This was bound to happen eventually… The doll and my blouse are made from a recently acquired vintage dress. Somebody lovely gave me an awesome bag of depression era dresses.
PS – There is a pattern for the elegant rag doll and soldier doll coming soon.
*This post contains affiliate links – meaning I get a small commission if you purchase through the links.
Do you sew garments? I’ve been wanting to try forever. My only adult experience was an apron/dress several years ago. It took forever and I immediately spilled bleach on it. I always meant to try again though and I kept seeing a photo of a blouse on pinterest that I loved, loved as in had to have it. It was pattern B from The Stylish Dress Book. I changed the neckline and added that little bow. Really I think my Mother added that bow, asserting herself from the beyond. It’s just the sort of thing she would do.
I learned a lot making it. Using fabric from the skirt of the sheer, vintage silk chiffon dress added a ton of difficulty. Slippery… Never again. And because it was so sheer I had to do french seams. But now I’m totally sold on french seams, so tidy and not difficult. You can find a tutorial for sewing french seams here.
I loved the simple styles in this book and found the instructions straightforward and easy to follow. The sizing and fit were hard and I had to combine sizes to make it work for me.
I also made top D from another of the vintage dresses (you might recognize the print from one of the tiny rag dolls new dresses). Again with changes. I skipped the buttons, raised the neckline and added gathering. I love it. The construction of it is super simple and I like the easy sleeve.
Here I am. Loving my just finished shirt and feeling deeply awkward about photographing myself in it. Feeling super happy about making a shirt myself won though. Pretty much.
I’m working on a dress version of pattern D now. I’m all lit up with learning and plan to sew lots more garments. There are several more in the book I want to try.
You can get the book here (I get a small commission if you do). If you try it be prepared to make muslin versions first to work out sizing.
Green has been turning up a lot lately. In non-garment sewing I’m making an owl and songbird from an Edwardian bodice and green velvet dress. I’m taking them with me to work on in France. I’ve got ambitious hand sewing plans for that trip, these guys, toadstools, seedpods, amulets – all sorts of things.
I’m officially in full on pre-departure frenzy right now and should probably stop sewing clothes. This week I tried watering globes for my plants. I wasn’t all that optimistic about them but I’m a week in and they’re working out surprisingly well, I’m going to get a bunch more before I leave.
It’s important to saturate the soil and then make a hole with a stick, tamping down the dirt so it’s not loose. The first time I put them in the plants weren’t saturated enough and the water ran right out. I think the globes will get my dear plant friends through the few days they’ll be on their own. You can find the watering globes here (this is an affiliate link – I get a small commission if you use it to purchase). And if you’ve got other automatic plant watering ideas I’d love to hear.
