June Shopping Haul

I just adore shopping! I did quite a bit of shopping in June (although, admittedly, some of this was purchased at the end of May.) A couple of these lovelies have already been featured on the blog but there are quite a few new things too!

Also, this video features some footage of my baby Kiwi bird! :D

From Baggy to Beautiful: Refashion a Button-Down Shirt

Hello everyone!  As you can tell, I'm not Stephanie, I'm Emileigh from Flashback Summer, and Stephanie has kindly allowed me to contribute a guest post for you guys!  I've been a follower of Steph's blog for a long time, and I love all the handmade clothing she comes up with.  (So adorable, am I right?!)  I also like to sew, so I thought I'd share a sewing DIY with you guys on how to refashion a too-large button-down shirt into a cute, vintage-style summer shirt.

The DIY will help you draft your own blouse pieces on the too-big button-down.  It's a bit long, but that's just because I tried to be really thorough and include a giant picture for each step!  (Pictures are my best friends in DIY projects.)

This idea is not uniquely mine; it was actually a very common practice "back in the day."  I've found refashion tutorials for men's button-downs from as far back as the 1920s, and the following tutorial is based off a 1940s blouse pattern.  Included in the pattern instructions was a tiny note in the corner of how to arrange them on a man's shirt for refashioning.  How great is that?!  Talk about sewing ingenuity!

Please note that the instructions will work well as a starting point, but much of refashioning depends greatly on the garment being refashioned.  I'd be happy to answer any questions you have in the comment section below!

For this tutorial, here are the supplies you'll need:

a button-down shirt (2-3 sizes too big for you will work best, and men's shirts or women's without bust darts are easiest to work with) - coordinating thread - pencil - bias tape - pins - measuring tape - scissors

Instructions:

1.  First, you'll need to take some of your own measurements to draw out the shirt pieces properly.  You'll need:

2.  Next, cut off the sleeves from the shirt.  This will make it easier to work with.  Flip the shirt inside out.  (For future reference, my shirt has a tiny interfacing patch on the inside, but it's nothing you need to repeat!)

3. Decide how wide you'd like your sleeves to be.  Using your shoulder measurement will bring the sleeve right along your shoulder cap.  (Increasing this measurement a little could make it look like more of a cap sleeve and could be good if you plan to add shoulder pads, for a 40s look, for example.)  Take this measurement and divide by 2; measure out this length from the center of the shirt along each shoulder seam. 
My calculation looked like this:  14 + 1 extra inch = 15 inches / 2 = 7.5 inches each side

4.  Fourth, measure your shoulder-to-bust length and mark with pins.

5.  Next, decide how much ease you would like at the bust.  I would recommend 1-3 inches for a comfortable fit (with non-stretch fabric).  Now add 1" total to account for a 1/2" seam allowance on each side (or more, if you prefer). Take this measurement and divide by 2, then center that measurement on the front of the shirt going through the bust apex pins.
For example, my calculation went like this:
32" bust + 1 inches ease + 1 inch seam allowance total = 34" / 2 = 17" across shirt front

6.  Now take your total length measurement and add 1/2" for a narrow hem (or more if you prefer and can fit it on the shirt!).  Measure this length out on both sides by starting at the shoulder, going through the bust apex pins, and drawing a line at the correct length.  Connect the two marks with a line.

7.  Seventh, draw a line from the bust + seam allowance marking made in step 5 straight down (or if your low waist measurement is larger than your bust, slightly outward to the end of that line on each side).  Extend your lines as necessary here and at the bottom hem line so that the two meet.

8.  Connect the shoulder dots and bust line with a curving line for an armhole.

9.  Cut out the shape you just created with all the lines.

10.  Now for darts/pleats!  Depending on your measurements, this will look a bit different, and you have some options. (It gets math-y here again, sorry!)
Decide how many darts you want and where.  (I put four in the front, but I would recommend 2-4 in front and 2 in back.)
Take your bust measurement and subtract your natural waist measurement.  The difference is the amount of cloth you have to take in at the waist, so divide it by the number of pleats you want.
My example:  32" bust - 24" waist = 8 inch difference
8" / 4 pleats = 2" per pleat
Now around 5-6" from the bottom of your shirt (near your natural waist, or where the shirt would be tucked in), evenly space your pleats/top of darts with marks.  The width of each dart/pleat will be the number you found above.

Now you're going to see how much the dart/pleat needs to narrow toward the bottom.  If your lower waist measurement is larger than your hips, end your dart at 1" above the bottom of your fabric.  If your measurement was smaller than your bust, do the same calculation as above but with your lower waist measurement instead of the natural waist.
My example: 32" bust - 28" lower waist = 4 inch difference
4" / 4 pleats = 1" per pleat
Measure this out at the bottom of your fabric like shown below. Connect the dots with vertical lines.  These are the sewing lines for the darts/pleats.

11.  Sew up all the darts/pleats and press toward the side seams! (I also zig-zagged all the edges at this point to keep them from fraying and to keep the pleats lying in the right direction.)

12. Sew up the side seams.

13.  Now finish the raw armhole edges with bias tape.  Use tape that is wide enough to easily manage and keep the fabric edge tucked inside.  Mine was a bit narrow for this (1/2" across), but I had it in my stash and made it work.  I'd recommend a larger width.

14.  Lastly, turn up your bottom hem 1/2" and sew!

And Voila!  You have a fitted, vintage-style shirt that will take you through summer and easily pair with cardigans for the colder months!

Orange You Glad It's Summer?

I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but orange has become my unofficial color for summer 2014.

Maybe it's the move to Florida but when I saw this orange fruit filled skirt at Pin Up Girl Clothing, I had to have it.

Especially since I already had this orange blouse in the works for my playsuit! Speaking of playsuits, I've been bad and not gotten any proper photos of mine yet. I'm sure some of you ladies are in the same predicament, so we'll do the wrap up/link sharing party on July 7th. This way, we all have a few more days to get photos, write blogs and post to Flickr!

Ok, back to this outfit! I've seen this skirt styled a lot with dark green which does look nice but I wanted a brighter color palette for summer!

It's finally hot now. Not too hot for me, just a nice comfortable cozy sort of warm. (Which, of course, means everyone else is sweating buckets.)

I didn't have any orange or green gloves to match (and it's almost impossible to find vintage white gloves that are still actually white) so I went with yellow. There is quite a bit of yellow in some of these oranges plus I got to wear one of my favorite yellow hats.

I'm sure I'll be wearing this outfit loads this summer because even my hubby loves it! Apparently, it's not as "old lady" as I usually like.

The blouse is Butterick 7641 c. 1958 which I have made before but in the short sleeved version.

I was a bit nervous that this view would be a bra strap showing version, but my fears were all for naught since they stay safely hidden! :D

What fruits do you love to wear in the summer?

Fit for a Princess

There's a part of me that's pretty sure that I was supposed to be born a princess.

Specifically, a Disney princess because the best things always seem to happen to them.

So when Pin Up Girl Clothing launched a line of fairy tale inspired pieces, I fell instantly in love with the Sleeping Beauty inspired pieces!

I ended up choosing the pink color way instead of the blue because pink is princess-y but I did love the subtle hint at the make it pink make it blue bit from the Disney version.

I also snagged this darling purse (and a few other goodies) during their fabulous 15th anniversary sale. So far I'm very happy with this recent wardrobe splurge!

I love the 50s inspired shape of this bag and the fact that it is big enough to fit all of my stuff.

A basic black top and a pink hat finish off this outfit.

Pretty, pretty princess Stephanie!

Hair, Hair, Hair

Oh, me and my hair! I love it then I hate it. I make snap decisions to change it. I worry about it for weeks without making a decision! I want it short. I want it long.

*Sigh*

Well, at the moment, I want it long again so it's time for a grow out. I'm going to try and do a better job of documenting the grow out process this go around. (If you are new to the blog, I had a pixie cut fall/winter 2012 and then grew it out winter/spring 2013.) So I'll be doing regular youtube videos on my progress the first of which will be at the end of this post.

I didn't get a chance to talk much about why I got the pixie, what I liked/disliked about having it and why I decided to grow it out. That would have been waaaaaaay to long of a video! So that's what this post is devoted to.

Part 1: Getting the Chop

This past winter was horrid! We didn't really warm up for good until May. I usually get a bit of seasonal depression in the winter and bad winter = bad seasonal depression. My hair was being rather uncooperative. And I needed a change.

Also, I was already thinking about the trip to Florida and the vow renewals. Last time I visited Florida on vacation, it was serious pin curl fail every day. So pixie cut it was!

Part 2: Living with the Chop

Having a pixie cut was awesome! It was so easy to style. A pixie may take more work to style than a modern long style which you can always throw into a pony tail but it's much less work than pin curling. Especially since I didn't have to do anything at night.

It was pretty much a weather proof style as well. I no longer feared rain, wind or humidity-all enemies of the pin curl set. Ah, it was glorious.

But something started to happen. My casual go with anything pixie started causing me to dress more and more casually on a day to day basis. Before I knew it, I was living in shorts and t-shirts when not at work or planning on an outfit post.

Even when I dressed vintage, I didn't feel the way I did when I had longer hair.

Part 3: Deciding Against the Chop

So that's when I decided to grow out my pixie. During my last pixie, I planned out the grow out so that it would be during the winter when I could wear loads of hats. Alas, I'll be doing the worst part of this grow out during the hottest moths of the year.

Part 4: The Grow Out Plan

So here's my grow out plan!

HSF#12: Shape and Support

This week's Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge was all about changing the shape of the human body.

I decided to make a 16th century bodied petticoat to wear in lieu of a corset. I do have a nice wool one but sometimes it's just to hot for wool!

The Challenge: Shape and Support
Fabric: Cotton duck for the inner layer, linen rayon blend for the bodice outside and skirt, cotton for the bodice lining, poly felt for the skirt hem support
Pattern: self drafted
Year: mid/late 16th century
Notions: ribbon for lacing, 6 steel bones
How historically accurate is it? well, the materials are iffy but it gives a nice shape
Hours to complete: eep, did not keep track
First worn: not yet
Total cost: ~$20 (I reused an old petticoat for the skirt and the lining and felt were left overs from other projects)

 One thing I wanted to try with this project was hem stiffening. I was inspired by these two articles on stiffened hems (1) (2). Now, I didn't get quite as amazing results as these ladies did but I can tell it makes a difference!

 The skirt I used was too long so I sandwiched 3" of felt between the hem allowance and the skirt. It actually gives a nice shape for a lower/middle class. I have high hopes for trying it in a less drapey material such as taffeta!

As far as the bodice shaping, I did the same 6 bone layout as in my grey wool kirtle. There is some slight curvature in the bust but it still does a great job and you won't be able to tell under another layer. Plus it's so much more comfortable with out all the extra boning I'd need to get a perfectly flat bust.

This piece was designed to be an undergarment, but now that I see it with my chemise from challenge #9, it looks very cute and generic peasant-y. The skirt does gape in the front so I'll need an apron or something but I'm getting excited!

Dirndl Skirt Sew Along: Buttons and Buttonholes

This is the last part of our dirndl skirt sew along! You still have till July 1st to finish up your playsuit. There have been some lovelies popping up on the Flickr page!