A Vintage Top

 

It was a windy day! Hair fail!

If you are a fan of Threads Magazine , and any passionate sewist should be, you will recognize this top. It was featured in their most recent issue, Spring 2025, Issue 225. As soon as she got her's,  my sister called me to let me know about this top and what did I think? Before we knew it we were collaborating on the pattern, it's fit, vintage linens and were sharing. She sent me the pattern, one you had to go online and down load, but quite simple. I sent her trims and hankies from my generous resources of vintage textiles, most inherited from friends and family. We were on. She finished first and it was lovely. Now I had to get hustling! 

Pattern:

This pattern was in Issue 225 of Threads Magazine, a design by Joan McGowan-Michael. McCowan-Michael's philosophy is that it is better to bring these heirlooms out of the back of the closet for the rest of the family and world to enjoy rather than have them "deteriorate under the beach towels". She does stress making use of those with stains and tears, thereby extending their lives and the possibility of appreciation by others. 

I knew I had tons of these, having been blessed with inheritance of a hoarder spinster great aunt and also the legacy of an elderly sewing friend who was dear to me. These items, and there are many, are preciously cared for and appreciated. Their line of accession is planned. 

The author/designer gives great guidance in choosing your textiles, prepping them, and working with the variations of print and designs. She makes it easy. There is a tie in the back of the top which I chose not to add. My Sis loves the tie. 

There is a schematic of the pattern in the magazine but no measurements other than for elastic for shoulders and cuffs.  You can scan the QR code offered in the magazine to access the pattern in more detail. This will bring you to the magazine site and a "Size Medium (38-40 inch bust) with half inch wide seam allowances." I could not find a size Small or anything Larger anywhere on the Threads site. I was frustrated.  My sis, who uses a 12 or 14 Big Four pattern, used the design with no changes at all. Being a size 4 in tops, 6 in patterns, I took out four inches from the bodice. I did this by bringing in the side seams and placed the shoulder seams in much closer. I figured that out with a try on. I was happy with my fit in the end and so was Sis. I think the fit here can easily be played with by utilizing a center fold and a base fabric to work on. You could place your linens on top of that as desired. The forgiving sleeves can be made longer and placed in or out as needed. Then again, maybe there are other sizes somewhere that I don't know about. 

Fabric:

 Everything in the top is cotton or linen. It was really fun going through my goodies to pull the sleeves together and then the hankies  and embroidery to work with that. Or did I do that the other way around???  It was fun. The top sleeve fabric is a micro-check, then a classic quilting cotton bought in the 90s by moi and finally some gingham.  When I had the top all done, it seemed like something was missing, like the cherry on a sundae fell off and rolled away.  I went thru more trims and laces trying to find something to finish off the bottom hem. Nothing seemed right. Then it ocurred to me that I could bind the bottom edge with more gingham. Bingo! It pulled the design all together. 

Here on the back of the shirt is one delicate hankie of the finest cotton(?) blue roses, so very ladylike. I cut it on the diagonal not quite in half and lined it up so the cut was the top edge of the back bodice. I had a ton of the vintage lace you see and used that to trim off the top edge. I think it is tatted lace. 

On the front of the top you can see a former "table scarf." It is made up of the teensiest cross stitch, with  an Asian theme, stunning hand work. Edging the neckline is the only half I owned of a beautiful lace collar. It still had its half of the snap left on it.  Never found the other half.  The bodice pieces are backed with white voile. 

Below is running yardage of a crosstitched border that I had about 7 yards of. It's about 18 inches wide.  I split it and mailed the other half to Sis for her top. 

Construction:

Making this top was really quite simple. The designer thought out of the box with the sleeve installation which added greatly to the charm of the top. It also facilitated the ease of construction. While it did that, I felt that the area where the sleeve corners connected to the bodice had vague directions and felt a bit clunky. It was one of those situations where you move things around till they worked and then sewed them together. In the end, it all looked good. I did go back and do a narrow satin stitch where the elastic ended on each of the sleeves and  met the bodice. It just seemed more secure and looked fine. I liked the bound hem on my version and think this is an idea that could be added to the directions. The repetition of the fabric enhances the overall design, IMO. Will I make it again? Not sure. I have many more vintage linens, including some lovely tablecloths calling me. I may leave this one as a unique expression of upcycling and look for another type of expression for the next go round. In the end, it was a really fun make, particularly collaborating with my Sis. 

Would I recommend this pattern and design? Somewhat. I like the design. It is creative and out of the box. It really utilizes the vintage linens well. I feel the directions, at least where you are directed to the Threads website, could be a bit more logical and clear. But, that's me and how I like things presented to me. Others may feel otherwise. For a true newbie, well, I think they might need a little coaching. I am also disappointed in the lack of sizing other than the offered Size 8. Not everyone has the chops to move out from this.  But, in the end, I felt this was worth it and recommend it for those with patience who appreciate creativity and upcycling. You won't be disappointed. 

When I originally went out this morning to set up my camera, this is how I was dressed. It is how all my neighbors currently dress outside. We wear net suits to save us from the scourge of black fly bites. They are heinous, truly heinous. Net suits get very hot, even on cool days. Once the camera was all set up, I went back inside and changed into my little vintage top. You don't want to visit NH in May, you really don't........Happy Sewing!.............Bunny 

The Top of Many Colors Part One

Yesterday I spent 7 glorious hours working on the Top of Many Colors. I made my muslin first. Let's get a few things out there about muslin making. First, it is to establish fit, and maybe, just maybe, pocket placement and such, but really the focus is fit and not much else.  Because you are making the muslin all about the fit, it doesn't need collars, facings, buttons, zippers and other extraneous details. So don't do them. Pin it shut, don't do a zip! Don't stitch a hem, just pin. For this muslin, I did a front and a back, baboom! The whole process took way less than an hour and when it was complete I knew the length I wanted and the neckline changes, for the most part. I made my pattern and away I went. I did not muslin my sleeve, but simply measured from my shoulder bone to where I wanted the sleeve to end. When I tried on the muslin I measured where on the muslin that shoulder bone would be and figured the length from there. I proceeded to put the front and back of the top together. My muslin also told me that the neckline would fit over my head, a big concern. Now I knew I didn't need any closure and my top just got a bit quicker to make.

The next challenge was figuring out how to finish the neckline as well as how far I wanted to go with a lining. I definitely wanted some sort of lining but really wanted to keep it light. In her latest post here, Tany of Couture and Tricot makes a beautiful rendition of the latest pattern from BCN - Paco Peralta.  Her lining treatment really inspired me and I sort of replicated it here in my own fashion. Tany lined her top but simply left the sleeves unlined and the armholes beautifully bound and unattached.. The link will show you how she did that. I am going to do similar. The lining will be connected at the neck, I think, understitched, and hang freely in the bodice with thread chains in the side seams to keep everything secure. The armscye and hem will be finished with a shell stitched finish, a technique often used in heirloom sewing and great on lingerie. Here is a pic of the lining all cut and ready to go.  I've been using clips for a while but just started using them for patterns and really like them for that.

You've hear me many times talk about making samples. If there ever was a case for sampling, it is the shell stitch in combo with the poly anti static lining. Here you can see my beginning attempts. They are horrid, I agree. But, with sampling you keep playing until you get it right and eventually I did.

You can see some rows just aren't doing a "shell" effect. That is the work of the tension and to make this work I used a tension setting of 8. Other rows have me fiddling with width and length, just nasty, but I kept at it. I  eventually got it and when I did, I tried it out with matching fine machine embroidery thread as used in heirloom machine sewing.

You can see the pretty little shell effect in the row the arrow and the scissors are pointing to. It has a stitch width of 4.0, a stitch length of 1.5 and a tension setting of 8. The fine thread disappears into the fabric so prettily. The shoulder seam of the lining will be sewn  first. Then the armscyes  will be the shell stitched and once those are stitched the side seams will get a French seam. Last but not least the hem edge will get the shell stitch treatment, all a light and lovely secret hiding under the top.

My next session will have me making the lining, connecting it to the neckline and re-cutting the neckline a bit for a more attractive curve. The back neckline is very horizontal and needs a bit more shaping, IMO. I have really been enjoying this project and sharing it with you! I bet we all have lots of 1/4 and half yard pieces we could put to good use this way!............Bunny

Lany's Dress Complete, McCalls 3063

Our little knock off is complete. It has been very hectic here, lots of company and we went back to New York state to tie up some loose ends for a few days as well. I finished Lany's dress the minute I got home. This is the first child's garment I've done in some time. My piping skills were rusty. I threw out the first collar then reviewed my own tutorial to brush up on my skills. The second one came out fine and if there is a soon third, that one will hopefully  be even better.

This was an easy sew. I tried to honor the details of the original but wanted to finesse it up a bit. I think I have done that. Rusty skills or not, this is much nicer quality than the treasured original which I posted about here. I know it will be greatly appreciated by Mom and her tiny new daughter to be.

Pattern:

I used the bodice and sleeves from McCalls 3063, a Christening gown pattern. It is a size "small" and the way the Big Four run in children's sizing, I would say a size one. The original dress was a three. The skirt is simply gathered. and connects to the bodice with a classic fold over placket. ( I really need to do a tute on those.) The sleeves on the pattern are VERY full, too full and too long in my opinion. I cut back the sleeves by reducing the top and bottom edges  a 1/4 inch, so a total of half an inch out of the height.  I didn't want to take a full half inch off one edge out of such a tiny garment and by balancing it out I think it gave me the results I envisioned. 

This pattern has lots of different Christening gowns including a cute one I have used in the past for a boy. Other than the too large sleeves, which I think is a sign of the time of the pattern, ca 2007, it is fine. 

Fabric:

This fabric was gifted to me by Kristine Balinski of Couture by Kristine. She has a great blog, BTW.  Some time  back when she saw a post about the original dress she let me know that she had leftover fabric from a project for her daughter that was almost the same and would I like it. Her generosity is so appreciated and without it I could not have pulled off this very special project. It is a near perfect match.  Thanks so much Kristine. You just never know how what we do affects people. It is one of those shoulder taps that reminds what waves we make with just a little kindness. 

The fabric is a 100% cotton. It is a white and very soft blue floral, so quite traditional. I may have a fuzzy memory but I think back when the original dress reigned, so did chintz. My own daughter's first prom gown at the time was chintz.

Construction:

I did make a few changes particularly on the sleeves. The pattern shows long lace attached to the bottom of the sleeves giving a 3/4 length effect to the dress. Perhaps that is why the sleeve was so long. Whatever the reason, I cut back 1/4 inch on the top edge and 1/4 inch on the bottom edge of the sleeve where it hits the cuff. I also cut the cuff width by half. The pattern specs 4 cuffs be cut, two being facings. This would give you a cuff twice the width of what you see above, too much. Instead I threw out the facings and  interfaced the remaining cuffs completely. The piping was then attached in a 3/8th inch seam and the cuff and piping were stitched to the gathered sleeve bottom. The bottom half of the cuff was folded to the inside and handstitched  to the sleeve, encasing the bottom edge of the sleeve and giving a clean finish. 

The most important thing I did to alter the appearance of the sleeve was to cut them on the true bias. There is nothing fluffing up the inside of the sleeves. I think because of the bias they fall in much softer gathers and truly doubt that I will cut one of these types of sleeves ever again on the straight. They have not been ironed either. The bias just lets them curve so sweetly. This was a lemonade out of lemons situation as I just did not have enough to cut the sleeves on the straight of grain but could accommodate the true bias, Yay!

The collar was changed. I struggled with the piping on the corners until I finally threw that out, too! I got out my trusty small Gutterman spool of thread and used it to trace a curve around the corners of the collar, much prettier than sharp corners. The original dress had a foofy little pink flower in the middle. My knock off has a pompom made of cherry colored silk charmeuse. 

Back to the original---being from the eighties, the era of all things logo, the dress's tag was on the front of the skirt. I did the same with my Bunny tag. Normally  on this type of garment it would have gone inside but again, just trying to mimic the original. 

I am really pleased with the back placket as it falls perfectly and was made with no grief. The bodice is lined. The skirt gets a simple bound placket. If you've made these you know they are prone to puckers at the bottom or not lying flat and being hidden. Seems this was one of the skills my fingers didn't forget, unlike the collar. I think I may do a tute on that in the near future. ( I haven't forgotten the knit hem tute, either. )

I cut the hem extra long and actually did not need all the length. I removed about six inches and that still gave me enough to have a double turned 3 inch hem which I catchstitched in. I love those deep and heavy hems as they make the skirt stand away a bit yet hang nicely with all the weight. In other words, they don't look cheap like a 3/4 inch machine stitched hem would have. None of that for this sweet little girl!

The seams were French seams. 

Conclusion:

I hope you have read two posts back to the original "Lany's Dress" post. If not, there you can find the story behind this cutie and why it is so special. Mom is two days overdue and we are all waiting. Once she is settled in with her new daughter, I will visit and bring her both dresses. I have really enjoyed making a garment that has been in my thoughts for years. Thank you for letting me share it's story with you all......Bunny

Kathy's Sewing Adventure

I have known my sewing friend, Kathy Dykstra, for a long time, Today I would like to introduce her to you. I have a few reasons why I would like to feature her incredible work .

First of all, Kathy's work is among the highest quality out there. She has had articles in Australian Smocking and Embroidery and Sew Beautiful magazine more times than I can count. She has taught at Martha Pullen's School of Art Fashion. She will be teaching at the upcoming SAGA Convention in Orlando, Florida. (Smocking Arts Guild of America). I would wait in line for one of her classes any day.

Another reason I want you to meet Kathy is that over the past few years we have lost the triumvirate of heirloom sewing magazines, the magazines that featured Kathy's work. First to fail, to the chagrin of many was Creative Needle magazine. Not long after saw the end of the magazine that in my opinion set the bar for all heirloom publications: Australian Smocking and Embroidery with their gorgeous children's photos and clear instructions and patterns.  And now, we have lost Sew Beautiful magazine as well. While you may be ho humming at this point, don't. Kathy's work can be quite contemporary and lively. She is highly skilled at the Swiss batiste, French lace embellished bits of froth that SB was noted for but you should see her designs she makes for her grandchildren, bright colors, contemporary shapes and embellishments, a refreshing wake up to the heirloom sewing world.

Kathy is VERY prolific and a typical week will see her turning out  3-4 of her lovelies. She has been working very hard on her upcoming class for SAGA and I can assure you, this is a woman totally prepared for her class. Here are just a few of her efforts. I love acknowledging my friend's amazing skill.

Her machine embroidery skills never cease to amaze me.

She uses lots of bright colors and has a real gift for combining prints, not an easy skill to come by.

But Kathy doesn't make just great children's clothing. Look at her recent trip into home dec. Can you just feel the precision?

 A fabulous silk pillow, one of a non matching pair she recently completed.

Kathy recently did a very informative post on "Hemline Solutions". There is a lot of skill and inspiration there. Here is a dress, perfect for a dedication or First Communion, that she made last year and that is featured in her Hemline post as well as published in SB.

Do you see that exquisite smocking?

 And just so you know she is capable of the more frothy style of Heirloom Sewing, look at this mint ribbon beauty above. It's loaded with entredeaux, French laces, Swiss batiste and silk ribbons.  Her little granddaughters are soooooo lucky!

Being a wise Grandma, Kathy knows that her little granddaughters need lots of "fun" type garments too. Look at these matching outfits she made for the beach for them. She's not afraid to use ric rac and always does so with a creative twist or two.

I can tell you, this is a tiny drop in Kathy's bucket of incredible garments for children. She inspires me and deserves to have her work seen and honored by sewists everywhere. Since the magazines that carried her work are no longer in print, I offer to you the link to her blog Sewing Adventures. She has recently started blogging and is doing a wonderful job of it with great photography and clear writing.   She is generous with her knowledge and inspirational with what she shows that she has made.

Most of all, I would like to thank Kathy  for being a great sewing friend   for these past years. Your friendship has pulled me through a few dark hours. It has also let us share many, many a laugh, too. Top secret what the sewing laughs were about! ......your friend forever, Bunny

Find more of Kathy's wonderful work on her blog Sewing Adventures.