Buys of the day

JoAnn had Simplicity patterns on sale for $2...I have been wanting these two for a while!

After reading Lily's post about furs at Mode de Lis, I just had to have a mink collar. So I got one. For $8.50. 

And, a vintage hat!! It's the first one I've ever found that fit my 2014, non-vintage, Norwegian head....I love it!!

$10 at a local antique store.

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Awesome projects coming soon....honest. Thanks for stopping by! 

Regency Apron: Butterick 5509

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My apologies for being absentee for a few days! So...I know I said I was going to make that vintage blouse, but, I just had to have a Regency apron first. I made it out of some blue floral cotton from JoAnn. I just love it. There is, however, a catch. I ended up making it the wrong size for myself, so I gave it to my mom. It fits her perfectly, and the style is actually going to be perfect to modify into a Regency-style dress. Can't wait to see that!!

Butterick 5509...still available as far as I know.

This was another good learning experience - the pattern wasn't hard, but it took a while to get it done. And I got some more practice following those mortal enemies of mine called patterns. It was a wonderful pattern though, as far as patterns go because once again, there were no buttons, zippers, sleeves, or interfacings to deal with. 

I would recommend this pattern - it's a great Regency-type apron, and a fun sewing experience. Size down, if you're in between sizes.

Have fun checking out a few pictures!

Butterick Walk-Away Dress

**NOTE**

I have remade this dress since posting this review; see the new version here.

The dress is Butterick B4790, a wrap dress that is very simple to make, having no buttonholes, interfacing, zippers, or lining. It was a bit time-consuming, because I sewed the hem and the seam binding by hand.

I ended up finishing it at about 12:30 Saturday night (aka Sunday morning). I was determined to wear it to church Sunday morning, even if I had to stay up all night to do so. Overall, this was a pretty easy dress to make. I'm very much of an amateur at following patterns, but this was a breeze. And, I am no longer scared to death of seam binding! (hurray!)

Here's a few pics.

Front view

Back view

The front wraps around to the back and closes with a button and loop.

The back wraps around to the front and closes with snaps...

Topped off with cute vintage buttons. I nabbed 10 of them at a local antique store for $4.

I sewed the long edge of the seam binding on with the machine, then sewed the short edge down by hand with a whip stitch. I love the effect - you don't end up with skewed, uneven seams this way.

I serged the hem and whipstitched it, turning under by hand as I went along.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you're enjoying the (almost) spring weather.

Check out my Vintage Sewing Link Party!

Vintage Sewing Link Party #1

Hi there and welcome to the very first Vintage Sewing Link Party! I absolutely love vintage style clothing, and have made a resolution to sew myself a whole wardrobe of it! I am so glad you are here to join me in this little adventure. I would love to have you link up your vintage style sewing and craft projects and outfits!

I haven't taken pictures of my new dress yet, but I will be doing so tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's a snapshot of it to hold you over!

I love how it feels and looks, and I love having my first vintage-style piece of clothing made and in my closet! I'll be posting a full pattern review with the pictures.

My next vintage sewing project is this blouse, but I'm going to modify it and add longer sleeves and a button back instead of a side zipper. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

And now, for the link party!!

A few rules:

Family-friendly content only, please.

Only link up the same project once.

Please add the link party button to your blog.

Visit another link and leave a lovely comment.

And last but not least, enjoy yourself and come back soon!

  

DIY Ruffle Tote

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Remember my first ruffle tote? Well, I made another one! Only this one, (in my humble opinion), is TEN times more beautiful! Being as I am a classical music lover, I am in love with this tote. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. It's just SO pretty!

Okay, now that I'm done patting myself on the back, let's look at some pictures!

Front side

The top ruffle. I serged the edges using only one needle instead of two, and I used a tan thread to match. It looks so perfect, and works better than just zig-zagging the edges like I did in my other tote.

I removed the basting stitches from the top ruffle, but left them in the others. After all, they don't show, right?

Fabric flowers. I detest making these things, because it's just such a pain to try to make them look right, but it's worth every minute of it. They add the perfect finishing touch to this tote. I followed this tutorial to make them, except I sewed them together instead of just gluing them. I just safety-pinned them on so they can be removed for washing. (That's my pretty excuse for not wanting to try to sew them onto the bag....clever huh?)

Inside view

The ruffles end [peacefully] at the sides....they're actually pieced on the other side, but it doesn't show at all due to the ruffling.

Underneath view of the ruffles

Back side. It's just as pretty as the front!

And here's both of them having a ruffle tote bag reunion. I made the ruffles go further up on the new tote, and I really like the effect! 

Thanks for stopping by to check out my new tote! I'd love to have you check out my Vintage Dress Sew-Along.

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Retro Cherry Apron

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Finally! The promised pictures of my new Retro Cherry Apron!

We've had this fabric for several years...it was dwelling peacefully in the ever-growing fabric stash, but I finally decided to uproot it and make it into something beautiful. I realllllyyyy wanted it to look retro, so I searched and searched (and searched) on Pinterest, and gleaned a few ideas from my Apron board. Finally I decided on a circle-type bottom with a sweetheart top. I LOVE how it came out. To me, it is the epitome of a sweet retro apron.

To get the circular bottom, I hopped over to Cotton and Curls for the circle skirt formula. Obviously, I only made one half circle, since I was just making an apron. The top - I literally just started pinning and cutting and pinning and cutting until I finally came up with a good shape.

The ruffle and waistband fabric is actually from an ancient pair of pajamas that I always loved, but they had gotten wayyyy too small. The neck of the pajamas had a ruffle on it, so I chopped that off, re-basted it, and voila! An instant ruffle for the neckline. 

I had to redo the top several times over (there was a bit of mortification...*sigh*) because the point in the middle of it just would not come out right. AND, I kept having to redo the positioning of the strap because that too just would. not. look right. Finally, however, it WAS just right, and I top-stitched it with red thread.

I serged the hem and then hand-stitched it. It took a little while, but it came out great. 

Thanks to Thelma Lou, our trusty model and dressform, for modeling the apron. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Come back soon and see what's cookin' (or sewin')!
I'd love to have you join my sew-along!

Visit the blog live to leave a comment.

Vintage Wardrobe Challenge: Butterick B4790

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Welcome to my first Vintage Wardrobe Challenge post! My goal is to have a wardrobe that consists mainly of handmade, vintage style clothing, so I thought a sew-along would be just the thing to do! You can sew your own version of the dress, then show it off at the VWC link party (starting next week).Vintage style clothing is so pretty, and there are alot of patterns available in modern sizes. 

Today's VWC project is Butterick B4790. It is called the "Walk-Away" dress, because ideally, you could start the dress after breakfast, and walk away wearing it by lunchtime. That isn't really going to happen because you have to let it hang for 24 hours before hemming. In any case, it is pretty much the easiest dress you'll ever make. No interfacing, no buttonholes, no zippers. What could be better? 

So grab your pattern, some fabric and start sewing! You can purchase the pattern at your local fabric store. I bought 7 yards of a floral cotton. There is about 33" leftover. I did, however lengthen the dress 6" to make it long enough for me (keep in mind I'm 6‘)

I currently have my dress hanging up to set the hem. Next I will be serging and hand stitching the hem. The directions say to hem it on the machine, but I like the hand-stitched effect. It is going to take forever, I realize that, but I don't mind it.

Link up your project at my Vintage Sewing Link Party!

Happy sewing!

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Updating....

Due to some changes in accounts, some pictures on this blog may not appear. I am correcting this problem currently, so thank you for your patience!