Blouse #0219 Step by Step Construction, Part 2

Finished blouse, not tucked in so that you can see what it all looks like.
Also, I promise the front bottom edge is straight; no idea why it looks slanted here.

Here is the promised photo documentary of the construction of the cuffs and collar for this blouse from the VPLL 1912 Project. Part 1 of the construction is shown here.

Steampunk-Flavored Blouse: Done!

Please don't ask me what was going on with my hair. It looks like my head is on fire, except that the fire is...hair.

I am so in love with chevrons now.

Huzzah for me, for I have finished my first blouse! Complete with a front placket and cuffs and a collar and everything! And you know what? It wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid it was going to be! And I'm also almost done with my vaguely steampunk Edwardian walking skirt as well! Isn't this amazing? Not a floral-patterned bed sheet dress in sight! Although to be fair, the skirt is made from donated curtains.

I already wrote about the construction of the main part of the blouse, complete with tricky sleeve construction. Finishing the cuffs and collar was fiddly and time-consuming, but not actually that difficult. I think I know, now, why my mom made so many blouses when she was a young seamstress. I'm claiming this blouse as my Sew Weekly inspired-by-a-family photo challenge, even though I don't have a specific photo of my mom in a home-made blouse like this; she has plenty of pictures in blouses she made herself. I will post a full write-up of the construction of those pieces as soon as I can, but in the meantime I'm just so thrilled with how this outfit is coming together.

How perfect is it that a lady at church would be getting rid of old, huge curtains in such a wonderfully steampunk color palette, and they weren't even polyester monstrosities to boot! They're actually 70/30 viscose-poly, and they say in huge letters to DRY CLEAN ONLY; I ignored this directive, of course (I'm not going to pay good money to dry clean free curtains), and washed them in my bathtub in cold water and mild detergent (to be perfectly forthcoming, Method hand soap, in pink grapefruit, in case that matters) and hung them up to dry. Walnut was concerned to see these giant dripping things in his bathtub, but he got over it. Which is good, because let me tell you, these curtains badly needed washing -- not because they were dirty, but because they smelled like a candle store had wandered into them, gotten tangled up, and then died inside. Seriously, when I opened up the bag I felt like I was being physically assaulted by potpourri. Anyway, now my skirt is pleasantly, faintly sweet-smelling.

You can see here the weird shape of the waistband.

The skirt is a simple four-gored skirt, originally based on the OOP Simplicity 8375. I made up a size 10, my usual for Simplicity patterns, only to find the waist grossly oversized. Rather than take in all the seams, I settled for pleating the back to make a vague bustle-ish thing, which looks quite nice with all the stripes, in my opinion. The pattern calls for a simple long rectangle for the waistband, but between the shortness of the blouse back and the weight of the bustle/train, I knew I needed to have a waistband that would be much higher in the back. I ended up drafting this chevron thing, which looks nice in the front but needs some help in the back. I still need to figure out how to fix the closure so that it looks better, but at least it's high enough to cover the bottom of the blouse. I am also still waiting for my American Duchess Astorias to come in so that I know where to hem the skirt; it just hits the ground in front right now when I tippy-toe. I'm considering adding horsehair braid to help the hem stand out, but I'm not sure how that would work in the back with the dragging train.

I still want to make a shoulder-strappy-holster-vest-type-thing to round out this outfit, and then once I throw on all my various dangly things I'll be well on my way to a full-on steampunk detective outfit! The only reason why I chose detective, by the way, is because of my birthday magnifying glass from Anthropologie.

I'm technically not finished with the skirt, so I won't write up a summary just yet, and I'll put the summary for the blouse in the construction post. You're welcome, Shayna.

The awesome thing about the weird sleeve construction is what a wide range of motion I have, all without ever having to set in sleeves or make gussets! I seriously want to put this sleeve construction into everything now. And again, please ignore my hair.

Blouse #0219 Step by Step Construction, Part 1

This is a long post full of lots of pictures, so if you don't care to see the making of this blouse so far in nitty-gritty detail, content yourself with this picture of Walnut "helping" me tape the pattern together. Actual blouse construction after the jump.

Oh I'm sorry, did you need to tape this pattern together?
Also, I look like a kangaroo/T.rex with my huge back legs and front legs all tucked away.

Steampunk-Flavored Blouse In Progress

This week's project: my next VPLL 1912 Project pattern, the strangely constructed #0219 blouse. At first glance, it didn't look too difficult, which is why I selected it. See, I've never made a non-stretchy top before (cat pajama Sorbetto doesn't really count), much less a button-down blouse. So, in the spirit of go-big-or-go-home, I decided that my first blouse pattern needed to not only be a multi-piece pattern, it also needed to be so vintage that it doesn't come with instructions. I thought that not having to do set-in sleeves would make it a lot easier, but let me tell you, it is the bizarrest sleeve construction I have ever seen! It's this odd zigzag of sleeve-to-underarm-to-bodice-side; I almost thought it was a mistake in the pattern at first. Anyway, after mulling it over and experimenting with pin-basting, I realized that it was not unlike sewing underarm gussets in technique, and proceeded wibble less, and sew more. And now that I've done it, I have to say it's one of the cleverest sleeve constructions I have ever seen as well! I may or may not try to duplicate this in the future if I'm feeling particularly ambitious...

The red line indicates the seam line...that's all one continuous stitch!

Also, in case you didn't notice, the fabric is printed all over with these little clocks! From far away, it kind of just looks like a drab, vaguely-floral, ugly prairie-dress print, but up close, well, you must agree with me when I say I thought it was perfect for a steampunk-y Edwardian blouse. I found it in the $1/yd bin at Fabric Planet (the same one Oona was recognized at!), so I'm not exactly sure what it is. It feels like a nice cotton lawn, though, so I figured it would work for a blouse. To bring out more of that ubiquitous steampunk-y brown color, I threw in some piping at all the relevant seams. After the brain-stress of the sleeves and the piping around corners, though, I didn't yet feel like tackling all those buttonholes, so instead I opted to just make my buttons decorative and have the front close with snaps instead.

Brass-colored filigree-ish buttons covering the hidden snaps underneath.
Also, they are attempting to distract you from noticing how rippled the bias strip got on the button band.

I'm really pleased with how nice all the seam binding looks inside!

Anti-climactic reveal of the blouse so far: pretty shapeless. Also, I didn't even try to match the print.

I know, it doesn't look like much yet. I promise it looks much better when it's tucked into a skirt and not just poofing out all over the place! So, the next step is adding the cuffs and collar. Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't come with a cuff pattern either, so it looks like I'll just be winging it with an appropriately-sized rectangle and lots of staring at the existing cuffed blouses in my wardrobe. As for the collar, it's supposed to detachable, but I really don't even know how that would work. Here are the pattern pieces...any ideas?

Both collar pieces are labelled "upper collar." You can also see the oddly shaped bodice/sleeve combo piece.

1912 Project: #E0200 Skirt Finished!

Ignore the lackluster hair. I didn't feel like trying an Edwardian updo.

Here is my first finished garment from the 1912 project! This pattern is from February 4, 1912. I wrote about the construction of it yesterday, and as promised, here I am wearing it. I tried this skirt with my vaguely Edwardian thrift store blouse...and the verdict is that I look like an old maid schoolteacher with not a lot of money to spend on clothes. My cotton was a little too stiff to drape the way that I think this skirt is supposed to, unfortunately, and the color is too dark for the trim to really pop.

Front

Side

Back

Because the fabric is so dark, though, I was able to wear one of my tiered, ruffly bohemian skirts underneath as a faux petticoat. It worked nicely to keep the skirt from sticking to me, although the whole outfit got quite warm! I guess it would've been fine for England, but it was oh, 80 degrees out while I was quickly snapping these photos. In the process of walking around, I discovered that the inner waistband really doesn't do much to hold up the skirt; it tends to slide down in the back and cause awkward bunching over my butt. That might just be due to my swayback, though.

Bunching! Also, I cut my left side piece wrong side out. I didn't notice until too late,
since I was working on this at night, but it looks really obvious here. Yuck.

Trying my best to get the same angle as the pattern drawing.

Summary:
Fabric: dark blue, 100% cotton, thick, attracts Walnut's hair like no other. I need a lady's maid just to follow me with a lint roller. 
Notions: 14 black plastic La Mode buttons, narrow black bias tape, snaps, hook and eye
Techniques used: I don't know that I had a technique for the bias binding, so much as I just manhandled it into place...I did like the canvas bias strip interfacing on the waistband, though! Also, my first time catch-stitching.
Hours: Eight. Pretty good, considering.
Will you make this again? Despite all my issues, I actually really like this pattern! I think that without the scallops, it'll make the perfect skirt for this gown (or even this utilitarian skirt) of Lady Mary's. Especially now that I've gotten it sized to mostly fit me.
Total cost: $13. One dollar for each scallop? The fabric only cost me $3, but the buttons and bias tape cost me $10! That seems unfair.
Final thoughts: Not bad, for my first century-old pattern? I don't even know what to think about it. My husband didn't either, opting out of making any dangerous comments by saying that he didn't know anything about fashions from this era. I don't know when I would ever wear this particular combination of top+skirt, but I feel like I should have a parasol or something. Also, I can't wait for my Astorias to come so that I can at least have proper shoes!

Black round-toed wedges really don't cut it. I suppose I should invest in some black stockings, too.

Update: VPLL Checklist!

1. Pattern Name: #E0200, Scalloped skirt
   
2. Sewer’s Skill Level: Intermediate (~2 years of serious sewing under my belt)
   
3. Pattern Rating: I like the scallop detail and it does look fantastic with the trim and buttons, but I think the waistband facing could use some work to get it to hug above the waist properly. Still, that's pretty minor and all my lines matched up and everything. I give it a 4.5/5.
   
4. What skill level would someone need to sew this pattern and why? I think a beginner would be just fine on this pattern. There aren't many pieces and most of the seams are straight lines. Binding the scallops was trickier, but not impossible if you're willing to take the time to pin and iron.
   
5. Were the instructions easy to follow? If not, what needs to be changed? The pattern instructions were generally easy to figure out, although I did read them a few times through just to make sure I knew what to do. I do wish that it was a little more clear on how to finish up the opening, though. Markings for where to put snaps/hooks and eyes would be helpful, but not necessary.
   
6. How was the fit/sizing? Did it correspond to what you thought? When I initially measured the pattern, it seemed that it would end up with a final measurement of a 36" waist. I sized mine down accordingly (see construction post for details on how I did so). I expected there to be a little more "hourglass" shaping to help the dress stay above the natural waist, but instead it was more of a pyramid. If I hadn't been trying to make up the pattern as is, I would have changed up the facing pattern to give it more structure and tapered toward the bottom. That said, I was also wearing this without a corset because it didn't seem entirely necessary. I think with those minor changes it actually would be possible to wear this skirt uncorsetted.
   
7. Did you make any pattern alterations? If so, what alterations did you make? Were they fit or design alterations? Again, see my notes on sizing down the pattern so it would fit me in the waist. I also opted not to stitch the scalloped edge down in a straight line, as I felt that would distract from the scallops. Instead, I stitched it down closely following the actual scallop line, which not only was more subtle, but also meant I didn't need to do anything to secure the scallop points. I also had to fold up one of the scallops when hemming so that my skirt ended up at instep-length.
   
8. Other notes: A decent pattern, and a good starting point for exploring vintage patterns as it was pretty simple. The scallop trim is just enough of a design interest, but not too hard to actually sew. The overall effect is quite nice, and I imagine it would be lovely in a drape-y wool, although this cotton worked out surprisingly well, considering. 

I'll also be reviewing this over on Pattern Review with their checklist.

1912 Project: #E0200 Skirt Construction

After much excitement and nervous waiting, I finally got my first pattern for VPLL's 1912 project last week. It's a very Lady Mary-esque walking skirt (actually I don't know if this is true; I'm just calling everything I remotely like "Lady Mary" since I love her wardrobe), described as having a scalloped edge with trim and covered buttons. According to the original description, it should have been made from heavy grey silk or taffeta; being poor and unsure of the pattern, I used a heavy dark blue cotton ($1/yd sale at F&S!) for my (hopefully) wearable muslin. Good thing, too, since those scallops were a beast to bind, and I'm not entirely sure of how that edge is supposed to be attached. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My changes to the pattern, shown in red on the layout diagram.

To begin with, I had to size this pattern down significantly. Just my luck, that in an era of 25" waists, I get the pattern with a 35"-36" waist! After some fussing around with math and trying to hold the pattern pieces up to myself, I settled on taking three inches out of the center back piece by moving the "cut on fold" line over by 1.5 inches, taking another 1.5" off of the straight edge of each side piece, and sewing slightly larger seam allowances than the original 3/8" that the pattern called for. It seems to have worked pretty well; the skirt mostly hangs down from above my natural waist, as it's supposed to do, with minimal wrinkling to accommodate my uncompressed butt. I suppose I could make the 1911 long-line underbust corset that a lot of other sewists are making, but honestly, I think it looks pretty ugly. I know, correct undergarments are the foundation of a proper period look and blah blah blargetty blarg, but allow me to be obstinate and say that I'll go uncorsetted for as long as I can in this project, even if that makes me a loose woman (literally!).

Sewing the pattern pieces together was easy; the difficult part for me was the binding on the scalloped edge. Is there a nice way to do all those sharp corners? I just stretched and folded as I went, but it looks pretty wonky. I also found the directions on how to attach the scalloped edge to the rest of the skirt really confusing. Maybe I'm just too used to instructions with diagrams? Except that I don't even use the diagrams half the time. Anyway, I figured that a straight line up the side would look weird, and I was pretty sure that I wasn't supposed to do fourteen snaps, so I ended up topstitching the scallops up to the designated line. The buttons I used are most decidedly non-1912, being plastic and all, but they were the best combination of cheap+black+not too horrible.

They don't look as plasticky as some of the others, I promise!

I left the top three scallops open and sewed snaps to the tip of each scallop. To close the top, I sewed in a hook and bar with an additional snap to the side. Also, I only own light pink seam binding.

The inner waistband calls for a canvas bias strip as interfacing; I was so tempted to just use iron-on interfacing, but in the end I decided that I should do it right. Thankfully, there was a large piece of floral home-dec canvas in my bag of donated fabrics (along with the red corduroy I used for my corset).  It does make the waistband nicely sturdy. Unfortunately, the shape of it doesn't help much with getting the skirt to stay above my natural waist.

This is what the wrong side of the facing looked like before I flipped it down and tacked it to my seam allowances. I still have a bunch of that fabric left. I thought about making it into another bag, but it screams "mom with a diaper bag" to me.

As for the hem, at first I wanted a floor length skirt, but besides being impractical, it also seems to be inaccurate. After some consultation with pictures from 1912, the ladies at the 1912 project Facebook group, and several screenshots of Season 1 of Downton Abbey (yes, yes, I know, TV is a horrible place to do research), I decided to hem the skirt to brush the top of my instep. In order to do so, I ended up needing to eliminate one of the scallops, so now I have 13 scallops instead of 14. Were Edwardians superstitious about the number 13? Anyway, my hem is a little over three inches deep. I folded the top edge over, stitched it on machine, and then catch-stitched it to the skirt. It was my very first time doing a hem by hand (thanks to this helpful video!), not to mention trying to make it show as little as possible on the right side! I think I did pretty well, considering, and I'll even confess that it was a relaxing experience. I think I'll be doing this on all my skirt hems from now on, unless they're circle skirts. Thankfully, the final circumference of the skirt was only 62" and catch-stitches are quite ground-covering.

Weee! So pretty! Also, it is ridiculously hard to photograph and then edit dark blue fabric so that you can see any detail.

On the other side: almost invisible!

Diagrams of the skirt courtesy of the Vintage Pattern Lending Library's page about the skirt. Pictures of me wearing this skirt will be posted tomorrow, assuming my husband gets home today while it's still light out!