Drafty....

Once all the festivities of Yuletide had calmed down I sat down to some long evenings of drafting. There's a few things on the pad at the moment, including my everlasting pursuit of the 'perfect' french knicker pattern. I'm getting close, but lots of Christmas cheer has made for a bit of a fluctuating waistline which is slowing things down a bit!

I'm also working on yet another 50's style dress, this one with small cap sleeves and a gathered sweetheart neckline. I've got some fabric in mind for this which is a bit on the pink side and might turn into a bit of a pattern-matching nightmare, but will look super cut if it all goes well.

I've also done a pattern for a friend who wanted a yoked blouse with bishops sleeves with a capped top which I can't wait to see. I was so annoyed with myself when I found out I'd drafted it to the waist and not the hip, but it's (hopefully!) easily fixed and I won't make that mistake again!

I'm still working on my tailoring skills too, though it's a slow process! I'm still ploughing through the 1945 tailoring book I found, though I'm having to stop and google every 5 minutes as the language is occasionally foreign to me! I've made some 1940's trousers for me though which I'll get some pictures up of soon.

Happy belated New Year! xxx

1950's Keyhole Blouse

I started last night, and finished this afternoon. I did take some progress photos but silly me forgot to put the SD card in the camera so they've been lost to the ether.

Quite chuffed with it as a first punt at the pattern. The fabric is fray-o-liscious and I should have done more overlocking but it will not exactly be hard to make myself another one. The pattern was a tiny bit small for me but some tweaking to the seam allowances and button placement have cleared that up. The collar was fiddly, but I'm yet to meet a collar that isn't. (And yes, the photo is taken in my bathroom - the lightbulb in the hallway has blown!)

Apparently my mum made a very similar blouse for a school project back in the late 50s/early 60s but without the diagonal front.

At first I thought the raglan sleeves were making it sit oddly baggy across the shoulders, but I've realised this allows a great range of movement which will get tested at lindy hop tonight :)

winter productivity

Apparently today is the least productive day of the year in the UK because it is the first Monday after the clocks going back. I was quite gratified that I was slaving over a hot sewing machine when that came on the news :)

Now I'm thinking, it's not that late, and maybe I would feel even more smug if I got started on this...
I've picked up a whole roll of suitable fabric and it would be nice to start sinking my teeth into the big pile of vintage patterns I recently bought.

However, I do also have the latest Pratchett to devour...

Decisons, decisions!