Black Button Shirt

I don't feel like there's much to say about this--it's the kind of basic piece that I tend to skip making, no matter how useful I know it will ultimately be, and that basic quality also means it feels like there's not much to stand out about its creation. 

I had just enough of the thin black cotton??? left to squeeze out a heavily modified Burda7831, this time using the additional modification of omitting the darts, which I first tried last fall.  Since I was doing pattern matching on that one, I did one more modification to omit the front band, but I made marks on my front pattern piece so I'd know where to cut for a band option, and that's what I did here.

It worked out pretty well.

More Patchwork! More Halloween Patchwork!

A friend's birthday is approaching.  Time for more patchwork!  More Halloween patchwork!

 

This friend is just as much of a Halloween All year person as I am--more so, actually.  That's one of the reasons we're friends.

All of these fabrics were from my stash.  Most of the prints are actual Halloween prints, even those that don't have specific Halloween imagery, but I did end up calling in a few non-Halloween prints (two of which also showed up in the recent not-exactly-Halloween patchwork vest.)  I only repeated one of the prints, and I took the graphics from markedly different parts of the design, so they don't appear to be the same print, and I still consider this to functionally not repeat any print.

There are eight of each of the solid colors, and 16 of the black.  My plans for this project evolved as I started (die) cutting things, taking into account how many squares I had versus how many would make geometric sense.

I used the 60mm die, and the finished squares are about 50mm, or just under 2".  The finished size is about 11" x 15", or about 28cm x 38cm.

Inside, between lining and outer layers, is more of the striped fabric used in the apple patchwork messenger bag and inside the camo foil bucket bag. I also interfaced the patchwork sides.

I actually got this zipper, I believe, from the friend for whom I made this bag--they had gone to the craft thrift store when it was about to close for renovations, and the entire store was basically 'pay what you want,' so the friend grabbed a bunch of zippers for me.  This one was just the right color and length for this project.

 

A project like this doesn't make much of a dent in the stash, but it's still fun to see what's in there that'll work.

Return of 3263

Over a decade ago, I happened upon an amazing selection of vintage sewing patterns in a thrift store.  Most of them were immediately put on eBay, but I did keep and make several.

My favorite was Simplicity 3263, from 1950.  It was a simple shell shirt pattern, with some interesting double dart details.  The original owner (Betty Rose--she had written her name and address on most of the pattern envelopes, and I was actually able to look her up and learn a bit about her) had extended the sides of the pattern, and I cut it that way the first time I tried making it, and I liked the way it fit. I made the shirt a few times, every one extremely cute.

Eventually, though, I gained enough weight that the vintage size 14--even with the modifications--was just too small, so I sold that pattern, too.  Years later, I developed a sudden nostalgia for it--I considered trying to recreate it by hacking some other patterns (I am not up to making a personalized block), but I couldn't get a result that I even wanted to test.  I looked at what options were for sale, and even managed to find Betty Rose's old pattern for sale on Etsy.

I let the interest fade, but it jumped back recently, and I found a vintage size 18 (B36) version of it on eBay--for more than I usually spend on a pattern, but not bad for a vintage pattern, so I got it.  That was also around the time I got the die cutter, so I was distracted by that for a while.  But! I finally tried making the size 18!

 It's a little large!  But I can work with it!

Replacing the Upcycling

About five years ago, I made bodices to use with thrifted skirts--one with a fake Burda 6401 bodice, and one with Simplicity 9153's extended shoulder bodice.

I wore them a lot.

So much, in fact, that the delicate thrifted skirts started wearing out.  I tentatively mended some of the problem areas, but, honestly, it was getting to the point where the mends were stronger than the fabric, so I knew it was time to replace the entire skirt on both of them.

My last visit to the craft thrift store was made with hope of finding some fabric I could use to that end, and I was thrilled to find nearly 9 yards of a lightweight black woven cotton (if there's anything synthetic mixed in, a burn test said there's not much of it.)

I did take some time to make a complete dress before getting to the skirt replacements...mainly because the black of this new (to me) fabric is not the same black as the old bodices, and I wanted at least at least one loose summery black dress that was all the same black.

But then!  On to the new skirts!

Ready for Summer

I like making loose, high waist, pullover dresses from lightweight cottons for summer wear.  My original plan this year, in that regard, was to use some of the lightweight woven black fabric I got from the craft thrift store to replace the worn-out thrifted skirts on some dresses I made a few years ago--I thought the fabric felt like a poly/cotton blend, so wouldn't really want to use it for a top/shirt/bodice.

I decided to do a burn test on it, just to laugh at how much of a plastic blob it turned into.  Well.  It did not turn into any kind of plastic blob, instead burning to a crumbly black...not exactly ash, because when has a burn test ever behaved exactly like the charts say it should?  So I decided that meant maybe there was enough cotton content to use for a top/shirt/bodice after all.

I used my "fake Burda 6401 modified to a fake McCall's 8157" and decided to go wild with a tiered skirt and here we are

 Honestly...it ended up a bit too long.  I eventually fixed that.

Citrus-esque Vest

Continuing the patchwork adventures with the die cutter and the scrap bins, this time with the goal of making a vest front.

I've made two versions of New Look 6514 using woven cotton patches made from 2" squares that I cut by hand, choosing to cut the squares at 2" because I have a ruler that width.  I later made Simplicity 9630 from heavier fabric patches, cut at a larger size.  Now that I have the die cutter, I wanted to try...smaller.

I chose the 35mm square die, with the idea that the finished squares would be around 1".  Roughly.

I had spent time (happily) poking through the scrap bins and sorting out groups of coordinating fabrics.  This one was built around some Very 1970s green and orange prints, contrasted with black and white.  I originally assumed I would use it for doll clothes, but this project required more fabric.  A lot more.

I pulled some from other scrap assortments, the small yardage stash, and a little bit from the large yardage, too.  I don't generally have a lot of orange or yellow, so that need, plus a variety of black and white, meant I called in a few Halloween prints.  There are no pumpkins, so the Halloween touches may be subtle.  It's fine either way.

Rainbow Foil Camouflage Bucket Bag

Of all the fabric I ordered from FabricMart in January, the most 100% impulsive choice was a black synthetic knit with a foiled design, bearing multi-color splotches on silver foil, and the foil laid down in camouflage blobs.  And, since it was $1/yard (and I was ordering other things--specifically, more of the apple print--so shipping costs would be distributed), I got silly and ordered ten yards of it.  Yes, as a knit, it's 60" wide.  The quantity of this fabric is mildly overwhelming.

Also, after taking the time to figure out what to do with all of the apple print--for which I had at least the one plan, when I ordered it each time--I did not want to spend a lot of time trying to use up all of this fabric at once.  It would be fine in the stash until inspiration hit.  But.  I still wanted to make at least one thing from it before putting it away.

And, while I honestly probably will make a jacket from a bit of it, eventually, like I did with some of the other foiled knits from the same manufacturer (here and here), I didn't want to do that now.

For reasons that aren't entirely clear, my mind settled on making a bucket bag.  I'm not sure if I've ever even owned a bucket bag before, let alone made one.  I definitely don't have a pattern for one, but, after looking at bucket bags for sale, and at blogs showing how to make them, I felt confident enough to start cutting a bunch of rectangles and a few circles and start sewing things together.

 

 I think it turned out OK.