A Break

Since the kids are out of school it's officially summer here.  I'm going to take a few weeks off blogging to do some stuff.  I'll leave you with this photo of a quilt I laid out in the yard to photograph that both the cat and a Wolf spider decided to walk across (the spider's in the green block on the upper left).

Another 1938 Beauty

McCall 9580.  The dress and jacket are nice, but I think those hats are bordering on silly looking.  Love the gloves though...wish I had them!

Not The Prettiest Vintage 30's Quilt (Pic Heavy)

Pause for a moment to readjust your eyes if you need to.

The above and next photo are the best I've seen this vintage 1930's quilt look.  The problem with it is that the prints are so busy they're overwhelming to the eye up close; it's only from a distance that it looks ok.

I took the photos outside so the colors would show up more true than indoors or with a flash would show.

Close ups of some of the individual blocks:

See what I mean by busy?

The quilt is an interesting study.  It's obviously Depression Era.  And look at how the tan plaid square on the left (in the middle square) in the next photo is pieced together even though it's only about three inches square:

The light purple one here on the right is pieced too; plus the weave on it's coarser than some of the other fabrics:

I think, but am not entirely certain, that a large portion of these fabrics are feedsacks.  The quilt seems to have been made by someone who didn't want or have any fabrics to waste.  Even the binding indicates this...

...because it isn't a separate piece.  It's the old method of cutting the backing fabric edge larger than the front then folding it over to the front and stitching it down.  The problem with this type binding is that it isn't durable:

Here's a bit of lumpy cotton batting sticking out:

No one in the family is sure where this quilt came from.  When the family house from two generations or so was cleaned out in the 1980's this quilt and several others were there.  It isn't one by great grandmother or her mother.  There was quite a mix of quilts in the house that weren't family ones.  Someone remembered how a great uncle was a country lawyer and often received quilts, hams, preserves, canned goods and such as payment and thank you gifts.  This quilt might have been one of those.

The quilting is done in a scallop design:

The backing is a slightly coarse muslin.

Three more blocks:

Each block is a look at the fabrics that were available in the early 30's.  The construction of the whole thing is interesting too.  Sure it's not the prettiest 30's quilt, but it's great sewing history.

Almost Finished Skirt

I decided I wanted/needed a navy skirt.  A quick look in the fabric stash provided a navy linen/rayon blend.  With the mix of weather here lately between hot and cool I thought I might try a longer length -- all of my spring and summer skirts are knee length.  I used Butterick 4686 View D because I knew I wouldn't need to make any changes -- it's so nice sometimes to throw something on the cutting table and get cutting without any pattern modifications. 

The skirt isn't hemmed in the photo because I couldn't decide after all whether I want this skirt long or short.  It's more full than I expected.  I think I'll go ahead and hem, then see if I like wearing it -- if not, I'll cut it off and rehem to the shorter length.

Form Fitting 1938 Dress

McCall 3071 is so different from many other styles of that year.  I like the seams from the side front panels and how they appear to flatter the figure...at least, on the pattern models they do --but they've been known to lie.  I always meant to make this and still haven't done it.  It's one of the many vintage patterns I would love to see made up.

The Very First Quilt I Made

The first.  I hand pieced and hand quilted this quilt from about 1991-1993.  I didn't work on it all the time but got bored with the quilting and only sewed on it occasionally.  I found the patten in an old quilt book.  In that particular book it was called Monkey Wrench-- often I've seen that name used with a different pattern and this one called Bachelor's Puzzle.  That's old quilt blocks for you though -- one name in one area and a different one in a different area.

Before piecing this, I worked on a couple of nine patch blocks then threw them aside and decided to make a whole quilt.  There really isn't a great deal of piecing in it if you notice...every other block is solid.  The quilting is simple diagonal lines at one inch apart.  Since hand quilting starts in the middle of a quilt, my stitches got better by the time I got to the sides!

A few things about this first quilt:  At the time the choice in battings was thin polyester, medium polyester, and ultra-loft polyester (sort of like a comforter).  The polyester fibers migrate through the fabric and make little polyester hairs on the quilt -- not badly, but they are there.  I wanted a quilt like the old fashioned ones that were flat as a pancake and all crinkly.  It wasn't till years later I found that cotton batting creates that look.  Also, I used the dimensions in the book.  Old quilts didn't drape off the bed sides much at all, so it isn't big enough for a full bed by today's standards; however, it fits a twin alright, and son #1 uses it.



Shown on full size bed but edges only drape a few inches

I made quilts off and on during the 90's but wasn't happy with a lot of the fabric choices.  There were too many calicoes for my taste...and dark ones at that.  Now there's almost too much to choose from for quilts!  (And not for clothes).

Sometimes I look back at stuff I've made and wonder why I made certain choices or why I thought it would look good, but not with this quilt.  I still love my choice of pattern and color with this one!

Note:  Thursday when this posted a few people wrote some nice comments -- on Friday Blogger went down for the morning and afternoon,  when it came back up all the comments were gone -- (I didn't delete them!)

What I've Been Sewing This Past Week: Frivolous Sewing

I started out the year with visions of shirtdresses and spring/summer tops.  I even put pictures and swatches on my bulletin board.  But I can't plan like this with sewing.  I'm all over the place every week -- whatever I'm in the mood for I do.  And that's really part of the fun of sewing for me.  This week I ignored my plans and made a Victorian style chemise...in black (that will not photograph well!)

I put black cotton lace around the neck and sleeves.  It's not had it's finishing ironing as you can see by the wrinkles.

I usually give what pattern I'm using, but I didn't use a particular one this time.  I took elements of peasant blouses and chemises I've made before and drew out my own.

While looking for the ribbon to run through the casing for it I found three pieced Beatles crib size quilt tops I had made and didn't quilt.  So I pin basted one of those together and am running it through the machine for some straight line quilting.

There's Paul waving to you from a porthole.

Victorian chemises and Beatles quilts -- frivolous and fun!

McCall Gored Skirt Dress from 1938

McCall 3090 from 1938.  Guess how many gores it takes to make the skirt to this dress?  There are pattern pieces for four for the front and four for the back...and they go on folded fabric except for the center back which goes on the edge of the fold.  Fifteen gores! 

To make the sleeves poofy there is a pattern piece for sleeve stiffening to be cut from organdy.

Question for you -- take a look at the top photo of the pattern envelope and then this next one of it:

Which do you prefer?  The top one is a photograph.  I took it outside on the patio in natural light, and it shows the pattern colors accurately.  (There is a deep wrinkle in the pattern on the left).  The last photo is scanned.  It shows a clearer image but the colors are off.  I think I prefer the photograph.  I'm just wondering because I'll be putting this in the Vintage Pattern Wiki one of these days (or feel free to take the photo and do it for me!) and wondered what other people might like.

Fashions for May from 1960 Advance

I found this little brochure from the Advance pattern company tucked into a vintage pattern I opened and thought you might like to see what was in style for May 1960.

This next one was the center section and overlaps in the next two shots:

Note how this next one is called "Chanel-like":

Ok, if you could go shopping and pick one which would it be?  I like the cover one, 9356, that Debbie Reynolds is wearing (designed by Edith Head).  I also like the asymetrical buttoning 9363 and the fuller skirt 9361 that's beside it.  I would have to hope they had good pattern sales back then since I can't make up my mind.

Finished Couch Quilt

I finished this over the weekend and threw it on the couch.  It's a bunch of squares with meandering quilting and measures 40-something by about 60".   It emptied a little spot in the fabric stash.

1938 McCall Yoke Dress

This McCall 9739 from 1938 seems a casual style dress to me.  I think it's because of the shoes the models are wearing with it.  Have you been to Debi's site where she is working on putting as many McCall patterns from 1936-1940 into the Vintage Pattern Wiki.  Quite a project!  I intend to scan the half dozen patterns I have for her (to see if they are clearer than just photographing them) but haven't gotten around to it.  It's been a weird week since those tornadoes came through last week.  Luckily I was in an area that wasn't hit hard but all around is such a mess.