Denim skirt

I have sadly been lacking enough denim skirts and decided that now was the time to rectify it. Well, actually a few months ago was the time, but it takes time to do something about it. ;) This is the second denim skirt I made over the summer, so I'll have to post pics of the first later.

It's below the knee enough that I can wear it with my tall boots and a flannel slip in the winter, but short enough that I can wear it in the summer too with a cute blouse. In a word: versatile.

Professional courtesy dictates that I mention that I used Simplicity 3688, but the similarities are so distant that you can hardly recognize it! Besides narrowing the skirt panels down, lengthening the skirt, and adding extra panels, I moved seams over more than an inch, topstitched all the seams, added a fly in the front and some cool details. The pink you see is the waistband facing! Well you don't see it while I'm wearing it, but you see it in the picture because I showed it to you! And while there is no picture to prove it, I used a pale pink ribbon to hem it!

A peek at my fabric stash!

Yes. I do realize that the majority of them are pink! *smile*

Summer Blouses - two of three

I've wanted to try this pattern for too long now, so I finally picked out some good "mock-up" fabric and set to work. It's not 100% cotton unfortunately, but it's what I had. I raised the split neckline some and I think I'm happy the way it looks. I chopped several inches off before hemming it, otherwise it would have looked much like a sixties dress and that is not the look I wanted.

Next summer I should be able to put this experience to use with some very pretty cotton floral fabric. The longer length options will be good for jeans and I might get creative with changing the neckline some, too.

Summer Blouses - one of three

When I saw Simplicity 2936 while I was on vacation, I had to pick it up! It has the look of a peasant blouse without the extra bulk of gathers at the neckline. I did raise the neckline to adhere to my standards of modesty, but the rest of the blouse was left as is. I used a very lightweight "scraps" that I had in my stash and made this one as a test. It's a good thing that I did, because it's slightly too big for me! I think I'll have to make it again next summer.

Amoretti

I love these frilly, feminine neccesities for little girls in dresses and since there is a British tea giveaway on the blog, I have to enter. Linking here gives me another entry and guess what? I gotta' take that! :D All littles girls should look this cute. Seriously.

Vintage Crochet: Shooting Star

Long since finished...

Just pressed.

Vintage Pattern Stash part 5

I like these dresses especially for the fun details they have. Much more thought went into the clothes of yesteryear.

The far right dress below is currently in the works for yours truly with some alterations.

Vintage Crochet: Whirl-a-Way

I found my camera cable! I never thought to look in the car. 8-)

The first thing I learned when making doilies: The first ten or so rows go very fast. Once you get down to the last few rows, you feel like you are crawling. The results are worth the effort though!

This makes #4 that I've made without ruffles on the border. I like to mix it up a little, so that I don't get bored! :)

Vintage Pattern Stash part 4

No matter what lot of patterns I buy, there is usually at least one simple dress. That's good. I like simple dresses and I can envision quite a few options with these that I decided to keep. I think #1 (view B) would make a nice apron, too with some alterations. Bows, pleats and collars abound plenty. And look at those heels!!!

Vintage Pattern Stash part 3

The neat school-boy suit.

Collared shirts and pressed pants! Little boys never looked so good!

To keep the little ones cozy at night:

Vintage Pattern Stash part 2

School dress, perhaps?

She could twirl all day!

Peasant blouses are just about the sweetest thing for girls! Casual, yet sophisticated.

I think little Miss-on-the-left can't decide which cake to try first!

Yes, I do seem to get the basics.

A trip to the post office after school?

Vintage Pattern Stash

I always love seeing the vintage patterns that other people have, so I thought I'd show a sampling of mine over the next few weeks! Plus, since I somehow lost my camera cable, I can't post my newest projects yet! ;)

Starting off with some little girls patterns:

This reminds me of nightgowns I wore as a child in pink Lanz flannel! Oh so soft!



A smart blouse for back-to-school.



Look at that collar! And those pockets! And those cute little sleeves!



Another lovely sleeves dress, but more day-to-day than the prior one.


Have you seen Deanna Durbin in Three Smart Girls? She would have worn this! Gotta love those sailor styles!

Simplicity 4077: a pink blouse

I have this darling green floral fabric that I want to make a very pretty blouse out of, but rather than run the risk of it not turning out correctly the first time, I used this pink that I had in my stash to make a "trial" blouse. This trial turned out good enough and better to wear!

I made a few minor changes to the pattern, some unintentional. I changed the collar so that it barely meets in the front. That gap at the neckline on the pattern front really bothered me, so I fixed it! I used snaps instead of buttons and added some ties to the back. I should have made a slightly smaller size, so the ties help bring it in a little, too.

The pleats on the sleeves are not stiched down except for some little hand stitches inside. Next time, I think I will change the sleeves quite a bit, but for this one, it's alright. The little sleeve snaps are useable.

The finish on the collar was the unintentional alteration as I misread the pattern instructions (the first in awhile I've actually bothered to read them on a modern pattern!), so I had to make that nice little bias tape to enclose the collar edges. I can't complain though as it gives such a nice touch! I decided to finish the sleeve cuffs the same way.

I have yet to start the green blouse...

Pardon the dust!

I'm trying to fix the incredibly small font in my posts prior to being out of town for a month, but it is not working! At the same time, I figured an updated look would be nice.

Any ideas?

Summertime tiered skirt

I had every intention of posting several projects over the last few weeks, but I had problems uploading the pictures correctly and have just now tried again after figuring out what I was doing wrong! :D

I traded some fabric with my sister for this skirt as it isn't her color anyway! She had intended to remake it identically anyway, so I did it (which is why it shows up here). I usually put invisible zippers in skirts, but I just used what was there. If I recall correctly, she used Simplicity 5752.