Still Loving the 1920s – Drop Waist Dress

August 15, 2013February 3, 2014117 Comments

1st photo courtesy of Ar Baurial, Sept. 1929; 2nd photo courtesy of Yours Truly, Aug. 2013

After sewing and researching my Great Gatsby 1920s/30s Beach Pajamas, I really fell in love with 1920s fashions. I wanted to make a drop waist dress this time and found a free online pattern for a Great Gatsby inspired top by Sew Be it Studios here.

When I printed it out in adobe, I shrunk the pages slightly and used the “fit to page” option. I cut the X-Small, and it was still far too big. I had to take off approximately 10 cm (4″) from the back (2″ from each side of the back pieces) and I also made it longer so that I could wear it as a dress, with a slip, or as a top, on its own.I inserted a centre lapped zipper in the back, but did not lap it very much (on purpose) as I wanted to see the line of navy down the back that the zipper adds. I liked the design element this provided. However, I was not sure how to ‘end’ the zipper at the bottom, since it was not lapped right into the seam allowance, so I just tapered down to nothing on both sides. I need to research how to insert an exposed zipper and next time, will insert it properly.I also added a vintage gold button and fabric loop closure at the top of the back of the dress. I finished the seams with lace seam binding. I’ve never done this before and really liked the effect, especially with the dainty floral fabric pattern.

Seam Finishing with Lace Seam Binding / Back Zipper and Vintage Button with Fabric Loop Closure

Seam Finishing with Lace Seam Binding / Back Zipper and Gold Vintage Button with Fabric Loop Closure

I think it is definitely reminiscent of the 1920s and reminds me of this vintage dress from the 20’s that I found online.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/118078022/vintage-1920s-dress-1920s-dress-spirit?ref=usr_faveitems

The pattern called for use of a lace netting in semi-circular shaped pieces on the shoulders, but I thought these would look too costume-y and it would also be difficult to wear a jacket over top of them. So, instead, I sewed the pieces out of the dress fabric, two for each shoulder, then turned them right side out after sewing them together. I pleated them first, ironed them flat and basted the pleats, then sewed them to both shoulders.

Of course, Kitty became interested in the tree photo shoot and started to stalk the scene.Cat Bombed UP A TREE!! Who Else Can Say That?

A Giveaway to Celebrate the Vernal-Autumnal Equinox!

March 20, 2013April 27, 201383 Comments

Well, today is that glorious time of year. The Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere (first day of spring)

Spring has Sprung in Spain

Autumn in Australia

and the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere (first day of autumn). Both are excellent seasons and an exquisite end to the grey, cold snow and the sticky, humid heat.

An equinox happens twice a year and is the day where the terminator (twilight zone) is at 90 degrees to the Earth’s equator and the length of day and night is precisely equal! Ooooh, the wonderful math and symmetry involved. I get goosebumps!

To help celebrate this momentous occasion, I am giving away the sewing book Chic and Simple Sewing by Christine Haynes.

This book includes paper patterns, instructions and photos for 20 fashion projects that range in difficulty from 1 to 5. There is a rating system applied to each garment so that you know what you are getting yourself into, before you begin sewing.

The first section of the book explains some sewing techniques ranging from patch pockets to applying bias tape and the rest of the book presents a variety of garments for you to sew with the full patterns included in sizes small, medium and large (measurements included). The fun part of this book is that it is divided up into seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter with associated clothes and patterns for each season. I thought this fit perfectly into the Seasonal Celebration we are having!

I have made several items from this book including the A-line skirt, fabric belt and belt loops, The Trench and The Date Dress (which I made into nightgowns). I also have The Retro Shift Dress lined up in the queue to sew for this summer.

The Retro Shift Dress

For most of these projects, I altered and embellished the pattern and sewing to add a bit more polish and finishing. That’s one of the good aspects I found about this book: that it is aimed at the experienced beginner, but as you begin to climb up the levels of difficulty, or if you are already an advanced sewer, you can alter, embellish and add to the patterns and the sewing style to make your own, more tailored creations.

Also, this book is now out of print. Christine Haynes just blogged about this recently, so you will no longer be able to order or purchase this book anywhere!

Projects from the Book

Projects from the Book

Projects from the Book

Beautiful Spring Tulips

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment letting everybody know what is your favourite season and why. You can enter from anywhere in the world, no matter what season it is for you currently. 🙂

The giveaway will close on Sunday April 7, 2013, so please be sure to have your comments in by then. Kitty, of course, will be officiating the draw to pick the winner. Drop by again for the, sure to be exciting, entrant selection!

Update: See the official draw ceremony and the winning entrant here!

Good luck to everybody! And please ensure there is some way of contacting you, if you do win.

Feel free to ‘like’ Gjeometry on Facebook and follow this blog so we can all keep in touch!

(Autumn in Australia pic courtesy of Reef and Outback Rail Tours, Projects from the Book pics courtesy of Christine Haynes blog)

Pattern Pyramid Pick Progess (De-80s-fying). And a Sewing Dare!

March 4, 2013March 5, 201342 Comments

So, to refresh your memories, I had selected the Very Easy Very Vogue 9647 from the winning Pattern Pyramid. There were two main reasons for this; one, it was in my size, two, it was touted as “very easy”.

Now, not sure if you can see from the picture or not, but this pattern is definitely very ’80s. Especially, the incredibly expansive shoulder pads. They are actually large enough to land a plane on! Seriously! And for those of you afraid to fly, picture a Kitty perched on each shoulder and walking around all day like that.

I wanted to try my best to De-80s-fy the pattern (yes, I coined that phrase, please feel free to use it and share).

This is what I came up with to bring it into this century while lancing the shoulder pad design detail: I opted to make the top half of the dress in B (the short sleeves) and the bottom half of the dress in A (the full skirt), while also shortening the dress to about knee-length. I’m using a periwinkle blue cotton voile that has a flower design embossed on it, and is almost sheer where the flowers are embossed. I thought it would be delicate and flowy and deter from that ‘boxy’ look. I then decided to sew an Obi Style belt out of the cotton floral fabric to cinch it at the waist while still keeping that light and airy look (as opposed to using a heavy leather / plastic belt).

So, these are my plans to de-80’s fy, what do you think? In my mind, it looks fabulous! 🙂 In reality, we’ll have to wait and see.

And, I have been charged with a Sewing Dare by Jagoda from FitNottoFit:

“Catja, I don’t know what your plans are for March, but I CHALLENGE you to make something from Ikea fabric. Hopefully something wearable, for yourself, not for the kitties. Do you accept?”

Yes, I accept! Although Kitty is a tad disgruntled. Here is my plan:I love Ikea fabric, but it can be a challenge to sew clothing with it, as it is mainly designed for home sewing projects. I am going to make Butterick B5285 in Version B and use this Ikea fabric pictured. The fabric design is: Malin Akerblom, 2010. The floral print is quite large and I’m hoping that with the addition of the pleats on the skirt, it will look like an abstract floral pattern.

Karen, from Did You Make That? made the same version (B) of the Butterick skirt in a fabulous fabric, check it out here. It looks terrific, so if mine comes out half this well, I will be stoked!