The Great Vintage Shirt Project - Simplicity 4813

Fronts and a Collar, Too

Although I've been extremely busy (and will continue to be through the end of next week - too many deadlines and the play opens next week), I did make some progress on the shirt! I was able to add the fronts and the front plackets yesterday:

Today, I was also able to get the collar attached. The collar and collar stand are one piece, cut on the fold as shown below. Notice how nicely this is drafted, with a nice curve at the neck edge.

The collar fit perfectly onto the shirt, and was easy to finish:

Tomorrow I hope to work on the sleeves a little bit, but tomorrow's post will be another Puzzle Quilt post.

Parting Shot: Thank You! Wellie is so thankful that I've installed this new large sized cat heater. Actually, our old, not working dryer was replaced, and not necessarily for Wellie's benefit.

The Trouser Saga Continues

Making a Pattern

Since the last muslin didn't quite fit right, I decided to finally just take a pattern from the hiking pants that I like so much. I am hoping that this will allow me to make a muslin that actually fits better than the one's I've made.

To make a pattern, I've pulled out the Swedish tracing paper. It is more like a non-woven interfacing than paper, very sturdy, able to be sewn and pinned. The tissue paper I normally use will not work for this project due to that fact that it is too fragile and doesn't bend easily around a shape. If you want to buy Swedish tracing paper, just type that into Google or eBay. I usually buy it on eBay, when I need it.

I've started by pinning a section of the tracing paper along the side seam so that I can trace the back. Once pinned in place, I traced the side seam and then smoothed the paper over the remainder of the leg, pinning as I go in order to reach the other seams and continue tracing along the seam lines. I found that my sleeve board was helpful in the beginning to get the first seam pinned:

Once the entire piece was traced, I compared some key measurements to make sure everything was the same size and then compared this pattern to what I was using:

Hmmm. No wonder the muslins didn't fit quite right in the back. There's more fabric in the pants I like, which means they actually fit over the body I have. Take a look below at the back waist, it curves upward at center back. This how many of my altered patterns look, so I was not too surprised to see that the pants that fit were already like this.

After tracing off the front in the same manner, I compared the fronts. The new front is almost identical to the Patrones front. I wasn't surprised about that, as most of the fit problems were in the back.

Next week: a muslin using the new pattern. Maybe I'll get something that is better in fit!

Parting Shot: A Little Something. Every month or so, I go to our local antique gallery and see what's new just for fun. I'm always on the lookout for buttons, jewelry, patterns, gloves and other small accessories. This time I picked up this handkerchief, with some large, lovely roses.

The Great Vintage Shirt Project - Simplicity 4813 v. 1

The Back

I did get the back done today! Here it is, so far.

You'd think from the envelope art that the back yoke goes half way down the back. In reality, it doesn't. It is true that the yoke is a little deeper than a traditional yoke and part of that is due to the shaping.

Because of the shaping, the yoke is applied with a lapped seam. The yoke's seam allowance was turned under at the seam line, then carefully pinned to the back matching the raw edges. The yoke was then edge stitched to the back.

The back has a really deep inverted pleat at the back, it is about 3 1/2" wide.

I made one of the tab really quick to see how the whole thing would look. The tab does serve a functional purpose, as it is attached with buttons through all thickness of the deep pleat.


To further help the pleat stay in place, at the waistline a line of stitching is placed to keep everything where is should. Once tucked in, you'd probably never see the line of stitching and the blouse would magically look neat all the time.

Tomorrow: the weekly update on the trouser saga. I've traced a pattern from the hiking pants, and made a few discoveries.

Parting Shot: New and a Bonus. I got two new patterns from eBay today. They've got great details - one is for my daughter and one is for me. I'll do an Inside the Envelope on that Advance next week. The big bonus is that these patterns were auctioned for charity for Haiti relief efforts - 100% of the auction money for these patterns were donated to support those in need.

The Great Vintage Shirt Project - Simplicity 4813, v. 1, circa 1954

Not In Flannel

I've decided not to make the shirt in flannel, no matter how cozy it sounds. While it sounds like a great idea, it occurred to me at some time that my only immediate access to any kind of flannel was at the craft/fabric chain store in Concord. I then questioned the quality of the yard goods and concluded that I might not like the result with the potential for a lot of pills. Now, I know all flannel will pill to some degree or other, but I'm not sure I want to deal with the large pills of not so great flannel. Maybe it would improve after two or three washings and maybe it wouldn't. I decided not to take the chance at this point in time and revisit the idea in the fall. I got this fabric out of the collection instead:

Now that's a bright stripe, isn't it?

I got this piece from Marji who graciously sent it along with some other pieces as she's been redistributing her collection due to some changes in her life. It is a nice weight of cotton with the stripes print width wise, and stretch in the cross grain, too. I'm not 100% comfortable with the colors, as pink and purple are not on my list of colors for normal clothes (art garments are totally different in regards to color choices) or anything else I wear for that matter. This is pushing me a bit out of my comfort zone, but I'll give it a try as it is bright and cheery for this time of year. I will be making a white collar, cuffs and tabs to help tone done the color scheme. I might even do front button bands in white, I'm not sure yet.

I'm at least now cutting it out. That's not much progress, but considering I went to the gym, dropped off an alteration on the way home, cleaned a bathroom, finished a custom job for a client, hemmed a pair of pants for another client, went shopping for buttons for yet a different client, and went to play practice so far today, I think I'll call cutting out enough progress for one day. Tomorrow I'll get the rest of it cut out, and maybe I'll even assemble the back!

Parting Shot: Happy Birthday. Today my youngest child turned nine. That seems a whole lot older than eight, but it really isn't! We baked cookies last night to share with his class and he got a special sticker for the day.

A Puzzle With Direction

Now that I at least have an idea and a sense of direction for my Puzzle quilt, it is time for the next step. The next step has three parts, which work together. They are: one, draw some artwork to get a sense of the final piece and see what inspires me while doodling; two, to gather all the materials that might actually make it into the quilt; three, edit, edit, edit.

For this quilt, there is not any central artwork yet. Usually I start with a motif or single flower or something. In this case, I have several elements that I'm not sure if I want interpret literally, figuratively or just reinterpret elements from them. I'm leaning toward reinterpreting the elements at the moment, with just a dash of realism.

Finding the stuff in my studio is always an adventure. I always discover stuff that I forgot about. Hence, I've made a resolution this year to "go green" as much as possible with my art projects. I need to actually use what I have in the studio and see how little I can purchase to complete each project. I'm hoping to keep each project to less than $10.00 of new expenditures. Now, this is what I found:

There's lots of stuff there, including four or five colors of pink sequins which didn't make it into the picture, but very little will make it into the quilt. I find it easier to take a look at everything first, as new color and fiber combinations might jump out at me that I hadn't originally considered. Obviously, I'm taking a lot of inspiration from the vintage handkerchief, for some reason it resonates with me. I'm not sure if it is the colors, the overall style or what, but I like it. I did get more inspiration as I started pulling out the silk flowers, of course, then I had to dig out the templates (now that I've made them, I can use them in other projects!).

At least now I can start the editing process: colors that I'm just not feeling can be put away, fibers that won't work with the overall look can be put away, etc.

Like the planning, this part is crucial and time spent here is well spent to get the look I envision. Actually, this is the fun part, getting to shop and rediscover in my own collections. Next week, I hope to have the artwork finalized and the quilt started!

Parting Shot: Bare. Can you believe this? It is February in New England and I've got bare ground in my yard! I think some more southerly states have all my snow. If you've seen it, please send it back!

The Great Vintage Shirt Project - February

Simplicity 4813, V. 1

This month's shirt will be made from Simplicity 4813, view 1 - the blue one at the bottom - in white flannel. It is still cold here, and spring really won't be here for another couple of months, so I still need to stay warm. I really like the details and design of this pattern, so let's take a look at a few of those things and then I'll get into the construction later this week.

First, note that this was either owned by and/or made for Carol Spicer, who chose view 3, with the short sleeves:

As far as construction is concerned, there is a separate rather than cut on button placket:

The collar and collar stand are one piece, rather than two:

There are neat, decorative tabs on the front and back:

There are buttons and a snap on the front and linked buttons (again!) at the cuffs.


Tomorrow, an update on the Puzzle Quilt!

Parting Shot: Weekend Bargain, Cat not Included. While on yet another trip to Joann's for costume stuff to finish some headdresses (last count we had 42 costumes), I found this fabric. It is a linen/rayon that I found by carefully searching the clearance while also looking for cheap costume fabrics. There's four yards, so I'm hoping to make a vintage shirt dress out it this summer.

Practice Makes Perfect

I do have some art projects planned for this year in addition to the 3 Studios Quilt Challenge, so for the past few months, off and on I've been practicing my free motion quilting. Doing it well on a non-stitch regulated domestic machine is not easy and does require practice for it to be nice enough to actually claim that you did it and show it to others.

To free motion quilt, the machine's feed dogs are drop and the piece is then stitched using a special quilting or darning foot. Your hands move the fabric in the desired pattern and the stitch size is determined by machine speed and hand speed. Consistency in stitch length and tension are of great importance to having the overall piece look nice from a technical stand point.

I've been practicing a few different things, mostly feathers and background fillers, hence all the samples you see in this post.

While this may seem repetitive, it does serve a purpose. There truly is something to be said for muscle and brain memory when it comes to these patterns. The more you do them, the more automatic they become and then you can start to fine tune all the little things that take the quilting from good enough to excellent.

I think that "practice makes perfect" is true with a lot of the techniques in sewing - including fitting. (I need to remember that when I'm working on my umpteenth revision of my trousers!) I have a student currently working on a project that involves bound buttonholes, and she's now working on close to her twentieth bound buttonhole. She's getting better at it, too, the last set I saw was meticulously lined up and perfect. Welt pockets are another example, as is putting in any kind of zipper. The more you do, the better you get. Sure there will be plenty of duds along the way, and we all have off days where it's best just to walk away from the machine, but in the end a little practice doesn't hurt.

Parting Shot: Caught Again. Pix and Wellie are almost cozy. They're actually sharing the blanket and she's not hissing at him. He's certainly man of the house, but Pix does get R-E-S-P-E-C-T from him.

The Trouser Saga

In my quest for a pair of trousers that fit like my hiking pants, I have now made a second muslin. Which, fit better, but not quite right either. Sigh.

Back at the drawing board, I've decided to trace off the current back piece - the part that doesn't really fit right and make alterations on a fresh copy.

Armed with a third muslin, things still weren't right. I tried the hiking pants on again, thinking that I was crazy and that they just couldn't fit as good as I thought. No, they fit great, in fact, if they didn't have the crazy pockets, articulated knees and other hiking specific details, I'd wear them all the time. Reality is, you can't wear hiking pants everywhere. They are made for a specific activity, and that's their place in my wardrobe.

Don't get me wrong, the hiking pants are not perfect - they are still a bit big in the waist - everything that fits my lower half is too big in the waist, that's not a new revelation. Since they fit nicely in the seat and thigh, a real miracle with my body, I can deal with the waist. Now I am on a quest to get a pattern for these trousers.

Since this obviously isn't a "sew it in an afternoon" kind of project, my next move will be to take a pattern from the hiking pants. The Patrones pattern is very close - the front is exactly the same, the back is the same through the crotch curve, but different at the side seams and back yoke. I think I'll work on that next week. Right now, I have other projects that need my attention, namely things for clients and the Puzzle quilt, costumes and anything else that comes my way. I'm in no hurry for the trousers. I've lived this long with a pair I really, really liked!

Parting Shot: More Socks. My next knitting project is another pair of socks. It occurred to me that I did not have a red pair of socks. Strange, but true. I found a pattern I really liked for cabled socks and now that I've got the gauge right for this Cascade sock yarn, I'll have some red cabled socks.