Leopard Mullet Hem

While in Toronto a few weeks ago, I did the thing that sewists do when traveling: find the fabric district. Queen West has lots of great fabric stores; I found a good mix of cramped, crammed, cheap dives and higher end boutiques. One store in particular specialized in silk, which I generally find exceptionally difficult to find - their printed silks made me cry a little bit.

As much as I have been sewing lately, I haven't made the switch to higher end textiles yet. Silk is so expensive, and I'm terrified of ruining a beautiful textile that FREAKING CATERPILLARS SECRETE FROM THEIR HEADS. Also, I'm the newly emancipated child of momma H&M and Daddy Forever 21. I may not be suckling at that teat anymore but I'm used to the polyester milk (wow, that metaphor reeeally got away from me). All this to say - I don't mind a synthetic fabric. So while I was crying about being too poor/scared to sew with silk, I stumbled on this perfect mini animal print which was within my price range.

This print reminds me a lot of the one I used here. I think I love animal prints because they almost act as a neutral - a great base for adding colour. Also, I had been hunting for a fabric for a particular dress. When McCall's released this pattern this season I immediately added it to my wishlist and ordered it during one of their frequent online sales (Sidenote: McCall's/Vogue seems to have great sales pretty frequently where you can get patterns from $1.99 - $3.99. I assumed Simplicity followed the same model but the last "sale" they had was pretty sad. I think patterns were $9.99. Does anyone know if and/or when Simplicity has good sales?). 

It is a similar silhouette to my last project - scoop neck, vertical seams, full skirt, although I didn't realize at the time how similar the patterns were. What made me snap it up was the longer hem in the back - so floaty and pretty. This "mullet" style as Lladybird so beautifully put it, is crazy flattering for your legs and I think puts a nice spin on a traditional shape. However, you really HAVE to wear heels with this dress. I am the valedictorian of the Never Ever Wear Flats With a Midi Skirt school (even if it's only half a midi). Makes your calves look like tree stumps.

Went neon with the zipper and belt (see? animal prints ARE a neutral!) and accessorised with my new favourite necklace. Muchos gracias to Sophie at Cirque du Bebe for reminding me of this tutorial for the gold-chain "collar" necklace. She looked so darn cute in hers, I went and whipped up one for me and my bff on her birthday.

Some shots of the inside. I serged the seams with some red for pretty contrast. I think I'm going to start doing this more frequently - I like the little flash of colour on the inside.

Zola wanted to get in the picture (or smell my feet):

 

Leopard Mullet Hem:
Pattern: McCall's 6504
Total Cost: $25 for fabric, had notions in the stash
Time to Make: 8-9 hours to whip up, but a few episodes of Mad Men to hand hem that monster

Vogue Paris Originals

I know I am not alone in spending obscene amounts of time hunting vintage patterns down online. I have, do and will spend entire nights crawling the interwebs ogling what has come to be my favourite sub-genre of the vintage pattern: Vogue Paris Originals. Vogue started printing these in 1949, featuring straight-from-the-muslin reproductions of Balmain, Lanvin and Schiaperelli, among others. For most women in the 50's and 60's, the only way to experience the physical bliss of a Lanvin design was to make it yourself. The early designs were couture quality, and many women took lessons to learn how to reproduce these garments since many of the patterns were too advanced for the average home seamstress.

My favourite era for Vogue Paris Originals is definitely the 60's. The styling of the models on the envelopes is kind of awe-inducing and it's rather fascinating to see how incredibly timeless a lot of the designs are. Especially interesting is realizing how current designers for these major houses have the most incredibly deep and beautiful archives to dig through for constant inspiration.....

What follows is a very image heavy selection of some of my favourite patterns from this period. Try not to drool on your keyboard (all images taken from the Vintage Pattern Wiki).

Let's start with some very of the moment black and white colour blocking:

I'm not sure how I feel about this in the mint green but the B&W with the

gloves? Si Si Si!

Hey, I love your Oompa Loompa tan and your little graphic sheath dress.

Super slimming side panels. Givenchy was no fool.

Oh, hello you sweet color-blocked miracle.

Does anyone else want to wear a jaunty white beret & gloves everywhere?

This is maybe a little crazy but loving The Liza Minnelli-esque model.

Mod Maid!

!!!! This only very slightly reminds me of this Victory Patterns dress.

That topstitching! Those hats! The Liza Minnelli doppelganger!

Now, how about some little black dresses?

Classic 60's sack coat and LBD. So Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Pretty simple silhouette but I love how exaggerated the A-Line is. 
Again, it's the styling on that model that kills me.

She could be pouting at us from last month's Vogue magazine.

Girl, I'd be laughing crazy too if I was wearing this classic Jackie-O number.

If I had to choose favourites? Don't make me reenact Sophie's Choice. But this look? 

This look I could live with the rest of my life. That belt, that hat, those gloves. 
If you look up "chic" in the dictionary this lady is the one who blithely looks 
the other way when you drool on her picture.

 

Classic silhouette but the cowl back and the detail under the bust are 

spectacular.

Some 60's Grecian magic.

And now for some little white dresses:

This is so simple and architectural and NOW.

Loving the asymmetry of this.

Lanvin was really brilliant at the super simple but supremely elegant sheath, wasn't she?

 

Oh, hello LOVER. Doesn't this cape remind you of Gwynny P's Oscar stunner? And how perfect is that dress with the cleavage slit? (Forgive me but this may actually be 70's, not 60's).

The dress for the most sophisticated kangaroo on the block. 
The neckline and detailing on this are just so fabulous. 

And is that Debbie Harry on the right??

 

You really must have magnificent arms for this number, but if you have magnificent arms 

I think you have the perfect dress, no?

If I ran a brothel this is what I would wear.

And neither black nor white, but simply marvelous:
 

Pierre Cardin you brilliant maniac. That coat/cape/miracle needs to be on my body IMMEDIATELY even if it means never carrying a purse or being able to freely move my arms. That is a cocoon of immobility I will happily live in forever.

DO I EVEN NEED TO COMMENT ON THIS?? DO I??? Except maybe that Zara kind of knocked it off. I think sunshine yellow and silver sequins would be on my national flag.

Such a cool, weird, awesome shape. In neon pink or some other shocking colour? YES.

Hey Yves, that crazy Amish bonnet is a little kooky but I forgive you because of those sleeves and that bow in the back.

If you needed more evidence that Pierre Cardin was THE SHIT, boom. Here you go.

And finally.... wow. Just... wow. I think if you wore that exact outfit on the left in NYC today you'd be on every street style blog in the world. It's basically what I wanted to look like as a grownup working lady when I was a kid looking through my step-mom's Marie Claires. Sigh.

Apologies for the epic post but i think it was worth it. This is only a small portion of the Vogue Paris Originals released in the 60's but it's pretty staggering to see these all together.  I guess it's apparent I have a real yen for the sleek, modern and streamlined sheath dresses that were so iconic of the decade - it's the career girl in me. The architectural hats and gloves are making me rethink everything I know about accessorizing.  I do so love a New Look tiny waist/full skirt combo but there is something so optimistic, fresh and forward thinking about the 60's silhouette;  I can just imagine the liberation and sense of freedom women of the time must have felt when they could put away their girdles and bullet bras and reach for something that they could move and make change in.

Hope you enjoyed this little piece of pattern history!

Update: Thank you to Amy for reminding me of this amazing website. This link will actually explain the history of a few of the garments above! (SEWING BLOGGERS ARE THE BEST).

Kickin' it in Cobalt

Contrary to my relative lack of recent blog posts, I have been sewing up a damn dust storm of spring dresses. To the point when I am bailing on plans with friends so I can go home and work on them. I have a trip to NYC coming up in May and I'm hoping to only wear stuff I've made so that if I *happen* to run into Scott Schulman (by which I mean street stalk) I can say "Oh this? Yeah, I made it. No big. NOW TAKE A PICTURE OF ME IN IT." (I am aware that it is insanely sad that one of my biggest NYC fantasies is to be wandering around the East Village and unwittingly get photographed by The Sartorialist while I'm like, rifling through a  used book bin or something looking effortlessly chic and unflappable. This fantasy may have been fueled by one my all-time favourite fashion moments. In 2005, I was wandering in Barney's over a long weekend break trying to look like I belonged there in my slightly more feminine b-girl take on Annie Hall menswear (including cream Kangol cap and 70's bow front blouse, the entire outfit costing less than a light bulb in one of their minimal displays) when the so-hiply gay-it-hurts salesman stopped in the middle of his patented/arch "You really need this jacket this season" speech to a wealthy, waspy Upper West side doyenne to stop me and say, "I LOVE what you're wearing" as I walked by. I died. And cried inside. And then died again. God I'm shallow).

Where was I? Oh yes. So I've been kind of obsessed with cobalt blue as of late (as evidenced by this post). When I found this deep, thick knit with a slight stretch on sale I had to have. I spent too much time deciding what to do with it and finally settled on McCalls's 6324. I love this pattern. It has everything I like in a dress- a fitted bodice,  scoop neck, a full skirt and a little interest by way of that zipper up in the front.

I've been using a lot of McCall's patterns lately and I like working with them. After trial and error I've discovered that I am a size 12 up top and a 14 on the bottom. I cut the whole dress in 12 since it's so full in the hip, but ended up taking it in quite a bit at the sides since the fabric had quite a bit of stretch to it. I hunted for a really special zipper but ended up using this brown & gold zip from my stash.

I made this specifically for a boys-night-out trip I made to Toronto a few weeks ago (post break-up my advice is to get drunk with your guy friends as much as possible. Being surrounded by men who love you while wearing a pretty dress is more healing than magic crystals and burning sage). I spent the 6 hour bus trip from Montreal stretched out, watching Vampire Diaries (I know, it's terrible, I'm sorry but I love it) and hand sewing the hem and straps. It fits great, the colour is amazing and I've got a lot of wear out of it but the front zipper takes some getting used to. I am a necklace vs. earrings sort of lady and I kind of had a mental block styling it. But change is good. I can change.

Busted out 2 more dresses last week so hopefully I'll get a chance to shoot them this week, now that the weather is finally suggesting spring again.

Tent dress:
Pattern: McCall's 6324
Total Cost (including notions): $24 for fabric, $8 on thread and interfacing
 Time to Make: approx 9 in the construction, and 2.5 to finish with hand sewing

Help a Sewist out

%$#@ing chiffon. Gosh darn you straight to the beautiful, florescent fushcia hell you came from. Seducing me with your saucy colour and silky weight, whispering "Heather, take me home. I will make the prettiest sheer blouse with that 80's pattern you bought at a yard sale. People say I am hard to work with but THEY ARE LIARS. I will lie so still for you and you can take advantage of me anyway you want. I'm so pretty. Touch me. BUY ME". Lying little minx.

I'm trying to make the purple guy. But it's trying.

Yeah, sheer chiffon is a bitch man. Because I am forgetful and lazy I keep forgetting to get to the hardware store to buy washers for fabric weights and my current system of tea lights, packs of cards and old bolts is really not up the task. Plus I did that thing where you buy the cheap roller cutter instead of the good one and it just does not do a good job and that pink trollop was sliding all over the place like a drunk girl in an oil wrestling pit. WHERE WAS I. Oh yes.

My problem. I need your help, wisest of internet sewists who have worked with this infernal fabric before. Slipperiness aside, I just had enough fabric to cut from when I realized that what I thought was super lightweight interfacing for the neckline facing and armband was actually the kind that bonds fabric together which is not good. And then I went back and bought a super lightweight stretchy interfacing that YOU CAN TOTALLY SEE THROUGH THE FABRIC.

The internet tells me to use another layer of chiffon as the facing. BUT I DON'T HAVE ANYMORE CHIFFON. What do I do? This bitch has buttons so I need some kind of support but not if you can see the interfacing through the fabric..... I am considering just losing the buttons altogether and french seaming at the front center and hoping for the best when I attach the tie at the neckline. But I wanted buttons. I'm stymied (and almost hideously hungover and have spent the entire day lying in bed, wasting good daylight hours. Drinking gets so much harder as you get older and I'm realizing that as much fun as it is to pour the old forget sauce down the throat in the moment, it's simply not worth it the next day when you react like a vampire to the sun and can't even complete a sentence without moaning. The answer to heartbreak and the rest of life's challenges is not tequila shots. Sewing is). So yes, help or suggestions if you've got them.

Trolling the interwebs for sewing gear

 

I'm sure this is a surprise to exactly no one but Craigslist & Kijiji (way more popular than CL in Quebec) are crazy sewing supply goldmines. Especially since the last generation to really sew en masse is getting older. I have so many aging or sadly deceased older ladies to thank for my recent interweb trolling fortune.

I  bought my serger and upgraded sewing machine on Craiglist this year (both early 90's models) from the SWEETEST two women who drove out to random parts of town to exchange cash for their mother's old machines. The serger I got for $150 and the sewing machine for $90, both kept in pristine condition by their former owners. Neither needed servicing and have been working marvelously ever since.

But the real scoop came about a month ago. I'd been trolling for a dressmaking dummy and found a beautiful red adjustable model out on the true outskirts of Montreal. I rented a car from our communal system and drove out to the east end. Of course, another darling, sweetheart lady who spoke the thickest Quebecois I have ever heard was moving with her husband to a condo, hence the downsizing of her sewing supply. She threw in a couple of sewing books, a pressing ham and a homemade sleeve press. I tried not to openly weep in their foyer when she told me she had just donated 40 years of sewing patterns to a local charity. Almost as wonderful as scoring all this great loot for $90 was meeting this lovely couple, and seeing how much pleasure she got in passing on her things to someone who was truly passionate about sewing. I think I can honestly say - sewing people are the best people.

Inspired by my score, I ended up driving 40 minutes north to check out a fabric pile someone had taken really terrible pictures of on Craiglist. I thought I had spied some vintage stuff so I thought it was worth the risk. I pulled up to one of those nameless housing developments you always find on the outskirts of large cities and was welcomed into a cozy home by a bathrobe clad teenager.  She took me to her mother's sewing room and I almost fainted. PILES and PILES of fabric along one wall, along with massive Tupperware containers filled with tablecloths, pillowcases and blankets she had been in the process of embroidering. She had drawers of patterns and notions, dozens of pairs of scissors, boxes of ribbons, along with a truckload of crafting supplies. As I dug through what was there, I spoke with the girl while she translated for her father in Spanish. And then my heart broke.

It turns out, the mother had passed away very unexpectedly a few months prior. It was just the girl and her father alone in this apartment that was bursting at the seams with all of her mother's love and handicraft. Beautiful Mexican embroidered tablecloths, curtains and accessories were everywhere. So unbearably sad. And it was so obvious what a loving, kind and generous woman this had been, and I felt so honored to be able to help out this small family, and give a portion of this woman's collection a good home.

I didn't want to be greedy so only took what I really loved and/or needed. We agreed on a fair price and I told the daughter the best way for her to photograph and list the contents of the room online so she got more people interested. This is what I ended up leaving with:

 Six yds of linen, 3 yds of flannel, 3 yds of wool, 2 yds of silk

2 yds of red denim, 3 yds of vintage cotton, 3 yds of poly polka dot, 3 yds of wool plaid, 2.5 yds of the MOST beautiful silk

I also got assorted notions, thread and some tools. I thought a few times about going back for more, since there was just such an insane treasure trove of stuff but in the end it was quite far and I never got around to it.

If I have learned anything about my experiences trolling for sewing stuff online, it is that women who were/are very into sewing are unfailingly lovely human beings. I think anyone who takes the time to be creative and make beautiful things with a sewing machine is probably awesome. Just a theory, but the amazing community of women I have been getting to know via blogging is making that more and more clear everyday.

I thought I would provide some tips for finding great stuff through online classifieds in case this isn't something you generally do. Without further ado....

Internet Trolling Tips for Sewists

1. Craigslist & Kjiji are your best friends. Ebay can be great too, but it's competitive and not always affordable, especially when you factor in the cost of shipping. Buying locally means you can see and test a machine, or feel a fabric rather than trusting photos to tell the whole story.
2. Make the search part of your daily or weekly routine. When I am on the hunt I will set aside 20-30 minutes each lunch break with a cup of tea.
3.  Know what search words to look for. I prefer the search functions of Kijiji, especially because they show a thumbnail photo next to the ad. However, Craigslist may be the dominant classified in your town so practice your search criteria to winnow down the results. Obviously a sewing machine is pretty easy to find, but try "sewing patterns", "fabric", "sewing supplies" etc. 
4.  If you know EXACTLY what you are looking for, set up a google alert with your keyword + Craigslist (your hometown) and get emailed automatically if there are any hits. This is a great way to search if you can't be bothered to pour through new ads every day.
5.  Place an ad stating what you are looking for! Many people wouldn't assume that their mom's "old sewing junk" would have any value. This might be a good way to get a gander at all that stuff collecting dust in someone's basement or garage.
6. If you're feeling particularly resourceful, contact the person selling the old dressmaking dummy/serger/steamer etc. and see if they have any fabric or patterns sitting around they would be interested in selling. I remember reading a blog entry about a sewist scoring a crazy hoard of vintage patterns this way.

More than anything, it has been really rewarding to connect with people who are parting with sewing related material. It makes you feel very connected to a long line of resourceful & creative women. I truly feel a sense of honour and pride whenever I use my secondhand machines, or make dresses from fabric or patterns that were loved and chosen with care by someone who loved sewing as much as I do. I cannot recommend online classified sourcing enough!