Patterns and toiles for the Peacock Dress

I've started drafting patterns and making toiles for my Peacock Dress. There will be several more...

First I sewed the bodice of Gertie's wiggle dress (Butterick B5814). I've said it before; I'm not made for patterns drafted by somebody else. I was right in the middle of the two envelope sizes but went for the smaller one since I know the huge amount of ease the Big 4 uses. I checked the measurements for the finished garment and they were a centimetre smaller than me but still the bodice is way too big, and way too long - the proportions are totally off. And all the drape happens somewhere below the bust. The sight of me in it just isn't something I'm willing to share on the Internet - but you can see my points on my dress form as well.

Next step was playing around with a pleated / draped bodice of my own. That was really fun! I also wanted a version with the draping overlapping each other, as on the Modes Royale pattern.

I used the picture of the pattern pieces and worked on that to understand the design, and although one attempt was better than the four others, I still didn't quite figured it out. To stop me from getting in a really bad mood, I sewed the first bodice - the one I drafted - instead.

This is my first try drafting a pleated / draped bodice (I mean, like ever), and I'm extremely pleased. The fit is amazing if I may say so! But I want more pleats and a sharper v-shape, and also a bit deeper neckline, so I'll continue to work on this.

I made two different backs - one with draping from centre back and one from the side seam.

I had an idea for a third one; like an attached train but decided against it an early stage when I just played around with fabric on the dress form.

Then I made a long list of things I should work on, some small details and some major design ideas. I might give the overlapped draped bodice another go, and I'll try with a godet instead, both in the side seam and centre back seam.

My plan is to have the pattern ready by Easter, along with all material I need. So I have plenty of time and am actually thinking about sewing something in between. A silk blouse? A black skirt? A blue or green dress...?

The (very) simple little black dress

This really is my version of the Background Dress or the Second Look Dress. It's a black fitted dress. 3/4-length sleeves. High neckline in front and in the back. A simple vent. The only embellishment is the bound edges of sleeves and neckline. And I felt like a million dollars wearing it!

As I said, I continued my work on my Ultimate Dress Pattern. I changed the two front darts to four, and continued with split bust darts. I didn't make a toile this time but used the sky blue dress to estimate the fit, changed the pattern, cut the wool, basted all 12 darts (or 16 really - two on the shoulder, two on the sleeves as well) and pinned the rest of the dress - side seams, centre back, shoulders, sleeves... - and tried it on.

It was so good! A little less fabric over the hips, but most changes were needed on the sleeves and armscye - I removed almost all of the ease from the sleeves which surprisingly gave not only really nice fitted sleeves but also more arm movement. I'm a rather bright girl, but sometimes I just don't understand fitting.

Oh and the fabric! It's one of  my most recent buys, from Lisbon. A black wool crêpe, and lined with my favourite mix of acetate and cupro. It's so nice to work with and so nice to wear. The satin bias binding is in rayon.

Centre back is stabilised with twill tape and the zipper is prick stitched by hand. I used a new-to-me technique that I really loved (except that I did it by hand and without drawing on the right side of the fabric) and will be doing a lot more in the future.

Since the crêpe isn't the most stable of fabrics, I used twill tape for the shoulder seams as well, and rayon tape when I put in the sleeves. (Why rayon instead of twill tape? Because there's absolutely no give in the twill tape, but there are some in the rayon tape and I want some movement in the sleeve.) After I sewn all the darts I thought about underlining. Should I have underlined the entire dress in the acetate-cupro instead? Or with silk organza and then lined it as usual? Time will tell!

I cut the neckline and sleeves without seam allowances and bound the edges with bias binding - first one seam by machine and then I prick stitched by hand in the ditch, enclosing both the wool and the lining. The lining is fell stitched to the centre back seam.

I finished the seams in wool with a zigzag, while the lining simply is pinked. Both hems in wool and lining are finished by hand. As you can tell, the construction and sewing were really straight forward, and nothing complicated. (I think the most difficult was taking photos of a black dress in January...)

I could wear this dress more or less every day. Love it.

In print!

I've finally seen my coat in print! Threads kindly sent my a copy that arrived the other day, and I've carried it around since. Kind of.

I'm thrilled!

In case you want to read more, just scroll down one post to The ruby red coat in Threads, where you get links to the posts on making the coat.

The Peacock Dress - an introduction

I'm very lucky to be invited to two weddings this summer; in June, one Saturday after another and with two totally different set of guests. That means I can wear the same dress, which I'm grateful for since this is going to be a crazy spring. I'm working full time for the first time in years since the project reaches one of its biggest milestones in - you guessed it! - June.

The fabric is already in my stash. 2.10 metres of the most glorious peacock blue silk I've ever laid my eyes - and hands - upon. It's a double satin, so equally shiny on both sides, with a lovely drape and weight and made in France for the couture house of Lanvin. I bought it last time in Paris, and it was love at first sight. And not crazy expensive either; 35 euro per metre. (I've bought worse since then, without even noticing it.)

All I have to do is figure out what I want to make of it. Oh, and make it.

It can't be something too structured (if I don't want an understructure out of steel) since I want to show off the beautiful drape, but at the same time, it's turned out that I'm not so fond of things with draping all over my front. So I thought maybe draping in the back instead but I really want to wear a proper bra. It should be knee-length and a rather fitted skirt - but I would like to add something special to it, a bit of a drama. And I want to take advantage of the double weave.

Most of the time, a fabric speaks to me and tells me what it want to become. For being a peacock, this one's been awfully quiet... I've looked at thousands of vintage patterns and dresses and contemporary patterns and dresses, and added and removed pictures from my Pinterest-board and at last, I'm on the final stretch.

Should I wear a head-piece? I need a bag. And a cover-up - June can be cold in Sweden (somewhere between 5 and 25 degrees Celsius...) As I said, something draped and a bit dramatic for the dress. A nice low cut draped bodice with some sort of train or flounce or drape for the skirt. I'm thinking it will be a combination of those patterns and designs that makes up my final peacock dress. There will be toiles...

For the bodice, I've already ordered Gertie's wiggle dress pattern, Butterick 5814. Modes Royale 1467 is so beautiful (without the strap across the chest) but the pattern is very rare; I've only found one copy that sold for $165 last year... But as you can see, I've found a picture of the pattern pieces so it is possible to draft my own version.

For the skirt, Advanced Pattern 41 has been highest on the list. But with a bit less fabric in the flounce... (Partly because I only have two metres...) The evening gown by Dior, modelled by Alla, is also an idea - but cocktail length. I'm uncertain of how it looks from behind, and if my fabric has enough bounce. I think the draping at the back of the Ceil Chapman dress that Laura Mae sewn suits my fabric better, and that happens to be very similar to the back of the Modes Royale dress. So perhaps try those three versions for the skirt...?

As I write, I realise that I've left the Burda pattern with the glorious back drape behind. It's beautiful, but I don't like the front (even though that can be changed) and as I said; I want to wear a bra.

It should take me about two weeks to make toiles of the two bodice-versions, including drafting and fitting and not much else to do during the weekends. And perhaps two weeks for the three versions of the skirt as well? I should be done with toiles and patterns by Easter, and begin construction of the real deal...

The ruby red coat in Threads

I had my favourite kind of morning today; it's a National holiday in Sweden so no work. I lit the candles, made eggs and lots of coffee while reading blogs.

Then I got a comment on my own blog that more or less made me jump up and down with joy and pride:

This evening I saw your red coat in Number 183 of Threads Magazine. It's beautiful and quite elegant. Anxiously awaiting your blog detailing the garment's construction. You are to be applauded on your work.

Thank you, thank you kind anonymous reader! I've spent part of the day translating the original blog posts about the ruby red coat since they were mostly in Swedish. So to all my international readers, now you can read about the beginning, the sewing and the end in three new old posts:
The coat begins
How to make a coat
A finished coat

After Threads contacted me I was afraid of jinxing it, so I was very happy when I signed the photo release. And now I can't wait until I get my hand on a copy of the magazine as well!

I made it - Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge

Last year, I joined the sewing community in the Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge.

I made a rather simple one - to sew from at least one vintage pattern without making lots and lots of changes to the design. I didn't think more of it, until now.

The rules are a vintage pattern or reproduction pattern, and my pledge was to use an original. But the year passed, no sewing from an original vintage pattern. (I made of toile of this Burda reproduction pattern, but I didn't like the fit. I think it's the wrong design for a lady with a bust.) When I remembered my pledge (as it turned up in one year review after another) I was a bit annoyed - but not surprised - that I hadn't fulfilled my pledge. And suddenly realised, that with a bit of a stretch of my pledge (but still following the rules); by making my lovely jacket / cape / whatever it is I actually fulfilled the pledge. The pattern, Vogue Vintage Model V2934, is a proper reproduction from 1950! Mission accomplished! (And I only made minor alterations like shortening the cuffs and using a different closure.)

A jacket for Lisbon - sewing Vogue Vintage V2934

Obviously, I have a thing for new outer wear when going on vacation. The Dior-suit for Paris, the ruby red coat for London - and now a blue-grey cape-jacket. It wasn't planned at all; it wasn't even on my short list. I bought the pattern - Vogue Vintage Model V2934, an original design from 1950 - years ago at some sale, and then my sister bought some lovely wool in China, with the pattern in mind. And then I had it in my stash, and actually thought the wool would become a dress instead. Sometime.

On the Friday, I heard myself saying, "nah, I won't start another sewing project before Lisbon. The lace skirt is just finished, and there is so much going on at work." On the Sunday, I found myself making a toile, steaming the wool and adjusting the pattern. Ten days later it was done, something of a personal record for me. I wore it to work to see if I liked it enough to take to Lisbon - I did! - and so it went with me there. A bit too warm for some days, but I felt so chic and ladylike that I wore it anyway.

The wool is rather heavy, with a lovely sheen and nap, very much like the wool for my coat. Perhaps it's a seal skin as well? The lining is a slippery, ivory silk, that my sister also bought for me in China.

So let's take a closer look at the jacket or cape or cape-jacket. It's a really simple design - two front pieces and two back pieces. Centre back is not on the grain, which gives the lovely drape (and eats fabric). Darts very cleverly shapes the collar, and then cuffs to finish the shorter sleeves. Knowing that the amount of ease in contemporary patterns is a bit ridiculous, I cut a size small (even though they think that my waist measurement should be 10 centimetres less than I have) and the fit was perfect. I shortened both the sleeves and the cuffs 2 centimetres, and did the cuffs on the fold instead of with a facing - too much bulk.

I used horsehair canvas - as said in the instructions - as interfacing for the centre front and collar. I followed the instructions and cut the facing in wool, sewed it on, cursed it for quite some time and then removed it again. Reason one was the itchy wool next to my neck. Reason two was that the width of the facing and interfacing made the front part too stiff, and all the lovely intended drape over the bust area was lost - it just stood right out. I cut down the facings in the front, making them less wide.

Since I've already cut the lining, I cut the facings in the same silk, doubled it with silk organza, sewed it by machine to the lining and then fell stitched the whole piece to the wool (after prick stitching the edges).

I also did my very own version for closing - two loops and two rhinestone vintage buttons. A bit of a mess to close, but very beautiful.

The cape slash jacket has a tendency to fall backwards, perhaps because of the weight of the wool. I'm thinking about adding weights at the front hem. That would also stop it from blowing in the wind. I just need to find lead weights...

In Lisbon, I bought leather gloves to suit the short sleeves. (And then remembered that I found some suede long gloves at a second hand shop some time ago. Well, it can't hurt to have a choice can it?)

I'm actually thinking of making a second version. It would be lovely in some heavy silk; like faille or grosgrain like an evening coat. (Yes, I really, really need an evening coat, says the woman who has nothing to wear.)

Sewing in lace part one - planning, drafting and deciding

I've started working on my next sewing project - a pencil skirt in dark blue lace. Usually, I show you everything when I'm finished, but this time, I thought I'll write as I sew. We'll see how that goes. I have a clear deadline for this project - shortly after lunch, Saturday 2nd of October. I hope to finish another silk blouse as well - we'll definitely see how THAT goes.

First of all - the lace. I bought it as a remnant in Stockholm shortly before Christmas, and knew from the start that it would be turned into a pencil skirt. It's about the only thing possible to make - there was too little left for a dress or a wide skirt and it's too heavy for a blouse.

It took me a while just to find out what kind of lace I'm dealing with - according to the manufacturer's (Monterossi fabrics) Facebook-page it's a soutache lace. Makes sense, since it really is soutache on netting. The soutache is rather thick and heavy, so I think it'll be more difficult to handle than "ordinary" lace. How do you sew in it, and how to get invisible seams? It's not like a thinner lace, where you more easily can overlap. I spent an evening researching - books, Internet, playing with the lace and finally deciding that my best option is to remove the soutache from one part of the seam, and overlap the other, sew by hand and remove the netting afterwards.

I'll use a silk crêpe satin underneath the lace, and wrote out to several resources in Sweden and Britain to find the right colour match. The silks from Beckford silk and Borowick Fabrics (where I bought a lovely rayon grosgrain when I visited), and also some small samples from SidenCarlson in Stockholm, are amazing and I almost got too many options to choose from .

I didn't want black or dark blue as to really let the lace show, but I didn't like it with a too light background either. Here are the final three, and I've made up my mind a lot of times. But then I see them from a different angle or in a different light, and change my mind again. Satin is so tricky!

I know, the differences aren't huge... I'll pass on the one in the middle, so it's either the slightly lighter and bluer to the left or the slightly darker and greyer to the right. And I need to decide soon, so I can order it and have it shipped. (The samples arrived in no time, so I'm fairly confident I can have it by the end of the week if I just decide!)

I'll underline the silk with silk organza to give it some more stability and be able to carry the heavy lace. It will also make seam finishing, hemming and sewing all the darts so much easier. A wide Petersham ribbon will give support to the high waist (I hope! I am thinking about boning, but...)

Speaking of darts; I really liked the way both the double darts in the back and the split bust dart turned out on the sky blue dress, so I decided to make double darts in the front as well. At least in the silk parts, we'll see about the outer layer of lace.

I made a toile as usual, and after making some minor changes to the pattern, I spent an hour or so finding a good way to match the side seams - and most importantly the scallops at the bottom - and to find a good solution for the split in the back seam.

I put the lace over the front pattern piece, and marked centre front (in the middle of a scallop) and then where the side seams will be. Then I put the back pattern pieces under the lace, with the side seams starting at the same place on the scallop as where the front piece ends. Is that comprehensible? I also made some tweaking in the back pieces of the pattern to be able to get a nice seam line centre back. I do have a plan - let's hope it works out!

Now I'm going to have another look at the silk crêpe - brighter/bluer or darker/greyer? What do you think?

It's a dress!

I know! And it's not a two-year project that I finally finished; it's a dress from pattern to hemming in just two weeks (and that's rather impressive to be me)!

But most importantly, it's been fun. As you might have sensed during the spring; I haven't sewn, I've had a major wardrobe and style crisis, and also a bit of identity crisis - if I don't sew, what do I do?

But I do sew!

Anyway, the pattern is my own; the Ultimate Dress Pattern but let's say we're not quite there yet. There's still something about those sleeves. And I didn't make it in the Liberty fabric as planned, since I just couldn't decide on sleeve length, and neckline and lining or no lining and I went crazy with not being able to just do it, so I changed the fabric to this lovely sky blue cotton sateen (cotton satin?) that I bought last time in Paris. I did some project planning and started to cut. Oh well.

Since the last I sewed was the slippery fluid fabric from h*ll (also known as silk charmeuse and an absolutely a dream to wear) I thought it would be nice with a simple cotton. Ha. This was almost as fluid as the silk and didn't want to get cut at all. And for some reason, very difficult to mark. A bit hopeless to sew and press as well, and my, does it wrinkle! The fabric is a bit too drapey for the simple and rather structured design I chose; it would be better in a more stable fabric. I didn't think at all about combining the right pattern with the right fabric; I just thought cotton and summer. So next time. And some tweaks for the sleeves.

To get a really good fit I used double darts on the back and split bust darts as reminded by Did You Make That. The more seams, the better the fit. I finished the seams with rayon seam binding, a favourite of one of my favourite bloggers Laura Mae, but it was not my cup of tea. Perhaps it was more difficult because of the drapey fabric, but the amount of time and thread and it still looks a bit wonky... I didn't have enough seam binding for the inside of the sleeves, so I used one of my own preferred ways to finish a seam, the clean finished seam, also knows as the turned and stitched seam. (It happens to be one of Alison Smith's favourites as well, and she says it's perfect for vintage sewing and is very sturdy, making it suitable for children's clothes.)

But I did like seam binding in the armscyes, but sewed it by hand. I think it went almost as fast as with the machine, no harsh words were uttered and the result turned out so much nicer.

I supported the facings and the entire centre back seam with silk organza, and stabilised both shoulders and neckline (front and back) with twill tape.

The zipper is handpicked; both because I think it's the safest way to insert one(I've never had to insert a zipper more than once when I do it by hand. When I do it on machine there's always some little mess and I have to un-pick at least a bit.) and because I think pick stitches are so fun to sew. So that's what I used to understitch the facings as well.

As you can see above; double darts in the back, and the handpicked zip. When the dress was almost finished - just the hemming left - I remembered that I read about the couture way to sew a facing. I must remember that next time; I really don't like the standard way of sewing right against right side, flip over, notch and understitch. Now I need to remember that for my next dress.

The hem and sleeves are first clean finished and then hemmed by hand. And I even did a little arrowhead tack (or at least, my version of an arrowhead tack...) at the end of the slit with silk buttonhole twist.

I wore it the other day to work the other day and felt really good in it. Perhaps I was a bit generous with the ease, and I should have taken in a centimeter or two in the neckline back; it's gaping a bit. The fabric wrinkles when you wear it, but not as bad as I thought. (And of course I spilled some food - grilled chicken -  on it. I only do that when I wear a new dress. The grease is gone, but there's a light shadow from the water stain. Darn.)

(It's so fun with a tripod and remote to the camera!)

So what's next? I really must give some of my vintage dresses some love so I can wear them a bit more. And I have a baptism coming up in October and what better to wear than a dark blue pencil skirt in lace?

The essence of Dior

Showing off my Dior jacket before heading to Paris is by far my most read post.

The funny thing is that I started to call it the Dior jacket way back when I started the project, even though I didn't have a  clear reference object. It was more about the essence of Dior than actually copying Dior.

Or at least I thought so, until one day when I was browsing Pinterest as you do. And there it was - the Dior jacket. My jacket.

It links to a dead end, so I know nothing more than 1950 Christian Dior. The collar is there. The peplum and the padded hips. My buttons are nicer and I don't have any pockets. This photo would have been the ultimate inspiration. (You can read about construction in previous posts; skirt and collar, peplum and the padded hips and finally, button-holes and lining)

But I will say that I nailed the essence of Dior.