Mod Mini Skirt Project: Classic Plaid Skirt

It's a classic plaid skirt...What else can I say? I love it : - )


More elaborate projects to come soon...honestly, I'm too much in the lazy days of summer at the moment to post on anything more complicated.



Happy sewing!
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Black & White Arrow Pop Art Skirt (APPLIQUE)

One of my main inspiration pictures-- I love the pop art quality that the arrow applique brings to the skirt-- also like that "circle" applique skirt in the background.
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The modern day company E.C. Star Clothing produced this arrow skirt
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Making the black corduroy skirt
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I had never attempted applique, but I really wanted to try it. I kept encountering pictures of mod dresses and skirts in which applique made the fashions look like pop art. Pictures of such fashions are included to illustrate my point.

More than once, I encountered skirts and dresses that had "arrows" appliqued onto them. I fell in love with the concept and was anxious to try my hand at making a dress or skirt with arrows appliqued for pop art effect.

Using my paper templates to cut out felt arrows
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A pile of my felt arrows/paper templates
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Right away I recognized that if I was going to applique, I probably did not want a stretchy fabric. Something stable would be easier, because memories of trying to sew pockets on stretchy fabrics still haunt me. The shifting, my god, the shifting!

And right away, I realized that I wanted to start with something simple like a skirt. So, as much as I don't like the fabrics at Joann's, I picked up some black corduroy from them, because I knew that would be a good fabric for a skirt and stable due to its lack of stretchiness. I looked online initially, but I didn't see any vintage that caught my eye. Luckily, I do not regret my choice to buy from them. Their corduroy was not a problem. Apparently, they do some things right. On the other hand, I'm a total corduroy virgin, so I have nothing to compare it with.

Playing with my paper templates to determine positioning of the arrows
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I also wanted my first applique project to be relatively painless. Because I wasn't sure of the result, perfect wasn't my objective. So, to keep things easy, I read about "raw edge applique" and was happy to learn that if I bought felt and cut it out, I would not need to finish the edges. I could just sew the suckers on and not worry about fraying. So, at Joann's, I got some white felt too. I've always been a fan of black/white contrast in clothing. So mod!

More examples of playing around with positioning using the paper templates
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My first applique project was a little challenging, but thankfully, less challenging than I expected. What I thought would be hard ended up being pretty easy. What I thought would be easy ended up being a little harder than I expected.

Got my felt arrows pinned and ready to sew-- finally decided on where to put them!
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What was easy? Sewing the felt onto the corduroy. I thought that things would somehow end up shifting on me, but my pins kept everything in place.


What was difficult? Well, proportion was a lot harder than I expected. To get "templates" for the felt arrows, I found clip art of arrows online and then sized them on my screen. I printed them out, cut them out, and then pinned them to the felt. I then cut the felt around the template edges to get the shape I wanted. I experimented quite a bit with arrow size, but now that I'm through with the project, I recognize that the proportions could have been better. Smaller arrows would have looked better, because the larger arrows tend to be a bit overwhelming on the skirt.

The finished skirt
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My husband and I also played around with how many arrows to include and how to position them. I like the design we came up with but again I think the result would have been better with smaller arrows.



I'm happy to say, though, that I still like the result and that I did a follow-up project in green corduroy with white arrows that is better proportioned.

These last two pictures show the skirt with a black turtleneck shirt-- I personally prefer the white shirt look, because it balances the proportions. This one is interesting though because the black shirt and skirt combo makes it look like a dress.

(ABOVE

Not bad for a first try, though!

Happy sewing!
Astrid

Update & Fun Union Jack Dress!

Just checking in. I haven't entered a major sewing dry spell or anything. It's just been a crazy time, because I did a lot of celebrating for my 27th birthday last week. I'm also working on an article for a friend's magazine. I do have lots of posting to do and will do a real update in the coming days.

In the meantime, enjoy this quirky vintage mod image. I've always wanted to make a union jack dress but haven't found the fabric!

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Green & Pink Bubble Skirt

I have no idea what that "shit eating grin" is all about!
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I call this vintage polyester skirt, "the green & pink bubble skirt." Creative I know...it's sort of like having a dog and naming her "Dog."


Anyway, I got this pretty vintage polyester from "dreamingofsewing" on Etsy. She has some great vintage fabrics! I hadn't previously done a skirt in this color scheme or print, so I bought it up. You know...I'm finally getting to the point where I actually have to justify that I haven't yet done a skirt in a particular color or print before indulging in the fabric...does that mean my OCD about this project is getting better? Probably not. The minute some seller on eBay lists a bunch of vintage zig zag prints, I'll be up to my nose in it!


The polyester, as usual, was pretty easy to sew. One thing I noticed: this particular polyester was a lot more lightweight than previous ones I've been sewing from the 60's/70's. I wonder if at some point fabrics started getting thinner on average. I ask, because when I go to Joann's I'm not satisfied with the weight of their polyesters. To me, they should be thicker like the classic double knits(or at the very least, offer a thicker option). I know a lot of people think the double knits are too warm. But you know, I get cold easily so I enjoy marinating! Kidding, kidding. I'd rather the sweat be left out, but I do like to be warm : - )



Happy sewing!
Astrid

Fun Random Mod Pics Found on the Internet

I love these two pictures from the era. Both feature bright colors that really typify the mod era. In the "Tangee" ad, the models have what is called "the Total Look." I didn't realize that was the name for it, but according to the book I'm reading, that's what they called it when someone was wearing mod fashion that really goes to the next level-- i.e. incorporates full on accessories, shoes, jewelry, belts, etc. When you didn't have the Total Look, you simply had "the Look."

I recently tried to incorporate colored tights into my mini-skirt look, but it didn't quite work. I looked 80's which is something I don't go for. I'm still going to try if I can figure it out, but for now, just sticking to boots or knee high socks.


Of course, the picture of the gals in colorblock dresses is almost too much for me to handle! I've expressed how much I love colorblock and that has not changed. Of the three colorblock dresses, I like the one on the bottom left the most. It has the most space-age vibe.

Mod Alteration Project: From Crew Neck to Peter Pan

I used the collar/cuff pattern pieces from this pattern
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This is the crew neck before I made my additions
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When I've gone shopping (both online and offline), I have not been able to find long sleeve shirts with peter pan or other oversized collars. I love oversized collars and oversized french cuffs as well.

Since I haven't been able to find these types of shirts, I decided to make one. I didn't want to have the trouble of making a whole shirt, so I purchased a crew neck shirt that fit well. My plan was to add white contrasting cuffs and collar to the shirt. Overall, the project went okay but here's what I took from it:

HIGHLIGHT REEL:

1.) NECKHOLE: Once again, when I added a collar, that meant the neckhole was too stiff to be a pullover. So, I added a 4 inch zipper, so that I could fit the thing over my head. It was kind of annoying, though, because I had to cut into the back of the shirt to insert the zipper and the fabric on the shirt was really flimsy. Also, there was no seam there, so is just cutting into the fabric going to work? I'm not so certain....

So, the zipper doesn't feel very sturdy, but I'm hoping it holds. It also doesn't look the greatest, either, but it works.

2.) FABRIC: I used white ponte roma polyester from my scrap pile to make the cuff/collar. It worked okay, but if I could do it over, I would have picked a fabric that was closer in thickness to the shirt. Because the shirt was so thin and flimsy, the ponte roma seemed very heavy on it. It looks okay, but it doesn't feel that great when its worn. The collar feels sort of lopsided and the collar/cuff areas both feel heavy due to the weight of the ponte roma.

3.) SIZING: Now, I like oversized cuffs and collars, but the pattern made them REALLY oversized. I ended up leaving the cuffs as is, but I had to make the collar a bit smaller.

Before adding cuffs
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4.) PATTERN: I used cuff/collar pattern pieces from a dress pattern. Simplicity 5150 from 1972. I plan to make the dress too, eventually.

Finished product
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5.) DETACHABLE COLLARS: After making the project, I discovered that you can buy detachable collars from craftsters on Mod Cloth and Etsy. I bought a few and was really pleased with the handiwork. My only problem is that when I add them to plain shirts, I have a pretty small neck, and they're too big for me. So, I will need to pin them in place or find some other solution. If I can get them to work properly, they are nice, because they make a crew neck shirt into an instant peter pan collar shirt. I wish they had detachable cuffs too!

I have since learned that this shirt looks better with Mary Jane shoes and knee high socks. More pictures of that look in the future.

(ABOVE)

6.) EXPECTATIONS: I don't think I planned this project all that well, because I expected it to be easy. I didn't predict the challenges and didn't plan for them. If I do something like this again, I hope to learn from my mistakes. Some things aren't as simple as they sound in your head!



Happy sewing!
Astrid

Drop Waisted Mini Skirt Pic from Late 60's Simplicity Counter Catalog

Here's another vintage mini-skirt pic from a late 60's Simplicity counter catalog. I love this particular one, because the low belt creates a drop-waist that is classic 60's. I actually bought a bunch of belts recently and created the drop-waisted look. I love the effect of the belts, and I'll be posting pictures of that with some of my future mini-skirt projects.

Plus, you gotta love that expression.

Mock? Mod Turtleneck Project

I find it's quite difficult, when shopping, to find the simplest things. Many times, I'm looking for basic shirts to go with skirts, pants, what have you. Of course, if I were looking for something and couldn't find it, I would end up finding it a few months later when I wasn't looking for it.


So, not able to find a sleeveless, white mock-turtleneck in stores, I decided to make one myself. As you can see from my mini-skirt posts, I like mock turtlenecks... A LOT! But, I couldn't seem to find a basic white one in stores, and I'm somewhat wary about buying online due to fitting concerns (I do have my measurements handy but sometimes the material isn't right, the thing ends up being too long, what have you).


So, I made this white mock turtleneck from the same pattern that I have been using on the mini-skirts. A new mini-skirt is pictured as well, but more on that in another post.


The mock turtleneck was relatively simple to make, and it filled the need the stores weren't filling. The only adjustment of note was shortening the height of the collar a tad. They tend to be a bit too tall for my neck.

I got this fabric from Joann's because it's just basic white ribbed poly/cotton. It worked fine for this no-frills project.
On second thought, would this even be called a "mock turtleneck"? What do you call a sleeveless blouse with a bias roll collar (this is how the pattern listed it)?


That's all for now!

Happy sewing!
Astrid