Small Wardrobe Crisis

Posted on 07/04/2013 by aisling

I’m currently having a small wardrobe crisis at the moment.

Over the Easter weekend, I’ve gone from this:

to this:

Australia’s record-breaking summer and the UK’s winter lingering into autumn and spring respectively meant that the change in temperature from Australia to the UK was a lot more noticeable than when I moved from UK to Australia at Easter in 1995.

I’ve spent the last week gradually acclimatising. The first couple of days of being back in England I spent shivering from cold and from fatigue as a result of having spent the last month being stressed and over tired from moving combined with jet lag from moving 10 hours across time zones. British Summer Time started the day I arrived so at least there was only one clock change to deal with.

I’m currently living in a very small selection of clothes .Australia had not really started putting out the winter clothes when I left and the UK stores have their spring and summer stock. I have 3 long sleeve tops, two tops that can be layered over them, a very light jacket, a coat, and two jumpers that do not fit under the jacket or coat comfortably. I have plenty of scarves but only 1 pair of gloves. This is why I’m having a wardrobe crisis. Hopefully the weather shall keep improving here so this becomes less of an issue but I really need to do something about this before next winter.

One of the reasons I lack winter clothes, apart from haven’t not needed many for a while, comes back to issues of fit. All long sleeve tops restrict my arm movement and layering makes this even more uncomfortable. The fact that clothing is really too long in the upper body for me is even more noticeable in winter weight clothes. My coat is riding up badly on my neck to the point I’ve had headaches from wearing it. I’ve stayed indoors yesterday and today just to have a couple of headache free days. This is why I’ve made the sewlution to get a shirt and jacket to fit. Working out fitting and any sewing of new clothes is going to have to wait until the shipping container with the household contents arrives in the UK.

Once I get the fit down to make it worth my while to make winter clothes, I need to figure out what pieces I need and how many of each. The last time of I was living in England was in the early to mid 90s which, by looking at weather graphs, seem to have been warmer years then what England has been experiencing of late. I seem to have the problem of trying to figure out how to dress for weather that I’ve only experienced as a milder of version of. My pattern stash also seems to lack pieces suitable for layering. I have enough shirt and long sleeve top patterns as well as planty of outerwear but none really suitable for layering between them. So I need to find some patterns that I like enought to make and wear as well. Or stop being so picky about what I will and will not wear.

Lace Knitted Vest

Posted on 02/03/2013 by aisling

I have finally finished Mithril Vest (designed by Susan Pandorf ). I started this with the knitalong on Ravelry early last year but the whole glasses issues put a dampener on things. I have been knitting it in small spurts here and there which have finally added up to it being done.

I’ve used Handmaiden Fine Yarn Silk Twist and clear Toho beads with silver lining to make the waistcoat. I originally intended to knit it in a lighter grey colour and I ordered the two balls of yarn and beads at the same time from different suppliers to do so. The yarn in stock when I ordered was of different dye lots so I ended up changing to the charcoal colourway. I decided to stick with the lighter beads anyway. I was afraid it might be a bit too much contrast but in the end I really like it.

This next shot shows the vest pre-blocking. It always amazes me just how much lace knitting grows during blocking. I wasn’t able to block this as hard (or as symmetrically) as I needed to though.

I made a size M which should have been for a 42 inch bust giving 6 inches of ease. My gauge is slightly off in the finished vest. I got 4 stitches to 7/8 ” instead of to 1″ despite having gauge in the swatch. The gauge issues are possibly because I had problems blocking this out. I don’t have a set of blocking wires and I struggled to block this out symmetrically and fully. When I buy a set of blocking wires I’ll trying blocking this again. Ideally I would like the front and front side to measure another inch on each side. It would mean I could add a closure. I’m finding the fit of the back is good, and I’m happy with the fabric and the shaping of the front overall. I just think I need more room in the side front. That’s a common place for me to need more room so it’s not the fault of the pattern. If I were to knit this again I’d add either 4 or 8 stitches to the side front panel section to improve the fit rather than knit the next size up.

One hinderance to the side blocking out properly ,ay have been a change I made to the pattern. Parrotmum on Ravelry added a lovely rib border to the armholes of her vest and she kindly gave me some hints on how to do so for mine. I love the addition of this, even if it may have not helped with the fit. Another change I made was to use a three-needle bind off for the shoulders and back of the neck. I just find it very difficult to achieve a nice clean finish with bind off and then sewing together. That change meant that a two-stage block was needed over the shoulder area but I do think that it did work out well.

The vest used one complete ball and 8 grams of a second ball of yarn so approximately 440 metres. 8 grams knitted the second front top half starting from the base of the armhole (basically at he point you rejoin the yarn after dividing for the armholes). This has left me with a substantial 90 grams of the second ball so I’ve cast on a shawlette to finish off the yarn.

A Pair of 1940s Pyjamas

Posted on 09/02/2013 by aisling

I seem to have lost January somehow when it came to updating the blog. I have several blog posts in various stages of completion which is much like the sewing and knitting projects lying around the house. The last few week have been disorganised chaos due to trying to organise things so we can move. Most of the problem has been the time zone difference between here and the UK. Once DH has arrived home and dinner has been cooked it’s about 9:00 am UK time which means emails and phone calls start and need dealing with asap. There has been several nights where he has been on the phone or email till midnight and I’m usually up with him as geographical reference and support. It has made for some very long days. I’m not sure whether this week is going to be quieter with DH being in England as I may end up fielding phone calls from him instead.

Anyway, the state of sewing and knitting (and associated blog posts) looks like this: The dressing gown is still almost finished but requires DH to have time to finish pinning the hem; the lace knitted waistcoat was finished in January but requires DH to have time to photograph it on me; my first attempt at the Sewlution is currently being traced out and occupying the lounge room floor; and I didn’t quite finish DH’s jumper (sweater if you use American English) in time for his flight and it only needs the other half of the seaming done. I did, however, finish a pair of pyjamas that could be easily shared.

The pattern is McCall 6718 issued circa 1947. I picked this pattern as I thought it would make good use of the fabric scraps left over from making the dressing gown. I made the short version but even then I had to make a few modifications to the pattern to be able to cut it out of the scraps I had. I changed the top’s cut on facing to a sewn on facing , and I also shortened the length of the top 8cm and the shorts 5 cm.The top is still quite long at 62 cm, and the shorts measure 51 cm long and sit at the natural waist.

I only attempted to match along centre front and the front yokes of the top but somehow I misjudged it. I wonder if it is because the pattern uses imperial measurements and the sewing machine I used is only marked in metric or perhaps it is because I wasn’t careful with tracing off. The original pattern has a double line that you cut through the centre of as you cut out the fabric and I find tracing a void instead of a line is painful. The shoulders don’t fit properly as per usual. I had to lower the back neckline but I really should have done a proper alteration for an over erect back as the shoulder seam is sitting too far forward at the neck edge but is in the right position at the arm edge.

I graded up the pyjama bottoms one size as I wanted a touch more wearing ease. The shorts are gathered into the waistband by the use of sewn tucks. For closure there is a continuous lap in the left side seam and buttoned waistband.

The non-elastic waistband seems like an advantage to me as the first thing that always goes in any pyjamas I own is the elastic whilst the fabric is in still good condition. I’ll have to wear the pyjamas a few times before I decide if that waistband is really a better idea then an elasticated waistband. The crotch seam of the pyjamas is low so I didn’t bother to lengthen between waist and hip like I usually do in modern patterns. Even without those adjustments, the crotch seam is lower than every pair of store-bought pyjamas I’ve own. DH says they look like a shorts version of culottes.

Plans for 2013

Posted on 04/01/2013 by aisling

I was not intending to make any sewing resolutions or craft related goals for this year after last year’s poor showing. I did not get as much sewing done in 2012 as I would have like and it wasn’t for lack of time. I started having problems with my computer glasses in February last year and I still don’t have a new pair that is right for me. My computer glasses are the same pair I use for crafting and sewing so no useful pair of computer glasses is a real obstacle. It’s mostly not my optometrist fault that it’s taken so long as I needed to see my specialist and change the medication regime for my vision disorder. The latest problem has been that my new pair of glasses I picked up early November have been not usable despite the prescription being correct. The suspicion is that I can no longer use multifocal lens and need a single focal lens. I have a pair of those on order and should have them by the end of the month. Fingers crossed that this works because it’s being a long, frustrating twelve months between the sewing and the computer usage problems.

Despite all this and intentions otherwise, when Karen posted on her her blog that she had created a “2013 Jar Of Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” for people to submit a Sewlution for 2013 into and that people will be held to account at the end of the year I decided why not.

I decided my Sewlution would be what I keep saying I need to do at some point soon, which is to learn to fit my shoulders properly. I also said that I would prove that I have achieved fit by making a modern shirt and modern jacket. Modern is an important word here because I have a lot less problems with fitting the 1940s patterns with slightly extended shoulder and j-shaped armscye. In other words, I can’t cheat by using old patterns.

That shirt and jacket mentioned in the Sewlution will also help me put my Christmas presents to good use.

My parents gave me the point presser and my husband gave me the sleeve board. It was a very pleasant surprise to receive sewing related gifts. DH tells me he expects to see wonderful things being made with it.

The smart thing to do would have been to stop with the planning right about now but no, I’ve started now and so I still have more ideas and plans for 2013.

Another thing I’d like to do this year is to investigate magnifying glasses and the like to see if there is something I can use so I’m not completely dependent on glasses. The main problem is the fact that I use tinted anti-glare lens and an uncoated lens bounces too much light around. That’s going to take some time and effort. And it’s also going to important for two other things I have planned.

The first thing is that I’ve signed up for the Cabinet of Curiosities class run by Thistle Threads. I’m really excited by this and at the same time rather daunted by what I’ve just committed myself to. I have signed up for part 1, which is “gives all the skills you need to design and embroider a low-relief casket using five small projects to teach the techniques. One of the most important set of skills is how to cover a small box with the papers and embroidery”. The casket is seventeenth century in style and covered with embroidery. It’s important to note that the 18 month course only teach the skills to make such a casket. The actual embroidering of pieces for the casket and the making of the casket is done after the classes finish. This is very much a long-term project and I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes me 3-5 years to finish the casket in its entirety. It’s a significant time commitment to make to a project.

The second thing I would also like at some point this year to set up my lace pillow again. I think i should still be able to make lace once I can sort out some sort of magnification but I really should sit down and see if it is still possible with my vision disorder. It is an assessment year for The Lace Guild and creating the portfolio required at Torchon intermediate level would provide some sort of structure to follow in dusting off my skills and seeing where I’m at with my lace making. If I have a good year I may even be able to complete the two pieces required for assessment submission as well.

And while I’m here I might as well make plans on the knitting front, I’m planning to work through my backlog of projects and buy no more yarn, including Starmore kits, for major projects with one exception. I was going to say no more knitalongs as well but I know if Sunflower Designs hosts another knitalong that I will break that resolution rather quickly. So my get-of-jail-card to both the no yarn buying and no knitalongs is valid for one knitalong hosted by Sunflower Designs.

So much for no plans.

Spruce Cape

Posted on 20/12/2012 by aisling

This particularly project was inspired the need to get the volume of space occupied by my fabric stash down in anticpating of potentially moving moving next year. Coating by its nature is a bulky fabric so this piece of spruce wool caoting was one of the first pieces of fabric to be targeted for use. It’s not a colour neither I nor my husband would wear in a coat. I misjudged the colour when buying it. Evetually i settled on the idea of making Vogue 7974, now out of print. The pattern admittedly is designed for lightweight woollens and double knit, and not coating but I thought it would work.

After sewing it up, I’m more pleased with choice of pattern then I thought it would be. I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it. In some ways it’s a heavier version of the wrap I use whilst sitting at the computer and that isn’t quite heavy enough at midwinter in the poorly insulated house I live in. One big improvement on this cape compared to that wrap is the way the collar will cover my neck and keep it warm (my hair is too short to). The snap fastening down the front means it won’t shift open either and the shoulder seams are long enough to cover my wrists but short enough to leave my hands free. I can even play my hognose psaltery in this without the cape getting in the way of the strings. I think it will be great for camping events where I can wear it as a cape or use it as a blanket at night. In short I think this is a win.

Neither this nor the next photo shows the spruce colour of the cape well. There is a lot more green in the colour of the cape then shown in the photos. I don’t have enough Photoshop knowledge to adjust the colour either.

I washed the fabric on the wool cycle a couple of times until it didn’t shrink anymore so it would be easy to clean. I made a M (12-14) as I had sometime ago cut this pattern out to my bust size, something I would never do now. At least that saved me tracing off huge pattern pieces. If I hadn’t cut this to a medium I would have traced off an extra small for the neck and made adjustments for my over straight posture.

I didn’t have quite the recommended yardage for the long view but with some thought I managed to cut it out anyway. I cut the cape with such that if this fabric had a strongly visible nap it would be running one direction on the front and the other direction on the back. I did cut the front and back to be consistent with direction though. It’s only noticeable on the wrong side of the fabric as the rough side feels different depending which way you stroke it. I also created a design feature in the centre front panels to facilitate cutting out. I needed to split the centre front panel so I drew a line straight across at the marked waistline to add a new seamline. Though if you look at the photos, the waistline is actually sitting in line with the top of my hips. I did debate making a detachable hood out of the remnants for this but in the end I decided that it would not be comfortable to wear with the way the collar lies.

The only quibble I have with instructions is partly as a result of the choice of my fabric. The pattern has you assemble the front panels together and then sew the front to back at the shoulder seams. Depending on which shoulder seam you sewed first, this means you end up with either 1/2or 3/4 of the cape crammed into the harp area of the machine. If I was doing this again I would start at centre front and then work my way anti-clockwise (assuming directional sewing from hem to neck) through the centre front and shoulder seams until I arrived back at the centre front to minimise the amount of fabric wrestling.

In my last post I mentioned that I was having a run on aggravating sewing projects. Well, this one also had a hiccup. I washed the cape after making to make sure it was clean for storage and when I was hanging it out to dry I noticed that in one spot a thread had snapped in the weave creating a pinprick of a hole and in another place a straight light had bisected three threads. I pulled some threads out of the remnants and used them to mend it. I would like things to stay wearable after finishing them. The other aggravating thing about this project is the dye transfers when pressing. My pressing cloths have green patches all over it. I suspect this is why the seams areas are lighter than the rest of the cape. It is also why the cape looks like the pressing was a bit half-hearted. I didn’t want to create lighter spots from ironing.

Still, I’m pleased with it and I think I’ll get the wear out of it.

A Black Meringue

Posted on 04/12/2012 by aisling

There were no blog posts for November because I hit a serious of aggravating sewing projects. I finished this skirt early November and it ended up in the timeout corner for about 3 weeks as I needed to fix it.

The pattern is Colette’s Meringue, taken from the Colette Sewing Handbook released last year. Simple A-line skirt with a scalloped hem. I picked up the book more for the patterns then as a reference. I’ll eventually post a book review once I’ve made a couple more patterns from it.

The fabric is a black cotton sateen twill from Gorgeous fabrics. I wish I had bought more of this as it is lovely but I will have to make do with the leftovers from this project. The yardage listed for the skirt is the same for both 115cm and 150 cm width and the same without nap layout is given for both fabric widths. I recommend checking to see if you really need the amount of fabric specified, particularly if you are using the wider width fabrics. For my size, the specified yardage was 2 metres but I only used 90 cm of 147 cm wide fabric with a nap layout. I think that a size 10 and maybe a 12 would be able to do exactly the same as i did on that width.

I made a size 6 with a 3 cm long lower torso adjustment located halfway through the darts, and then shortened the skirt between dart and hem to keep the overall skirt length. I really need to figure out what are the best skirt lengths on me. I don’t think this skirt is the right length; it needs to go either shorter or longer but I’m not sure which. I would put photos up of me wearing the skirt but I can’t currently have no shoes suitable for wearing with skirts. Wrong shoes make the skirt look even more wrong.

I skimmed the instructions to see the order of sewing and found the instructions to detailed and fine. I did add the step of understitching the waist facing on my skirt. I admit that this comment is picky but there is also an inconsistency with the conversion values of imperial fabric widths to metric: p. 54 gives 60″ as 150 cm and pg. 55 gives 60″ as 152 cm. Incorrect numbers irritate me as I find it impossible to ignore them. I use to work as an internal auditor checking accounts and I think that may have left its mark.

I mentioned that this skirt ended up in the timeout corner. I had no problems sewing the skirt and I was very pleased with my nicely, rounded scallops. I finished the skirt and washed it to get the chalk marks out of it. Somehow, during washing the skirt frayed through the 6mm of trimmed seam allowance and into the skirt proper. The seam allowance was enclosed within the facing and I was careful not to over trim. I have no idea why this occurred. It did only fray at the apex of the curve, where the trimming line was parallel to the weft, or very close to parallel. After leaving it for a couple of weeks I unpicked the catch stitch, retraced the seamline 1.5cm higher, sewed the seam, trimmed it exactly as before and zigzag stitch around just the apex of each scallop. Of course, the hem is not as good as the first time and is a little less smoothly rounded. I washed the skirt again and it survived with no problems. It really is discouraging when you finish a project and then need to mend it before you get a chance to wear it. The slight change in length hasn’t made the skirt look or any better or worse on me so that is at least something. It’s possibly just as well this skirt is going into the wardrobe and needs to wait for me to buy skirt shoes so it can be worn.

I’m mostly happy with this project. I enjoyed sewing it the first time and the fabric is lovely. I’m just not sure that the length is right for me.

And just some code so I can claim my blog on Bloglovin
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Butterick 4150 in Progress

Posted on 28/10/2012 by aisling

So after dissecting the pattern in my previous posts (here, here, and here), I’ve traced it the pattern, and started sewing it up.

The Fabric

I decided not to take the luxury negligée approach and instead I decided to make this dressing gown out of a cotton fabric that would be washable, take wear and tear and not need ironing to look presentable. The catch was it also need to drape and gather well. I originally intended something like a brushed cotton twill or similar but after reading either a blog post or comment on Dress A Day about the gathering properties of Liberty of London corduroy, I ended up buying Kingly cord in Junya Shirako pattern (colourway B).

The background of the fabric in the scan is slightly off; the background colour is dark navy, not black.

I should note that this pattern doesn’t really need 6 m of 140 cm wide fabric. The pattern called for 5 1/2 yards of 35 inch wide fabric or 5 1/8 yards of 39 inch fabric with the assumption that you will piece the skirt. The width of the Liberty Kingly cord meant that I didn’t need to piece the skirt and I sort of miscalculated how much fabric I needed when converting fabric widths and pattern layouts. The mistake did work in my favour as I had forgotten to allow for the size of the pattern repeat, which is 44 cm x 22 cm, and that there is only just over three pattern repeats across the width of the fabric. I also made three mistakes when pattern matching for laying out the pattern and didn’t realise till I cut the pieces out. Luckily I was able to reuse the skirt piece to cut out other pieces. So between mishaps and pattern matching I have a lot of large scraps left over as a result and there is almost 1.5 metres I haven’t cut into yet.

Grading Notes

This is the first time I’ve graded a pattern up. I figured a first attempt on a dressing gown meant I didn’t have to be very picky about fit to get a decent result and that it would be a less stressful way of learning to grade up. I followed the instructions on the Threads site, which are here and here. I effectively graded up 1.5 sizes around the bust and 2 sizes around the waist and hips. The grading lines through the shoulders went through gathered sections of the bodice pattern pieces. I used the gathering ratios when make those alterations to make sure that gathers remained as full.

I also made corresponding changes to the sleeve but I didn’t grade up the cuff as it fitted me perfectly and the sleeve was heavily gathered into the cuff anyway. I only made the grade alterations sideways not lengthways on the bodice and this worked extremely well in my favour. I barely had any fitting to do as there were none of my usual lengthways alterations. I did lengthen the sleeve 2 cm.

I decided not to alter the shape of the neckline at this stage of grading or in the calico mockup I made to check fit. I checked the neckline after sewing on the skirt and sleeves to the bodice but before sewing on the facing. I wanted to see how the weight of the skirt would pull on the bodice. I ended up lowering the back neckline 1.5 cm and took a slither off each side. In hindsight, I possibly should have taken a smidge more. If I keep bulking up around my neck and shoulders with pilates I may have to make this adjustment anyway.

I widened the seam allowances to 2.5 cm on the bodice sides and the skirt back just in case. During the construction I decided to utilise the extra allowances, and widen through the back 1 cm on each side seam and let out the back skirt seam a corresponding amount. It fitted okay, but I really wasn’t happy with the small amount of ease the pattern had built into the waist.

The Progress of the Dressing Gown

I must admit that I’m only loosely following the work outline in the instructions as I made a calico mockup for the first fitting to check that I had graded everything up okay. I’m at the point were it just needs only a few things to finish it off.

The current state of the dressing gown. It’s hard to see the seamlines and detailing in a photo because of the print and it loses all shaping on the hanger. As long it looks good on, I don’t care about hanger appeal.

I’m now letting it hang for a week before hemming. Other things I need to do include selecting buttons and making buttonholes, make and attach the internal ties, cut and hem the sash, and finally I need to figure out how thick the shoulder pads need to be and finish them off. I seem to have acquired a fitting issue on the shoulders between mockup and finished version. Cutting out the sash is dependent on cutting another project, pyjamas, out of the scraps at the same time to make best use of them. I’ve only recently ordered the pattern and it has not arrived yet.

So basically, I’m leaving the dressing gown alone until I make the pyjamas and I can’t make the pyjamas until the pattern arrives. Luckily, I need to finish this or else it would be in danger of becoming a UFO.

A Few Thoughts on BMV Membership.

Posted on 19/10/2012 by aisling

Butterick/McCall/Vogue have a membership option for buying patterns on their website. I purchased a membership last year for us$9.99 as I had a rather long wish list and wanted to get them before Vogue discontinued them. Over the last few years, I haven’t been buying the patterns on my wish list because most of them were au$30 dollars and they tended to go on sale for au$12.00-$15.00, which is a bit more than I can currently afford to pay for buying patterns that I may use and if there is a cheaper way to get these patterns I’ll take it. I also ending purchasing a magazine subscription whilst my membership was active, as there was, and is, a continuing series of articles by Claire Shaeffer on the cardigan jacket and I was curious enough to see what the magazine was like in general.

I received good value out of my membership last year because my wish list had grown so long and because of the magazine subscription. I bought my membership at us$9.99. I saved us$12.30 on an us$82.00 subscription to Vogue Pattern Magazine and I saved us$10.84 on buying 20 patterns. The percentage that members saved on patterns did vary over my membership. In June of last year I saved 39 cents on a us$3.88 pattern but by November it was 58 cents. For those curious about how much I spent to get that pattern discount, I ended up buying: 7 patterns at us$3.88 minus $0.39 discount; 7 patterns at us $3.88 minus $0.58 discount; 3 at us$3.99 minus $0.60 discount; 2 at us$4.99 minus $0.75 discount; 1 at us$5.00 less 0.75 discount. This gives a total of us$76.28 before a discount of $10.84. So I would have broken even on membership on buying either the patterns or the magazine.

Currently, I’m not renewing my membership for several reasons. Value for money is a small part of it. I’m unlikely to renew the magazine. I’m not a magazine person, I’m enjoying the magazines but not enough to renew it. I also don’t buy that many patterns each year. Of the BMV patterns, I almost exclusively buy Vogue. I buy all the Claire Shaeffer Patterns, all pre-1950 Vintage Vogue patterns, plus a small handful each for the remainder of the catalogue. I was buying Butterick Retro but I have put that idea on hold for the time being. My pattern inventory shows that I have 9 Vogue patterns for each year issued in 2005, 2006, 2007, & 2010 , 5 Vogue pattern that were issued in 2005, and 6 Vogue patterns that were issued in 2009 and 2011. It’s pretty safe to say that 20 patterns in one year is anomaly caused by not purchasing patterns and I’m unlikely as a result to get value for money for membership in terms of pattern discount at the rate I purchase patterns.

The biggest reason is I’m not happy with the postage charges and as a result I do not want to give BMV anymore spare money than necessary. As I am in Australia, I’m charged the Rest of the World rates which are for 1-3 patterns us$15.00, for 4-7 patterns the charge is us$25.00, and for 8-15 us$55.00. I usually order in lots of 3 or 7 to make best use of the postage. This either adds us$5.00 or us$3.57 to the cost of each pattern, so approximately doubles the cost of any pattern at sale price. That would not be so bad if the postage charges were reasonable as it would still be cheaper than buying patterns in Australia with the current exchange rate.

I’ve kept my envelopes from the 6 orders I’ve made from Vogue patterns and the discrepancy between what I’m charged and what is actually on the envelopes I do not find reasonable. If there is a good explanation for this, I would love to know it.

These are the envelopes from when I’ve ordered three patterns at a time. Vogue charged me us$15.00 per order. The envelopes are marked us$10.76 (posted 30 Mar 2011), us$7.39 (posted 31 Aug 2011), and us$10.03 (posted 15 Jun 2012). If you allow handling and packaging fees there is an overcharge, particularly on the August order. I say packaging fee, but all the packaging is is a plain, unpadded yellow envelope. Oh and in the Jun 2012 order there were actually a couple of promotional brochures contributing to the weight as well.

And these are the orders where I’ve purchased 7 patterns. For these orders I was charged us$25.00 shipping per order. The envelopes are marked us$11.39 (posted 28 Jun 2011), us$11.39 (posted 27 Sep 2011), and us$11.60 (posted 02 Jul 2012). For full transparency in the July order I actually order 7 patterns but only received 6 patterns due to stock issues but there were again a couple of promotional brochures in that shipment contributing to the weight as well. If these envelopes are accurate in the costs incurred for them to ship my patterns to me, and even if you allow handling and packaging fees I cannot see how it is reasonable to charge me $25.00 for these orders.

I don’t mind paying for shipping as I prefer to buy things by mail order. If I buy things in person from a store it’s going to cost me about au$11.50 in public transport fares to do so and I run the risk of making myself ill for a couple of days with a migraine because of store lighting. What I do mind is being charged over the odds for shipping.

Edited 20 October to change “handling fee” to “handling and packaging fees”

Butterick 4150 & 5152 Instructions

Posted on 05/10/2012 by aisling

Continuing on from my last posts (part one and two ) comparing Butterick 4150 with its reissue Butterick 5152. To keep this post short, I’ve kept only to comparing construction methods in this post.

4150 sets out a work outline, that includes two fittings.

The Construction Details (i.e. the step by step illustrated instructions) instructions have you baste the sleeves into the bodice and the waist seam for the second fitting and specify when to do a second fitting. The reissue does not have any mention of basting seams or even fitting.

The next difference is the vintage instructions have you construct the skirt first and then the bodice. The reissue has you construct the bodice first then the skirt.

The vintage pattern has one back yoke and a pair of front yokes cut out. These are then attached to the bodice pieces by a lapped seam and specify to whip stitch the seam to finish. The neckline edge is finished with facings later. The reissue has two sets of yokes cut out.The first set of yokes are attached to the bodices pieces, and to each other at the shoulders, using a standard seam.The second set of yoke pieces have shoulder seams sewn, lower edge and front side edge seam allowances folded down, the necklines edges of the two yokes sewn together and then flipped, and then folded edges of the yokes slipstitched down. This means when the sleeve is sewn in part of the bodice is actually double fabric. Personally, I’d rather deal with the original lapped seam as I find it a lot less work and easier to achieve a better result.

The opening edge in the original is finished by separate back and front bodice facings and cut on for the skirt. In the reissue, the raw edges are enclosed by the yoke sandwich and a narrow hem along the remainder of the bodice and skirt.

The reissue has the sleeve placket created as a narrow hem in the sleeve seam. In the original issue of the dressing gown a rectangular placket is used to create a facing for the placket as shown in the instructions. I have a disconcerting feeling that my terminology might be off at this point as I’m struggling for the right description of this type of placket. What do you call this type of placket?

The buttonhole in the cuff is hand worked in the original issue. In the reissue, the cuff is closed by two hooks and eyes.

The original issue of the pattern has the sleeve set in after it has been shrunk to fit. The reissue has the sleeve head eased in.

The reissue has a hook attached at each front edge waist seam and a corresponding eye on the side waist seams. The sash has a centre back seam and in all views is narrow hemmed. In the original issue of the pattern there are ribbons attached at the inside right underarm seam and left front and the outside overlap is held shut by the sash. The sash is self-lined in the negligée view and narrow hemmed in the housecoat views.

I do think that the original issue of the pattern generally has the better techniques and finish. I do think the hand worked buttonhole is a result of the type of sewing machines available than a preference for a hand finished buttonholer. I’m now curious as to when buttonhole attachments became available for machines. The original does stress fitting more than the reissue. I’m not sure how much longer it would take to sew the original than the reissue if you followed the instructions to the letter. My suspicion is that it would not take much more time. The sleeve placket in the original would take a bit longer but I think the method for the yoke in the original might actually be quicker then in the reissue.

Butterick 4150 & 5152 part II

Posted on 01/10/2012 by aisling

In my previous post, I compared the bodice pattern pieces for Butterick 4150 and Butterick 5152. In this post I’m going to look at the sleeve, skirt, and sash. I’m comparing the patterns using the pieces drafted for a size 32″ bust. This works out to a 1940s 14 (32B-26.5W-35H) and mostly a modern 10 (32.5B-25W-34.5H). The waistline of a modern size 12 is closer at 26.5″ is closer to the 1940s 14 then the modern 10 so I’ve used the modern 12 to compare the waistlines. Any measurements are taken to the nearest 0.5 cm and include seam allowances where applicable.

The Sleeves
My previous post comparing the bodice pieces showed the differences in the shape of the armhole between original and reissue, so it’s expected that the sleeve head will be a little different in each version. The reissue also has two separate sleeve pieces, one for each sleeve length, where as the original has one piece with a cutting line for the short sleeve.

This is a comparison of the short sleeve length. I’ve aligned the pieces along the hem line and at the top centre of the sleeve head. The grainlines aren’t quite parallel. The length looks about the same but I’m not sure if there is a difference in hem width. The instructions for the original say to turn up to adjusted width with specifying how wide the hem is intended to be. The original sleeve pattern is 9 cm wider along the sleeve hemline. At the top of the sleeve seam it’s about 5 cm wider.

The pattern pieces are aligned at the top centre of the sleeve head. with grainlines parallel. Considering the short sleeve is fuller in the original then the reissue, it’s interesting to see that in the comparison of the long sleeve pattern pieces that the reissue is a much fuller sleeve then in the original release. The reissue’s sleeve is more bell-shaped, and is about 19cm wider at the wrist and 6 cm longer in the length. Interestingly, the reissue has a slightly different sleeve head shape for each sleeve length.

The cuff is about 1.5 cm wider and longer in the original. It’s a little difficult to be exact as this piece is suffering from accidental curving of edges. The closure is different between versions. The cuff overlaps and closes with a button in the original where as in the reissue the cuff meets edge to edge and closes with two hooks and eyes.

The Skirt
There is no way I can photograph the skirt pieces in a meaningful manner, so I have scanned and annotated the schematic of the skirt pieces instead. When I was measuring the reissue I used the size 12 waist for comparison for the reasons given above.

This is the skirt pattern piece for the original issue of the pattern. There is only one pattern piece with centre back seam, and when cutting out you are to piece the fabric to obtain the width needed for the skirt. The pattern piece also has a cut on facing, 4cm wide including allowances, to match the facing used for the bodice. The left hand edge is the back seam and includes seam allowance. The pattern piece measures 14 cm from centre front to edge of facing. The back measures 17 cm from back to side seam dot. The entire top edge from pattern piece edge to pattern piece edge measures 48 cm. I’ve measured along the edge of the pattern piece and not along the seam line as I found it difficult to get a precise measurement. The grainline is parallel to centre front but almost on true bias at the back seam.

The reissue uses different pattern pieces for the front and back, has side seams but no back seam. Piece 11 is the skirt front and measures 34.5 along the top edge from side seam to front edge. From centre front to front edge, the pieces measures 14.5 cm include a narrow seam allowance, meaning that the overlap at the front is about 4cm wider then the original. Piece 12 is the back and is cut out on the fold. In the reissue both the centre front and centre back are on the centre grain unlike the original I’ve measured along the edge of the pattern pieces and not along the seam line as I found it difficult to get a precise measurement.

If my maths is correct, then the original has approximately 2.5 cm of ease, excluding front overlap, on the waist and the reissue has 10 cm of ease. I’ve compared the final measurements to each patterns stated waist. The original has a much wider hem, 271 cm, excluding allowances and overlap, compared to 237 in the original. The original has a much a-line shape compared to the reissue.

The reissue has a pocket piece which is not included in the original issue of the pattern, possibly because it’s somewhat difficult to put pockets in the skirt without side seams.

The Sash
The sash is a fairly simple piece and a bit awkward to photograph so I’ve measure it instead. It’s an almost rectangle in shape, one short edge is slopes to created a tapered point on the sash. The reissue’s pattern piece measures 19cm wide and 98 cm (top edge)/87 cm( bottom edge) long. The sash has a tapered point. The original’s pattern piece measures 21 cm wide and 92 cm (top edge)/77cm (bottom edge) long; again it has a tapered point. The main difference between the two sashes is in the construction. The original cut on a crosswise fold at the centre back and the reissue has a centre back seam. IT probably be possible to cut the sash on the fold with a different cutting layout.

Next Up
Next up is a post about making the robe. I’ll be making 4150 but adding comments about some interesting differences in construction between the original and reissue. I have to grade up this pattern at least one, if not two sizes first and check the bodice length.