Posted on December 9th, 2009 by Pamela in Music, sewing
When I was poking around the fabric store in Sept. to see what was in for fall and winter, I fell in love with this boiled wool and knew I had to make something out of it for work. It had to be a dress (of course) and Caroline suggested I go with this style, and I’m really happy with it. It was easy to make and it’s so comfortable and warm that I’m tempted to find more colours and just wear them all winter.
Ok, maybe something similar so I don’t look like a schoolgirl all winter.
I’ve been looking forward to making something for my nieces, so I got in gear this weekend and whipped up this little number to bring with me to our family get-together. The girls are at a perfect age where they love to dress up, and still like the cute and pretty styles. I figure I have a couple more years, and then I’ll have to wait until they are through their teen years. ha!
Thanks to Lauren for raiding her Grandmother’s pattern stash to find this…
I had Tara try it out this weekend. A bit big in the shoulders but at least there’s room to grow into!
Posted on August 20th, 2009 by Pamela in Music, sewing
McCall’s circa 1958.
Obviously (to me) this one is need a crinoline (that or a really tight girdle underneath), but it turned out not too bad in spite of the major altering job. Maybe I’ll just pad my hips to increase my waist to hip ratio.
So did women in the 50’s have way bigger boobs or something? Because this was a 36 bust and I measured mine and it’s definitely 36 but I had to take this in about 2 inches. Very frustrating what with the gussets under the arms and re-cutting the back neckline, you know what I’m talking about right?
I’m not sure if I like the yellow sash but it looks ok in the picture (Caroline I know you are jealous of my awesomely tanned legs) so maybe I’ll wear it to work tomorrow and if I don’t get any “wow Pam, that dress is really…something.” comments I’ll allow it in my closet.
Where can I get some little white gloves?
Btw: Dress #4 didn’t quite work out as I’d hoped (in case you were wondering).
I’m a lot happier with this dress than the last one.
The lines on the bodice are much better because it’s lined rather than having facings. I managed to use left over fabric from the dress for the lining and saved myself the expense of buying extra material.
I also preferred doing the pleats instead of gathering. It took longer to get it precise, and I still think I didn’t make them straight enough. The skirt kinda billows and I’m afraid that people might think it’s a maternity dress if I wear it. You know, women of a certain age wearing an empire waist is always a recipe for embarrassment.
Here is the finished product on “mini-me”. It’s tighter on the mini-me than on me so I need to rename the dress form to something more appropriate. All suggestions are welcome!
Posted on May 18th, 2009 by Pamela in Music, sewing
I know you all have been waiting with baited breath to see what I was able to pull off on a long weekend.
I’m actually very pleased with how this turned out. It’s not perfect of course, how could it be? I haven’t sewn a dress since 1989. It was really easy to get the fitting of the dress perfect, having the dress form that I made with mom last weekend. There was one small hitch; I had to add darts in the back after I had put on the neck facings, but since it was my first go that was nothing, and with the material being really cheap and the style cute, it’s still not going to be my favourite dress ever.
Because everything went really well and only took me a day and a bit to finish, I’m going to go for a vintage pattern for my next project. something with a fitted skirt and bodice. Very Jackie O. You will have to stay tuned.
Thanks to Lauren for lending me her sewing machine until I get my own.
Now all we need is a Fabricland in town. There are too many fabric stores in this area dedicated solely to quilting. Maybe I haven’t had a good enough look around yet, if you know of any good places to get fabrics for garments, let me know.
And in keeping with my type, I’ve been exploring other avenues for my creative outlet other than cooking…
Of late, I’ve been really interested in trying my hand at sewing. Obsessing over the idea really. I even went as far as ordering vintage dress patterns online (fortunately they are pretty cheap), and just this weekend got my mom to help me make this:
Ya, now you want a custom dress form too, I can tell (they are sooo flattering), but making one of these is not for the faint of heart, I started getting light headed as mom started wrapping me in the 2nd out of 3 layers of Duct Tape.
Here’s my first kick at the can:
I’m doing the one on the bottom right. Although the one in the middle looks super cute too so if all goes well I may add the sleeves and the do-dad on the front.
In all, I’m sure everything will turn out perfectly and I will be starting my new fabulous career as a vintage dress maker by the end of the summer. How do I know this? Because I took it as a sign when my hair stylist offered to give me his brand new sewing machine. Plus my personality type didn’t indicate a tendency to exaggerate or get way ahead of myself.
Posted on April 13th, 2009 by Pamela in Food, Music
This is what happens when I see a sale and I have too much time on my hands. Or really, I’m looking for reasons to procrastinate.
So I was making lasagna for supper and needed to grab some cottage cheese from the grocery store, the closest being the Wholesale place. And there in the meat section at 50% off was a whole beef strip loin.
Yes, this is what $35 can buy…sometimes, and it is ungraded but whatever, we will just throw in a little more salt.
So 10-12oz steaks and 2-3lb roasts (one I turned into stew beef) later, my freezer is once again full and efficient, and we are ready for bbq season!
This is odd but I couldn’t find an appropriate song.
I also preferred doing the pleats instead of gathering. It took longer to get it precise, and I still think I didn’t make them straight enough. The skirt kinda billows and I’m afraid that people might think it’s a maternity dress if I wear it. You know, women of a certain age wearing an empire waist is always a recipe for embarrassment.
