To Work: Vintage Calvin Klein

Ta daaaa!  Yep, it's another top...


This one is sewn from a vintage pattern from my 80s/90s pattern collection (which is NOT a "carefully curated collection", though seriously, what even does that phrase mean? Does it just mean "a group of things I like"??). The pattern looks pretty boring in the envelope photos, but it's a designer pattern, which I find usually guarantees good bones, and the back of the envelope shows three very different tops, one of which (this one) only needs a metre of fabric.

The pattern is described as follows:

Loose-fitting pullover top or wrap blouse has cap or full-length sleeves. A and B mock bands, A: buttoned shoulder and sleeves closing. B: dropped shoulders and side-buttoned closing. C: extended shoulders, front pleated into self-lined yoke with forward shoulder seams and two-piece sleeves with buttoned cuffs shown pushed up.

I have a few of Calvin Klein's top patterns from the 70s, 80s and 90s and they seem to have quite a consistent, minimalist aesthetic, but this pattern is from 1986 - even though it has no shoulder pads. Vogue magazine anticipated the 1990s Calvin Klein designs would inspire Raf Simons' 2017 Calvin Klein collection (article and links to collections here), so maybe this is nearly fashionable?? Probably not, haha!

Anyway, these next photos of the pattern come from an etsy shop (linked) that had the pattern for sale as at the time of writing, but I can see it's available in lots of other online shops too if you like the look of it.

So obviously I made view A, the one that takes only a metre of fabric, and I left off the lovely buttoned shoulder detail - with my drapey silk twill I was worried I'd mess up, and the top gets on and off without any closures anyway.

This little top is intended to slot into my work wardrobe - black pants and skirts mixed with more interesting tops and jumpers - and though it looks summery with its fluttery cap sleeves, I think it's going to suit winter too in my current, very warm office.

These pants by the way are RTW, but if you could see them in person you might notice they're quite similar to Vogue 8909, with a loose fit (looser than the Hudson pants) and elasticized waist and ankles.  I'd make a pair except I already have a pair!

Vogue 8909 pants

Not Vogue 8909 pants, but a similar style

Because I left off the shoulder and sleeve buttoning closure this was a very straightforward top to sew.  The fabric, a gorgeous Italian silk twill from Tessuti Fabrics (sorry but it was purchased ages ago so I doubt it'd still be in stock) was a bit shifty to sew so that made things a little slower, but it was still only the matter of a few hours.

I used French seams on the shoulders and side seams and a rolled hem on the sleeves, and I should have but didn't use Lena's gelatine trick for shifty fabrics (here's Lena's original tip blogged in 2011, and here's the link to the 2012 Threads article inspired by Lena's blog post).  The rolled hem is wonky over the French seams, so perhaps French seams weren't such a good idea - that seam area was such a lot bulkier than the rest of the hem.

And I'm not sure if you can see this in the first of the detailed photos below, but I also used Debbie's trick for neat interfaced facings with no messy edges.

One of the nice things about a pattern like this is that it's really easily adjusted up or down a size.  My copy of this pattern was a size 10, but by widening the neckline and adding to the width of the top (including sleeve length) my top was effectively made as a size 12.

Not smug but happy - and that's all!


Happy sewing

- Gabrielle xx

Summer's End Top + Pants

I've whipped up a top and some black work pants - and I'm feeling really happy with them both.

The pullover top is sewn from an 80s pattern (Vogue 8313) and some vintage fabric (quite possibly from the same era).  For all that it's an old style it doesn't look particularly dated to me... and yet it's pure 80s.  In fact my mum had a top with very similar lines to this one when I was growing up, though hers was made from white linen with navy trim inset around the neckline (and no buttons), and had a matching skirt - much more of a classic look than this :).

I found the buttons in my stash - wasn't I lucky to get such a good colour match! 

I modified the pattern slightly to narrow the neckline and to make the buttons decorative rather than functional; I didn't think my loose weave fabric - a lightweight hemp perhaps? - would have stood up to buttoning, and I don't usually have any problems getting pullover tops on. The pattern also called for top stitching to hold the facings in place around the neckline, but I opted instead for lots of 'invisible' hand stitching under the buttoned corners and wherever else I could hide a few stitches...  I love this "no stitches" look and wish I'd thought of it when I was sewing the sleeve hems. 

The top is intended to be a little more cropped than mine but I wanted it to cover the waistline of whatever I wore it with, so I added a few centimetres to the length and cut the front and back with the selvedge in place of a hem.  I can *just* tuck it in too when I wear it with high waisted shorts:

I should have realised such a loose fabric would be slightly transparent - I will have to bear that in mind next time I wear it...


And the black pants are the pants from Vogue 1264 by Anne Klein, described on the pattern envelope as "semi-fitted pants with tapered leg has side invisible zipper" and reviewed here on PatternReview. They're basically just cigarette pants - no pockets, no frills!

Black is so hard to photograph!  

This pattern is a really good basic pants pattern - simple to sew with an invisible side zip and waist darts, and giving a surprisingly decent fit right out of the envelope. My only intentional adjustment from a straight size 14 was to taper the pattern to a size 16 waist, which turns out to be a bit loose on me and makes my pants end up sitting lower than my waistline and makes the pants legs look longer on me than they should (I normally lengthen Vogue pants legs by at least 5 centimetres). 

I also forgot to follow the instructions, and that led to my unintended omission of the cute side slits that should be happening just above my ankles. I'll definitely have to include them next time - they're very easy to sew. and with a nice deep hem they should have enough weight to stay in place and not flop askew.  

I've lightened the next photo so you can see the fit in the back of the pants with my top hoicked up. The fit isn't perfect, but it's a million times less saggy under the backside than all my RTW work pants and would probably look even closer to "spot on" in a drapey wool crepe (these pants are sewn from a stretch cotton):

The pants have a plain facing at the waist and no waistband, and I think this is good for those of us (like me) with a short waist - though I guess it may not work for those who need a belt to keep pants in place. Although I've sewn my pants up with too loose a waist, my impression is that the pattern is also a good starting point for those of us with flat-ish backsides (like me) - the crotch curve looks relatively shallow compared to some pants patterns I've tried.

Extra room for ice cream, right?

Next up I'm hoping to show you a winter dress that's turned out to be more "va-va-voom" than planned (I have no idea whether or not it is going to look alright in the daylight and in photos, but it's looking OK in the weak late-night light...), and then a cute but seasonally inappropriate jacket.

These photos with their varying backgrounds were all taken at Bicentennial Park on the foreshores of Rozelle Bay a couple of weeks ago (thank you mum!) with the exception of the shorts photo (thank you tripod).  I hope this doesn't feel like an excess of photos!

Thanks for reading

Gabrielle xx

Dress to Skirt - an Easy Refashion

I have such a hard time throwing out or even handing on clothes I've made *if* I love the fabric...

This particular dress had been hanging around for a lo-o-o-o-ng time, the cheery yellow fabric still making my heart sing but the crappy fit of the dress making me feel like such a poor sewist.  Over the past two years (gah! YES, it takes me that long to get around to simple alterations!) I've had a few goes at pinning the bodice to correct the fit on myself, but I simply haven't had the skills or patience to crack it, and of course I haven't been organised enough to get a fellow sewist's help. So finally last weekend, while my sewing mojo was running hot, I took to the dress with an unpicker and turned it into a skirt.

Sorry I look so unimpressed in most of these photos - it's hard to smile for the remote! Eventually my kids joined me outside and a smile started to appear... 

So as you've gathered, I made the original dress about two years ago. I sewed it from a combination of vintage Vogue 8811 for the skirt and modern Vogue 8815 for the top - and the two patterns didn't really come together very well for me. I made so many mistakes in making the dress - dodgy pattern hacking, a complete misunderstanding of grainline, poor fit -.but the fact that those mistakes now seem utterly obvious makes me glad; I must have improved over the years! 

The alteration was really easy once I got started, and it only took an afternoon and evening to get it all done, even with lots of interruptions for the usual family stuff (snacks, meals, cleaning up, calming people down... ).  

Here are the steps:

• Unpicked the side seams and waist seams, as well as the visible hem stitching, and removed the vintage zip (and hey, unpicking is actually quite fun when you've got a sturdy fabric to work with!).

• Re-sewed skirt side seams with a modern cream coloured invisible zip (I love invisible zips!) and a much wider seam allowance - the waist on this was always too big on me. When I originally sewed the dress I had the fabric selvedges showing on the skirt side seams, but I think that made it look quite clunky and home made.   

• For a waistband I scrounged around in my notions drawer and found some petersham-like ribbon that came tied around a present last year. I think this sort of a non-waistband is also supposed to be flattering if, like me, you suffer from a short waist section - and it was quicker than making a waistband!

• And then all that was left to do was a truckload of pressing and hemming. I knew if I didn't get the job done quickly it'd hang around for another few years, so the hem is just machine sewn. This time around I used a longer stitch length - about 3.0 - and sewed from the right side, like most people do most of the time! There are still puckers in there, though there are less than first time around, and they're concentrated in one side section on the front and another side section on the back - it seems obvious that the amount of puckering relates to the angle of the curve relative to the grainline, and with a wide skirt like this I think it's hard to avoid entirely. Having said that, if you have a method for avoiding puckering on a big curved hem I'd love to hear about it! The only one I can think of that would work with a machine stitched hem is to use a hem facing cut on the identical grain... 

If you look closely on the side seams you'll see there's still some puckering there too, though again, quite a bit less than first time around. This puckering belongs to "I thought I knew better than the pattern when I cut this skirt out but I didn't know much about grainline". I didn't have enough fabric for this dress, and I thought I was being clever by fitting the skirt pieces on the fabric at different angles to the grainline than the pattern indicated. Ha!

Yes, I did manage to get a whole dress out of the fabric when I probably should only have been able to get a skirt, but at each side seam I have one piece of fabric on the straight grain and one on the bias:

This skirt is not a work of perfection, but I'm not that fussy - I wear imperfect RTW, so why wouldn't I wear imperfect homemade garments? It's good enough for me!  These photos show how I think I'll wear the skirt to work - maybe with a cropped jacket on top. And as the weather starts to cool down I hope to wear it with this pale pink Undercover top (wow - I'm finally making garments that coordinate!).   

Now if you follow me on Instagram you'll know I was complaining last weekend that my blog-jo and photo-jo were both missing (yes, I've taken a while to report them as missing, but they left a few weeks ago, perhaps made nervous by the boldness of the Graphic Alert dress). And yet I blogged last week, and here I am blogging again! I was going to just wait for them to return but they've been gone so long that maybe they aren't coming back - maybe they've found a new home? - so I decided to press on without them! If writing cures writer's block, do you think blog posting cures blogger's block?


Thanks for reading this post :)

See you soon



- Gabrielle xx

MMMay14 Days 19 - 25

Sorry everyone, it's nearly over - normal blogging will resume soon!

Day 19
 On Day 19 I wore my "Love my 'Lisalex" dress to work with a favourite little RTW linen jacket. The dress was obviously too tight when I first made it, but this year it fits, though you really can't tell from these photos.  Not a good move to leave your MMM photos till you're on the way home, especially when wearing black!

Also, note to self: dark alley ways don't help!

I tried to get a photo out in the open but there were so many people going past - so embarrassing - sorry, that's another fail!

Photos taken by me with camera attached to a railing, bench, whatever via my gorillapod, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 20

Learning from my mistakes, day 20's me made was photographed at the start of the day on my way in to work.  Actually this isn't something I made, it's a top my mum made, but my MMM14 commitment lets me include other people's sewing (yes, I know that's a bit cheeky...)

 

 

Photos taken by me with camera attached to a railing via my gorillapod, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode. 


Day 21

On day 21 I went for a walk to Circular Quay at lunch; I was planning on using the "Coathanger" (the Sydney Harbour Bridge) as a backdrop but because the lunchtime light was terrible for photos in that direction I flipped my camera around and used the city as a backdrop. I was wearing a silk twill skirt made from Vogue 1174 (which is a dress pattern, but very easily altered into a skirt pattern, and seems to suit a variety of fabrics) with an altered green silk RTW top (my mum's alterations though, not mine) and green cotton RTW jumper. I haven't been wearing this skirt lately as it had become too loose, but it only took 5 minutes on the sewing machine in the morning to add a couple of centimetres to the pleats - and whooshka, a skirt that fits again! I also hadn't realised it went with this lovely vibrant green; yet it's so much better a match than the teal blue I was wearing the skirt with last year!

Photos taken by me with camera attached to a bench via my gorillapod, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 22

On day 22 I wore my Vogue 1193 "Out of Darkness" dress - it probably looks OK from the front, and with a belt, but this dress is getting seriously baggy! I've included a photo that shows the side on baggy view, but if you look back at the original post you'll see this dress was meant to - and used to - fit like a glove! 

These pictures were taken in a big rush which is why I couldn't manage a proper, relaxed smile. I'd scoped out a nice backdrop on my way to get lunch at a foodcourt, but when I went back there 15 minutes later the place was cordoned off for a televised interview with some bigwig! Lesson learnt for next time: photos first, food second.

 

And here's the baggy view:

 

Photos taken by me with camera attached to a railing via my gorillapod, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 23

On day 23, a Friday, my manager and I had the pleasure of catching up with a colleague who's now on maternity leave and her darling little daughter.  Do you remember Marylene, who took the bulk of my photos for me in Me Made May 2013? I was wearing my "To the Gallery" vintage Vogue 8811 (reissue) dress with a boxy red linen jacket made from an 80s/90s Vogue 1325 pattern.

Marylene very kindly offered to take some photos for me, and I also got to borrow her daughter for a few minutes - isn't she gorgeous!

 

Photos taken by my colleague Marylene., with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 24

Day 24 was just a regular Saturday with kids sport and a few jobs to get done. The weather was still beautiful, so I wore this linen top (unblogged, and I made it years and years ago; it's made from a Vogue pattern but I can't recall the pattern number and I know it'll definitely be OOP) with my Tessuti patterns Anita ponte pants and a necklace my daughter made me for Mother's Day last Sunday. I'm not going to show you a back view, but suffice to say these pants really need a longer top; the fabric is not really thick enough and it appears I've inadverdently done "leggings as pants". Oops, won't happen again!

 

Photos taken by me with camera on el cheapo tripod, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 25

Day 25 was a very productive day - I practically finished my Papercut patterns pleated pants! If you follow me on Instagram you'll know I started them last weekend, and there have been some dramas along the way.  After reading everyone's reviews I went boldly ahead and cut them out 2 sizes smaller than my measurements... well, guess what? The new prints of the pattern aren't as big as the original prints, and the sizing is now true! So these pants now have "feature" stripes down the leg outers, and hidden stripes down the leg inners. They do seem to fit though, which is a relief.

Oh yes, and I wore another Vogue 1174 pleated skirt in aqua linen (hmm I've made this pattern about 4 times I think...) with a grey pleated t-shirt made using a vintage Advance pattern. It's still warm weather here...

Photos taken by me with camera on el cheapo tripod, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.

 

I'm aiming to wear 10 me mades each 7 days in May. My tally for this week is 10 me mades in 7 days, including repeats and a top made by my mum, and to date that's 38 me mades in 25 days.

See you soon


Gabrielle x

MMMay14 Days 11 - 18

Another week of Me Made May documentation, taking me up to Sunday the 18th of May:


Day 11


Day 11 was Mother's Day in this part of the world. My kids spoilt me with handmade treasures, and Mr UpSewLate had repaired a favourite glass ring for me - yay! And we celebrated with my mum over breakfast at a lovely sunny French cafe.



I wore my recent BHL Elisalex/Vogue Pink Panther dress (a SewDollyClackett make) with a big yellow RTW cardi - I got it at a third of the normal price even though it was brand new stock, simply because most people apparently don't want to wear yellow. Crazy!!! But I do wish I could knit so I could make my own big chunky knitwear!
 

Look what the shop was selling - I was so tempted by these French oilcloths till I looked at the price:



Later in the day we headed over for a "bring a plate" dinner at my mother-in-law's house to celebrate a brother-in-law's birthday.  We brought a traditional bouef bourgignon that Mr UpSewLate had spent hours slaving over (we use the Simone Beck / Louisette Bertholle / Julia Child recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and I'm going to resist a little aside on Julia Child mythology, as it really irritates me... ). We finished off with my MIL's lemon pound cake, then it was time to scarper off home and rush the kids to bed.  It had gotten chilly so I wore an old Vogue patterns black wool jersey dress. I'm not too sure of this dress - it always feels too short and too loose on - but my MIL loved the way it draped... And unfortunately I took very few photos and you can't see much in them. If you do want a better view, you can also see this dress under Day 17 in this blog post from MMM13 and under Day 25 in this blog post from MMM12.
 

Photos taken by me and MrIUpSewLate (backdoor of the cafe), then later with camera on tripod with 10 second timer on, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 12

Back to work - I don't hate Mondays though! It was another gorgeous Autumn day, so I wore my plaid wool jacket-cape, made from a vintage Vogue pattern reissue. Evidently I don't know how to wear scarves, even though I wear them all the time in the cooler months. These pictures were taken in the Royal Botanic Gardens.  I was planning to take pictures with the sea and /or Opera House behind me, but there were too many other people already doing the same thing (tourists? or maybe they were MMMay-ers?). 

Photo taken by me with camera on a bench (tree photo) and attached to a handrail (statue), on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 13

A long meeting at my old office meant one good thing: photos on one of their terraces after the meeting. The doors to this particular terrace are normally locked, but the staff told me I was allowed out there if the doors weren't locked - and they weren't :). So I got the whole area to myself, with the downside that everyone walking past the glass doors on that level would have been able to see my foolishness. Oh well, I'm working on that thick skin... Wearing my self-drafted geometric silk top (this shape reminds me of the Belcarra top!) with my cropped cashmere jacket and The RTW pants that fit (even though they don't fit perfectly).
 
 

Photo taken by me with camera on a low wall, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 14

On day 14 I had another long (all morning) meeting at my old office, so I took my lunch break on the way back, via Darling Harbour. There are plenty of photogenic backdrops here, but there are also always loads of tourists and city office workers down here at lunchtime, so it was hard to find a spot that wouldn't have other people in the pictures. I managed to hide some people behind posts, and then I went up to the pedestrian overpass that takes people across Darling Harbour from Pyrmont into the city - I figured people up here would either be moving too briskly to notice me or taking pictures for themselves!  I was wearing my Converging Lines Brasilia dress - I really should make another of these, and take in CF below the bust!
 

Photo taken by me with camera on a raised ramp, then later attached to a post, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 15

Busy, busy day! I had a substantial piece of work due on Friday, so I put my head down and only dashed out to Martin Place briefly for photos when I was grabbing some lunch. I completely mistimed it though and ran out at the busiest time - people everywhere! Because I was a bit nervous and in a hurry I thought I'd probably stuff my photos up, so I found an attractive backdrop (which I asked permission to photograph) to distract you just in case :]. And the me made clothes? It's two Vogue/Tessuti combinations: a V8486 dress made from a gorgeous Tessuti silk, and my lush cashmere-wool V1098 jacket.  I don't wear either of these garments too often, but that's because I want to keep them nice!

 

Photo taken by me with camera on a bench next to a very confused young man who had to get to walk away from it all, replaced by a solicitous older man, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 16

On Friday we had a team yum cha, and we ate so much and so fast! Our organiser had warned us to wear loose clothes, but I think I was the only one who did so :). After lunch I raced to the top of Martin Place for a photo with the lucky wild boar (Il Porcellino) that sits on Macquarie Street.  I wore my Starry, Starry Gabby dress with a red linen jacket (I know this looks like the Tokyo jacket pattern, but it's an old Vogue Anne Klein pattern, and the sleeves aren't cut on). Not the best pictures, but embarrassing getting them as usual as the boar faces down Martin Place across a pedestrian crossing / set of traffic lights, and there are always office-y people coming and going down Macquarie Street. As well as joggers who are determined to do ALL their stretches by the boar even if your camera is clicking at them lol. As I don't think he was wearing me mades I shan't include those photos.

Photo taken by me with camera attached to railings, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode, then a regular non-timer photo looking down Martin Place from across the road from the wild boar.


Day 17

Saturday was going to be a quiet day with a bit of kids sport thrown in, but we were woken at 7am by the sound of a large concrete mixer truck coming down our driveway to do some work for the neighbours who live behind us. I'm glad my neighbours are finally fixing up their driveway - we'll be able to have a side fence soon! - but I do wish their builders wouldn't use my back garden as their staging area. I talked to the builders about it before I went out, they apologised and said they'd fix it, but when I came back home they'd established even more equipment in my garden! Grrr! I went out again and bought some cheap plastic fencing and bamboo sticks and that was the afternoon's craft activity - making a crappy plastic fence to remind the various builders of the boundary. While I was out getting my fence supplies I took these snaps of what I was wearing - I don't know what the buildings are but the light looked lovely and I didn't think anyone else was around. Wearing my Maria Denmark Kirsten Kimono tee and my denim Grainline Moss Mini.

Photo taken by me with camera on a low bollard, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.


Day 18    

Sunday! I haven't been doing enough sewing lately but on Friday night I read all the reviews I could find of the Papercut Patterns Pleated Pants, on Saturday night I traced the pattern and and on Sunday morning I cut out some nice weighty denim. I won this pattern last year from a giveaway on Juliet's blog and I have been so slow to sew it up! Sorry Juliet! Anyway, for a comfortable day at home I wore another Gabby dress, this one made from a stretch fabric. Unfortunately not only have I shrunk in the last year, but the weight of the fabric has also stretched this dress out - so it's another I really need take in. In the photos below you can see I'm cutting out the instructions for the Papercut pants and celebrating unreasonably once that was done :). Small steps, small steps...

 

Photo taken by me with camera on a tripod, on 10 second timer, with camera on continuous burst mode.

Phew!  Another week down. I don't have too many observations to make at the moment, apart from that it's nice to see my sewing has improved over time (there were some dodgy seams back when I started, like in the silk dress on day 15) and that I obviously like blue and red!

I'm aiming to wear 10 me mades each 7 days in May. My tally for this week is 13 me mades in 8 days, including repeats, and to date that's 28 me mades in 18 days.

See you soon


Gabrielle x