Another Gem From My Simplicity Counter Catalogs!

Good morning! I wanted to share this awesome mini skirt/shorts picture. I got this out of one of my late 60's Simplicity counter catalogs. Obviously, I love the white turtleneck, and black/white combos are very inspirational. And the belts and the purse are adorable-- wow!

Enjoy : - )

Seafoam Green Tunic: Simplicity 9063 from 1970

I made view 3 but without the pants
(ABOVE)

This is the brown tunic that I purchased at the antique store
(ABOVE)

Before adding sleeves-- I like the sleeveless look as well
and will make a sleeveless one in the future
(ABOVE)

As was promised, I do have a non-skirt project to post. This project was inspired by vintage clothing shopping at a local antique store, the Cobb Antique Mall, which is located in a suburb of Atlanta (Marietta, GA). While perusing the vintage clothing racks of a dealer, I came across this item that my husband and I both thought was a dress. But, when I tried it on, the thing couldn't have been a dress unless of course I wanted a dress in which the bottom of my butt checks would hang out. We finally came to the conclusion that the item was a tunic, not a dress and that it was meant to be worn over some kind of pants. As a tunic, it was super cool, and I snapped it up. I took it home and tried it on with leggings and a medallion necklace. Voila! That made the outfit.


I've blogged a bit in the past about the "a-line" shape. Although I love the 60's prints, detailing, colors, etc, I've always contended that the "a-line" shape doesn't look quite right on my frame when it comes to dresses (obviously, I like the a-line shape on skirts). However, this tunic was an a-line shape, and it looked great on me. My husband's conclusion: a-line shapes look good on me if they are short tunics, but not if they are long like dresses. Long a-lines tend to swamp me whereas short a-lines do not. Hope makes sense. That's way too many "a-lines" for one paragraph.


So, loving my new a-line tunic, I decided to make one myself. I wanted to do some different colors and right away I found a pattern that was perfect. It was Simplicity 9063 from 1970. The tunic I bought at the antique store was brown. So, to vary it up, I bought seafoam green polyester from the dealer "MonkeyHugSupplies" on Etsy.

This project was pretty easy, because I had a perfect fitting tunic to base all my measurements on. I was able to use my ruler to measure the length of the tunic I had bought and also the front of the bodice at various places so that I would get the a-line just right.


Other alterations? Well, I did the typical alterations of the shoulders so that the seams wouldn't fall off of them. I also made the collar a tad shorter so that it wouldn't be quite so tall on my neck. But, other than following the tunic I had already purchased, that was about it. Of course, since the tunic I bought was shorter than the one on the pattern, I made my tunic to match the one I bought.


Anyway, I just LOVE this color. I've never had an item of clothing this color, and I'm really and truly in love with it. And the texture of the polyester is really cool too. It reminds me of a retro couch.

Pendant in this series of pictures is by Trifari
(ABOVE)

All for now. If anyone can point me to any good reference pictures of 60's tunics, I'd love to see them. I couldn't find a lot of pictures of this particular style.

Happy sewing!
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Criss Cross Fabric

Another mod mini skirt! What a shocker! Ha ha...

I'm trying to put these suckers up real fast, so I can get caught up. This one is made of vintage polyester with a criss cross design. Purchased from "IntheOldSchoolhouse" on Etsy. Etsy is the source for most of my vintage fabric needs.


And Sarah Coventry was the maker of most of my jewelry.


And some notes on this skirt project that I haven't mentioned yet:

1.) Tailoring: I do have to bring in the side seams a tad. I bring them in about a 1.25 inches at each side and about 1 inch at the waist.


2.) Hemming: I make each skirt a couple inches shorter than the pattern. As you all know, pattern sizing tends to be tall so that if you're short or average height, it's necessary to hem to get the right length.

That's about it!



Happy sewing,
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Burgundy Houndstooth

Not sure what is going on here but my husband
really likes what he calls "action shots"
(ABOVE)

Closeup of the burgundy houndstooth
(ABOVE)

I know my photos are kind of "posey" but my husband gets irritated when I
stand like I'm taking a mugshot... sigh... I'll never be Lindsay Lohan
(ABOVE)

It's getting to the point of craziness with my skirt project. I enjoy the project so much that yesterday I reached the number 20. Yep, I have made 20 skirts so far. I know that's a little excessive, but I figure if I'm enjoying it, I should embrace the excess. I hope all of you in the blogosphere will embrace the excess as well : - ) I swear I have completed projects in my queue that aren't skirts-- I simply haven't gotten to posting them yet.

This post pictures a recent skirt project-- made with that same pattern that I've been reusing.

The burgundy houndstooth skirt is a vintage polyester bought from "sosovintage" on Etsy.

Necklace is by Sarah Coventry. I wish I had closeup. One of my favorites.
(ABOVE)

I was pleased with how it turned out, and as I've previously mentioned, I recently found a cool new way to style these skirts that makes them even more mod than they look in these pictures. More on that as soon as I get a chance to take some more pictures.

Clicking on the picture will provide a closeup of the print/skirt shape
(ABOVE)

I'd like to add that sewing vintage polyester is a dream. I've had no issues with it bunching or causing any other sewing snafus. I really enjoy sewing it.

If you bring those pinking shears anywhere near my skirt...
(ABOVE)

So, what's your "sewing style"? Clearly, mine is finding a pattern I like and then going crazy with it.

All for now.

Happy sewing!
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Black/White Circles & Squares

See how I gaze into the distance, wondering what the point is?
(ABOVE)

Since I've posted about the white shirt, now I'll post about the skirt that is pictured with it. This mini skirt was made with a fabric that I bought on eBay. It was advertised as a "poly/cotton" fabric and in my mind, anything that was blended with polyester should be okay. I waited about a month and when it finally arrived from Korea, I was disappointed with the quality. When I got the fabric, I was dismayed that this poly/cotton blend fabric was basically the equivalent of the 100% cotton quilter weight fabrics sold at Joann's. I'm probably wrong to think this, but I had assumed any quilter type cottons are 100% cotton and don't have any polyester in them.

I had been really looking forward to the fabric, and it was nothing like I imagined. I LOVED the print. Just LOVED it. And I had rubbed my hands together with glee, thinking about my final project.

Closeup of the print I fell in love with
(ABOVE)

So, when my expectations were violated, in a huff, I sewed the fabric into a mini-skirt. I tend to work sloppily when I'm in a huff. I become nihilistic and figure "what's the point if I screw up?" One of my sloppy errors? I accidentally cut into the skirt when I was pinking the seams. So, the skirt ended up with a tiny hole in it. At first my reaction was in the "whatever" category, since I was so annoyed with the fabric. Then, I shifted to sad at the end, because the skirt turned out a lot better than I thought.


I ended up cutting a square of fabric to make a patch and using fabric glue to cover the hole. Pretty raggedy solution, I know. I tried to sew on the patch, but it looked bad, because you could see the stitches. Oh well, the patch isn't noticeable, because the hole was tiny (restisting urge to make terrible joke... success!). Let's just hope the patch stays on in the wash!

My other commentary on the fabric? Well, when you've got a fabric with zero stretch, you've got to remember to adjust the fitting. I should have left a little more room to breath at the waist and the sides based on the lack of stretch, but I realized the problem too late, and I was afraid to rip out my stitching, because the fabric was such poor quality, I seriously didn't know if it could handle seam ripping. Oh well, this problem wasn't so bad in the end, because it does fit me. It's just a snug fit.

That's about all. I'd say that due to the unexpected fabric, this was my most snafu-filled skirt, by far. And it's wasn't such a tragedy.

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