Kittys Drawings

Hi Everyone!
Another dress is complete – another one I am super happy about. LOVE this dress!

It’s Mccall’s 4864 from 1942 I think. I bought it from Patterns From The Past. How quirky is it!? I just love Mccall’s patterns from this era – they have heaps of nifty little details and this dress in particular has more than most. Here are some of those features:

• 4 darts on the sleeves to give them a square shape. This would be more highlighted if I’d put in shoulder pads.
• Low V-neck with contrast bands (also at sleeves)
• BUTTONS on the neckline! I omitted this because it would just be a bit too much with this print
• External darts!
• Top-stitched pleats at the skirt
• Tucks on the back to give a blouse effect.
• Shoulder/neck darts for subtle shaping
• Gored skirt – totally swing style!

Ha! And I chose to make this in busy polka-dot. Typical ;-P I think it’s some kind of rayon-y thing again. That said, I seriously doubt my fabric identifying skills. It drapes nice and was an appropriate choice for this style. Its really really comfortable and will be good for winter and summer.

I hemmed it with some red stretch lace hem tape which I had in my stash.

The edges are trimmed in red cotton voile I bought from Lincraft. I wasn’t going to add it originally but it really makes the dress a bit more special having it there. The red stitched trim is from some rayon thread I found at half price at Clegs. It took me ages to do and it’s a *little* wonky – don’t look too closely (haha!) Yes, I did that by hand.

I made no serious alterations to the pattern at all – Just took about 2 inches out of the length of the skirt.
The side opening closes with a hook & eye and some snaps. Still my favourite method for dresses you can only get into this way
The inside is just as neat as the outside and I’m glad I took my time with this one. My new year’s resolution is kicking along nicely. I’ve been proud of everything I’ve made this year so far.

A couple of silly photos in this shoot ;-P The kitties were hanging around and being adorable.

(In the photo of me below I was squee-ing over how Boofy was so intent on turning himself inside out with sheer adoration, that he nearly fell off the couch!)

Other news – It’s raining outside! Autumn is finally on it’s way. Yay! I much prefer the cooler weather. I’ve already started making plans for winter. Bought a small new supply of vintage seamed stockings. Have grand plans for a fit’n'flare princess coat. It’s going to be a huge project and I should really start it very soon. Ideally I want it made of hunter green silk faille but I’d need over 5 yards, at $65USD a yard, that’s a serious investment – so it will stay in pipe-dream territory for a while yet. Definitely have to think of something more accessible and easier to sew. See if I can find some nice wool without breaking the bank.

I’m also waiting on payday so I can finally pick up the Lady Valet dress-form I put on layby. It’s crazy that I’ve gone so long without one. And I could have gone for a cheaper option but I wanted something that would last the distance. Besides, its RED. And comes with a hem marker…..Handy.

My current project is testing out Suzy’s new pattern. I bought some brilliantly coloured chartreuse linen for the main parts of the dress – and the sleeves and neckline will be out of black lace.

If you’re wondering what’s happened to all the drawing…I’ve had some serious urges to get into it lately. All the best intentions huh! But when it comes down to it, I’m really pressed for time these days and sewing wins out. I’ve got my sketch pad beside my desk which is frequently getting scribbled in – and a couple of projects on the go…but I’d need a ‘holiday’ at home to get into it all. And maybe turn off the internet while I’m at it. Kinda hard to avoid the temptation when I’m on the computer already!  Sometimes I wish I could just shut myself off from EVERYTHING to allow all the ideas I know are lurking in my subconscious to float to the surface…somewhere that’s not in the city! So many temptations here and distractions. We can all dream can’t we. *le sigh*!
And yet on the other hand, I love the city – THIS city. Especially with winter coming up. Melbourne is so much nicer when it’s cold and wet outside. I’m sure a lot of people disagree with me there!

Hmm
Dilemmas!

Anyways!
Better stop dilly-dallying and get to my work ‘Til next time peeps!!

Hi All!
Despite having finished things to show you, I can’t actually post anything proper today. Boo. The white dress I finished seems to REALLY want to get stained. Even the buttons I put on there aren’t keeping their colour. That’s the trouble with vintage sometimes huh?

So I’m just gonna show you a small preview of the awesome 40′s dress I’m working on now. It’s completely wearable but I’m adding some extra touches to make it’s great features really stand out amongst all the black polka dot This is taking a bit of time but it’s giving me the chance to watch all those old movies that The Mr doesn’t have much interest in.

This is the neckline…which will also be trimmed with some red fabric (which I haven’t bought yet). I’m thinking a light and gauzy cotton voile or something – if I can find it. Do you think I should add two rows of hand-stitching along here?

Anyways, back to watching Rear Window….Hope you’ve all had a great weekend!

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the lack of posting last weekend. We didn’t get back from Blaigowrie til quite late. The big ride on the scooter was quite a success…I won’t tell you how I managed to get more scratches in it (eep) but I will tell you that I got down there and back without anything seriously bad happening. For those folks not from Australia, Blairgowrie is about 100kms south of where I live in the inner suburbs of Melbourne (depending on which route you take)…It’s right at the bottom of Port Phillip Bay and is a popular spot for city people wanting to get away for the weekend. Mind you, it’s hardly ‘country’ or even remotely isolated…Melbourne is such a spread out city that the entire trip down the bay is built up with plush beach houses of varying scale and style.
Anyways, we had a good time – playing board games, drinking and just blobbing about. Yay

So on to this week’s sewing project…

This has been the first project for the year following my new resolution of taking my time and finishing things properly. I’m so happy with this top that I can even show you the insides The pattern is Mccall 6475 from 1946 and I used a cotton blend of some description in a nice orange floral. I don’t usually go for orange but I loved this print as soon as I laid eyes on it. It’s another one from Savers from way back. The fabric has a really great drape to it and is soft and airy. It may be a rayon/cotton blend…Not sure. It washes ok from the little swatch I tested….so who knows what’s in it.

A few notes about the pattern and finishing:

• I made view C which you can’t see on the cover but the only difference from view B is the peplum at the bottom isn’t gathered as it’s designed to fit under a skirt.
• I don’t think this would work with anything but a super drapey fabric. There’s a lot of gathering that needs to fall nicely. I’m happy with my fabric choice!
• It’s VERY blousey – considering how small the size is, and it IS meant to be roomy, but there’s a LOT of room. Tight, structured waist definition is absolutely essential for styling this!
• The cute details are a bit lost in this print but I would love to make this out of a plain, maybe even sheer fabric

• I finished as many seams as I could with rayon seam binding.
• The side seams are zig-zag stitched because I ran out of that colour seam binding!
• I made a narrow hem finished by hand.
• The side closure consists of three snaps and a hook & eye on a placket. This is SO much better than a zip – And yes I will keep going on about that forever.
• I omitted the shoulder pads….for obvious reasons. I guess some light ones wouldn’t look too bad and they are very much essential for the era…One day I will make some and see how they look.

Yay! I’m really pleased with this top and I definitely want to make more versions of it. It took about a weekend to do – The bound seams were fairly time consuming but if you omitted those this would take no time at all to make. Once again, this is another one of those 40′s patterns with neat little details. I love how the sleeves attach to the neckline. Mccall’s patterns from the 40′s are especially excellent. Side note: I’m actually waiting on a heap of patterns to arrive from Etsy, eBay and a super special Mccall’s from Patterns From the Past.

Notice I also got my replacement grey shoes from Asos? The 38 fits much better.

Well that’s all for now. I have to start on a new project…I don’t even know if I’ll have anything new to show for next week! I think I’ll have to actually do some drawing! How bout that!

Heh…

Ciao then!

Sorry for the lack of arty posting lately. Been feeling in a bit of a slump. Still sketching daily but kinda not feelin it. However, I’ve got two client projects on the go which aren’t problematic at all which is excellent.
I think I have worked myself into a “MUST BUY NEW COMPUTER” mode and so trying to do anything on my clunky old laptop is getting me frustrated. I am entirely sure it’s just an excuse as I am known to do that. What for I know, it’s not like it’s benefiting me in any way to be always making excuses! TERRIBLE. But identifying the problem is only halfway (only a quarter even) there.
Soooo, even just writing this out is motivating me to get off my butt and back into it. Browsing the talent on ConceptArt always helps too.

But since I have nothing worth scanning at the moment, I shall show you some purchases instead. It was payday not long ago and of course I have a massive list of favourites on Etsy which I’m always itching to lay my hands on.
These are the items winging their way over to me from the US.

A stunning 50′s/60′s wool suit. Cos I don’t have a suit yet and this is so pretty and looks like a fabulous cut.

A navy vintage hat. I don’t wear hats generally and this is a good price and versatile colour so that I don’t feel too bad if it doesn’t look good on me. There are SO many beautiful hats on Etsy!

And finally, another dress….cos a girl can never have enough dresses. The colours are cute and summery and looks flattering. Thankfully I’ve gotten quite good at being able to judge what will fit me well without needing to try something on. There hasn’t been one online purchase I’ve made that doesn’t fit me.

I can’t wait til they all arrive! Cue postie stalking….NOW!

Ciao!

Omg – posting on Christmas Day. Who’d've thought! Welll……I am waiting on the darling boyfriend to return from work. My lamb roast is in the oven (shit, that reminds me, I have to put the potatoes on!) and the dessert is setting in the fridge – Vanilla panna cotta with raspberry coulis. Mmmm.

So in the meantime I got to browsing Etsy…which lead me via some tangents to other vintage sites…..and spying a pretty pretty dress which was alas, sold. Damn! So I drew it instead. There I was thinking I’d be too lazy to draw over the Xmas break – but sometimes the urge to pick up a pencil is too strong and a drawing just happens.

Now, it’s hardly polished or anything fancy – but colour sketches always turn out nice enough to put on the blog. So here you go – something to look at while you’re trying to digest all that Christmas food and trying not to fall asleep. Heh

Hope you’re all having a good holiday! I am

Teeehee.

Just a quick on cos its 6:04am and I gotta scoot off to work soon. I drew these yesterday and Tuesday. Some ideas for ConceptArt Character of the Week which I wont make on time but no matter – it was fun sketching. Bride of Frankenstein if you cant tell

Without and with reference in that order.

And possibly the most AMAZING vintage 40′s silk suit I have ever seen in my life. If only I could afford the $325USD it costs! Seriously. I am scheming and planning ways for me to lay my hands on it. Though I’m afraid it may show my shopping addiction way too much if I were to purchase it as for that amount of money I could get myself a kitty and all the things the kitty would need.

*sigh*