Dress from Vintage Pattern

Despite my lack of posting, I really have been pretty busy.  I started my first dress from a real vintage pattern earlier this year.

Quite some time ago I picked up the really pretty pattern off etsy ( I believe) .  Last summer I was able to go to Terrace and bought some rather bright tourquise fabric.  I really wanted this beautiful navy wool blend, but it was quite pricy and I was concerned about cutting into a really expensive fabric with a pattern I had never made before.

I did my now usual waistline adjustments and had to add a couple inches to the waistline, but in the end it seems to be fitting pretty well.

As you can see it is not completely finished.  I am a little scared of doing the lapped zipper on the side.  I also need to sew on the button on the front and add the snaps underneath the bust to secure the top opening along with the hem.


So at the moment it is waiting for me to feel brave and get the zipper done.  I also want to either make or find a good belt to go around the waist.  It really needs something to break up all that blue.

I have also been playing around with bags again.  I recently came across some pretty vintage photographs at a local antique store.  I have been scanning and printing them onto transfer paper so I can use them to decorate things.

I picked this photo to try since I thought it was really cute and reminded me of time spent with my best friend in elementary school.

The old clothing is also really neat to look at.

I pulled the lace off a shirt which I tried to tea dye and alter, but it was a complete failure.  The lace was still pretty though so it was relocated to this bag.  The rest is made out of another pair of hubby's old jeans which I cut and sewed the jean fabric into the bag and  relocated the pocket as well.  It still needs to be lined but other than that it is pretty much finished I think.

The flea market here in Rupert has been providing some really great stuff recently.  I was able to buy a whole pile of beautiful vintage shell buttons which I am going to use to decorate items.  I was also able to get some old postage stamps which my friend Ayase is going to show me how to make pendants out of them.

I also got a couple really pretty old broaches and clasps from a couple ladies who were clearing out their attics.  Very nice.

60's Style Dress Take Two

Look at me. Here I am. Still alive and kicking.

Sad thing is, I really have not done much sewing since July.  I went on holidays, brought back a new obsession, and totally ran out of time for sewing.

Thank goodness for work parties.  I wanted to have something new to wear to a work party in Vancouver.

While in Comox in July, I picked up this lovely purple fabric which I cannot remember what it is made of for a second go at the pink 60's dress from this post.

Although I like the dress it had a few issues such as pocket placement and the neckline.

To solve the pocket placement issue, I did my first length adjustment.  I usually don't make these kinds of adjustments as I had never really noticed how badly patterns fit me when it comes to waist length. I am usually just surprised by how much of the fabric at the hem that needs to be cut off to hem it to the correct length.

The pockets on the pink dress were obviously much too low and really accentuated how I needed to shorten the skirt a lot to make it fit better.   You can see in the photo that the pockets are now in a much better place than before.

I decided to take out a total of 2 inches in length in the shirt and I just followed the instructions on the pattern for the shortening.

The new neckline I had to draft myself from scratch.  I used one of my other dresses as an example and drew out the new neckline and retraced the pattern pieces to include this change.

It is lined with a cute cotton fabric which I am proud to say I bought locally!  I discovered a secret fabric store called Fish Skins Fabric has been hiding out in Prince Rupert for the last year or so.   I am also super excited that they are moving the business into a real shop front instead of it just being out of the owners home.  It is so exciting!  Finally a proper fabric store in Rupert. I hope that they will be able to bring in lots of new fabrics with all the space the new store will have.

In the end I think it turned out okay.  I might re-hem it a bit shorter as I think knee length is not the most flattering length for me.  It was finished mid November 2013 just in time for the party.

Hugh bought a new camera for Christmas so I hope to take more fun pictures of Prince Rupert and such this year.