So PR is having a 'Think Pink' contest, and all the lovely pink garments in the gallery really inspired me. I figured 'hey, I need more office work blouses (I've been itching to make this Simplicity 2339 pattern), and a pink one would be fun!'Then I got sent out of town for the weekend. However, when I got there on Friday morning, they told me they only needed me for the day, so luckily I was able to get my plane ticket changed and was home by Friday night. A shopping trip yesterday yielded this lovely pink chambray! Up until yesterday, I didn't know what a chambray was. According to thefreedictionary.com, it's a lightweight plain weave fabric where white threads are woven with a coloured warp. According to ehow.com, it was originally created in Cambria, France, from which the fabric name was derived.
Learning all this made me realize that my Lucky Business Dress is made of a chambray. YAY! That was really bugging me. My pink fabric feels a bit heavier and less flow-y than what I used for the dress, though. It doesn't iron out as smoothly either, so maybe the fiber content is different between the two.
Anyways, I have all the pieces cut out for the blouse, and just need to finish transferring the bajillion markings and *~***~*
I've been slowly settling into my apartment. I'm no where near finished unpacking, but I'm getting some parts of my sewing nook set up. I came up with a cute way to organize my patterns! I sorted the patterns according to type (tops, bottoms, coordinates, dresses, etc.), and then made little dividers to put between the sets. Instead of labeling them, I drew on fun little images of the pattern types. They make me smile whenever I see them, and it's so much easier to find what I'm looking for now!
I found a few other treasures during my shopping trip yesterday. At the fabric store, I picked up some black broadcloth and a bunch of fun trim and hardware to make a curtain and an under-sink skirt in my bathroom. I have a big window in there that faces the back entry (and I'm on the main floor, too), which most people use or smoke in front of, and while I have blinds on it, it still makes me nervous to shower at night in there. I figured I'd make a curtain to cover any gaps in the blinds. I'm super excited to get it finished and show it off to you all, because while I hated the (pink, 1950's style) bathroom when I first saw it, it's quickly becoming my favourite room in the apartment!
The other thing I found was this 1960's dress pattern, in what is nearly my size! A bit of alteration will be needed to fit it, but I'm super excited that I get to make my own '60's dress after giving away all those lovelies in my vintage pattern giveaway! I think I finally found a pattern for a piece of black and white polka dot fabric I found this past spring!
Although now I'll probably eat my own words on how much I like that older patterns don't baby you along. Oh well, it'll be an interesting challenge!ETA1: Oh! If any of you like this pattern and are looking for a size 20, I found one on etsy. Looks like it's in much better condition than mine, too! Actually, tcmally appears to have scads and scads of vintage patterns, so go check her out.
ETA2: I should also note that I did actually get something done for the Friday Night Sew-In, although it wasn't much. I managed to work out what sizes I'd need to cut out for Simplicity 2339, and got the pattern prepared for it. I forgot to mention above, but I've totally played with the sizes here, starting at size 16 around the shoulders and neckline, size 18 for the arms and bust, size 20 at the waist, and 22 at the hips (PR reviews indicated that there wasn't a lot of ease through the hips). Obviously I'm a little more pear shaped than I was last year. Mmm...pears. :)
Cute! I love your pattern organization, and it's great you're settling into your new apartment.
ReplyDeleteSewing!
The vintage pattern is great - lends itself to a very modern interpretation.
ReplyDelete