Patternless

So we decided this week to try going patternless.  Now that I have my dressform (dubbed by my daughter: She Need a Head, or SNAH), it should make learning a lot easier.  On the other hand, I had about 2 hours to myself this week, so it had to be a lightning fast project.  Enter the maxi skirt:

Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a cop-out;  I've been planning to make a maxi skirt since the summer, and have lots of images pinned.  I was just waiting for the right fabric to come to me, and this rayon sarong fit the bill nicely.  This rayon has a great drape (almost like a jersey), and such a great combination of colours that will go with just about anything. 

 It's actually more of a burnt umber/black than a mustard/navy, but I just don't have the time or inclination to adjust the colours right now.  Take my word for it, it's great.  Oh yeah, and it's batik.  You expected something else?

 

 I love the border, and so I immediately thought, "Fold it in half and make a knee length skirt with the border on the hem.", but then I checked my closet, and (all my skirts)-1=knee length, so it was time to stir it up a bit.  I didn't want to hide the border print, so I sewed those ends together to make a tube, and then.....hey, I don't really have to describe how to make an elastic-waist skirt, do I?  How about I just show you some photos of the skirt in action:

 Good for kid wrangling...

 ....and putting decorations on the tree, and taking decorations off the tree, and putting decorations back on the tree, and....(you get my drift)

I wanted it to be MAXI maxi, and sweep the floor, even though I'm reminded of that quote from Heidi about long skirts: 

 "....(cousin Dete)...had a long trailing skirt to her dress which swept the floor, and on the floor of a goatherd's hut there are all sorts of things that do not belong to a dress."

I should amend this quote to read:

"...she had a long trailing skirt which swept the floor, and on the floor of a parasitological research facility, there are all sorts of things that do not belong to a dress." 

 

Ah well, rayon is machine washable.

Hospital Thrift Shops

 Who knew they had anything to offer other than moldy stuffed animals and Dean Koontz paperbacks?  I've been trekking back and forth to the hospital all week and somehow this little thrift shop had slipped my notice every time.

 McCall's Jumper and blouse pattern (1957).  Only the blouse pattern pieces were cut, and it was stored very neatly.  Nice. 

A couple of questionable choices from 1995 and 2001.  I blame the fact that my daughter was screaming to leave and I got flustered.  Interesting to note that Butterick was using the same pattern illustrator over that 6 year period. 

I'm always astounded when I find Vogue patterns that are factory folded.  If you're going to pay $30 for a pattern, you'd think that you would really really really want to use it; not donate it so that any old thrift store scrounger can pick it up for 50c.

And I couldn't resist this nice sundress for $5. It's a bit large in the bust, but has princess seams, so that should take about 5 minutes to alter.  Score.  The photos are even worse quality than usual because I only took my iPhone to Vancouver with me, but this should give you an idea of what a rain forest it is around here.  Hope you're having a good week with lots of sun and factory folded vintage patterns. 

(BTW, I finally got around to posting the give-away prizes to everyone.  They should arrive in the next two weeks.)

Thrifting I

So I've decided to start posting about thrift finds, since I love seeing what everyone else discovers, and I have pretty much given up buying new.  Mena does Friday fabric finds, Casey does thrifting videos, Tanit-Isis is a Value Village junkie like me, and Debi always finds the best woolens in Scotland op-shops.

We were all up early this morning for an estate sale near our 'burb.  Living outside of downtown Montreal and having two little ones mean that we don't often make it to estate sales until later in the day (or sometimes the day after opening), so we figure we're always missing out on the really good stuff.  Today's sale was only 10 min. away, so we got there as the doors were opening.  And I've got to say, I certainly won't do that again.  People are mean, classless and had no respect for the fact that this was an estate sale for a woman who had recently died.  There was pushing and shoving, yelling at each other, literally pushing my kids aside to get at some hardcover books..... I don't know what to say.  I'm glad the woman's family wasn't around to witness how people were throwing a lifetime's worth of belongings around like so much trash.  I wanted to leave because I was feeling upset and dirty.

Eventually my man took the kids outside to relax and read under the trees while I looked through the sewing supplies.  Luckily, there were no sewing maniacs there and I had that corner of the house to myself to look carefully.  There were a few interesting patterns, notions and tools:

Anne Adams mail order pattern for a romper with skirt cover-up (1963). 

I love how dude is just hanging out in his skivvies/Crescent skirt, smoking. 

A printer's drawer full of threads; mostly Gutterman.  (Two people tried to grab the drawer and dump out the thread when I put it down.  Again, people are classless.)

5.5m of rose-print polished cotton and a large square of paisley silk.  The rose print is a little too twee for my usual taste, but I have a '50s full skirted sundress pattern that I'm going to try, and this seems like an appropriate fabric to use; if I end up not liking it, I'm not out too much $$.

But the real treasure, in my opinion, was this pile of Simplicity pattern books and sales pamphlets from 1967-1970:

This is my favourite era, and I am already pouring over the illustrations and ads.  Again, sorry for the poor quality photos, but I don't have a scanner at home.

 I would love to make either of these above styles,

but especially this one.  I have a pattern with a similar bodice, so it shouldn't be too difficult to draft (famous last words).

 Tablecloth dress?

How to throw a paper dress sewing party!  Instructions include inviting women and men (oh, the hilarity of men sewing!), and surprising your guests with paper table cloths and a matching dress you've whipped up beforehand.  Make sure to have extra scissors, sewing machines and glue on hand!  

And apparently 1969 meant scallops, scallops everywhere:

My girl just woke up from her nap, so I'm back on duty.  Hope you're having as good a weekend as I am, but of course, minus the soul-less vultures that pass for book dealers.