Vintage Shoulder Tie Tutorial

My Vintage Pledge Shoulder Tie Top has been such a success I thought I'd whip up another one in a summery fabric for my holiday.

The pattern is a Woman's Own mail order pattern from 1961 and this latest version is made from some lightweight polka dot lawn I received from Cindy a few years ago. I've used quite a lot of it for various linings, but with some imaginative cutting out there was just enough left for this top (I cut the front pattern piece on the fold, which eliminates the front split). The neck and armholes are finished with all-in-one facings, which I had terrible trouble getting to grips with when I used them on my Betty dress. I've since discovered a step-by-step guide to sewing them on the Sew Over It blog which finally made something click in my brain - I'd definitely recommend it for this technique. Everything is finished by machine which gives the facings a clean, professional feel.

The thing I like about this top is that the shoulder ties are removable so it can be worn two ways. It performs valiantly as a plain, no nonsense tank top….

But add the shoulder ties and there's suddenly a suggestion of gathers to the shoulders and a touch of vintage interest, yay!

They're easy to make too. So easy in fact that I've put together a tutorial if you'd like to make your own. Read on if you're interested, otherwise, see you next time! x

Vintage Style Shoulder Ties
The ties can be added to any sleeveless tank or singlet - I simply knot mine once around the shoulder seams and they seem to stay in place all day. If you prefer a smaller tie or have particularly slippery fabric then tying a double knot will make them even more secure.

It's also your choice whether or not you interface your ties. I didn't use interfacing on either of the two versions I've made and I like the resulting drapey effect. Adding interfacing will probably result in a more structured tie.

Please note that the measurements for the ties are taken directly from my vintage pattern piece and are in inches as that's how they were drafted.  The seam allowance for this project is ½".

You will need 

Half a yard/metre of fabric with selvedges folded into the centre so you have two folded edges.

Paper, pencil and ruler

1. Mark a rectangle on your paper 16.5" long x 2 ⅝" wide and cut out.

2. At one end of the rectangle you'll need to mark out three measurements as shown below:

1 ¼" along the top edge

1 ⅝" in along the bottom edge

1 ½" up from bottom left hand corner

3. Join the measurements together and cut along the lines to make a point.

4. Repeat at the other end (you can simply fold your paper in half widthways and draw round the point).

5. Mark a fold line along the top edge.

You should now have a pattern piece that looks like this, with the lower diagonal lines slightly longer than the upper ones.

6. Place your pattern on the fold(s) of your fabric and cut two separate pieces. This is what each piece should look like opened out.

7. Fold the fabric lengthwise with right sides together and place two pins about 2 - 3 inches apart in the middle of the unfolded edge. The pins will mark your turning gap. Pin the rest of the edges together if you need to.

8. Starting at one corner along the folded edge, sew right round the edge using a ½" seam allowance. Stop when you get to the pin marker. Repeat on the other side.

I sewed this sample with black thread so you can see the line of stitches.

9. Trim the seam allowances and snip off the corners on the pointed edge to reduce bulk, then turn your tie the right way round.

10. Poke into your corners with a point turner or similar to ensure you have a nice pointed end.

Give the tie a good press, making sure the seam allowance of the turning gap is pressed under too.

11. Machine stitch across the turning gap close to the edge (or catch stitch by hand if you prefer).  Repeat for the other tie. Ta-da - two lovely shoulder ties!

Don't worry if your pointed edges aren't perfectly symmetrical - as you can see from the examples above, mine certainly aren't! Once they're tied onto the shoulders it's not noticeable at all. Wear with pride! x

As always, if there's anything that doesn't make sense, please let me know in the comments. Have a good week! x

Finished: Vintage Topper

This week I finished making my vintage Topper (Simplicity 3451) and it's already proved to be a useful little cover up.

Hmmm those cuffs look a bit big...

Because Toppers aren't supposed to be fitted, I made a quick muslin to check the fit. My pattern has a lovely 1950's swing shape, but it's a difficult one to pull off if you're short and curvy. Making a muslin was a wise move as it highlighted the fact that the original pattern was too wide for my build. I took quite a bit of width out of the side seams up to the underarm to make it less swingy - about 2.5" on each side. I also narrowed the sleeve width by 1" and re-drew the back neck curve about ⅝" lower as it was weirdly high. I'm talking evil queen from Snow White here ….

The shape is a very simple one with a high, fold back collar (see above!), shoulder darts and wide kimono sleeves. I made View 2, the reversible version, so construction was relatively straight forward - I made up two complete Toppers then attached them right sides together around the neck and front edges. There was a fair bit of hand stitching involved but for once I actually quite enjoyed it. The sleeves and hem were turned under and catch stitched down and the bottom edges and sleeve edges of both coats were then joined with an invisible ladder stitch. The hand stitching took two episodes of Desert Island Discs (Kathy Burke and Charlie Watts) to complete, which was a nice interlude.

The only part that could have caused difficulty was attaching the neck and collar areas. Luckily, it's the same principle as attaching a collar and facings - the key thing to remember is to clip up to the stitches when instructed, which allows the fabric to turn a corner and not get caught in a big lump! Here's a close up of how the back collar looks when it's joined together.

When it came to choosing fabrics, I tried to recreate the chic navy and white combo of View 2 on the pattern envelope. I used Seriously Soft Navy Twill and Navy and White Birdseye Wool Mix, both from Fabworks. This was my first time ordering from them and I was impressed: good quality fabrics, very reasonable prices and excellent customer service and delivery. I'll be back!

I only had two pattern pieces to contend with, but crikey they were big - I always forget how massive kimono sleeved pattern pieces are, especially with extra wide sleeves! I managed to squeeze the pattern pieces onto two metres of each fabric by cutting the navy twill on the crosswise grain and the Birdseye fabric in a single layer.

Because the soft navy twill was described as drapey, I assumed it would be lightweight and therefore a good contrast with the thicker Birdseye fabric. In actual fact it's pretty heavy, and as a result, my Topper is a bit bulky! I don't mind though, it's only meant to be worn as a cover up and it's super cosy and warm.

I'm not sure if it's the bulk or the colour, but the navy and white Birdseye side just doesn't look as good as the navy side. I haven't taken a photo of me wearing it as I don't like how I look in it (like a Michelin man actually) but here's what it looks like on my dummy.

It does, however, make a damn fine lining fabric.

Looking at the photo above, I definitely need to work on my nonchalant bitch face, it's not a patch on the original.

Jon telling me to give him my best 'evil bitch' look didn't help...

One second later….

I've already worn it a few times - it worked perfectly in a draughty cafe yesterday and will be ideal for wearing in the car when my son plays football.

And on a final note, making this Topper counts as the 'suitable for winter' part of my cunningly worded Vintage Pledge 2016. Yah!  x

Vintage Pledge 2016

As March is fast approaching, I thought I'd better officially sign up for this year's Vintage Pledge before the year runs away with me. The Vintage Pledge, now in its third year, is co-hosted by Marie at A Stitching Odyssey and Kerry at Kestrel Makes in a bid to encourage us to sew up some of our beautiful vintage patterns more regularly. Last year, I made a rather rashly thought out pledge to sew up a vintage halter neck top pattern, which I then had to abandon. But I did still end up sewing three garments from vintage patterns last year, so I don't consider it a failure. 

 For this year's pledge, I've chosen to be purposefully vague:

"I, Jane, pledge to sew up two vintage patterns in 2016 - one suitable for summer and one suitable for winter." 

I'm already hard at work on my topper, which takes care of the winter part of the pledge, I just need to decided on a summer pattern. Interestingly, all three patterns I sewed last year (here, here and here) were ones I'd used before, so it would be good to step outside my comfort zone. One thing I'm reasonably sure of is that it won't be a dress pattern. I already have at least two summer dresses in the pipeline for this year and in all honesty, I don't think I can accommodate many more. My total dress tally is probably far fewer than lots of other sewing bloggers, but it's still more than enough for me! So I'll be concentrating on separates pattern, with these three currently on my shortlist:

Vogue 8696 from 1955 - a sleeveless version of C would make a very chic bow blouse.

McCall's 4168 from 1957 - which has a lovely gathered waist and shoulder detail. 

The wild card is McCall 8061 from 1950. These 1950's shorts are almost identical to a red pair I own from Vivien of Holloway - with a high waistband and patch pockets to the front. The problem with my VofH shorts is the sizing: the waist to hip ratio is 12 inches, and in order to get a comfortable fit around the waist, the hips are ginormous. I ended up taking in the inner and outer seams to reduce the hips, which sort of works but they don't look great on. It would be good to make a pair that actually fitted properly!  

I'll let you know once I've made my mind up. Which pattern do you think I should make?!  x