On the use of "Inappropriate" fabrics

And no, by "inappropriate fabrics" I do not mean those with risque prints of pinup girls. What I am referring to are those fabrics not listed in the "recommended fabrics" section of the envelope back. I follow the Dressaday blog, and in the last couple of months there have been several commenters objecting to her use of "inappropriate" fabric in her dresses. Now, the reason that these commenters have had reason to comment is that Erin has produced a couple of what are less than stellar dresses, which happen to use fabric *gasp* not recommended on the back of the envelope.

First, I applaud Erin for showing these dresses, which she knew hadn't turned out ideally, and in one case, asking for opinions of what to do. It takes self-confidence to put things out for public review and comment that you know are going to get some negative comments. But that has nothing to do with this post.

Every pattern envelope has a list of fabrics that someone at the pattern company recommends for making up the garment. I'm not sure who that someone is - whether it is the designer, or someone else. This list is a tool to help potential consumers of the pattern pick out a fabric that will work with the pattern and produce a garment like the one shown on the envelope illustrations. It can really be a help to beginning sewers (seamstresses, sewists? I'm never sure what term to use).

This list of recommended fabrics does not come from on high. It isn't written by someone who has tried every possible fabric/pattern combination known to man, or who is infallible and omnipotent. In other words, lightning will not strike you if you fail to follow this list of fabrics, and pick out something entirely different. Vogue patterns, especially, seem to have a particularly narrow view of what the patterns should be made up in.

There are great variations in weight and drape of fabrics within the same fabric type (denim, cotton, etc.) Figuring out which fabrics work with which design types takes experience. And experience, as they say, is something you don't get until just after you need it. In other words, you learn by doing.

I disregard the recommended fabrics on patterns quite often. In fact, that's just part of the envelope back that I pretty much skip, except to check if a pattern is for knits or not. In doing so, I have produced at least one dress that never made it out of the sewing room. It's still there, nearly three years later, in bits and pieces, partly assembled. This is partly because the pattern was written badly and unclearly, but also because I realized that the fabric choice was not going to work with the pattern, and it wasn't worth trying to decipher the instructions to finish it.

BUT at least two of my favorite dresses and skirts are made with fabrics not recommended by the pattern company, including the one shown above. It's made from a cotton flannel, though I think a wool flannel or other wool would have worked, as well. The list of recommended fabrics, if you are curious, reads "Laundered Cottons, Damask, Pique, Poplin, Seersucker, Sateen, Shantung, Soft Lightweight Linen and Linen Blends, Sueded Silks/Rayons, Jacquards, Crepe De Chine". I'm pretty sure "laundered cottons" doesn't refer to flannel, because flannel usually gets its own listing. All of the dresses shown on the pattern envelope were spring and summer type dresses.

To sum up: I think it's good to think outside the pattern envelope, and that sewing with non-recommended fabrics can produce surprising and beautiful results, but when you do it, you do take the risk of making something that won't ever see the light of day. And that's okay, because as long as you learn something from the experience that will help make your future work better, it hasn't been a total loss.

If you want to be safe, there is nothing wrong with adhering to the recommended fabrics. It will probably save you some time and money. But it can also keep you from having those learning experiences that help expand your sewing knowledge and abilities. If you ever aspire to making your own patterns (skirts can be quite simple to draft) a good knowledge of how different fabrics act in different designs can be quite handy, as there is no "recommended fabric" list for self-drafted patterns. There is also the fact that when using vintage patterns, we have fabrics now (for example, polar fleece) that were not available years ago, and thus won't show up on their lists.

Another day, another dress

Last Saturday I finished another dress. It's funny, I had very little desire to sew dresses from October on until the weather started warming up, and suddenly that's all I want to sew. It's just the weather. I don't like cold legs, so I don't like to wear dresses in the winter.

For some time, I've been searching for the mythical "instant gratification dress". I want a dress pattern that is both quick and easy to make, but which is flattering. I made a couple of dresses in high school that were "2 hour dresses" (although believe me, they took me longer than that), and the reason they were so fast is that there was NO SHAPING and no details (pockets, collars, belts, etc). So they weren't very flattering, and I didn't wear them often. Unfortunately, I've decided that I probably won't find the kind of instant gratification pattern that I am looking for, because I like details and shaping, which add time to both cutting out and sewing.

Another feature of this mythical dress is that it is something not too dressy, that I would feel comfortable wearing on everyday occasions. A day dress. Now, if you've seen the last two dresses I've made this spring, neither of them is what you'd call a day dress.

Though it falls short of my lofty ideals for an instant gratification dress, this pattern comes as close as anything I've seen (it's the only pattern I've liked enough to actually try). It went pretty fast, but I still spent between five and six hours on it, including cutting out, but not including the changes I made to the pattern itself before I actually cut the pieces out.

The changes I made were: adding side seam pockets, lengthening it by 6 inches (the previous user of the pattern had cut it to the mini-length view), and changing the collar shape. I also omitted the top button and loop, so that the collar would spread out and turn to expose the facing a little.

In the end, I only spent a total of $0.59 on this dress, since the tan fabric came from Goodwill, and the contrast collar fabric was given to me, as were the vintage buttons and the belt. Okay, and maybe a quarter's worth of interfacing on the collar and facings.

Although the dress looks okay without a belt (better on me than my dress form), the belt does improve it a bit.

Indiana Jones / Patsy Cline Dress

While I was making this dress, I happened to do a google search for images of dresses that Patsy Cline wore (The Internet is great, instant whim-gratification!) and noticed that when she wore dresses they were often the slim-skirted style, instead of full. So I began thinking of it as the "Patsy Cline dress". I usually prefer full skirts, and so this dress was sort of an experiment for me. I prefer the look of full skirts, but then you have to buy four or five yards at a time, and so slim skirts are definitely less expensive. This dress took just under three yards, and if I'd been more careful with the layout, might have taken less.

The night before I finished the dress, when it was all starting to come together, I had Brandon pin it up the back so I could try it on (before hemming and the zipper, before the belt was made). I nearly quit right then, because it looked sort of like a potato sack. A bright blue potato sack, but still. Brandon said something about Mormon religious compound ladies. I figured since I'd come that far, though, and I loved the fabric so much, I'd at least try to finish it.

Actually hemming it (it called for a 3" deep hem) to a more flattering length helped a lot. Putting in a zipper helped some too. What really makes the dress, though, is the belt, which I modified from another pattern (from the 1970's).

I think of it as the Indiana Jones dress because I finished it right before we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie, and I decided to wear it. I always have an awful itch to wear something the moment it is finished, and I was literally cutting the last loose threads off as we got into the car. I was a little over-dressed for a matinee, but the movie was set in the 1950's, so I was decade-appropriate.

Then I wore it Brandon's cousin's wedding, which was actually the reason I was making the dress now and not later. Weddings are a great excuse to start a new dress.

Past Projects #3

This is probably my favorite dress that I've made myself recently (recently as in a year ago, actually). It was my going away dress for my wedding. I love it, but it takes so much fabric, and so long to cut out, and hem, that I will probably not do another one.

And an action shot:













(Yes, our "getaway vehicle" was my a truck. We drove it to where the car was parked and went on from there.)It isn't a vintage pattern (it was McCalls, darn if I remember the number), but it has a very retro look, to me. It's a wrap dress, so at least it didn't have a zipper, but the circle skirt was a big pain to hem. It wraps very far over, and even on a windy day it doesn't come unwrapped, however, so I guess all that fabric and hemming was necessary.

What goes around comes around (if you wait long enough).

I've been seeing dresses with this same general neckline style lately (round yoke and gathered bodice) on patterns from different pattern companies (the one shown is from Kwik Sew). I've thought to myself, that's neat, maybe I should get one. But I just hate paying $10 for a pattern. And then while I was in Dallas a couple of weeks ago, I found the vintage pattern below for $1 and bought it instead.











And the nice thing is, if I make the narrow skirt instead of the full one, the pattern takes less than 3 yards. I have three yards of a great blue print just waiting for this kind of opportunity. Plus, the vintage pattern has the option for little sleeves, which is nice.

Past Projects - Number 2

This is the dress that the blue floral dress was a muslin of. I loved the fabric, which has cats on it and has great colors, but didn't want a whole dress out of it.

Changes I made from the muslin:

1. I added pockets modeled off of an apron my great-grandmother made (turns out they are too shallow to be very useful, though).

2. I lengthened the bodice by 2 inches (though 1 inch might have done fine)


3. I shortened the hem by a few inches, I can't remember how many.

4. I brought the sides of the neckline in a little, since the neckline of the muslin almost constantly revealed my bra straps (I ended up sewing little loops and buttons on the inside neckline of the muslin to keep them pulled back out of site, a trick from the Vogue Sewing book.)

Past Projects - Number 1

I thought it would be nice to show some pics of the dresses I made before I had a blog. If I can, I'm going to dig up some of the REALLY old pictures from junior high and high school (4-H and home ec. projects). But we'll see. I'm not sure some of those should be seen by the general public.
This I made maybe two years? ago, when I first started dreaming about making dresses from vintage patterns. It is a muslin, made of the cheapest, lowest quality cotton I've seen. It was fifty cents a yard. The fabric is very thin. I had to make the bodice of a double layer, and a slip is absolutely necessary. I like blue, but the pattern, a sort of batik-looking violet floral, isn't really something I'm wild about.

It was a Frankenstein of these two patterns, plus sleeves I drafted from scratch:





I feel very much like a Mennonite when I wear it, although truthfully, they would never wear something with that neckline. Mostly, this is a wear-around-the-house dress, although it makes me look somewhat overdressed. Thus the sandals. I find in the summer when it is hot, a dress or skirt is more comfortable than pants, as long as I don't feel like I need to wear uncomfortable shoes, and the skirt is full enough for free movement.

Good Things in the Mail!

Look what I got in the mail today!

There is a story behind these cute patterns. See, I bought this other pattern on Ebay.

It is an unprinted pattern, probably from the forties. As you can see, it has some very unique details, and is pretty uncommon. After the auction ended, the other bidder on the pattern contacted me through E-bay and asked if she could buy it from me after I was done with it. At first I thought it was a little bit of a strange request, but it is a unique style of dress, and not something that I've seen before, and vintage patterns are hard to find in the right size.

Well, I have a lot more planned projects than I do time to make things, so I wrote her back saying it could be a long time before I was done with it, so I proposed a trade. She traded me the two patterns at the top for a tracing of the Ebay pattern. I think it worked out great, and we both got something we wanted. Sometimes the Internet is so cool.

The Marian Martin dress is next on my list of things I want to sew, after I am done with the baby quilt for my sister. It's going to take around four yards, though. Brandon's grandmother gave me 4 yards of some pretty blue floral fabric the other day, so I will probably try the pattern out in that. It will be my first unprinted pattern.

Easter Dress

I'm calling this my Easter dress, because hey, that's as good an excuse as any to make a dress. Although I made less for wearing to church and more for wearing around casually. I finished it last night and pressed Brandon into service as my photographer.

I got three yards of the butterfly fabric on impulse. That was all there was left. The pattern, it turned out, called for more, because the skirt is meant to be on the bias. I laid it out and had just enough to cut it on the straight grain(and absolutely no margin for error. The pockets are in red because I didn't have enough of the butterfly print for pockets.) As you can see, it didn't noticeably affect much.

The dress went together well, and I used a new zipper technique (out of Sew What! Skirts). You baste the zipper seam together and then use fabric glue to tack the zipper down to the wrong side of the fabric, centered over the seam. Then you stitch neatly (in theory at least) 1/4" on each side of the zipper seam on the right side of the fabric to fasten the zipper down, and rip out the basting stitches. And voila! There you have it, the easiest zipper installation method I've tried, even if it doesn't look any better than any other zipper I've done.

I used the new rolled hem foot to hem it, and while it looks okay from a distance in the picture, in real life I need to go back and redo some parts. I have pretty much mastered the rolled hem foot for straight hems, but the slight curve of this hem kept throwing me off.

I really like how this dress turned out. The bodice isn't really my favorite, but the shape of the skirt is very nice. I can't wait for some actual warm weather to wear it in. Right now it is blustery and cold out, although the sun is shining, deceitfully making it look warm.

"My nose can go higher than yours."

"No, mine can."

"No, mine."

"No, MINE!"

At that point, it devolves from a "Nose in the Air" Contest to a screaming catfight.

This is a lovely pattern envelope. Unfortunately, one of the MAJOR pattern pieces is missing (the whole front of the dress).

Secret Super Power

My husband and I watch a lot of old movies (we just subscribed to Netflix, and it has definitely enabled this behavior). I used to watch old movies, and not really notice the clothing much, unless it was really out there, but since I've gotten into vintage fashion (since maybe a year or two ago now) I've found I can place a movie by decade based on the clothes the women are wearing. I guess it doesn't sound that impressive, but the last 3 movies we watched, my husband and I would have discussions that go basically like this:

Me: When was this movie made?
Him: Oh, it's from the 60's, I think (or 70's, or 80's or whatever the case may be)
Me: No, it can't be. It looks like it's from the 50's to me. (or 60's or whatever)
Him: No, I don't think it's that old.
Me: That dress is classic 50's.
Him: (picks up the DVD jacket and looks at it) Huh. 1954.

It's not really a useful skill, actually. And I swear I don't do it to look like a know-it-all, although as I write that conversation out, it seems like it. It's just that Brandon isn't really tuned into the fashion details that date a movie for me. I also spend an inordinate amount of time during movies trying to figure out if I've seen patterns similar to the dresses I like, and if I haven't, how I could recreate certain collar details (and it usually is collar details I'm fixating on, for some reason). Even in the Wizard of Oz I do that, and I had watched it probably a hundred times before without really caring about the specific details of Dorthy's dress. (Oh, and there is a costume pattern for it put out by McCalls or someone, but the blouse is considerably simpler than the blouse Dorthy is actually wearing in the movie.)

We watched The Rear Window last night. It's a fifties movie with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I'm sure I'm not saying anything groundbreaking when I say Hitchcock really knew his stuff when it came to creating suspense. And he didn't have to resort to a lot of pyrotechnics and ridiculous plot twists to do it. Although I do question the intelligence of the main character in the final confrontation scene. You're telling me in that whole apartment, the best weapon he could come up with is his camera?
I went fabric shopping yesterday. I was supposed to be shopping for some fabric for Christmas gifts, but what I bought was for me. There was a big fat bolt of the stuff for $1 a yard at Wal-Mart, and I've been thinking I want to try sewing with a knit, and it's been sitting there all alone for awhile, calling to me, and nobody wants it, and it has teacups, for goodness sake. I couldn't help myself. I think I'll make a simple long-sleeve tee to start with.

I have a strange attraction to certain odd fabrics. Like there is a flannel at that same Wal-Mart, blue and white checked like a tablecloth, with ants printed on it. And if it were anything but flannel, I'd already have bought it, and made a nice circular skirt for wearing on picnics in the summer (this is what I tell myself I would wear it for, anyway). But a nice circular skirt in flannel is going to be way to hot for summer, and the print is not a winter print at all. So I haven't bought it.

Dressaday Special

Readers of the Dressaday blog can get a free dressmaking themed collage card when they buy a pattern from my shop and use the top secret coupon code (found in today's post on Dressaday). If you are not a reader of Dressaday, why not?! Go over there now, and read, for heaven's sake.

The coupon code goes in the "notes to seller" section at checkout.

Added Bonus - Original Artwork

This pattern came to me with the added bonus of original artwork. Someone (my husband says probably a small boy someone) has embellished the ladies with beards and chest hair. Charming, no? It looks like a pretty dress, but unfortunately, it is a pattern missing major pieces (all of the bodice).

Inspiring

I love this dress. The long version, with the fish tail skirt. I would keep it, except it isn't my size, or even within an inch of it. And honestly, there aren't many occasions (make that, NO occasions) in my life that would call for such a dress. Goat herders don't get invited to that many fancy soirées.

I can't say I think the sash would hang as beautifully as it does in this illustration. Sometimes pattern illustrations are a lot more fantasy than reality. Of course, on the back, it says the sash is boned. So maybe that partially explains it. If I were making it, I'd make the long version, but without the sash.

Pattern is dated 1960.