Squeeeeeeee. I love being the “crafter” in the family!

I love, love, love when people give me things because “I’m crafty” or because “I sew.” I’ve acquired two machines this way and lots of fabric and trimmings. My Necchi is my go-to machine and the Pfaff is a close second. Well, imagine my excitement when I get a Facebook message from a friend’s mom (truthfully, she’s been a mom to me too) asking if I want a bunch of old patterns. Um, yea. Look what showed up on my door step last week. Three boxes of patterns and the best part is that they are my size! There are a ton of kid patterns too but the women’s patterns are a size 8 or 10 which is what I typically make in McKwikVogueRick.

 

I randomly pulled some out so you can see a few of them. They are all from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.

 

Most of them are Buttericks, Simplicity, McCalls, Vogues, etc but there are a few of these pre-KwikSew pattern. This one isn’t even opened.

 

Pretty!

 

 

Most of the patterns are size 8 or 10 but there are a few 12s sprinkled in there.

 

I like the warning on this one. Upper right: Coat cannot be worn over jacket. Oh, dammit! That was my plan!

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

 

I love this hairstyle from the 60s. I could never do this with my hair. It’s too fine and too wavy.

 

Two out of three boxes are little kid patterns. I’ll be putting these on Etsy probably. I have no use for them because they are too small and there are so many of them. It would be fun to have a wall of pattern covers though.

 

Okay, this might be my favorite one. I have to say I love the butterfly collar and the ascot. Hee Hee, I said ascot.

 

This one is really cute and I would make it for my kids if it was a larger size.

 

Ra ra! I didn’t look but I wonder if these are for knit fabrics. If not, they would be pretty restrictive. Well, for a cheerleader.

 

Aaaaaaauuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

I think it’s funny that the kid pants are so high up on their little torsos.

 

I’ll let you guys know if I post any of these to Etsy. I know there is a market for adult vintage patterns. Is there any market for kid vintage patterns?

Getting back on the hawsie . . .

Jeez, where the heck did I go? I did not, dear readers, drop off the face of the Earth. I’m finding that being a single woman with three children is taking a lot more energy and time than I thought it would. And thank you for the comments and emails about my well being! I’m certainly hanging in there. Some days my only goal is to survive but I’ll get back to the point of kicking ass and taking names soon enough. Enough about moi though.

I’ve always loved the kid clothes over at Chez Ami. They are super cute and, of course, I drool over the fabric. They also sell fabric but I had never ordered any of it. Well, right before Christmas I bit the bullet and bought some of the jersey and a bunch of rib knit. I bought everything from the clearance section so it’s pretty darn cheap (like $3.50/yard). It took a long time to get here but that’s mainly because I live in Alaska and UPS Ground and can’t ship to PO boxes and blah, blah, blah. I really, really, really love the rib knit. Don’t get me wrong either. The jersey is nice but it’s really hard to find good rib knit. I think this jersey will become a cute set of jammies for my girls and I’ll either use the green, brown, or teal rib knit to go with it.

 

I also have this black knit print left over from this KwikSew dress. I may use this up for kid jammies too. I’m thinking the pink or teal for this fabric.

 

My son is also lacking in the jammies department so it’s probably time to make him some too! I’ll keep you updated on progress now that I and back to the life of the living! For him, I will certainly use the KwikSew 3234 pattern I always use. It’s fits so well! For the girls, well, I don’t know. They love the Butterick 4910 but the KwikSew ones are warmer. I live in a cold drafted house so we’ll see.

Butterick 4910 - Kids Pajamas

My BFF, Kristine of Just Keep Sewing, sent me this pattern a while ago. I finally made it up for my kiddos last week but didn't review it yet. Is it not the cutest??? It's a simple raglan sleeve dress. There are several variations in the envelope including dress with no ruffle, short-sleeved top with shorts, long-sleeved top with pants, and long dress with ruffles. I opted for full ruff-lage because my girls are very girly. The little girl on the left is So Sad because her sister is wearing the pink one which is Her Favorite Color. The one on the left is also the dramatic one. The white dress is a cotton interlock with not much stretch. I added elastic to the sleeves for some sleeve ruffles and I added a pink bow to the front. The bottom is finished with lace. I have never used lace to finish a hem before but it's so freaking easy. I may do that on all hems for the girls. The dress on the right is microfleece with a lace hem and sleeve hems. It also has a decorative "patch" on the front with a little embroidery.

Awwwww. :( She even looks sad in this picture. Pouty lips . . .

Here you can see the embroidery a bit better. This is made from my Font Engine software by Embird. Again, I removed the fill stitches and used the Redwork option on the border.

I used the font Jellodings from www.dafont.com.

Tonight: zippers in skirts! Must refuel with Earl Grey!

2008 in Graphs

I love graphing so when Lindsey T showed her progress in graphs I just had to copy borrow her idea and do it too. I found some interesting results especially after I filtered out my earlier attempts at sewing. I started garment sewing shortly after I signed up for PatternReview on 4/8/07. So, it's been 20 months since I started garment sewing. In that time, I think I've come far with my skills. I have sewn 77 garments thus far this year and feel like most of them are wearable and look mostly RTW. I have also figured out which pattern companies work with my body type. Here is a graph showing all the patterns I used for 2008. There are 12 different companies with BWOF, Jalie, and KwikSew being my favorites.



If I just graph the time since I tried BWOF , you see much different results. Once I tried BWOF, I didn't buy or try any more of the Big 4. The Vogue pattern was one that I sewed earlier but then finished much later because I hated it. The Green Pepper patterns are the ones I use for my kids outerwear. When you factor those in, I use basically five companies.



This shows all the different types of garments. Surprisingly, I made as many dresses as I did coats and casual tops. I did quite a bit if kid sewing which surprised me. I always feel guiltly because I'm not sewing for my kids. It's very interesting to view things this way.


I'll have another entry for my goals and reflections on specific garments later on. Dinner calls.

Anybody want these? Part II

(Updated 7/28)
I still have NL peasant blouses, NL skirts, S Easy Chic coordinates, B Lifestyle wardrobe for the taking.

Okay, here is what I have so far:

Janene: NL Jackets and S knit dress (got your address)
Elizabethe: S blouse and NL knit dress (got your address)
Leanne: S flouncy skirts, S Threads dresses (got your address)
Kristine: S boys pants/tops (I'll email you)
Myra: M dresses, B girls (I'll email you)
peaudane: V DKNY dresses (need your address)

If you are listed above please email me your address: info (at) cabinbaby (dot) com. If things change, I'll update this post. I'm not sure that Jenaveve wants to pay that much for postage so those two patterns may still be up for grabs.

I also have these patterns. They are out of print:


Also to answer a question on the last post: They are all the smaller size range. Sorry that I forgot to include that information in the first go-around.

Why Do We Love Burda so Much?

Okay, so Rhonda go me thinking about Burda WOF. I can think of six reasons that I am a die-hard Burda WOF fan.

1. Fit: They fit my smaller frame better than the Big 4. This is especially true in the shoulders. I have read that they draft their patterns for a 'C' cup but I never have to do an SBA on them even though I'm an 'A' cup. Figure that one out. I have heard that their pants rock. I am waiting until the June issue to try my first pair of BWOF pants (this pair). Some people say they are the best fitting pants they have ever made. Their patterns don't have a ton of ease like the Big 4. For a Big 4 pattern, I usually measure myself, ignore the envelope recommendations, and then make the smallest size offered, usually a 8 or 10. I usually have to grade the BWOF patterns down to a 36 or 34 but it is pretty easy to do since you have to trace them anyhow. Sigrid pointed out that their fit is consistent. For example, I make a size 36 almost every time and it fits the same each time. The Big 4 are not consistent like that.
2. Challenge: I love a challenge. The directions are challenging and that is not something I always love. The thing that is challenging is all the tiny details on a BWOF. They usually add some details that give it that extra special somthing. Check out this top with tab, this simple cross-top with something extra, this dress with buttons, and this Jalie look-alike to see what I mean. As I sew, I realize that, for me, details are the thing that I love. They have quick, unadorned patterns too but I love the detailed ones.
3. Style: I find the Big 4 patterns boring and repetitive. I think in their quest to make sewing easy they also made it boring and home-made. There are Vogue patterns that appeal to me and a few of the new-old-vintage re-issues but the rest, nah. They are the same thing over and over again. Even between companies, they are the same. It is like having a Chevy and a GMC; different names, same truck.
4. Frequency: BWOF comes out every month. 50-70 patterns in each magazine. There are some BWOF duds, don't get me wrong, but out of 50 patterns, I can find a few I like.
5. Anticipation: They post previews of the coming styles as a slideshow so you can get a sneaky peaky. Then a week or two later, they give you all the pictures. Then before the magazine comes out you can view all the line drawings. Part of this anticipation just makes me crave the new magazine even if I don't like a lot of the patterns. The grass is always greener, eh?
6. Presentation: Think about KwikSew for a minute. Up until this year, their pattern covers have been a bit dorky. With Burda, you get hot, leggy (ok, sometimes scary) models wearing the clothing. I'm really glad that KwikSew has started using cute models on their covers because I really like their patterns. But it is all about selling the pattern. Legs and cleavage sell while dowdy drawings will not. I can see this being cute in a nice fabric but this drawing doesn't do it for me.
7. Price (thank you Debbie Cook!): All of the patterns every month for a very reasonable price, even more reasonable if you have a subscription. A subscription is $80 and you get 12 magazines. That is $6.67 per issue. If you make two patterns per issue you are getting each pattern at the rock-bottom price of $3.34 per pattern.
8. Convenience (thank you Debbie Cook!): With a subscription, they come right to your mailbox. No need to track down sales, fight messy pattern drawers, etc.

Did I miss anything? I know everyone has their own, "Why I love Burda" reasons but these are mine. I added Debbie Cook's comments to the list. Thank you Debbie!

This one's for Paula . . .

Okay Paula. Here is the plan for the vintage vogue dress. It will never be a favorite but I think this will make it wearable. I am planning on making a cropped jacket to go over it and make a belt out of the same fabric. I will be using the Kwik Sew cropped jacket that I used before but will add these ties from this Butterick pattern. I have the Butterick pattern and could just use that instead but there is quite a bit more ease than in the Kwik Sew pattern. I used the XS on the Kwik Sew pattern and it had plenty of ease. I really like the ties from view A. I am going back and forth on how long the sleeves should be. The fabric on left is the dress. The fabric on the right is the jacket fabric. I plan to underline it with black broadcloth (? maybe batiste? it's in my stash) because it is a loose weave. I think I'll hand baste the two together and then just treat them as one layer.

Butterick pattern. I'll be making the view A ties on the Kwik Sew body.

Kwik Sew pattern, I'll make the longer version view A but maybe with the shorter sleeves.

On another note, I got a pair of strappy silver sandals for my blue and silver dress. They are pretty dang cute if I do say so myself.

ETA: I finished the March Burda organization chart in paint.net. If anyone wants a copy of it, I'll email it to you. It is in that format but it is just one file. I put the different pages on different layers and you can just click through them to see the different pages. There are 4 in all. I put the kids stuff on a separate page because I will file all of those together in my 3-ring binder. Also I put 3T-6T on the kids' page because Burda does different size ranges for their kids' section. In June they do Girl's sizes 6-12. Just let me know. You do have to have the paint.net program to open the file. And, my own notes are on there but you can erase them and change it.

Swap Storyboard Update

Here is my new and improved SWAP storyboard. Now for the other things on my list.

Shhhh . . . I think I'm done with my SWAP . . .

Not officially yet or anything but all my pieces are done. Before I "officially" finish my Work In Progress at PatternReview.com there are a few thing I want to do.

1. Take pictures of all the combinations. This may take a while with all my "helpful" children. DONE, here is the picture of all of them together.
2. Make sure, for the last time, that all the pieces go together. I'm not quite sure about the corduroy embroidered fitted blouse. I love the top but am not sure it will go with the brown skirt and wool skirt. DONE, they look fine.
3. Maybe make a dress to go with the wardrobe too. This would not be hard. I have been itching to try the Kwik Sew Shealth again but without the buckles and belt. I think it would look very classy in a brown or wine wool crepe. Or even a nubby multi-colored wool? Something from Gorgeous Fabrics? DONE, decided not to.
4. Re-vamp and update my storyboard. I have made only a couple of substitutions but it is currently out of date. DONE

Here is today's garment. It is not on my storyboard. Like I said, it is out of date. There will be more pictures and an actual review within the next couple of days.

This is Butterick 4549.

I love the bodice on this.

I used a purple zipper because it is all I had. It doesn't show when I wear it.

Butterick 5147 Skirt

Here is the review:

Pattern Description: Jacket A has front and back darts, collar and three-quarter length sleeves. Top B has front and back darts, side zipper. Slim fitting dress C has front and back darts, back zipper and back slit, length is 2" below mid-knee. A-line dress D has front and back darts, back zipper, length is mid-calf. Slim fitting skirt E has front and back darts, back zipper and back slit, length is 2" below mid-knee. A-line skirt F has front and back darts, back zipper, length is mid-calf. All garments are lined.

I made the slim fitting skirt, view E.Pattern Sizing:8-10-12-14. I made the size 10.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Yes and no. The main design features are the same but I changed the length and the pleat.

Were the instructions easy to follow?I didn't really look at them. Because it is supposed to be lined, they have a bunch of weird "whip-stitch this" and "slip-stitch that" directions that make it look handmade. I used a center zipper and used the center zipper application tutorial from the fashion incubator website. Also, I didn't like the way they did the back pleat so I made an inverted kick pleat and I love it. I got that tutorial from the Sewing Divas website.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?I'm not sure I will sew it again. It is really high (!) on the torso and sort of puffy because of all the darts. I know that is easy to remedy but I was thinking of trying to make a pancil skirt using my Jalie 2000 pants. They fit me well, they are not too high and the dart placement is correct. This Butterick skirt seems like it is for a curvier woman. Larger hips and smaller waist. You can see in this picture that it kind of puffs up around the hips. My shirt is actually compressing the fabric. Here's the back and it looks like I have a love-handle. I do love that the pattern has everything in it. I plan on making one of the sheath dresses soon.

Fabric Used:This is a 100% mystery wool that was given to me by some generous friends. They gave me several yards of assorted wools. I was going to line it but decided to just wear a slip with it after having some issues with the lining material.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:I chopped a few (3 inches?) off the bottom. I didn't line it. I made the kick pleat an inverted kick pleat. Would you sew it again?

Would you recommend it to others?I will sew the other parts of the wardrobe but I may not make the skirts again.

Conclusion: Cute wardobe options but I think I will try a different option for skirts. This just doesn't seem to fit me. I can change darts and modify it but I have a better plan. I'll keep you posted. I really like the shealth dresses in this pattern so maybe I'll make that next.

New Hot Patterns

So Hot Patterns just put out some new patterns. I really like a few of their patterns but worry about drafting issues. On patternreview.com, there are really positive and really not-so-positive reviews. I am always drawn to this pattern. But will it be any different that this one? I have the Butterick pattern already. I am drawn to the great drawings of Hot Patterns, I think.