1949 Singer Sewing Book

Look what I picked up at an antique shop this weekend! This book is copyright 1949 and it is amazing! I just love the illustrations and vintage sewing techniques like the 31 different seam finishing methods or the 14 hem finishes.

The author gives advice on how to successfully  complete sewing projects. Mostly stuff we've all heard before like "plan for sewing time" and "assemble and organize your materials before starting to sew." Here's what she says about preparing yourself physically;

When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Go through a beauty ritual of orderliness.   Have on a clean dress. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on with care. Looking attractive is a very important part of sewing. Sewing  must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it, and if you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. Therefore, spruce up at the beginning so you are free to enjoy every part of sewing you do.


God forbid your husband comes home and sees you without your lipstick! That would cause way too much anxiety and you will be too much of a nervous wreck to sew!

Opera Renderings

Here are some new renderings for an opera I am currently designing.

I'm renting all of the men's Victorian costumes.
The first three here are the chorus of eight. That's right; 8 of the same exact dress.  oI am making them from this pattern; view E (second from the left).

I'm drafting an A-line skirt onto the blouse pattern to make it a bias cut cowl neck dress. I'm then going to ombre dye them with the three colors pictured. They will all have a bronze sequin belt, a monocle, and a white wig with silver tinsel pieces. For the leader of the chorus I'm going to do a different sort of hand dyeing technique, more on that later!

Thrift Store Finds

I picked up a few more vintage patterns and some fabric at Savers the other day. Neither of the patterns have the instruction sheet included but they seem like they might be pretty self explanatory. Especially since I've notice a lot of printed patterns from the 60s and 70s have most of the instructions printed right on the pattern.

Simplicity 6220. Copyright 1974. The blouse looks a lot like Simplicity 6165 which I also have in my collection. This one also includes a dress and panties (?!).

McCall's 9448. copyright 1968. Huge berets.

The fabric I got for 99 cents. About a yard.

Snow White Production Photos

I finally got some pictures from Snow White, the show I finished designing in January. I showed my costume sketches here.

The Queen which I showed in progress here, and the witch, I talked about here.

The Queen and Berthold.

Left to right: Dandiprat, the Prince, the Queen, and the Duke.

Some of the maids in waiting.

Snow White on the left and the maids dancing. I talked about Snow White's costume here.

Dandiprat, the Duke and maids.

Same as above.

Dandiprat, the Prince and the Duke.

Maids, Dandiprat, the Queen and the Duke.

Dandiprat, the Prince, the Queen and the Duke.

Dandiprat, the Duke, the Queen, and the Witch.

The Cat, Witch and the Queen

Same as above.

Little rabbits and squirrels.

The Dwarves.

The dwarves.

The Cat and Witch

New Patterns from Savers Part 2

Here is the second installment of my latest thrift store vintage pattern spree. As you can see, I am definitely not a pattern snob. I love to see the beauty in something that doesn't at first appear so. These patterns from the 70's and 80s with ugly covers can actually be attractive. Sometimes its just the fabric, hair, styling and massive shoulder pads that is ugly. Some of these patterns would definitely be worthy of the You Can't Judge a Pattern by its Envelope Cover challenge.

Simplicity 2436. 1948 (educated guess). A nice smock pattern. I would like to make this to use as an apron.

Advance 8658. 1958 (educated guess). This is just too cute.

McCall's 7190. Copyright 1980. A dress with an "over blouse."

McCall 8444. Copyright 1951. Nice skirt a back gore.

Simplicity 5324. Copyright 1963. Basic early 60s sheath. Can't wait to try this one.

Simplicity 5576. Copyright 1973. I always wanted to make myself a bathing suit though I'm not sure if this is the one.

Simplicity 6094. Copyright 1973. Another A-line with "front seam interest."

Simplicity 6284. Copyright 1974. I just love that little jacket. Another boring vest. (is it possible for a vest to be anything but?)

Simplicity 6327. Copyright 1974. This is so cute with the little patch pockets and button trim.

Simplicity 8392. Copyright 1978. This reminds me of a regency dress. With the empire waist and gathering only in the back.

Simplicity 8757. Copyright 1970. Groovy tunic, pants, A-line dress, shorts and maxi dress. Didn't they used to fit so much in one pattern in the 1970s?

Simplicity 9005. Copyright 1979. Another bathing suit with a cover up.

New Patterns from Savers Part 1

It's no big secret I own a lot of patterns. I have way more than I could ever actually make, but I consider myself a collector, and you never know right? I have used pieces of patterns I never thought I would make (in a "frankenpattern" sort of way). So I thought I would share my pattern spree I recently had at Savers, which prompted the annoyance with the sticker price tags they use. I am happy to report I have two new methods of removing those stickers to try - Lighter fluid and nail polish remover. I will definitely try these next time I have a pesky sticker on my hands. I already removed the stickers from the latest batch using my blow dryer method. You can see in these scans where pieces of the envelope peeled off.
I bought so many I am breaking them up between today and tomorrow. Most of these are from the 60s and 70s with a few from the 40's and 50's.

Simplicity 6107. Copyright 1973. I love the ruffle view. I could make that with a skirt instead of shorts. I'm not too big on overalls in the traditional sense.

Simplicity 6559. Copyright 1974. A-line or Maxi with interesting neckline and boring jacket.

Simplicity 7051. Copyright 1975. I've always wanted a western shirt, though I don't know about those embroidery transfers. I like the plaid/blue combo.

Simplicity 7218. Copyright 1975. I like the dress with the contrast top stitching and pockets. I can't imagine that blouse would be in any way flattering on anyone.

Simplicity 7886. Copyright 1977. Not sure I would want this to be my wedding dress but would be cute shortened to knee length. Cute square neckline. Note the horrible sticker removal job.

Simplicity 8830. Copyright 1970. I like the skirt/blouse combo in the upper left. Canary yellow pantsuit with elastic waistband? Not so much.

Simplicity 9621. Copyright 1971. Love the collar on the dress and blouse. Boring vest.

Butterick 3573. 1980 (educated guess).  Love the flounce on the dress. Yet another boring jacket.

Butterick 5230. 1978 (educated guess). The famous Seven Way Wonder Dress. Unfortunately I didn't notice until I got it home that all the pattern pieces are missing. The envelope contains only the instruction sheet. The pattern pieces look easy enough to replicate based on the layout. Just one piece cut twice basically.

McCall's 2376. Copyright 1970.  I like View D.  Something about the dark pink/light pink combo is oh so sixties to me.

McCall's 4177. Copyright 1974.  I got this for the bolero. I want to make one in solid green to go with my Swing Dress.

McCall's 9230. Copyright 1968. Another 60s A-line dress. I like the button detail on the right and the color blocking on the left.

 

That's all for today. More to come tomorrow!