Pajama Party: Start

I started cutting out the fabric for Advance 2143 (possibly circa 1939) on Saturday.  This is the first time using an actual old old vintage pattern and, I don't know if you know this, but the pattern pieces had no markings.  Seriously...no markings.  And all pattern pieces were pre-cut for you.  See for yourself:

So how do you tell what's what?  They give you little perforated holes to indicate to cut on the fold, the grain line, etc.  And the pattern pieces are labeled with little tiny perforated letters, like this:

Can you even see that?  It's an "M."  

Anyway, so I started the top and had to teach myself a little bit about a flat felled seam.  They gave a little diagram on the pattern instructions, but I went with this tutorial at the Coletterie.  I sort of love it.  I don't know how I'll do it for the arm holes, but this is how it looks at the shoulders:

Dude!  check out the nearly perfect matching stripes!  Oh, yeah!  And I didn't even plan that.  

Here's the other shoulder.  I had a little trouble with that side and there's some puckering:

 And here's the underside of the seam:

Nice and tidy!  I really love it.  I would love to use it on future garments, you know, because I'm still afraid of my serger.

I have to do a half inch seam for this and I'm so bad at keeping things straight, but this whacha-ma-gadget has been really helpful:

It's a big magnet gadget to help you with measuring out seams.  The red tape underneath is for 5/8", but this is great for all those other measurements.

So that's as far as I made it with the pajamas.  They are hanging on My Mann right now and they seem rather hulking.  My husband is not hulking.  I'll have to figure that out later.

Destiny

I picked up some more sewing treasures at thrift and antique stores this weekend.  Check out these new additions to my stash:

 Red and white graph paper flannel, destined for pajamas.  Dark denim with red pinstripes, destined for a skirt for me.  A girly button-down is in the near future for the stretchy plaid.  The green is a mystery fabric, so its future is unknown.  The lovely blue cotton's destiny is also unknown.

 These towels will be reincarnated as the backs of bibs.

And then there was this pattern circa 1939 for $3.00 at Your Turn Vintage, which will someday be made into pajamas for my husband using some very soft vintage material found at a thrift store sometime in the past.

Advance, 2141

1972

Also on my trip to Savers this past weekend, I found two patterns from 1972...

Simplicity 5339 and McCall's 3471.  I love those little girl robes and dresses!  So sweet.

Costume Patterns

I was going through my pattern stash and came across a bunch of old costume patterns.  I didn't make a costume up for my little baby, but maybe someday in the future she can be...

The Chiquita Banana Girl!

There's no date, but I think it's pretty ancient.  It came in the mail back in the old timey days...that's definitely a mark of an old pattern. Plus it's McCall's 101...definitely old, because isn't McCall's up to the 9000's now?

Or someday she could also be Tweety (Butterick 6350) or Sylvester (Butterick 6349).

There are two dates, 1974 and 1978.  I love the matching sneakers on Tweety.  Awesome.

Or how about a freakish clown...

Simplicity 7162.  Circa 1975

I don't think she should be a harem girl, but I'm always game for a pirate or a vampire.

Simplicity 5742.  Circa 1982.

And for those patriotic holidays...Lady Liberty!

Simplicity 6672. Circa 1984.

Or a devil.

And then there's my favorite costume pattern...1980's Space!

Simplicity 5299.  Circa 1981.

It brings to mind Flash Gordon, The Ice Pirates, and Space Camp.  Good stuff!

Alma

On Sunday we went to try out some Pumphouse Creamery ice cream in Minneapolis.  I had a root beer float...pretty tasty, but, I swear, there were little chunks of actual butter in my vanilla bean ice cream.  Weird.  Tasty, but weird.  We also noted that there was a cool movie theatre, a vintage store, and a sewing shop all in the same neighborhood.  Yay!  All the things we like in one location.

I didn't bring my camera, so no pics of the shop.  It was called Sewtropolis and it was pretty cute.  The lady complimented the Devil Diaper Bag and gave me a brochure of classes (hint hint...zipper class...hint hint).  Maybe I should take an alterations class, though, because I don't know how to do that at all.

Anyway, while there, I picked up an Alma Blouse pattern by Sewaholic.  I recently started reading her blog and she's been featuring some finished Alma blouses.  

I'm going back to work in a few weeks and my wardrobe is pretty skimpy right now, so a new blouse would be great.  I recently found a pencil skirt at the Goodwill:

Woven within the light and dark browns is a very fine blue.  An Alma blouse in that same hue may be just the thing with this skirt.

View A is cute...  Plus the length of it would be good, because I have to start figuring out how to cover up my new mom belly.

Shoe Inspiration

I have very particular tastes when it comes to buying shoes, especially shoes for work.  I like Mary Janes or T-straps and sometimes ones with a strap around the ankle (do they have a name?).  I think it's because I feel like shoes without those added means of enclosure (like plain old pumps and flats) are too loose and fall off too easily.

Anyway, I'm heading back to work in a few weeks and my shoe collection has really been decimated recently.  I got rid of a bunch of things that didn't fit or shoes that were somehow busted.  So I've been trying to replenish my supply.  Usually I wear the same pair of black shoes every. single. day, but I've decided to mix it up with some colorful shoes.

Enter my latest pair:

 Yellow!  Or honey, I suppose.  Wildflower, not buckwheat.

I first ordered them in blue, but they were too small and didn't come in a larger size, so I tried this color and they're lovely and perhaps more practical for work than blue ones.

While they've been in transit, I've been considering making a dress to match.  Perhaps it'd be too matchy-matchy, but I think the combination of this hideous (in a good way) yellow floral with that gold fabric that I used in the pieced pillows will work really well together.

As for the pattern...I mentioned that I own Colette's Ceylon pattern and I think that it would work really well with these fabrics.  The waist and shoulder/back sections in the gold and the rest in the floral?  Is it too much?  All the fabric was cheap cheap (from my mother at yard sales), so I wouldn't be breaking the bank to give it a try.

Of course, I know what I'm like...I'll get the dress done and it will take me six years to do the buttons. Oh, but buttons covered in the gold fabric would look really nice going down the front.  I don't have that button making tool, though.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just really too ambitious and I should just be happy that I have time to make a PBJ for dinner at night.

A Package of Craftiness

My mom sent me a box last week filled with crafting goodness.  My mom is a frequent yard saler and finds many great and cheap deals.  Plus she's a priceline negotiator...if it's marked 50 cents, she'll get them down to 25 cents.  In fact, we come from a long line of yard salers...my grandparents used to have a bumper sticker on their car that said, "We brake for all yard sales" or something like that.  I don't get out to the sales as much as I would like, but I hope to in the future.

Fabric...Lovely, heavy, and vintage, I think.  There are about three yards of it.  I should do a laundry test on a swatch to see how it would hold up to washing.  Sometimes I think that I can only make bags and things out of vintage fabric, because I'm afraid it won't hold up to the rigorous swishing of the washing machine.

Lace embellishment...pink and bridal, but I could see it used in a costume.  Plus, as the second photo points out, you can cut it up into various shapes and use it in a number of ways.

Kids patterns...Simplicity 8100 (can't find a link to it -- shorts and tees), Simplicity 7983 (mysterious lack of link on this one too -- dresses, tunics, capris, and bonnet), Butterick 3280 ("paper" dolls), McCall's M5865 (bonnets/hats), and Simplicity 8716 (tank, shorts, skirt, shirt, and pants).

Buttons...

Knitting book.  I don't knit, but I suppose I could learn.

Ice cream recipe book.  Hmmmm...I think I'll need to buy elastic pants from this point forward if I make the recipes in this book!

Thanks, Mom!  As always, your packages are much appreciated!  There was some other stuff, too, for the baby, but these were all the crafting goodies.