday she came over for a fitting and walked home with the things that just needed a waistband put in or something.

The silk has been turned into a skirt that has been pulled up in front to come above the bloomers so 'er knickers show, and has been bustled in the back. The hook and eye's we chose are large and brass and probably belong in something home decor but she though they were steampunkish so we're adding them to the back. Since we only have 6 of them and there are 8 points in the back that are pulled up, some of the bottom row will have regular, smaller hook and eyes.

I've planned for Ed and I to dress in shades of gray and black. Not the most exciting, but I think I can make some fun things using that palette. It also happens to be that I have found more fabric in gray and black that will suit our Halloween needs than any other...

My costume will consist of a 70's vest, a skirt with a bustle I'll make that ties around the waist to floof out the tush area and some kind of shirt (I haven't decided on the shirt yet but am thinking Simplicity 3990 with the pleated front). The vest is one that I graded! My first time grading anything actually. I got a tutorial from here to help me muddle through things. The original vest pattern is McCall 5297 from 1979. It contains, among the very dated pants, a princess seam close fitting vest that was perfect for my idea. The vest comes to points at the hem in the front and back. The weird thing I found was that the facings (yes, I graded and changed those too) connected neck to front to back, so all around the edge is a facing. Perhaps this is common with unlined vests since I've never made one before and I just don't know.




I went out and bought a tummy tucker thing, almost like a corset except that I have to pull it over my head (and isn't that a sight; I got stuck in the fitting rooms with nobody to help me when I first tried it on). I almost bought a corset type thing but the price just drew me off; this whole Halloween needs to be done as cheaply as possible but without looking cheap. This isn't a piece of undergarment that I will use repeatedly. My style of clothing does not consist of me wearing uncomfortable underclothes. Like ever. So, my hourglass figure (yes, I have one of those, although a little curvier than most) will be sucked in, although my ample busom won't be. I'm going for the tiny waisted Victorian look, but...not so tiny waisted that I need armor under my clothing like the days of old.

The skirt I already have material for and I found it of all places at WalMart for $1 per yard. I bought the whole bolt which was only a little over 7 yards. It's some icky polyester but the fabric pattern is perfect for something a little steampunk.



The fabric has a large black grid that is filled in with kind of a puffy gray fabric. As a skirt, it should do fine. As a short lived costume it should do even better since the fabric really is kind of polyester-y to the touch. If I'm feeling ambitious enough I may even line it, but I may not have the time.

The fabric for the vest is another $1 per yard beauty and I'm still not sure which side I want to use since they both would work for my needs:



Ed's costume will be a Vogue vest pattern for men. Vogue 7488 has a doublebreasted vest pattern that suits the need for him:



It will be done in black with a copper top stitching, which will be my first time top stitching with actual top stitching thread, which will probably be much different than the "top stitching" I do with regular thread. I know there is some adjustment of tensions with top stitiching thread. In any case, we'll just do a fancy dress shirt for him (perhaps in gray, which he already has in his closet) and some black pants (which too he already has). Ed will be sporting a handmade walking cane and a top hat.

The top hat, frankly, was kind of hard to research. There aren't many good tutorials for making a top hat in real size and all the old ones are very expensive. What we're going to do is make a base in poster board, like this link. After we finish the base we will glue or adhere a satiny fabric to it to mimic a real silk top hat. I think for a night of Halloween fun, which I may add is our favorite day of the year that supasses even Christmas, it should hold up fine.

Vogue 8333

(Photo from here)
JoAnn Fabric was having a sale on Vogue patterns from the 7th-9th. Thankfully I remembered a half an hour before they closed tonight that I have been drooling over this jacket for months now. Every time I cruise the site, I always, always end up back at this pattern. I don't usually buy Vogue since they are a lot more expenisive than the other big pattern names. Budget sewing doesn't allow for frivilous pattern buying, unless of course, it's one of those 99 cent sales. Because of this, I own a lot of Simplicity and Butterick, but less Vogue and the lesser known names. I'm not saying that the money they want isn't justified (though I've never been a brand name/designer kind of girl), but I just simply can't spend over $10 on one pattern. There is that pesky budget after all, and that means being thrifty.

But, $3.99 I can do! This pattern probably won't get made for some time, but it's pretty classic and probably won't go out of style quickly. It's an advanced pattern, and I'm not confident enough about my skills to attempt it. Yet. But, I will. I will choose my fabric carefully and make sure I utilize sales and/or coupons, but some day you'll see another blog post about this beautiful Vogue 8333.