mad men – Stacey Stitch

Simplicity 2602: The Christmas Edition

Published on December 23, 2014 by Stacey Stitch12 Comments

Christmas eve is almost upon us and here I have a festive feast for your eyes.

The Simplicity 2602 all made up and worn for my work Christmas party (and soon to be seen on Christmas Day!).

I know I’ve been a bit slack on the stitching over the recent months but I have fantastic news to share, I’ve been making changes to my life and will be starting a new post in my current job in the new year. It’s the perfect way to round of what has been a wonderful year.

That’s the main reason for the lack of updates and besides that I decided to literally work my butt off after I found myself in a position where I couldn’t fit into my beautiful pink boned dress that I made back in June. I’ve been working out day and night and haven’t been in this good shape for years, but enough of that, lets get on with this fantastically festive frock!

I have to confess that I made the choice based on something quick to whip up (relatively speaking) and the lack of messing about with sleeves when I knew how busy I’d be in the weeks running up to the date I needed to finish by.

I picked a medium weight cotton from Benartex (Let It Snow) available from Plush Addict. I went for a good 4 metres and I was very happy in the end that I did.

I pinned out the pattern and up came a quandary, mainly that the pattern doesn’t repeat itself often enough.

It meant a lot of pinning and re-pinning before cutting and I had to deal with the sides seams not matching (I decided the back was much more important due to the side closure and the split).

So after holding my breath and cutting while crossing my fingers and every available part of me (I don’t often sewing with patterned fabric!) it was done.

I pinned the darts and pinned to my dressform and was already very happy before I even started to sew it up. Sewing was relatively easy apart from the back, which I had managed to get a tiny bit out of sync.

Yet again my seam ripper became my best friend and I opted to sewing on the fold down the back rather than try (for the umpteenth time) to match the seam.

I don’t think you could obviously see it due to the pattern but decided even if you could I’d give myself a break and not give too much of a monkeys.

So on I went, and the rest was relatively easy, the split was a breeze and the side zip went in with ease. It seems that a break away for a while has done me some good. Eight and a half hours later and I was done, pressed and ready to go.

I wore at the office party, looking way more dressed up than everyone there BUT it’s Christmas and if you can’t wear a lovely sparkly dress for a party what can you wear it for? Here it is in all it’as glory!

Better photos to follow after Christmas day – wait until you see my hand embroidered napkins and table cloth!

Wishing you all a fantastic festive season, a wonderful Christmas Day and much love and happiness with your friends and family. I’m off to ice my ridiculously boozy cake!

Merry Christmas!

New Pattern Heaven: Mad Men (Trudy & Betty)

Published on May 23, 2014May 23, 2014 by Stacey Stitch2 Comments

Don’t you just LOVE IT when you find a pattern that you have been looking for? For a while now I’ve been coveting Trudy Campbell’s gorgeous peach evening dress with the gold and pearl trim and the collars and cuffs, so when I saw this pattern on ebay I almost jumped out of my seat, it’s as close a match as I’ve found anywhere and I cannot wait to get cracking on it!

At the same time this beautiful coat pattern showed up and I snapped it up without a second though, it’s very Betty. It looks an awful lot like the cream number she wears in her riding outfit and I think it would look great for a smarter ensemble or something a little more casual.

This all leads me on to a thought. Do you have someone in mind when you search for vintage patterns, or do you just go for what grabs you? Do you have inspiration boards on Pinterest? If so link me up in the comments below and I’ll follow you!

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME – 7 DAYS TO GO!

Votes are super tight and only the top three go through so if you haven’t voted and you likes this blog please give me five minutes of your time and see how to vote below.

Please vote for me in the NVAs as I’ve been nominated under the Best Vintage Fashion/Lifestyle Blog category. Voting is open throughout May and it’s a simple click to select Stacey Stitch and then enter your email address to confirm the vote (you wont be spammed). Clicking on the photo or links above should take you straight to the website. It’ll only take a few minutes of your time if you have it spare! Thank you!

Mad Men: Series 7 Episode 1 – Style File

Published on April 21, 2014April 21, 2014 by Stacey StitchLeave a comment

Mad Men kicked off in the UK on Wed and I wasn’t disappointed, great opening episode to the final series and I honestly have no clue where it’s going to end for some of my favourite characters but I am sure it’s not going to be the happy ending we’d all love for some of the biggest, and most flawed, of the Mad Men cast.

On a brighter note (and to avoid any spoilers for those who haven’t watched it) here are some of my favourite outfits for Wednesday night’s show.

Dawn:

Joan:

Joan & Clara:

Joan:

Margaret:

Megan:

Neve Campbell’s Cameo appearance:

Peggy:

Peggy & Shirley:

Peggy:

Shirley:

I absolutely LOVE Dawn’s dress and jacket combo and as always I am drooling over Joan (and her massive bell sleeves). Best of all I have a few patterns that are carbon copies or easily adaptable to make a few of the above outfits of my own. Two days is too long to wait for episode 2!

Mad Men Inspiration

Published on April 15, 2014 by Stacey Stitch12 Comments

The final season on Mad Men is almost upon us, the UK air date is tomorrow and I’m equally excited and sad, it’s bittersweet to know it won’t be gracing our screens after these final few episodes play out.

To say Mad Men has been a great influence on the patterns I pick and fabrics I choose would be an understatement. I have always loved vintage fashions but being a (now retired) burlesque performer meant that I was more inclined to dress 50s/rockabilly than anything else. After a while it lost its appeal, dressing up in that way for a second job meant that it felt more like putting a uniform on than wearing 50s fashions for fun.

So when I discovered Mad Men, and devoured the first three seasons in a matter of weeks, I found something I loved much more than the Jessica Rabbit style 50s attire that a lot of burlesque performers wear the late 50s/early 60s look that I adore; classy enough for work, sassy enough for a night out.

I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise when I say Joan is my absolute favourite style wise; whenever I look at a pattern I often think WWJD? I like the use of block bold colours that they use in her wardrobe with little feminine touches along the way to soften the structured almost armour like shapes of her clothing.

So where to start when you’re thinking about creating a Mad Man inspired outfit? Gathering images is the best way to start. I set up a pinterest board a while ago where I collect Mad Men stills or Mad Men inspired images which I like the look of.

I then source vintage patterns from Etsy, Ebay and various other online places checking them against the images to see if they can be adapted and styled into an outfit from the stills, or I find patterns that are of a similar ilk to the show’s costuming and I find material that fits in with the period and put something together that even if it wasn’t actually on the show it certainly could be.

Some of the Mad Men inspired garments I have made are listed in my previous posts, but here are a few snapshots:

This is my most recent and my own take on Joanie’s green blouse:

So put your feet up, tune into Sky Atlantic and enjoy the feast for your eyes that is the final season of Mad Men, and remember, even thought it may be finishing your sewing adventures are not! I can’t wait to see what gorgeous garments there are to drool over.

Butterick 2475: all Sewn Up

Published on March 1, 2014March 21, 2014 by Stacey Stitch11 Comments

You may remember my post from January where I said I’d be getting on with the start of this Joanie inspired outfit by starting with the green pussybow blouse. It appears to have taken me an inordinate amount of time to complete. I have (in my defence) been quite busy with other things though; the prep for two interviews in two weeks for jobs I didn’t get (unfortunately), babysitting for our lovely friends’ adorable six month old and visits from old friends; it’s all meant that I haven’t been able to crack on as I would have liked to.

BUT here we are and finished in all it’s splendour is my blummin gorgeous 60s blouse a la Joan Harris (nee Holloway).

So where did I start? Having never made a blouse before I wasn’t entirely sure what material to go for. I decided on a trusty poly-cotton which meant the drape would be a bit stiffer than the one shown in the picture but I did want the collar to be a little stiffer, and as I wasn’t sure how this would all play out I thought not splashing the cash on fancy fabric would be the best option.

I went about cutting the pattern, fabric and interfacing out and I was quite happily thinking “less pieces, less work than a dress”. Ah, the young sewing fool inside me.

At the end of the first day I’d made the bodice and the collar. It dawned on my when I finished that I’d absolutely breezed the collar this time, I think I’ve been so caught up in worrying about the set in sleeves that I appear to have somehow mastered collars without thinking about it. Pretty good eh?!

Then it was sleeve making time. I should state, at this point, I have never made a full length sleeve, the previous ones I’ve made have been short/cap sleeves.

So this was a bit of a learning curve.

A sleeve with a cuff turns out to be very confusing when you get down to the cuff part. In the picture above are the markings to make the shirt fit to the barrel cuff. The part that I’m about to start stitching is the reinforced part which is then turned inside out and makes the opening that you then attach the cuff to.

All looks great on paper, all does not make sense once I’ve sewn it and pinned it.

It took me half an hour to figure out what it was meant to look like from the illustration on the instructions and the consequent consultation with my husband, to figure out if I was having a particularly bad case of dyslexic brain. Turns out his dyslexic brain was not computing either.

But with fiddling, and pressing, and a few minutes break away from it I had that all too common eureka sewing moment where it clicked. I finally pressed it, attached the cuff and hoped for best. It turned out pretty well and meant the second sleeve was a breeze.

Then it was on to the dreaded time.

The set in sleeve time.

The time of doom.

Now, I made a little list of goals at the beginning of the year (some have totally fallen by the wayside already) and one of these was to master set in sleeves by the end of 2014. So when I went into this part of making the blouse I did so with a new determination that I would not simply settle for “that’ll do” and I would set these sleeves in over and over until I got them perfect.

Plenty of people gave me advice (thank you everyone for all of your helpful tips and guidance) but I really owe massive thanks to Clare at www.sewdixielou.com for spurring me on when I was halfway through ripping the sleeves out for the second time (and on the verge of having a little cry) who simply said “I never use gathered way hate it. I do it by hand gently easing larger fabric pinning every 1/2″. Then when happy pin in between pins then baste by hand. Remove pins check how it looks then machine”.

Now, this may strike you as odd (but probably goes a long way to explaining more than bit about me) but I never considered for a moment that I should use any other method than gathering.

It’s what everyone had shown me; books, sewing tutorials online, pattern instructions. All gathering. It’s a rule right?

Wrong. I am learning more and more that sewing is about finding what works for you and just because people say you should do it this way, it doesn’t mean you have to do it this way.

In the end I went for a bit of both, I gathered a little and then pinned and pinned. I sewed from the inside of the sleeve ; calmly, slowly, gently and smoothed as I went. Et Voilà! A perfectly set in sleeve!

So overjoyed was I that I ran about the house and told Tim he should come and look, at which point he did and we embraced and then I did my little happy dance (literally). Then I proceeded to set the other in, with no problem at all and then made Tim come back every five minutes to look at my beautiful set in sleeves on my fantastic blouse.

Needless to say, it wore a bit thin (for him- certainly not for me) after the 50th time, saying that though he was very chuffed for me.

Next up were buttonholes and buttons, which I forgot to buy. I finally located some small-ish ones and add them to the cuffs and the front of the blouse with a pop stud opening at the top (which is covered when the collar is done up) and here we are, the finished article.

I really feel like I’ve made sewing skills progress with this blouse.

I have learnt sleeves with openings and cuffs; I have finally managed to successfully set in sleeves and I’ve made a new type of collar. Wholly happy.

Footnote:

As I have said blouse so much in this post I’ll leave you with this little clip from Bottom. I can’t think about the word blouse without thinking about Ritchie giving his famous chat up likes a whirl “my what a lovely blouse you have on”!

A Joanie Start to the New Year & Wardrobe Architecture

Published on January 13, 2014January 13, 2014 by Stacey Stitch1 Comment

I loved this post on Coletterie encouraging us to take charge of our wardrobes this year.

I definitely fall into the category of someone who acquires things I don’t use, buys fabric because it’s on clearance and regrets it, and goes for something because it’s close enough!

I’m really looking forward to the follow up posts, hopefully this will help me with a little management and structure when I’m compiling my list of what to sew and what not to sew this year.

And on that note (and before I get too sensible about things) I’ve decided that the next thing I am going to sew will be this fabulous Butterick pattern for a blouse. Mostly I have decided to do it in green because I have the wonderful outfit my beloved Joanie (have I said how much I love Mad Men?!) wore a couple of series back which I really want to emulate.

I’ve bought some plain green cotton, which might be a little too heavy but we’ll see, either way it’ll work out as a good practice or something I can go swishing about the office in.

I start this weekend, wish me luck!

Simplicity 4697: All Sewn Up

Published on October 31, 2013October 31, 2013 by Stacey Stitch6 Comments

October brought me to towards the purple cotton that I had in my stash, lovely against the Autumn colours of red, yellow and brown. I love Autumn, when the leaves turn and the mornings get frosty and you can smell winter is coming.

I managed to make myself a dress that Prince would be quite partial to (if he was into wearing 60s day dresses) or at least a dress that I could dance about it while humming Raspberry Beret and whilst simultaneously channeling my inner Joan.

The pattern I picked was Simplicity 4679, I was feeling quite up the challenge of a new style of collar and the cross over button front looked interesting enough.

I feel for the first time since I started this blog that I can say I actually found this quite straight forward, an obvious sign that my sewing skills (or at least confidence in my own ability) has grown.

The collar wasn’t too tricky to figure out. The sleeves weren’t sewn in, rather they’re cut into the pattern, which is something I haven’t come across before.

The main problem was the choice of the buttons. I narrowed it down to four and they were all chosen from my Great Nana Wilde’s button box which I inherited along the way.

My Nana Wilde was an amazing lady, she lived to just before her 101st birthday in 2001. She wanted to be a seamstress and she was very good at sewing but being the first girl born in a family of 9 (and all the boys miners) she of course left School at 14 and ended up staying at home to help her Mam out with looking after the boys and the household so she never got to sew for a living.

So these are the buttons that I narrowed it down to.

In the end I went for the last ones shown, they do look a little scratched in this photo but I think it’s the light. They look rather lovely on the dress and the others didn’t really suit it when I pinned them on.

So here we go, my lovely purple day dress, Joanie eat your heart out! What do you think? Can’t wait to prance (like Prince) about the office in this little beauty!

My Vintage Sewing Pattern Collection

Published on June 3, 2013June 3, 2013 by Stacey Stitch3 Comments

I have been collecting patterns for a little while now and I thought I’d share them with you. I’ve also put a handy link in the sidebar so if you click there you’ll automatically be transported (via the medium of net webbage) to my flickr account and you’ll be able to see my updated set which I’ll add more patterns to as and when I purchase them.

As you can see from the below I generally buy patterns from the late 1950s through to the 1960s. This is mainly due to my obsession with Mad Men. If I could have a wardrobe completely full of carbon copies of the beautiful costumes used in the award winning show I would, and maybe, if this all goes accordingly and I end up some sort of super stitching seamstress, I will. But chickens and hatching and all that.

Simplicity 5891

If you’d like to take a look at a few more, they can all be found on my flickr here (or click the photo in the sidebar to the right).

I have to say I’m very much looking forward to diving in. Having spent quite a lot of cash in the past on repro vintage I’m looking forward to the satisfaction of making something to wear with an original vintage cut, safe in the knowledge that no one will be wearing the same thing (or relatively safe anyway!).

Does anyone have any of these patterns? If you do give me a shout, as I’m relatively a novice any heads up on how easy these patterns are to use or what difficulties other have had using them would be of great help to me before I put scissors to paper and in turn cloth.