For the love of jars

I sewed a (relatively) quick thing today!

Yes, it's a Halloween print 20 days before Christmas.  La la.

I used vintage Simplicity 3263 again, and paid attention to the grain of the fabric more than to the print, which I only notice is a bit of a problem now that I'm looking at the photo while making this post.  Eh, I don't think it'll be a distraction when it's worn, especially if cardigans are involved.

Just used a solid black thin cotton (plus medium weight fusible interfacing) for the facings, which were cut from the main pattern pieces, instead of following the directions for separate facings for neckline and arm holes, and I once again did things Very Wrongly to get the facings attached (only I sewed the armholes before the neckline this time--no idea if it makes any real difference to the ease of this approach, but he brain tries to say so.)  Edge stitched around the neckline and armholes, lapped zipper on the left side.

Nothin' fancy, but somethin' finished, so yay.

Vintage Creepy Toy Skirt

Remember that disturbing vintage toy print I thrifted on my birthday? I used it!  After having it in my stash for less than a month!  (...barely...)

(Whoo, flashback to my early childhood in the late 1970s.  How did people think pupil-less eyes with what appear to be black sclera was an endearing look?)

No patterns involved, just a bunch of rectangles.  The bottom hem is formed by sewing on the solid piece, pressing up the edge, then folding the whole thing up inside and stitching it in the ditch where it meets the print, so no cut edges are visible.

And the salmony solid of similar texture that had been in the stash for untold years worked out well enough as a match for the print's pink, considering that it's another thrift find.  And I was able to finagle things so that the print placement on the front is exactly the same as the print placement on the back.  So...uh..."front" and "back" here are moot (in all senses of the word.)

The skirt is softly pleated to the waistband, and the lining (also thrifted--pretty sure it was a sheet from which I once scavenged some nice wide eyelet) is gathered to fit the waistband.

It's a bit above knee-length, and I can't imagine wearing it with anything but a black shirt and black tights and black shoes and perhaps a black cardigan, weather permitting. (Oh, please, cardigan weather, please come back.)

...plotting the world's demise...

Stopping by with some more cloth

Popped into a Goodwill quickly yesterday, convinced myself to get these

Yardages and detail pics under the cut.

Today's thrifted fabric

$2.99 each, both just under 4 yards, both cotton.  The abstract auto print is 35" wide, so probably genuinely vintage, and the tartan is 45" wide.

I tried to adjust the color so the auto print would look more accurate on my screen--it's definitely not anything that I would call "salmon."  "Grapefruit" might be closer.  Maybe. Or a bluntly-phrased "excessively faded red."  Only not actually faded.  Maybe someone out there knows a precedent for this color?

I suspect the tartan may be at least edging toward vintage, too, based on the sticker I found as I was measuring it.  I know tags like that were printed in bulk and used for ages after, so it's not necessarily as old as that typography and expectation that all cloth would cost less than $1 per yard might make it seem...but...then again, it might be.

My recollection of the thought process upon seeing it: "Ooh, plaid!  Hmm, but...brown.  $2.99 per yard?  Hmm.  There's a lot of it, too--at least 3 yards.   But...brown.  Heh heh, just think of the wannabe Vivienne Westwood dress that could be made from so much tartan.  Even with brown?  Yes.  Even with brown."  So.  Will this hypothetical dress ever be made?

Um.