I just finished making my 1940's trousers from a vintage Simplicity pattern, and I love them! The pattern came with pieces for a pair of trousers, overalls, as well as a blouse/jacket. I decided to make the trousers, since they are something that I can wear in my everyday life. I also wanted a pair of trousers to bring with me to Germany, so this worked out perfectly!

The pants are made of a light-weight mens suiting wool in grey check. This is one of the fabrics that I got the last time I went to Bhatia, and the sheen to it is beautiful! It also drapes very nicely, so I thought it would be nice for these. They close with 5 vintage buttons that I had in my stash.

I am so pleased with how these turned out! They are super comfortable, and I can see myself wearing them a ton through fall and winter. The pattern was nice and easy to follow, and it only took me a few days of actually working on them to finish the trousers.

These pictures were taken in front of a World War Two era tank that we have in front of our little museum where I live.

Thanks for reading! My next project that I have been working on should be up in the next couple of weeks, although we are going somewhere pretty specific to take pictures, so stay tuned!

​~K

I made my way over to the Bhatia Cloth House for the first time last weekend, and I am so thrilled with the things that I found!

The Cloth House was really beautiful and they had tons of gorgeous fabrics, as well as sarees and other fancy dress. The costumer service was really lovely, and I can't wait to make my way over there again to pick up more fabric!

I do have plans for all of the pieces that I picked up, but the only plan I will tell you about is for the mens suiting. 

Not only did I pick up fabric from the Cloth House, but I also ordered a few patterns not long ago. The 1940s pants are what I will be making with the mens suiting wool, and there is so much of it that I am hoping to also get a pencil skirt or blazer out of it!

Both of the patterns are from Simplicity. I have ordered a few patterns from Simplicity now, and they have always been great. The patterns have come quite quickly every time as well, which is very nice when ordering things online!

And there is more!
My boyfriend just got back from Vietnam, and he brought me back such beautiful things! He had an Ao Dai (traditional clothing from Vietnam) made for me, and I was given the extra fabric left over from that along with another chunk of fabric!

Stay tuned for lots of exciting new projects!

​~K

I filmed the whole process of making my 1940s styled dress from yesterdays post. If you have any questions about the process, or if you want to see more videos like this, let me know! To see more photos of the finished dress, click here.
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The music is from bensound.com

~K

I have finally finished my wool suiting 1940s dress that I have been planning on for a while, and I am really pleased with how it turned out!

The dress pattern that I used is the Vintage Vogue pattern V9082. The whole pattern fit very well, and the only adjustments that I had to make were to the darts. That was an easy fix to ensure that it fit me perfectly, and the rest of the dress went together quickly.

The pattern called for a hidden zipper, but I prefer to set the zipper in normally because that makes it stronger, and I have had the issue of hidden zippers getting caught.

One detail that I am very proud of is the matched front panels. This happened completely by accident, and I love how it looks.

The sleeves have two pleats in them to create a 1940s silhouette without any padding. 

There are so many photos that I like from the photo shoot, so I will put a break and you can see more if you would like.
​Also, stay tuned for a video about how I made this dress over the next few days!

Since school ended recently (and I am done for good! Until college...), I have been working on a few projects. The first one, which I have brought up before on my blog in my Fabric Haul post, is a late 1940s styled dress with a matching blazer. This one has been a bit weird to work on since its been so warm lately and I am making the set out of a wool suiting. However, I love the fabric that I chose out, and can't wait to keep working on it. This one I am actually going to make a video of me sewing it, so you can see some of my process when it comes to sewing more 'modern' clothes.

Another thing that I have been working on is planning for next years MakeFashion show. The call for proposals is coming up quickly, so I have been drawing out my ideas as well as coming up with a budget. I posted a short video of me working on one of the sketches on my Instagram. I have been using these Artist's Loft Dual Tip Markers, which are blend-able markers slightly similar to Copic Markers, and I am loving them!

I have also finished my regency stays, which I had mentioned a while ago, and I will do a post on them once I have some good photos.

~K

A few weeks ago I picked up a few things for new projects. I have had a gift card from my boyfriend and his family to Fabricland for months now, so I finally got to use it! 
The first thing that I grabbed, which I was originally planning for, was a wool blend for a 1940's pattern that I have been wanting to make since the beginning of the year.

I am thrilled with the fabric that we found, so I will be making both the dress and the matching blazer with it some time in the near future. I also picked up all of the things that I will need to finish the dress: a zipper, belt buckle, and some buttons.

The next thing that I picked up I am very excited about! American Duchess just released their new pattern, inspired by the Red Dress from Outlander. I was impressed by their last patterns, so I didn't hesitate to grab this one. 

It comes with patterns for a separate top and skirt, along with a pannier pattern, which I will be putting to good use! Another thing that I am thrilled to have picked up was a dress form! I have wanted a dress form for ages, so I ended up choosing that for my grad gift. 

The last thing that I got was actually a gift. This is one of the most amazing gifts that I have gotten, and I love how it looks in my little sewing room.

A family friend was getting rid of a few things, and she gave me this beautiful sewing machine! Since it came with all of its extra parts, I am hoping to be able to get it working so that I can sew with it.
I have been working on a few things to get ready for grad lately, but once grad is over, I will start working on some new projects that I have been planning. Also, we went to the Jane Austen ball last weekend, so stay tuned to see some photos from it!
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~Kate