I'm really starting to get into this whole vintage thing.  Lately I can't seem to stay out of antique stores and my husband says I'm starting to dress like I stepped out of a time machine. Well that's vintage baby.  This Sew for Victory sew along has really gotten me in the mindset of less is more.  The 40's seemed like such a simpler time.  No internet or cellphones. Far more socializing face to face or long letters being written.  When is the last time you got a letter in the mail or hand written one yourself for that matter?  Models in the magazines weren't airbrushed.  Pinup ladies were the real deal.  And the fashion was awesome which is why I love these pants so much! 

I used retro Simplicity 4044.  This is the same pattern I'll be using for the Sew for Victory sew along but in red I believe.  I used a wool suiting from my stash of 2 years.  The construction of these pants is super easy, only four pieces and can be completed in a day.  Just my type of pattern.  I really took my time with these and I love the result.  I learned how to use my overlock foot for finishing the facing edges.  That foot is awesome and I will definitely be using it more.  The seams are all pinked (which set me back a day because my shears broke!) and I used my blind hem foot on the bottom hem.

I love the style of these pants but I knew I was going to have problems with the width on my small frame.  I cut a size 10 and since I didn't make a muslin I basted first, much easier to rip out later, which is always inevitable for me.  I ended up taking in the inseam half inch on each side.  This reduced the width and also brought the crotch up for a better fit in that area.  They have a side lapped zipper, back darts, and I just adore the front pleats.  The front also has a little scallop detail (I guess that's what you'd call it) which is hard to see with my plaid shirt.

I feel these pants still look a little too wide on me when I stand in certain positions. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to this style.  I haven't washed them yet either.  It seems handmade garments fit and lay better after you wash them for the first time.

Who else is sewing for victory and how's it coming along? It's not too late to join!  Rochelle has posted tons of resources and information on 1940's sewing styles and fashion.  I'm particularly looking forward to the makeup and hairstyle post ;)

Well I was going to do another Thriftin' Thursday post for ya all but all I had was some pillows I made using vintage fabric I scored at an antique store.  Hardly worthy of a full blog post and talk about a snooze fest.  Instead I was thinking about posting my plans for Rochelle's Sew for Victory 1940's inspired sew along.  I then got side tracked and headed over to YouTube and did a search on the 1940's.  I stumbled upon Glamour Daze's channel where there are a ton of wonderful videos on 1940's fashions and makeup tutorials.  I was in a 1940's trance for what seemed like hours.  My favorite video is the Rosie the Riveter Song.  I really wanted to post it here but they disabled embedding videos so your gonna have to trust me and head over to their page yourself!  Once you snap back into reality come back and read about my 1940's plans!!

I picked up some 1940's repro patterns from Simplicity when JoAnn's had Simplicity 5 for $5.  I also picked up a fun nautical print that I have the perfect anchor buttons for.  The fabric is two sided and I'm undecided on which side I should use...What do you all think? A or B?? (I'm making version C)

I'm also going to make the pants from this pattern and I'm pretty sure I'm going with the first swatch fabric (although I'm really loving the red too).

The sewing blogs have also been in a buzz about Julia Bobbin's 2nd Mad Men challenge.

Uhh yes I'm in! Duh!  I sat in the sidelines last year as sadly I had no clue what Mad Men was.  My stupid Dish provider had cancelled our AMC channel.  After seeing all the fabulous dresses and realizing what I was missing out on I quickly bought the first 4 seasons on Ebay and planted my butt on the couch for a whole weekend totally obsessed with the show.  Now then Dish has pulled their heads out of their behinds and added AMC back to our channel package. Yippee!

Here are my inspiration pieces,

And a big thank you and a shout out to Rachel over at Raywuwei who nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award. It's so very kind of you! *blushing*...

Oh and these two lovebirds wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day...

As some of you may have seen already Karen over at Did You Make That pulled 3 names out of the Sewlutions jar to check on their progress.  Wouldn't you know it that yours truly was one of the first names pulled.  If some of you aren't familiar Karen's awesome idea was to have everyone write down what their sewing goal was for the year.  At the end of the year (with random progress reports throughout the year) we would have to fess up on whether we acheived our goal.  She had a whopping 244 responses!!  To refresh your memories here is what my sewlution was word for word...

ShanniLoves says:

I really want to push myself and sew one item a week, whether it be clothing, accessories, or refashions. I tend to get a little lazy. Last September I made myself a monthly goal to sew one item a week. It really kept me motivated and I did accomplish it. We’ll see if I can stick it out a whole year!

 

 

 

At first glance, beautiful is probably not the first thing that comes to ya'lls mind I bet.  I only picked this shirt off the Goodwill rack cuz I was like, What the hell is going on here? But when I looked closer a thing of beauty it quickly became...it was homemade!!  Someone made this shirt and wore it proudly. And proud they should be because they did a mighty fine job!  The inside was so neatly stitched and serged.  And just look at those gathers...perfection!

I examined the inside of this garment from head to toe for what felt like hours trying to find any imperfections to make me feel better about my own shoddy workmanship.  I could find none.  Lady, I'm impressed!  I know practice makes perfect and this person probably has years of experience on me (and a serger) but I hope to one day be proud of what my shirt looks like on the inside as well as the out.  

I really hated ripping this shirt apart but I'm sure whoever made it would be glad that I was trying to breathe new life into it.  I ended up making another Renfrew with it...a sleeveless Renfrew.  I had every intention of putting the sleeves back in and I tried and tried but they looked pretty ridiculous.  Because they were originally gathered sleeves they just didn't look right with the style of the Renfrew and I was too lazy to start from scratch.  After chucking the sleeves across the room I finished the armholes with bias tape. 

Any ideas on how old you think this shirt is?  The fabric reminds me of something my Granny would of wore in the 80's.  It's really a soft, cozy fabric and I will probably use this as a lounge/sleep shirt.  I really hope to find more handmade garments at the thrift shop.  It was fun remaking it and thinking about the person who made it.  What kind of person was she? How long had she been sewing?  Where did she wear this shirt?  Was she as proud of her workmanship as I was for her? Does she still sew her own clothes today?  I hope one day a piece from my homemade wardrobe will find it's way into the hands of a young girl and she will look at it as I did this piece and be inspired.