Bits and Pieces

I'm so happy, I actually won another giveaway!  I got a super package in the mail yesterday from Molly over at Molly Sews.  There are four patterns in the package.

These are going to be fun to play with. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm cleaning my sewing room.  While in that process I unpacked a bag of things I acquired at a yard sale about a week ago, and a lot of it is perfect for these patterns.  Some of this stuff is OLD, as evidenced by the bag some of it was packed in.

Do any of you remember Zayre's?  Wow!  Blast from the past.  I was very excited about my haul from this yard sale.  I got everything in the following pictures, AND MORE for only $6.50!  Gotta love the yard sale!

I'm seeing some very 60s-70s sewing ahead.  Also, the homeowner was clearly into lace.  This is a wonderful thing because I have several projects on the horizon for lace, including my wedding dress. I also want to do another Lady Mary Armistice Blouse, this time in cream and laces. 

I also snagged some cream satin ribbon,

and some pink satin that might make a cute flower girl dress.

Well, back to work I suppose!  Gotta get things prepped for my next few projects!  While cleaning, I'm also pre-washing that lavender linen for my sixties suit dress re-do.  What's on your slate this week?

Edwardian Skirt Update

I am working on this lovely Edwardian Skirt from Vintage Pattern Lending Library.  I'm planning to pair it with my Armistice Blouse.  I fell in love with this skirt the second I saw it.  Of course, there's nothing to all the straight sewing, but that cute little scalloped edge detail on the left side of the skirt is taking some machinations, let me tell you. 

This one is going to take a little longer than planned, probably going into next week.  I want to do self fabric covered buttons, and I'm considering some possible details for the binding on the scallops.  Please, if any of you have done this skirt, please do leave a comment and give me any advice you have!

Instead of completing this little gem by tomorrow, I think I'll do a little refashioning tomorrow so that I can chock up an accomplishment for the week.  I couldn't let a week go by without finishing something!

Completed Project: Armistice Blouse

Today's reveal is of the Armistice Blouse by Folkwear Patterns.  I was inspired to make this blouse as a 1912 Titanic Anniversary commemorative piece, with a little Downton Abbey envy thrown in for good measure.  Specifically, this was a dry run of Lady Mary's beautiful cream version of this blouse.  I plan to do another now, more closely resembling the one worn by Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary.

I made several modifications to this pattern.  First, I did away with the front button closure.  I wanted a more casual version.  Second, I did go with shorter sleeves, and will go even shorter next time as I try to recreate the Lady Mary blouse.  Third, I did not use a self fabric waist tie, instead opting for grosgrain ribbon in a coordinating shade of lilac.  Fourth, Instead of using gathering stitches at the back of the blouse, I used elastic.  Here's my blouse.  I really did try to take pictures of myself in it, so to prove that here's one... when I get the skirt done I'll get a long suffering family member to take pictures, honest.

And now, here's Betty with the remainder of the modeling duties.

Here is the detail on the back elastic.

And here are some shots of the inside of the blouse, so that you can see the french seams.  Here's the side seam.

And here is an internal view of the armscye.

I know, if I didn't tell you what it was, you might not know, right?  And here's the inside of the blouse front.

So, I will definitely be making this pattern again.  It came together easily, though I admit to ignoring most of the sewing instructions because of the modifications I made.  Please let me know what you think, and as always, I appreciate you reading what I am doing.

Armistice Blouse Progress

It occurred to me today as I worked along, how much I really love to sew.  Time just flies by, even though the work may be very time consuming.  Like basting lace into place prior to machine stitching it down.

I hope to have the blouse completed tomorrow.  Then, I'll be skipping my usual UFO project to do an Edwardian skirt to go with the blouse.  I'd like to have the emsemble completed by the Titanic anniversary, even though I'm not attending any themed parties.  How do you feel about anchoring current day celebrations around past events?  How about when the events are unhappy ones?  I'm curious to hear your opinions.  Thanks for watching my progress!

The Diva of Overdye?

Ok, maybe not so much.  There were mixed results for the overdye fabric rescue.  The primary fabric I was trying to save out came out nice.

The flowers are still visible, but the background is now a soft grey.  The dye camouflages the fade damage (which was the reason for this fabric rescue experiment), but it is still visible in spots.  I'm hoping that the camouflage is enough that the damage will not be apparent in the finished blouse.  So, I went ahead and cut it out (on the plywood protected table this time - I wasn't up for the more aerobic, crawl around the floor method).

However, the other two pieces finished with less satisfactory results.  The T shirt remnant came out light grey, alright, but to my eye it just looks like a really dingy, ready for the ragbag, T.  So, more intervention will be required here.  Likewise, the synthetic material of the curtain panel absorbed very little dye, so it just came out looking a little worse for the wear.  However, I still plan to use both of these items in upcoming projects, so stay tuned!

Adventures in Over Dyeing

If you've been following along you know that my intention earlier this week was to cut out the Armistice Blouse from Folkwear Patterns.  However, as I laid out my fabric, I discovered that it had a regular pattern of fade marks along the lines on which it had been folded.  This stopped me in my tracks for that day and left me pondering what to do to save the fabric.  I decided to try overdying.

You might be curious as to why I refer to the process as "overdyeing" and not just "dyeing".  When dyeing a fabric or garment one usually starts out with unpigmented cloth, or removes the dyes already present through a chemical process.  With overdyeing, you just dye over whatever is already there.  This process can be somewhat random in its results - you never know quite what you're going to get.  Now, my fabric was pretty much ruined, so what harm could be done?  Right?

And, what about environmental harm, or human hazard from using the product?  Well, I consulted the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the product to be sure.  According to the MSDS, the main hazards would be by inhalation or ingestion of the product, or to those with skin sensitivity to any of the ingredients if the chemicals were not properly washed out of the fabric.  The product contains no known carcinogens.  It does contain surfactants, which are a known environmental hazard, hence extra dilution should take place prior to discarding the solution.  While using the product, I never handled it directly in any way, and I took care not to inhale the powder.  All of that said, dyeing is not something I do frequently, due to potential for unreported hazards. 

When I do dye, I try to do multiple items to minimize waste.  This time I had my faded stash fabric (the fading is slightly visible in this photo),

The top from the T shirt I used in the T Shirt Upcycle (I promised at the time that I'd do something with the remaining portion of the shirt),

and the other panel from the curtain I used in the T Shirt Upcycle project, thinking that perhaps I could use it in the next project as well. 

The curtain panel is made of a synthetic material, so it's uncertain how much, if any, dye it will absorb.  I'm in an experimental mood, how about you?

As you can see above, I'm using Pearl Grey dye.  This happens to be a box I had on hand, but I think the color might look nice with the flowers on my ruined fabric, and, it may end up appearing more period (Edwardian) correct than the original fabric.

Next, I assembled my supplies:

• Dye Packet and Instructions
• Bucket and measuring utensils not used for food prep
• Detergent (1 Tablespoon)
• Salt (1 cup)
• Vinegar (2 Tablespoons)
• HOT water (2 cups plus 3 gallons)

I dissolved the dye powder in two cups of very hot water.

In the 3 gallon plastic bucket of very hot water I dissolved 1 cup salt,

1 Tablespoon of generic laundry detergent,

and 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar.  The vinegar was not called for in the package instructions, but vinegar is great at setting colors - the Ostara (Easter) Bunny uses it, and I can't think of any more glowing testimonial!  Next, I added the dissolved dye to the larger bucket with the salt, detergent and vinegar.

The next step was to add my fabrics.  These were wetted in plain warm water prior to being added to the dye bath.

Once all the fabrics were added, the stirring began.  I stirred the fabrics in the dye bath for about 20 minutes.  The instructions on the box indicate that the longer the materials remain in the dye bath, the darker the color result would be.  The instructions recommended keeping the materials in contact with the dye for up to 30 minutes.

Once the time had elapsed, I poured the entire bucket, water and all into the washer, and washed the materials to remove any excess dye. 

I'll be sure to let you know how this all turned out in an upcoming post after everything is dry!  Please stop back to find out what color the Armistice Blouse is going to be!  And, as always, your questions and comments on this process are always welcome!

Sewing Aerobics

I was raised Catholic in the sixties.  For me, this meant a lot of standing, kneeling and genuflecting - something my sister and I came to later refer to as Holy Aerobics.*  For some reason I am reminded of this every time I cut sewing patterns.  HUH?

I am fortunate enough to have a small sewing room.  Somehow, even though I have a room of my own, there's just no room in there to cut.  So, I have two options.  The first is to spread my fabric and pattern out on the dining room table, and use it as a cutting table.  This works ok quite a bit of the time, but it does mean removing the table cloth (so as not to cut through) and shoo-ing cats from the work surface about every thirty seconds.  My second choice is to lay out the fabric on my bedroom floor.  This option requires crawling around the floor and assuming positions a nice lady of my age has no business getting into (and has a really hard time getting out of).  Today, I used option two.  Ow.  I'm really coveting a cutting table at this moment.  Like this one:

I set out to cut three patterns. Generally, if I'm going to cut, I try to cut two or three patterns, because of the effort involved.  The first, the commissioned clergy robe I mentioned; the second, a Colette Meringue; and the third, the Armistice blouse from folkwear patterns (as you'll recall I wanted to do some Edwardian sewing).  One and two went fine, though I worked up quite a sweat.  It is very unseasonably warm here on the edge of the Adirondacks right now, but I am NOT complaining about an early spring!  When I got to the third pattern, I had an unfortunate discovery.  The pretty calico print was now sun damaged!  I'm not sure how that happened because it was folded in a box until I pre-washed it yesterday.  So, now I have to consider how to save the project.  Have any of you ever tried overdying?  I was thinking I could still use the fabric if I tried it.  Any suggestions?

* No disrespect intended to my Catholic readers.