patterns – Stacey Stitch

Help me choose a pattern (aka being indecisive sucks)

Published on February 22, 2015February 22, 2015 by Stacey Stitch11 Comments

Well as you know we’re in the new house, all is unpacked and yesterday we had our nearest and dearest over for a housewarming. So lovely to have our friends over and the next generation ( not star trek – just our mates awesome kids).

Now the dust has settled I’m in the mood to SEW!

I took a little trip out to my local John Lewis last week and picket up this gorgeous fabric for half price but now I’m stuck on what to make with it.

A dress? Yes, but which one?

These are the three I have to choose from:

(View 1)

(also considering making the coat in the heavy gold satin I brought back from Vegas)

(with sleeves)

I’m favouring the Simplicity or Vogue at the moment, the Butterick is gorgeous but it’s quite a similar shape to other dresses I’ve made in the last year and I’d like to try something different.

Any feedback/help in making my mind up will be appreciated. What would you make?

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!

All Sewn Up: Butterick B6031 Patterns By Gertie: The Slip

Published on September 27, 2014 by Stacey Stitch2 Comments

I thought it was time I pushed myself away from the cotton and towards something a little slinkier, so when I saw Gertie was starting a slip sew along back in February I thought I’d give it a go. The massively underestimated my time so I only got around to it this week.

I opted for purchasing one of Gerties slip packs from Etsy as I thought it would save me a lot of traipsing about or online searching for the little bits and bobs and of course I went for yellow.

Yellow is my favourite colour because it’s the colour of sunshine, how can you NOT like yellow?

The main material is micro jersey fabric (poly/spandex blend) and the lace is stretch. I decided that I’d go for a contrasting yellow cotton while sewing as I like the effect it has on it, give it a little cheat style decoration. I missed the bows off because I didn’t really like them all that much, and much prefer the slip all plain Jane.

So off I set. The pattern was relatively easy to sew up and I was surprised at how easy it was considering all of the stretch in all of the fabrics. This would have taken me a day to complete if I’d had a whole day but it took me several nights and half a day in the end and I am very pleased with the result.

The only problems I had were with:

Double sewing the dart on the bust. One side, if you look really close up, doesn’t look as neat as the other, I had a bit of an incident with the slippy fabric but trying to go as slow as possible on the other side was fine. So less speed required from me in future.

The straps; it took my dyslexic brain a while to figure out which way round the straps were sewn once the extending fastening pieces were threaded through, I got there in the end though and this is the finished result.

Next up on my sewing table are the pants (we say that up north, rather than knickers, or panties across the pond).

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!

Craftsy: Sew Retro – The Gertie Bombshell Dress So Far

Published on May 22, 2014 by Stacey Stitch4 Comments

I thought I’d give a little update on my Sewing for Vegas Sew Retro bombshell dress and my experience of using Craftsy for the first time.

I signed up for this course with a little trepidation, boning? yikes! But you never get anywhere unless you push yourself do you? And in some respects I have all too easily become used to doing what I can do and sticking with the “safe” stuff.

So first things first:

When I found out about craftsy I thought it would be marvellous for me. As you may know I am dyslexic, so looking at instructions in the written word are usually quite confusing.

Add with that mild dyspraxia and you have a whole heap of confusion when it comes to things such as left and right.

I learn so well when people show me physically how to do something rather than from reading instructions, hence the idea of video classes which I can access at any point seemed perfect.

So sign up I did.

I downloaded the course materials and pattern (easy enough) ensuring that the test square was the right size and then ordered everything I needed to make up the dress (apart from the boning – you really need to measure your bodice pieces for that).

I decided on a cerise medium weight cotton for the main fabric with the lining in a lightweight light blue and white polka dot.

I cracked on with making up the pattern.

Now, I know this should have been easy and it was up to a certain point but honestly, being told that it’s “fun, like doing a puzzle” doesn’t actually make it any more fun and less fiddly.

Oh, and if you’re like me and don’t have a table big enough, prepare for some backache.

This was however soothed by watching the amazingly trashy cultness of Showgirls while I was doing it.

Next up was marking the pattern pieces on calico for the toile of the bodice.

When I first discovered that the pattern had no seam allowance I was struck by a little bit of fear, I completely didn’t understand how beneficial this actually would be and how easy it would make the whole process. Thread tracing is a new one on me but I feel like it’s something that might change my sewing life!

After a short time I had my cups made and decided it was time to leave it for the night.

The next day I began stitching the rest of the pieces together. It took me about 40 minutes of not understanding why the cups weren’t fitting into the bodice sections before I realised I’d sewn them on the wrong way round (dylexia-dyspraxia strikes again!). Once they were un-picked and re-sewn I had a bodice which looked pretty fantastic.

I just made a few adjustments to the height of the cups (these would make me blush in their original form, and I’m not shy by any means) which Gertie talks you through every step of the way, There’s also a section on a full bust adjustment, which I didn’t use but I did watch and it was very thorough. It will be a great reference if I make something for someone in the future who is bustier than me.

I added a little height to the back of the bodice too, in line with the height I’d added to the cups and then I graded this down towards the closure section where the zip will be inserted.

After this I made the changes to my pattern pieces to incorporate the extra material and I cut more calico for the interlining, marked it up and used these pieces as a pattern for the main bodice material, which I then cut and tacked together.

Then I made up the bodice as instructed, step by step, including inserting a bit of padding to the cups and a few other tailoring techniques as shown (I don’t want to give everything away).

This where I’m up to, an almost complete bodice. I am so happy with how it looks.

My thoughts on the class and on craftsy:

I am really loving doing something new and more challenging with guidance from others who have completed the course and from the instructor. I would definitely recommend this type of learning to anyone who is talking up sewing. The instructions are clear and concise and it is invaluable to be able to see in motion what you can only read about in other respects. The little tailoring and hand sewing techniques and finishes and shared experiences from Gertie are well worth signing up for, never mind the fact you’ll have a gorgeous dress at the end of it.

I fully intend to carry on doing more craftsy courses after I have finished this one. What I have learned so far is so much more than I thought I would, and it’s great to find out little tips and tricks so that if (like me) you’re learning as you go, and on your own, you find speedier and more accurate ways to make garments.

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME

8 DAYS TO GO AND EVERY VOTE COUNTS!

If you liked this blog 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.

I need to be in the top 3 and I’m currently in 4th place. Only the top 3 go through to the judges panel. Help a fellow vintage sewing enthusiast out?

It’ll only take a few minutes of your time if you have it spare! Thank you!

Tank Tops (also known as my topsy-turvy brain thinks it’s Winter)

Published on May 20, 2014 by Stacey Stitch6 Comments

I went a little tank top crazy last week and bought four, and along with a brown dagger collared shirt, they cost me the grand total of £11. Bargain, thought I.

Then I considered the fact that:

I’m Going to Vegas soon and this is not suitable attire
It’s very nearly summer in the UK

And wondered what I was going to do with the, Ah-ha! I declared (inwardly, as I was in the middle of Manchester when I had this eureka moment), I am obviously just being super prepared for the coming winter of course.

With that thought it in mind I had rummage through my patterns and found a great 60s skirt pattern and a fantastic pattern for some flared trousers with turn ups.

So all that’s left is colours and materials to choose, any ideas anyone? I am getting stuck at brown, black and mustard and can’t seem to get my thoughts any further.

Butterick B5895: The Gertie Capris – 3 Different Ways

Published on May 5, 2014 by Stacey Stitch11 Comments

You probably all sat there thinking “c’mawn…where’s the sewing?!” lately didn’t you?

Well, I have indeed been Sewing for Vegas as I promised a few weeks back, it’s just been terrible weather here and combined with Timothy working away, and out of town visits to friends and family, I haven’t been able to get some photos until now.

So where did I start? 4 metres of stretch slub denim going for a song on ebay. Perfect, I thought, this will be a good foundation for my day wear when I’m pounding the pavement and looking at the wonders the strip has to offer.

So I got out my Gertie capri pattern and cut out the pieces (in a bigger size than my test pattern a few months ago) and got to sewing. I found the tips over at Handmade Jane’s blog on denim sewing tips a great help and before you knew it (and in a day) I had a pair of denim capris.

Following this I decided to make up another pair for shorts, because it’s an easily to chop some length off a pattern, and the day after voila! A pair of high waisted denim shorts to be roaming about in.

Then I got all cocky with myself and made the decision to adapt the pattern and make a skirt.

Now, this might not seem like a lot of bother for some readers of this blog but I have never attempted anything like this.

I made the adjustment to the front parts of the pattern, ensuring I took the seam allowance off the centre as this would be placed on the fold.

I made a few other adjustments to the back side of the legs to taper in more and made a toile with some stretch cotton, before using that toile to cut the pieces of denim for the final skirt.

I have to say I’m so happy with how it all turned out and now I have my day wear for Vegas.

I just have to find something for my top half as however liberal Vegas may be I’m sure they don’t want me flouncing about topless in the streets.

So what’s next? Well, I’ve been joining in on Gertie’s slip sew along as I have never sewn any undercrackers or used that type of slinky material.

I am also starting my Gerties Sew Retro Bombshell Dress class on Craftsy to make my birthday dress for Vegas. So much to do and only 30 days to go!

If you liked this blog please vote for me in the NVA 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. 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!

March Vintage Pattern Giveaway

Published on March 28, 2014March 28, 2014 by Stacey Stitch5 Comments

This month the pattern I’m giving away it this beautiful early 50s blouse, 34bust, McCalls 3088.

To enter please comment below, visit my facebook page like and comment on the post related to this blog:

or visit my twitter and retweet the giveaway tweet.

I’ll pick a winner next Friday, 4th April.

Good luck folks!

Vintage Lingerie: Historical Patterns and Techniques

Published on March 20, 2014 by Stacey Stitch3 Comments

When I saw this book on Amazon I knew I had to get it. I had a quick scan through the reviews online and decided to purchase.

I adore vintage styled lingerie (total Kiss Me Deadly addict) but it doesn’t come in cheap. If you want quality, you’re most certainly going pay for it.

When it landed through the letterbox with a comforting thud I tumbled downstairs, pulled apart the packaging and gazed and the beautiful front cover.

I was aware of the author, Jill Salen, as my cousin’s (then) girlfriend (now wife) had lent me her fabulous book on corsets a few years ago when I was first foraying into making my own burlesque costumes. While the book was amazing, the thought of making a corset was very daunting and I loved reading through but it was packed up and shipped back to the lovely Sarah (thank you!).

But, I digress….back to Vintage Lingerie: Historical Patterns and Techniques.

I am more than happy with its stylistics. The book is laid out in an easy to read way, spaced out generously (I find books that are “too busy” very confusing due to my dyslexia) and sleek and stylish. It covers 30 pieces from 1890 to 1970 and is set up for each piece as follows:

The first page devoted to a beautiful piece of vintage lingerie, photographed beautifully and simply.
The following page with a description of the year or era, detailing on the fabric, techniques, measurements and embellishments used.
Following this is the scaled down pattern, each reproduced on graph paper for ease of scaling up separately.

While this book as an absolutely beautiful addition to my collection I really should say that it is definitely not aimed at beginners.

There are few (if any) instructions for actually making the garments but it really doesn’t feel daunting to me to consider starting to reproduce any of these items, after all using the internet to find clarity on certain sewing techniques is old hat at this point for me!

There are two comprehensive projects contained in the back on this book, with full detailing and step by step instructions:

A black brassiere (1930s)
A petticoat (1905)

Neither of these grabbed me as items I would really like to crack on with; there were far more gorgeous offerings in the previous pages (corselette or the Dior style longline bra for instance) but I am sure that is just a matter of personal taste.

At the back of the book is a handy chapter about embellishing and finishing techniques such as scalloping, making button loops, fastenings etc.

I would definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for good a resource of vintage lingerie. I have been looking for something like this for a while now and everything else seemed to fall short of the mark.

I can’t wait to get cracking with my first project from this, although I will definitely be making a toile, sewing in a cheap fabric and then making the final in something a little more luxurious!

Oh and I am very tempted to purchase Jill Salen’s next book Vintage Swimwear Patterns: Historical Patterns and Techniques, but that’s for another time when my purse is a little fatter I think!

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!