Oooh, who’s the swinging blonde?

…it’s me, in my swing dress!!!

Of the four sewalongs I’ve participated in, this one, run by Casey, has taught me the most about dressmaking. To be honest, I’d had my fill of sewalongs, but when Casey announced she was running one for the Swing Dress, I couldn’t resist. Having admired her three previous versions of the dress from afar, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make my own.  The way it worked was that Casey chipped in with posts on the tricky areas and then left us to get on with the everyday/boring bits on our own.  This is much more my way of working and I learnt so much, both in terms of dressmaking techniques and invaluable and fascinating snippets about  1940’s fashion.

So, what did I think of the pattern?  Sense and Sensibility, who produce the pattern, also print  patterns for Regency style gowns so they're good on authentic period detail.  I think that’s what I liked about this pattern.  What I didn't like was the instruction for sewing the gathered shoulder.  Talk about confusing, it was a nightmare - but that’s when making a practice muslin (along with Casey’s expert instructions) came into its own.  I’d never have managed to work them out for myself, and having practiced on the muslin first, it all made much more sense when I came to sew the real thing.

Much to my surprise, the fit was unexpectedly good (I was expecting the worst after my Crepe dress fitting debacle).  The bodice is designed to accommodate long-waisted ladies (not me)  so I knew I’d have to shorten it.  I also shortened the back, as well as reducing the back width.  On Casey’s advice, I also reduced the amount of ease in the sleeves which worked like magic when it came to attaching them.  Apart from shortening the skirt pieces, I didn’t have to make any other adjustments.  

So what did I learn from Casey during the process? 

1. How to fit a gathered shoulder to a bodice.

2. How to reduce sleeve ease on a 1940’s style. 

3. How to insert a lapped zip, 1940’s style*

*I abandoned my effort at inserting an invisible zip after I inserted one pretty well and then discovered I’d put it in UPSIDE DOWN. That was one of the few times in my life I wish I smoked.  I had to make do with a few deep breaths instead, having briefly contemplated taking to the bottle. 

4. How to topstitch a midriff piece so it looks perfect. 
5. How to set in sleeves correctly

The sleeves are probably the feature I’m most proud of. I chose the three quarter length sleeves and they’re so flattering, they've even got little elbow darts. 

I can see why the top fabric recommendation on the pattern was crepe, it’s absolutely perfect for this type of dress, very drapey and swingy.  It’s not bad to sew with either, if you can grit your teeth against the fibres that go EVERYWHERE once you cut into it.  The wool crepe behaved itself beautifully, despite my early misgivings. I’m still a little nervous about wearing it to my brother’s wedding – as long as I’m on my guard against rain, hot sun, a hot iron and spilling a drink down myself, Airplane-style, I should be fine.

And the other big plus?  The fabric was £7 a metre.  I bought three metres and there’s still enough left to make an A-line skirt, hoorah. x

PS. Apologies for the rubbish, shaky photos, it was too cold to get undressed and re-do them!

I’m famous!! ….plus a sewing update

Ooooh, I’m famous (well, sort of).  Those who’ve been reading my blog a while will know I’m a huge admirer of Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons fame. Hers was the first sewing blog I ever discovered and I LOVE the clothes she makes and her quirky style. My exciting news of the century is that she’s just interviewed me for her Stash Amnesty! series.  

Here's the excited interviewee

So, if you want to know the ins and outs of why I took up sewing, what’s in my stash box and where I get my fabric from, head over there now and have a read. 

In other news – all my pattern pieces for my Swing Dress sewalong are now cut out, yippee. I didn’t have to make too many adjustments, which was a relief.  I cut out a size 14 and it fitted pretty well.  I just had to shorten the bodice front and bodice back by a small amount and shorten the skirt, all made easy peasy by the lengthen/shorten lines on the pattern.  I also reduced the amount of ease on the sleeves as advised by Casey, which again, was pretty simple.

So, pattern duly adjusted, I washed my fabric ready to cut it all out.  A simple task, I smugly thought – or not as it turned out …. My fabric is a red wool crepe, which I washed on a wool wash as I’d heard it was prone to shrinkage.  I put it out to dry, made a cup of tea, and was suddenly overcome by the most hideous smell.  It was revolting – a cross between mothballs and wet, mangy dogs.  Some quick detective work later and I realized it was coming from my fabric… OH NO!!!!!  It absolutely stank the place out.

The culprit - red wool crepe - looking pretty ashamed of itself

Panic stricken, I was straight on the computer googling the problem.  Apparently that’s what happens with wool crepe, it’s the wool content that exudes the delightful perfume.  The advice was wait until it’s completely and utterly dry and as if by magic, the smell should disappear.  As you know, I’m not the world’s most patient girl, so every twenty minutes I was upstairs, sniffing the fabric.  I’m pleased to report though, that a few DAYS later, the smell had gone.

Having had my doubts about wool crepe, I’m now perversely really desperate to make this dress with it, so I’ve cut the pattern from the fabric ready to start sewing tomorrow, but I’m slightly nervous.  If the dress turns out well, I’d planned to wear it to my brother’s wedding in July.  That’s why I chose wool crepe as it had more of a luxurious feel to it and could hold its own as befits a posh wedding outfit.  But what if it rains?!!  My brother is twelve years younger than me, and I’m already worried I’m going to be mistaken for ‘mother of the groom’ by some of his hip young gun-slinging friends, I don’t want to smell like an old dog to boot. I’ll just have to keep an eye on the weather forecast….

Sewalong progress and recent finds

A quick update on my sewalongs …  

My Pendrell blouse is half sewn and believe it or not, I'm actually sewing along at the same pace as everybody else!  Tasia's posts are great and I'm really enjoying the whole process. I've already got fabric and ideas for version two once this one's finished.  My second Pendrell blouse will be made from this fabric...

I picked it up at a vintage fair I went to in Hammersmith a few weeks ago.  The fair itself was great, but I was shocked at how expensive vintage clothes have become.  Some of them were undeniably exquisite and probably deserving of their hefty price tags, but some were really not that special and needed mending to boot.  It made me want to weep when I remembered the 1950's sun dresses I used to pick up at jumble sales in the late 1980's for (I kid you not) 10p.  10p!!!!!  The tragedy is I don't even know where they all disappeared to. Ahh well.  Anyway, along with this nice drapey, flowery, checky fabric I came out with a vintage belt…

some 1930's buttons....

and a posh lady's brooch which I may team with my swing dress (see below)

Not a bad haul.  Back to the Pendrell blouse.  I was going to add a bow to the neck of my first/current one based on Andrea's beautiful version.  Once I cut the fabric out though I realised the print is just too big and a tiny bow would probably get lost.  The tiny blue flowered print would be perfect though.

  

Now for progress on Casey's Swing Dress sewalong ...  I've cut out my muslin after making adjustments to the bodice length and the amount of ease in the sleeves, but I'm waiting for Casey's post on sewing gathered shoulders before I jump in.  I've decided to go for wool crepe for this dress, I found 3m in a tiny little fabric shop really close to my home that I'd barely even noticed before.  It was bizarre, the shop suddenly appeared in front of me one day, Mr Benn style.  Inside it was FULL of dressmaking fabrics!!!!  To say I was over excited is perhaps an understatement.  After playing with virtually the entire contents of the shop (and almost forgetting to collect my kids from school) I came out with this lovely red wool crepe.  

Although crepe is top of the list for fabric suggestions on the pattern, I've been procrastinating as I'm not sure about the texture.  It's very strange and looks more like something you'd use to exfoliate your face with.  The ladies in the Mr Benn shop soon convinced me otherwise though, and having draped it every which way over my dress form I now really like it, it's super drapey.  I think it will look fab as a 40's-style swing dress, and if it looks professional enough I may even wear the dress to my brother's wedding in July.

I know Marie and Lauren are both using crepe for their Swing dresses, would love to know what everybody else is using.  x