I have come across the Rønne Blouse from time to time over the years, and it always looked like something I might want to sew, but for whatever reason, I never purchased the design. However, this month I decided that it would be perfect for a white dotted swiss that I found at an estate sale last year. And I am all about using stashed fabric these days!
I am not a fan of PDF patterns, but since this is a blouse, the pieces were not going to be all that large. I did encounter a problem with printing. The upper and lower borders would not show when the pattern was set at it's actual size (which is very important for sewing patterns, obviously). I suspect the issue is European paper sizes versus standard 8.5x11 paper that I have access to. I contacted the company and they were very responsive, however, my problem was not solved. Maybe it's just my computer with the issue, but I am pretty good at figuring those sorts of things out, and this one would not work for me no matter what I tried. I decided to go ahead without the upper and lower borders and do my best to match up cutting lines.
Seam lines matched each other throughout, so I must have been fairly accurate with my taping.
The pattern is described as beginner friendly, but I would have been a bit lost with the instructions had this been my first garment. Also, the instructions are not sent with the PDF pattern, they are available on the How to Do Fashion website, which took me a minute to figure out.
When I first began sewing with garment patterns, I used Big4 patterns, and they give a lot more information. For instance, this pattern simply says to finish the armhole with bias tape; no diagrams or explanations. It also seems that they would have you finish all of the short peplum edges, but later the front band gets attached, so that seam would be finished twice along the front peplum?
That being said, in a world full of YouTube videos that are a google search away, perhaps step by step diagrams and explanations are not necessary. But I prefer instructions to be a bit more specific, especially if they are catering to beginners. It certainly is a cute design, though! And I will probably be making myself another in the near future - I just have to decide what fabric to use.
As I was cleaning up old folders full of pictures on my computer today, I came across these. So yes, it is official, I am years behind in posting to this blog. And I will never ever catch up at this point (or at least, that's the way it feels). But that's okay.
I made this dress so long ago, it was before I had figured out the sizing employed by Butterick (aka McCalls Pattern Company) patterns. The copyright on the pattern envelope is 2000, and that seems pretty close to when I made this dress.
It turned out rather large since I blindly trusted the sizing chart and didn't bother with finished measurements. I don't do that anymore!
And because of the design, the oversized version of the garment was never very flattering. But since I loved this whimsical print so much, I did something that I rarely, if ever, do. I basically took the whole thing apart and made it fit. And this dress is fully lined.
I enjoyed wearing the dress for a long time once those adjustments were made, and then it sat in my closet for even longer.
Then three years ago, it caught my eye as I was rummaging through the closet, and I pulled it out to wear again.
And now that the weather has warmed up considerably (it was 97 degrees today, yuck), I think I will pull it out again. Thank you old photos for reminding me of my old wardrobe!
Dress: Made by me, Butterick 6637
Necklace: Refashioned by me
One of the wonderful things about spending a whole lot of time at home is that all of those unfinished projects that I stashed away have finally had the chance to demand my attention. This dress is one of those projects.
A few years back, I had a vision of this dress in lightweight rayon that I picked up at a fabric swap.
Alas, it was at the end of the Fall season, and I was not all that motivated to get past cutting the fabric out and putting together the skirt pieces. After pulling out all of my bemberg rayon last month, I also suspect that a lack of lining fabric slowed down the process. [I definitely need to restock with lining fabric when I get the chance since I am down to scraps!]
But I wasn't going to let that stop me now. I decided that a pink rayon would serve almost as well as my lining fabric, and give a bit more weight to the extremely lightweight checkered fabric.
And having completed the garment, I am very pleased with the result.
The skirt length is a little bit shorter than expected, but that neckline definitely makes up for it!
I will have to wear it to confirm, but I suspect I am going to love this one! And there may be more versions of Butterick 6380 to come.
For whatever reason, in this new Covid world in which we live, I am finding myself drawn more and more to knitting and crochet projects.
This is the first of the lot. I was rummaging through a pile of paperwork, looking to put things away, and I stumbled across a printout of this pattern. I first found it many years ago, and it looked promising. The pattern is called "Quick Knit 1940s Style Sweater," which pretty much sums it up, I think.
And so I set out to find an appropriate yarn. Which I managed to find in the stash. At one point I started using this Knit Picks City Tweed for a wrap sweater, but the stockinette stitch did little for the lovely textured yarn. I didn't get very far with the project before putting it away.
Lucky for me, I had enough yarn for this particular sweater, because I think the faux cable pattern suits the tweedy bits very nicely.
And like the name of the sweater, this is a massively quick knit. In fact, I couldn't believe how fast this project came together.
It probably has to do with the fact that I tend to use fingering weight for most projects. But even so, this thing just flew along.
Sure, I have more at-home time these days, but finishing a sweater in less than ten days is unheard of for me.
And while working with wool may be a bit out of season at the moment, I can't wait until I get to wear my new sweater!
I have an old deep plum colored skirt made of rayon jacquard that needs refashioning, and I think the two pieces would make an excellent pairing. I just have to figure out exactly what I want to do with that skirt . . .
Well, this outfit is far from Spring appropriate, but I am determined to get some of these older projects posted on the blog. (I am beginning to sound like a broken record on that front.)
And this is an old one!
I recently pulled this out of a bag, in a very incomplete state. And I decided that since I took all the trouble of crocheting my own trim and tea dying it, the dress deserved to be completed, whether or not it is my current style.
And then I thought about how perfect my Royal Vintage shoes would work with the dress, and it was a done deal.
This is a little bit removed from my standard style, but I do love the way it turned out.
And it was meant to be, since I didn't even have the pattern from which I borrowed the sleeve (McCalls 3730) when I first cut out the dress. I found a drafted cuff cut out of paper in the bag with the abandoned dress, and I cannot recall what I was going to do for a sleeve, but this one worked out perfectly.
I did have to go back and cut out another collar since I didn't make the corresponding bodice alteration to that pattern piece. I had already hand stitched the crochet piece on, so I carefully unpicked those stitches. I had also used a thick Pellon interfacing that I really don't use anymore, so it was an opportunity to swap in something more appropriate (a leftover scrap of cotton).
This dress has actually made me want to make more 1960s inspired dresses for my wardrobe. But until I find a pattern that will tempt me, I am trying to finish more of my in progress projects from years past.
That, and I never really wear mid-thigh length skirts without tights, and since warm weather has definitely arrived in the Bay Area, I will probably put off making short skirts for the time being. But there are still plenty of creative things to do in the meantime. I have been enjoying my knitting and crocheting very much lately, even with the warm temperatures . . . go figure!
Dress: Made by me, Simplicity 9723 / McCalls 3730
Shoes: Royal Vintage "Greta"
Earrings: Kate Spade
