My Name is Brandi; and I'm addicted to patterns.....I'm also REALLY bad at math!

Ok, full disclosure; the post I made yesterday; about homemaking: I just realized now that 1951 was in fact; 60 years ago; not fifty....

Wow; no more late-night blogging for me!
*embarrassing*

Today I woke up, ready for action; and while checking my etsy shop; noticed that one of my favorite shops Vintage Treasure Huntn had added some new patterns; and there were a few I just could not pass up; even though I have lots of patterns, lots of fabric; and almost no time or energy left! The one above is the one I finally decided to purchase; after justifying the expense six ways to Sunday and vowing to make it worth it by not buying new clothes for the next decade, at least!

Fortunately, Vintage Treasure Huntn has very reasonably-priced patterns; very much in the grasp of a budget-minded mama like me! The fact that it is my size made it seem like Serendipity; I just couldn't say no! It is a "half-size" pattern, which means a petite, but it's very easy to alter that, and the fact that I'm only 5'5" makes it even better. I have some fabric that would be perfect for this, probably the pink linen that I posted a picture of earlier, although I have to say I'm completely in love with the blue/grey with contrasting cuffs and belt, as shown for view A. I also have some navy blue and white polka dot, that may work, and the red accents for that would be darling. I'll have to wait until I get it, once the pattern is in my hands, inspiration just seems to flow better!

And I must, must, must make more time to sew this week; I don't want all my beautiful patterns to go to waste!

Vintage Success....one down, LOTS to go!

I posted a few weeks ago about a vintage sun suit I was making for Baby E, along with lots, and lots, and lots, of projects I intend to finish before our much-anticipated vacation at the end of March. I've been trying, and trying to find time for my sewing, but lately it has been difficult to fit it in to my ever-busy schedule. Tonight James had a late soccer game, so I was able to do some of my other chores, like making more Crunchy Mama soap for my etsy shop while he napped. I was so close to being finished with the sun suit, I only needed to do the dreaded buttonholes, and of course the normal hand-sewing and trimming thread duty that I despise. So here, at long last, is the finished 1955 sun suit; with shaky atrocious buttonholes! Fortunately, I found adorable buttons with anchors on them to lend a nautical air, and to hopefully disguise my usual wretched buttonholeing when the suit is worn this summer! I loved this pattern, straightforward, simple instructions, and a new twist, a technique I've never encountered before; flat-fell seams, where instead of sewing the side seams with right sides together, which makes a seam allowance on the inside; you sew the side seams wrong sides together, then on the right side, trim one of the seam allowances, then lap the other allowance over it, making a clean line, then top-stiching over all. I love to learn new (old) techniques, that's what makes vintage sewing so interesting, you never know what kind of instructions you may find, and it challenges your skills as a seamstress.

Also, I am at this moment, defying my self-imposed curfew, but since James is out playing a soccer game, and it is a weekend, I decided that it was allowable! No pumpkin-ing for me! I hope to be productive while I have this little opportunity, and perhaps even sleep in just a bit in the morning!

Peppermint Mocha and Patterns Galore!

I have had a crazy busy week year; and have been really stressed about getting all these gorgeous patterns resized and made into garments. I hate to be stressful about things I really love, but when you have a house, five children, an etsy shop, and mountains of laundry; it's hard to fit anything in, especially if it's "just for me". I went to my favorite fabric store these weekend, and in the bargain bin found some great quality, spring-y fabric on clearance plus 50% off! So I ended up paying $2 a yard for the great linen blend, and $1.50 a yard for the adorable rayon blend pink and white check. I also had to figure out what material to use for the pattern resizing, and since I'm cheap, I gulped and bought three yards of a product with one-inch grids printed on it for $1.99 a yard. I'm not totally sold, I wish I could have just bought a roll of butcher paper or something, although I'm finding the grids are very handy. I'm also finding that although I'm a fairly advanced sewer, the whole pattern concept does not come easy to me. I read an article about pattern resizing, but I must say I'm not totally convinced that method works. It's the whole "the-leg-bone-connected-to-the-thigh-bone" thing that I keep messing up on, it's hard for me to comprehend how when I adjust one piece, it affects several other pieces. I hope I erred on the side of largeness with the black and white I have cut out, or make it work somehow if I haven't. I also had plenty of fabric left over to cut out a 1956 sun suit for Elvis. In the pattern envelope was some notes someone had written to themselves on a piece of scrap paper which was the back a political donation request letter; so funny to find these original musings of a housewife somewhere who presumably made this very sun suit for her baby boy, who is by now a grandfather! That's why I love sewing vintage so much, it's a connection to the past like nothing else. My next project is my hard-won swimsuit pattern, the coral-y red in the center is the famous authentic vintage rayon, which I received this week from http://etsy.com/shops/vintagetreasurehuntn it's so gorgeous and lightweight, perfect for a vintage swimsuit! I had to laugh when I compared the pattern piece for the bra top, which is a girls (juniors) size to my ample bust line; there is going to be a whole lot of resizing going on there! The piece that is supposed to represent half the bra top is basically the size of a dinner napkin; by the time I'm done with it, it'll be unrecognizable! The rest of the patterns I bought will be fairly easy, most are close to my size and are things like skirts and shorts, which just need to be widened, and a house dress which is just four pieces plus sleeves, belted. I'm so excited to get going on all this...if I only had a spare day or two!

Where does the time go?

I have been so, so, busy these last few days! Getting my boys back on a school schedule has been a little challenging (and for me too!). I have been dying to cut into my first vintage pattern, and over the last day or two I have been slowly cutting out the pattern. It's almost my size, but I need a couple extra inches in the bust line and my five-babies waistline. I found a great article on resizing patterns, and although I found that I had virtually none of the needed supplies, I figured I was an experienced enough seamstress to draw out the re sized bodice directly on the fabric. Even I would not have attempted this except that the pattern was very nearly the right size...it would not have worked at all on a pattern that was a few sizes too small. I think I did all right, I guess I'll see once it starts going together, I went on the premise that you can always make something smaller, so I added ample room, thinking I could take it in easily. The skirt then had to be re sized along the side seams, which is a no-brainer, but this skirt pattern has soft pleats along the waistband, and I had a mental block where I couldn't figure out whether I needed to move the pleats or enlarge the pleats to the measurement I added to the bodice. Eventually I moved the markings, but I may just have to redistribute them once I get started on the skirt; I've found that often pleats have to be moved, anyway, even if the pattern is the right size. Also, tonight, I remedied my sad lack of dessert making by making oatmeal chocolate-and-vanilla-chip cookies, my boys will be thrilled, since they've been bereft of "treats" lately! On the agenda tonight, lots of laundry, fabric cutting, soapmaking (Briny Depths Sea Kelp Soap), and a glass of Riesling wine (my fave!).

My new splurge! Lovely mad-men era sewing pattern, and vintage fabric!

After spending two late nights looking at thousands of vintage sewing patterns until the wee hours (and wanting them all). I found one that fits my body, budget, and imagination. It is a lovely full-skirted dress from the 1960's, and the same wonderful shop also had 5 yards of vintage black-and-white check fabric for an extraordinarily reasonable price. This shop has some of the most reasonably priced vintage patterns I have seen, since many of the ones I find are too expensive to buy when you consider the cost of the materials added in, and this has prevented me from indulging my love of vintage up to now, leaving me to settle with reproductions that can sometimes be found for a dollar at certain times of the year. The shop owner Donna, is also a lovely woman who discounted the shipping costs and even reduced the cost of the fabric when learning of my interest! Thanks, Donna! If any of you are vintage sew-y types, be sure to check out her shop, she has the best selection of 50's and 60's items. I look forward to posting pictures of my marvelous new purchase when it arrives, as well as the finished product, which I hope will do it justice! http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageTreasureHuntn