Another Great Mod Mini Skirt Image from the Past

Here's another great mini-skirt image from a late 60's Simplicity counter catalog. Love the color combos and the low-waisted belts.

Enjoy : - )

Mini Skirt Project: Red Maze Fabric

Here is another mini-skirt installment made using Simplicity 7699 from 1968. I know I'm posting these rather quickly, but I made MANY of these skirts, and if I don't speed things up, I'll never catch up. The reason my backlog is so huge is due to the ease of this project. As I wrote before, fast and easy! Okay, bad choice of words.


This mini skirt was made using a vintage polyester that I purchased on eBay. I tried to track down the seller's name, but I couldn't find it. The fabric is polyester, but I question whether the fabric is from the late 50's rather than the 60's. The "red maze" pattern is very mid-century modern and reminds me of something you'd see in a 50's home. I've found that so many upholstery fabrics had great prints that weren't printed on apparel (or if they were, I just haven't been able to track them down yet).


I didn't have a closeup of the print, but if you click on an individual picture, you'll be able to see a high resolution image in which the print is easier to see.


The necklace I'm wearing is one of my favorites. It was made by "Roget" and looks Eastern-influenced. I'm not sure what country or culture it's evoking, though. Whatever the case, it fits the look, since late 60's fashion/culture was Eastern-influenced. The necklace I most often wear is the round silver medallion and that's by Sarah Coventry.


More to come very soon.

Happy Sewing!
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Purple Psychedelic Fabric

Here's the next installment in my mod mini skirt project. As I said before, all mini skirts were made with Simplicity 7699 from 1968. I'm not going to do a full highlight reel for this and most of the subsequent mini-skirts. Since the projects have been simple and successful, there's not much to report.


The fabric I used was a vintage polyester double knit from "acafterglow" on Etsy. The print on the fabric is abstract and very psychedelic. It was perfect for a mini-skirt, because I wasn't so sure I'd wear a full dress with this print.


As you can see from the pictures, I had a lot of fabric left over. I'm hoping to take my leftover vintage fabrics and make them into both fabric belts and neck-ties. More on that in the near future.


That's all for now.

Happy Sewing!
Astrid

Women in Mini-Skirts from Late 60's Simplicity Catalog

Another image from a late 60's Simplicity counter catalog. These are the kind of images that constantly inspire me. I hope they inspire all of you in the blogosphere as well.

Enjoy : - )

Introducing the Mod Mini Skirt Project

Love this pattern! Simplicity lives up to its name.
(ABOVE)

So, after having a great experience buying the pink houndstooth fabric online, I decided to expand my fabric horizons. I began exploring modern fabric but eventually became frustrated with the lack of printed knit fabrics. It seemed like the only cool prints I could find were 100% cotton quilter's type of fabric. I had a bad experience with that in the past, which I blogged about. I didn't like how thin and stiff quilter's fabric seems to be. Maybe it's not all quilter's fabrics but the stuff at Joann's was like that. Needless to say, quilter's fabric was not an option.

Frustrated that I couldn't find printed knits, I began perusing Etsy and eBay for vintage polyester (often double-knits). And sure enough, I found what I was looking for! I know a lot of folks don't like the fact that vintage polyester doesn't breathe well. I completely understand that qualm, but I'm willing to accept it, because I just love the prints and the ease of sewing it. I don't sweat much and get cold really easily so that lack of breathability affects me less than some people.

I did have to deal with a few limitations, however. Over the years, I've learned that big prints (that aren't broken up by solid colors intermixed) tend to overwhelm my frame. Many of the fun vintage prints are large. Also, I found that many dealers only had about a yard available. This was inspiring, though, instead of frustrating. From these limitations, I decided to embark on a mini-skirt project.

And you know what's great about mini skirts?

1.) The classic A-line shape is fabulously 60's.
2.) You can make them with big prints, because you can break it up by wearing a solid shirt.
3.) They are SUPER easy and SUPER fast to sew!
4.) You only need about a yard to sew one.

#3 was a big selling point for me. Making easy mini-skirts really helped me build my confidence. It was also nice to be able to finish a project quickly. The first mini skirt I made took me about 3 hours. Since then, I've gotten my time down to between 2 and 2.5 hours.

Perhaps I should have started sewing something easy like a mini-skirt from the beginning. But, that's not really my style. When I become interested in something, I tend to dive right in.

So, this whole post is leading up to a big project that I'm going to be presenting over the next week or so (maybe more). What happened is I bought a bunch of vintage fabric (mostly printed polyester) and made a TON of mini-skirts. I churned them out real fast, and I can proudly say that there's not one that's a disaster!

All mini skirts were made using Simplicity 7699 from 1968.

Now to present my first mini-skirt project....




1.) THE FABRIC: This first mini-skirt was made with diamond pattern polyester that I purchased from "therickrack" on Etsy. The fabric was a a medium weight polyester, probably a double-knit, but I'm not sure how to tell. Fabric identification is not my strong suit.


2.) THE STYLE: What I love about the mini-skirt is its versatility. I purposely made each skirt short but not super short, so that they could be more versatile. I love the fact that you can wear mini-skirts in fall/winter by pairing them with leggings and a long sleeve shirt. AND, you can just as easily wear them in the spring/summer with bare legs and a sleeveless mock turtleneck. In all cases, I always add a long necklace (preferably a large medallion) to finish off the look.

Closeup of the diamonds on the fabric

(ABOVE)

3.) THE ERA: I see these mini-skirts as having both a mod and a preppy quality. While the prints are definitely mod, I feel like the turtleneck, boots, and medallion give the look a preppy, college-campus quality. I'm reminded of Ali MacGraw in "Love Story" or Katherine Ross in "The Graduate." I don't remember if they wore outfits like this in the films, but I could imagine the characters doing so. I also compare the look to Nancy Sinatra's mod style on the "Boots" LP cover.

I love the solid colors paired with the stripes. Truly an iconic fashion image.*
(ABOVE)

I couldn't find any good pictures of the "preppy", college look, so if anyone can point me to one, I'd love that. I have all these images in my head of 1960's college women sitting on grassy hills, reading books and preparing war protests. But alas, no images to back it up!

4.) THE PROBLEMS: No troubles to report. I found the pattern easy to follow and the first mini-skirt project was snafu free!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this style and see any pictures you may have come across. Many more mini-skirts are to come!

Happy sewing!
Astrid

Medallion is vintage by Sarah Coventry
(ABOVE)

*Please note that I don't own the rights nor do I claim to own the rights to the image of the Nancy Sinatra "Boots" LP. Showing this image falls under the "fair use doctrine." This is a personal blog and no profits are being derived from it.

Wild Pattern on 60's Jumpsuit

Okay, so I've wanted to post some non-project entries. I have lots of really cool 60's fashion imagery that I've collected and that I want to share. These pictures are so much fun. I can't keep them to myself!

Most of the pictures come from old pattern counter catalogs I bought. They are all Simplicity and McCall's and from the late 60's (unless otherwise noted).

Here's the first picture I'd like to share. I'm not sure I'd wear this jumpsuit, but I do love the geometric pattern. I'm still trying to find vintage op-art fabric to sew. Most of what I've found for sale is too expensive for me to justify buying and/or not enough fabric to make anything. But, I check eBay and Etsy almost everyday, so I have my fingers crossed!

Pink Houndstooth Mod Mini Dress

I completed View 3
(ABOVE)

Okay, so after one so-so project and one semi-disaster, we finally come to a project that was successful.

Presenting Simplicity 6783 (1966, view 3) ...

HIGHLIGHT REEL:


1.) FABRIC: This project represents a milestone for me. I FINALLY got up the nerve to buy fabric online instead of at Joann's. I got this cotton-lycra stretch knit on eBay from the seller "fabricattackfabrics." I was really pleased with the fabric. It was lightweight and stretchy, plus the pink and black houndstooth is very mod to me. The pattern reminded me of something Mondo would have done on last season's Project Runaway. I'm still pissed that he lost--ARRRGH!

Before hemming
(ABOVE)

Why was I reluctant to buy fabric online? The obvious reasons: can't feel the texture; can't feel the weight; etc. Since this dress was made, I've now bought about 15 different fabrics online. I was only disappointed with one fabric that I bought. The odds have become better than Joann's, and you cannot beat the selection. As I wrote previously, I now have a vintage fabric fetish.


2.) STYLE: Like I said, I thought the look was very Mondo. I like the unexpected combo of pink with houndstooth. The houndstooth print size was about an inch, so you could see the detail well. I also love adding chain belts- SO MOD!


3.) NECK HOLE: This was my only construction problem. I naively thought that this fabric was so stretchy that I could make it a pullover. I think I already made this mistake before, so I don't know why I made it again, but the neck hole once again became too stiff when I added the collar. I couldn't get my head through-- it looked like the dress was giving birth to me! So, I ended up leaving the seam open a few inches at the top so that I can fit my head through. I think I'll add a hook and eye to make the closure better, though. Is this an okay alternative to short neckline zippers? Is there any other way I could have dealt with this problem?

Closeup of the pink houndstooth print
(ABOVE)

I really loved this pattern and plan to make it again in the future using a different fabric. In the future, I'll probably try to make it with a vintage polyester fabric and sew it in a classic a-line shape. This time around, I was using a really stretchy modern fabric, and I felt it was more conducive to a tight/body con look.

Happy sewing!
Astrid