Good News!

First Place in The Vintage Contest

Some of you may be aware that I won first place in Pattern Review's "The Vintage Contest". I'm very happy about this and I'm thankful for all the lovely comments I've received on my gown. You might be wondering why I haven't reviewed this dress on this blog yet... I want to save it for when my dress actually fits me. Sadly, I gained weight during this project and the dress doesn't fit around the waist. I'm either going to have to wait until I can wear it or I'll have to sew a new bodice. Either way it will be awhile before you see my full and in depth review because I have our foster cat living in my sewing room. I want him to be nice and comfortable with the rest of the house before I move him to another room. With my sewing room off limits I've taken up making crafts again and I'm hoping to open an Etsy shop soon.

I do want to sew very badly and I feel that in another week or two that will be possible again. I'll be going on a short vacation soon, which I'm really looking forward to. I just need fresh air and a change of scenery. I also hope to get inspired while I'm out, because I've been running low on new ideas for my art. It'll be nice to go on nature hikes, go fishing and get back in touch with my family.

I do have many plans for upcoming sewing projects. Of course after winning the contest I received a gift certificate for patterns. I chose three in total. I purchased a 1950's playsuit pattern, gown pattern, and a petticoat pattern. I ended up spending a little over my gift certificate amount, which I sort of regret but I realize it would have cost me the same to buy it off of Etsy what with shipping and all that. I couldn't pass up on the vintage petticoat pattern, it's something you would think I already have in my collection but I actually don't! I have a petticoat pattern from the 80's and it just isn't the same. So I'm looking forward to these patterns, they're really cool. Unfortunately I forgot to save the images before I ordered them, so now I can't show you what I ordered, but in time you'll see!

I'd like to give a special thank you to all who voted for me and thanks to So Vintage Patterns for supplying the prize. : )

Happy Sewing! ♥

Modern Day Twist: Simplicity 4529

Upcycled Floral Pencil Skirt

Recently I reviewed Simplicity 4529, a pencil skirt from the 1960's. I praised this pattern before and after using it once more to create this floral pencil skirt, I'm praising it again! It is a super easy sewing project. In this case, I used material from a dress that I had purchased from Pacific Mall in Markham, ON. If you've never been to Pacific Mall it's a mall that deals specifically with Asian goods. If you're an anime fan or like Korean street fashion then this place would be your paradise! At the time I bought the dress I was making the transition into wearing more girly clothing. When I graduated high school I dropped a lot of weight but still struggled with being comfortable with my body. When I was shopping at the mall I had this cute little sales associate sucker me into buying a twenty dollar sun dress. I tried it on but felt it was somewhat on the smaller side. Well, as is the reality of shopping at Pacific Mall, their stuff is pretty much always on the XS side. I don't think I've ever seen anything for a large or plus sized person. I bought the dress hoping that it wasn't as short as I thought it was, but I never felt all that comfortable in it. Even when I was careful enough to crouch instead of bend over, I always felt like my butt was showing. 

I decided earlier in the year that I would make something else out of it so I threw it into my UFO bin. A few days ago the temperature was climbing and I realized just how badly I need more skirts, dresses and shorts. I decided that the old baby doll dress would be very easily converted into a skirt. I seam ripped the dress and laid the pieces flat. As I mentioned in my previous review, this pattern uses one main pattern piece for the skirt. Instead of side seams it uses darts to create shape. Well, this would not work on my dress due to the fact that the dress consisted of front and back pieces. I had to redraw the pattern so there would be two back pieces and one front (like most pencil skirt patterns). I cut them out and assembled them, I was very pleased that the skirt fit well and looked good. I didn't have enough material to create the waistband so I used some hot pink bias binding instead. I also made use of a pink metal zipper that I picked up for 10¢ at a thrift store, and it looks great (photo below). It's shorter than the original pattern which is much more comfortable for casual wear. Unfortunately the fabric wrinkles like nobody's business, but I don't think it shows in person as much as it does in photos. What's important is that I have a new skirt to wear in this humid thirty degree weather.

I'm very pleased with the final product. I love to upcycle old clothes! And with this pattern it's so easy. If you can find a copy of Simplicity 4529 I strongly recommend you purchase it. : )

Happy sewing! ♥