• Pink Gingham Shirtdress •

Today's post is about a dress made quite a while ago! 6 years ago, as a matter of fact! Back in those days, I hardly knew how to sew a straight line, much less sew a garment, so I asked my mom if she would make me a dress. She did!

It is made out of lovely pink poly-cotton gingham. I'll just go ahead and admit it; I adore poly-cotton fabric. It basically doesn't wrinkle, even with wearing it and never has to be ironed after washing. 

I also adore gingham, so this fabric is definitely a favorite.

I wore the dress every once in a while for a couple of years, but not often because the original sleeves were too tight. I finally decided to just put it away and remake it into something else later on.

Last year, after I made my first blouse, I pulled this dress out of the fabric drawer and tried it on just for fun. I mean, there's no way it would fit anymore, right? Well, the sleeves still didn't, but the dress still fit perfectly! What was the solution? I'll put on new sleeves! I happened to have the perfect sized scraps left to squeeze out some sleeves.

Although it might not be an exceedingly 1940s-looking dress, it does make a very nice housedress, and I wear it all the time!

I borrowed my mom's scarf for the pictures. Maybe I need to more permanently "borrow" it! 

;)

I intended to have some scrumptious new sandals to wear with this dress (and a lot of others).

Long story short; there has-been a pair of Swedish Hasbeens in the house. They weren't here long, however, because they just did not fit! I ordered the Ornament Clog in 11, but the toes were extremely tight, and the heel straps were extremely uncomfortable. Back they went.

So, the long, hard sandal-hunt continues.

Meanwhile, we're keeping busy as bees because there is some amazing music going on in town! Rachel Barton Pine, the amazing violinist was in town performing with the local festival orchestra last weekend, and there are several more weeks of recitals, masterclasses, and orchestra performances with other amazingly talented artists to come. I love it! Aside from the pure enjoyment, it is very inspirational and has prodded me into practicing more, as I should. Three cheers for classical music!!

• Aluminum Overcast B-17 & 1940s Dresses •

Last week, the WWII B-17 Aluminum Overcast flew into an airport nearby us, so we just had to go check it out (and take some pictures by it)! It was an amazing experience!

They were offering half-hour flights, but at $475 per person, that was just a tad over-budget. Maybe next time, right? ;)

Nevertheless, just to be able to go through and walk around the plane was very amazing.

Among other exciting events, we got to meet Captain America! ;) I had heard of Captain America before, but hadn't a clue who he was, what he did, or that he existed during WWII. Now I know!!

My mom and I wore our coordinating 1940s dresses. We actually made them early this year, but never got around to photographing them until now.

I discovered a rather displeasing issue as I started laying out the pattern; the fabric was noticeably faded on the fold, and in several other spots where it had obviously been exposed to the light for too long. That was not very encouraging! I worked around the faded spots as much as I could, putting them in the least noticeable places; near the sides of the bodice, and in the back of the skirt. It ended up being hardly noticeable at all! And what I initially thought would be a least favorite dress turned out to be a top favorite!

This dress is the third rendition I have made of Simplicity 1587. See the first and second here and here. I really like the pattern, but have forced myself to retire it for the time being since I have a total of four different dresses from that pattern.

I love the subtle details of the pattern; the elasticized ruching on the sleeves, and the gorgeous gathered detailing on the skirt. 

My mom made her dress from a vintage Anne Adams pattern. I bought the pattern last year, hoping it would look good on me, but it ended up looking a thousand times better on her. Her buttery yellow flower-laden fabric is just perfect for the pattern!

I found the buttons for her, however, so....don't I get partial credit for the dress??

Aren't they just absolutely delicious?!

The dress looks lovely with or without a belt. The buckle she uses for it is a universal favorite around here; it matches so many different things! 

And now for a few airplane photos!!

A very narrow plank through the bomb bay! 

All in all, it was an amazing experience to be able to get a close-up look at a plane that was involved in WWII. Let us never forget!!

• Keyhole Tutorial •

Hurrah! Hurrah! I'm finally posting the long-awaited keyhole tutorial!

Every time I wanted to photograph the making of a keyhole on a dress I was sewing, I ended up doing something differently or being in too much of a hurry to be able to do so. But my current sewing project (a gorgeous striped 1940s dress) ended up being the perfect opportunity to photograph my keyhole-making method.

You will need the back bodice piece of what you're sewing and a back facing piece to match. Interface the back facing piece and finish the bottom edge.

You'll also need a bias-cut loop piece measuring 1" x 1 3/4".

Sew the loop with right sides together, stretching it as you sew and keeping the folded edge even with the edge of your presser foot. You may want to backstitch just a couple of stitches as you start so you have a secure thread tail to pull later.

Once the loop is sewn together, use a big-eye needle to pull the starting-end thread tails through the loop and turn it. Press the loop piece and shape it into a loop.

Mark the center line of your back facing piece on the interfaced (wrong) side. Mark how long you want your keyhole to be (mine is 4 1/2" long) and make a dot on either side of your center line at the bottom end, almost 1/8" away on each side.

On the neck edge, mark a little line to note where your seam allowance is. Mine is 3/8", but be sure to read your pattern to see what yours should be. Make a dot 1/4" away from the center line on each side, even with your seam allowance. This is where you will pivot when you sew the keyhole.

Now, using a ruler, connect the dots!

The next step is to baste the loop onto your back bodice piece (see note below), having the raw edges even with the center line, and making sure the top edge of the loop is close to but not over the seam allowance. The picture above illustrates where your loop is.

Note: As I was sewing my keyhole, I kept getting the feeling that I was forgetting something. I was. I completely forgot to baste my loop onto my back bodice before sewing the keyhole together! Fortunately, it doesn't require much unpicking when you do that, so I was able to fix it quite easily. However, it's always best to do things the right way, so...don't do what I did! ;)

Next, pin your facing onto the bodice and start sewing!

When you reach the first dot at the top of the keyhole, pivot and start down your marked line.

When you get to the bottom, pivot on the dot again and change your stitch length down to about 2 (smaller than you have been sewing). Stitch to the other dot, pivot, and change your stitch length back up to where it was. Continue sewing up the keyhole in the same manner.

Hurrah! You're nearly there!

Next, snip down the center line marking to the end stitches, snipping very close to but not through them. Make a tiny diagonal cut towards the corner (like you'd do on a bound buttonhole) on each side. 

Notch the curves of the neck edge and clip the corners of the keyhole edge as shown.

Fraycheck the bottom end of the keyhole, putting a goodly amount on but not so much that it runs beyond your stitching lines. Allow to dry.

Turn the facing to the inside, press, and you're done!!

Inside view. 

I'm so glad to finally have this tutorial done; I apologize for taking so long to get to it! This seems to be one of the busiest times of the year around here (hence the missed post on Monday), but it's starting to be a little less hectic, thankfully. I'll be back on Monday!

• 1940s Lace Dress •

I apologize for the unannounced absence! I neglected to put together a post ahead of time, so when Thursday rolled around, I got so busy I didn't have time to write anything! One of the things I was busy with was this dress!

Ever since I first glimpsed Vogue 8811, I have absolutely loved it; especially View A with the lace. It's just so beautiful! Last year I purchased this blue polyester crepe ($1 a yard...yay!!), not really having anything particular in mind for it. Eventually I realized that it was the perfect fabric to make this dress out of! And not only that, I happened to have some lace in the stash that was also perfect for it!

I realize that polyester crepe was not even invented in 1940 (actually, it was invented in 1941...but that's beside the point). Since I'm just making vintage-style garments for everyday wear and not pursuing absolute period-correctness, I don't have a problem using a fabric like this every now and then. No one can accuse me of being a fabric snob. ;)

Since the fabric is slightly thin, I self-lined the bodice. That was a somewhat interesting venture! I have never lined anything with kimono sleeves before, but I confidently proceeded anyway with what I thought was the right way to do it. 

It wasn't.

I sewed the neckline of the bodice and lining together once all the seams were sewn, then sewed the sleeves together. In my mind, that was going to work quite perfectly!

It didn't.

What resulted was a Rubik's cube of fabric; an unrecognizable mass of material that couldn't be turned! I was tempted to give up on the dreaded thing, but finally decided to go back and unpick the sleeve seams. That did work.

Because of that little problem, the overall annoyance of trying to sew such persnickety fabric, trying to sew the lace on neatly, and trying to hem it decently, this dress gained the not-so-endearing name, "The Dress of Stress."

Now that it's done though, I definitely love it. And even with the problems I had, it was awfully easy to make! It would be an absolute cinch in a more easily-sewable fabric.

The pattern called for 2" lace; mine was more like 1 1/2", but it still looked just fine.

I had another rather stressful issue; I used a wash-out sewing marker to mark my lace miters, which I then spritzed afterwards to remove the marks. After the fabric had dried, I noticed that the water had left what looked like dirty watermarks everywhere that I had spritzed it! Thankfully, they washed right out, but it wasn't very encouraging at the time!

I decided to try my hand at a hand-picked zipper. I'd never done one before, but I quite like it! It may not be the most amazing job ever, but not too bad for a first try.

As for alterations, I lengthened the sleeves 2" and made the armholes smaller using another pattern's sleeves as a guide (Vogue V9000).

I also made the keyhole about 1 1/2" shorter and made it in my usual shape rather than the slightly wider, rounded shape that the pattern called for. Which reminds me, I have been incredibly lax and not posted my keyhole tutorial yet! I will do that either this week or next, and that's a promise!

Despite the problems, I'm thrilled to have a new "fancy" dress! It will be just the thing for orchestra-attending and other such occasions that call for more formal attire.

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and the lovely, lovely comments on last week's post! You all make a girl feel quite special!! :)