McCalls 7116 - A Modern Pattern for a Vintage Style Tea Dress ( Top) .

I really enjoy re-using my sometimes very old patterns again and again but  I have to remind myself to stay a bit up to date so I don`t end up looking like a Kath from Kath and Kim ( when I watching that show I realised that I had the exact same earrings as Kath and immediately went and got rid of them ! they were large tropical fish dangle earrings so yeah very dubious taste ) .
So the irony is that I have sewn up a current pattern with a vintage look.

The pattern is McCalls 7116 which came with a magazine I bought last year . It also included Kwik Sew 4140 for a jacket and I loved both patterns so bought the magazine .
I adore  those 30`s looking tea dresses and this pattern looks very much that style .I have some rust coloured rayon with a small cream floral which I thought would suit but the fabric was given to me from my daughter who bought it in Japan so it is precious . So I made up a muslin with some blue / pink shot fabric given to me by my neighbour but only had enough for a top.

 I had some concerns about the pattern . I obviously chose the version with the gathered cross over front with gathered and pleated short sleeves.  McCalls rates this as  easy but the bottom is cut on the bias and since when has inserting a side zip on the bias been easy. I should have taken a photo but on the pattern cover and in the magazine you can see some serious rippling effect where the zip  is so if the professionals can`t get this right what hope do I have ! Also I am not that busty and have learnt that gathered  below bust fronts can look ridiculous on me .

I read a review where the zip was eliminated and the dress could still be put on and taken off easily enough so I basted the side seams and sure enough I was able to get the top on quite easily and it came off without resorting to contortionist yoga positions and just a little wriggling so that was one concern dealt with.
As predicted the below bust gathers were a bit too much so I made a couple of adjustments by pulling the excess fabric of the upper top down and across and this helped too.
Now some of you may realise the headless photos are not me.
My middle daughter was home from Queensland and I showed her my top and she absolutely loved it .
She tried it on and although it is  looser on her than me , as is the way with younger and slimmer people it looked good and well she loved it and she has less clothes than me so I gave to her  . Sigh . Hopefully I get some brownie points for this.

I have included the hanger shots to get a better idea of the details and also to show the lovely shot effect . The last two photos show the pink side more accurately . It really is quite a  bright shiny fuschia colour and the other side is a dark royal blue . I obviously used the blue since I generally don`t wear very bright and shiny colours. Although I really love this style I think I won`t be making up my Japanese rayon with this pattern and will keep on searching for something else. 

Purple Peta Pant Pyjamas .

 Over the years I have made lots and lots of pyjamas . In fact if I had one dollar for every pair I have made I would probably be a hundredollaraire . I have used patterns from Simplicity, Burda , McCalls , Vogue and Grainline . Grainline PJs are only short and the fit is good but most of the others are crazy big . You know pants that look like they come from one of those weight loss pictures with someone fitting both legs into just one and shirts which are long enough to actually be nighties.  So when  I found this lusciously soft Lincraft brand 100 % cotton lawn , 3 metres for $5 from the op shop I knew I wanted to make a new PJ set . However I knew it would be a tight fit to get both pants and a shirt with my usual PJ patterns.
I thought using  the Peta Pants from Style Arc might get me there as I have made these twice before ( neither of which made it onto my blog ) and they are a comfortable fit without being too big and baggy.

I was able to get the PJ set cut by using the 3/4 leg version and the shirt was made from a very old McCalls pattern 2764 . I have made the shirt a couple of times before too , over 10 years ago , and recall this was also nicely sized being comfortable but not too loose but didn`t remember how large the collar was ! I made the dartless version and it includes built in facings so it is relatively easy to sew as are the pants .

On the back of my recent tunic failure ( which has now gone to one of my daughters ) I decided to have a bit of fun making the PJs so I added lots of lace to the  hems and a pocket ,  mauve satin bias binding to prettify the pockets ( which no-one will see ) and mother-of - pearl buttons which I love and were the only ones I had to match anyway. These PJs will replace an older pair of another home made set which looked quite glamorous  but were made using some very nasty polyester which frayed , shredded at the seams and made me feel hot and sweaty . Before I could change my mind about getting rid of them I ripped the elastic out of the pants to use in my new set .
I don`t why I haven`t bought more Style Arc patterns because the two I have have been used multiple times and  I would definitely recommend this pattern for pyjamas and day wear pants . Well it is always good to follow up a failure with some success and my youngest daughter said even she would wear these.
PS I cross stitched the pillow on the chair back in  my teenage years when I knitted, macramed , latch hooked,  embroidered , long stitched , painted and sewed . Ahh the days before internet , work , children , animals and housework !
SO is there  anyone else  who likes sewing PJs as much as me ?

Learning to Trust Your Sewing Instincts .

I  wish I could have just shown this flattering photo of this sewing project but that wouldn`t have been right .

The truth is shown in the bottom photos .
I bought the fabric  from Spotlight on March the 7th 2006   - I found the docket tucked inside ! I know I liked it when I first got it and I had a RTW shirt made out of similar fabric which I wore to death but over the years I gradually became meh about it . Anne Whalley had a recent post about fabric having a use by date and I agree !  But despite my meh instincts about the pink stripey fabric labelled a vintage dobbie I went ahead and used a new to me but very old Burda pattern 8918 . I really liked the tie neck , bottom hem band and flouncy sleeves which are a nod to the current sleeve fashions and thought this might be enough to overcome the fabric shortcomings .

There are a few reviews about the place for this pattern and they mentioned too tight sleeves so I used a narrower seam allowance and found they were fine but as for the rest of the tunic , well  not fine ! I am barely a B and it was too tight around my bust - this just never happens to me . Also there is quite a bit of pooling  of fabric at the back and  again this is unusual . The arm holes are uncomfortable and the bias tie neckline sticks out .Also  I realise now that part of the reason I am meh about the actual fabric apart from the fact it has been in my cupboard for over 11 years is that it is perhaps a bit too close to my skin colour . This tunic is definitely in the give away pile but if I had listened to my instincts I would have just saved some precious sewing time and given it away .

On the plus side at least I didn`t use some precious fabric to make this up , I have trialled the pattern and will keep it for now ( perhaps I just have to accept that I need to make a larger size ), it was fun to sew  and I used the very last of my Spotlight fabric .
To lick my wounds I have followed up this project with a usually never fails pair of PJs. Happy to report success there. Hope everyone is well .Janine x