Completed UFO: Vintage Simplicity 6180 jacket

Here I go again.....another attempt at getting back into blogging and another attempt at finishing off some UFOs! At the beginning of this year I set myself the goal of finishing at least 16 UFOs by the end of the year, this is number 8 so I guess I'm on track.

I started this jacket maybe 2 or so years ago, and didn't finish it at the time because it turned out overall too big and really shapeless. It's taken me this long to do some unpicking, take it in at nearly all the seams and finish it. It's now done, still a little oversized but I can live with that since it's a casual jacket and not a formal fitted suit blazer.

The pattern is Simplicity 6180, a 1960s era pattern. Unfortunately there isn't a pattern for that very cool hat in the envelope, but it does contain a pattern for an a-line skirt with princess seams to match those of the jacket.  

The fabric I've used is a double knit bought from The Fabric Store some years ago, probably at one of their famous sales. It was really easy to sew with and press, as well as having a bit of stretch to make it comfortable to wear with minimal wrinkling. 

The buttons are the real superstars of this jacket. I was originally going to make fabric covered buttons, but since we're back in lockdown here in Sydney I had to use what was in the stash so I decided to use some vintage buttons that I picked up from an Australian Sewing Guild industry day a few years ago. A lady used to have a stall selling her mother's stash of habadashery items that had been collected over a long time. I have no idea what era these buttons are, I think they are earlier than the 1960s but I think the colour and shape works well with this jacket. The inside buttons are just some pale pink buttons also from the stash.

As I said earlier the reason this became a UFO in the first place was because it turned out too big. I ended up taking it in through the side seams and princess seams to get a closer fit without losing too much of the boxy shape. The back view now looks better, but I think the sleeves are way too wide and too long as well - these photos make it look really obvious. I think I will have to do some more unpicking and narrow them a bit more. Who knows how long that will take me!?

One of the great things about this jacket is that although it's essentially a double breasted jacket it still looks pretty good worn open. The front facings fold back nicely to form a lapel and being a lightweight jacket it hangs open well.

And as I always say after every UFO I finish - I don't know why I took so long to get around to it! The good news is that I haven't created any new UFOs in at least the last 2 years, the bad news is that I still have quite a big box of past UFOs to get through!

New Look 6149: wrapping up the project after fourteen years

I'm still lacking in the sleep department and in the sewing inspiration department. I was moping around my sewing room with a bit of time to spare on Saturday and I still didn't feel like starting a new project which is very unusual because I just don't have kid free time to waste these days! Even sorting through my fabrics didn't help so I decided to tidy up my sewing room instead.

In the bottom of my UFO box I found a black textured polyester knit fabric that I had cut the pattern pieces out for a wrap top but hadn't done anything more than pack it away - seriously, the pattern pieces were still pinned to the fabric.  This project is really, really old - when I was at uni doing my undergrad degree in the mid 90s I used to work at Lincraft in Chatswood part time and not only did staff get discounts on fabric and other stock, but we used to also get four free patterns each month plus any discontinued patterns too. I think they were trying to encourage their staff to sew their creations to inspire the customers.  I was one of the very few on staff that sewed or had any idea about sewing actually.  Too bad the job paid appallingly because the benefits were great and it was nice standing around fabric all day! Anyway, this pattern and fabric was picked up during that time, so it's more than 14 years old since I graduated in 1999.  Yikes! I decided it was about time to either finish it or lob it.  Now that it's finished, I'm still considering ditching it anyway:

The pattern is New Look 6149, which is OOP but can be found on line from a number of ebay sellers although I wouldn't bother because it's not that special.  I wish I had of known about Pattern Review (did it even exist back then?) when I started this because I would have read that this top is really short and needs to have extra length added before cutting it out.  But luckily this purple print skirt I'm wearing it with is somewhat high waisted and so the length is ok so long as I don't go around with my arms up in the air too much.....

It's a really simple raglan sleeved wrap top with long ties on each side, one of which is supposed to slide through a slit left open in the side seam.   Except that I made this completely on my overlocker, which meant I had sewn those side seams completely closed before I remembered I had to leave an opening.  Being too lazy to unpick overlocking stitches in a black knit fabric, I instead made a jumbo buttonhole like opening next to the side seam to let the tie through.  From the outside it's not that noticeable, but the inside is a red hot mess:

I'm keeping it real here people - most of the time my sewing is done really well, but sometimes it's done really poorly.  Want more evidence of my dodginess? Well the front of the top gaped open when the ties were done up, I should have reduced the length of the front wrap before cutting out but since I didn't, this was my very low tech solution:

I just made a crude dart in each of the front wrap pieces - one isn't visible because it's on the under layer but the one in the top wrap is visible but it just adds a bit more pleating to the front, so it sort of looks ok.  And it took away the gaping so good enough I think!

The back has a centre back seam that I couldn't see the reason for at all.  I suppose it gives an opportunity to shape the back piece and get a snugger fit, especially if you have a swayback but I think it looks a bit messy and unnecessary. 



I lightened this photo so you can see the centre back seam

And being a raglan sleeve it's not so flattering to stand around with one's hands on their hips either!

I decided not to use the neck edge facings the pattern requires, and instead just used turned under and topstitched after overlocking and using some iron on stabilising tape along the neck edge.  Turned out good enough.

And I think that sums up this project - good enough! I don't think I'll ever favour sewing with knits over wovens because I do like a crisp, tailored and highly structured look which is just not what you get from knits but there's definitely a need in my wardrobe for some nice tops.  So this top is out of the UFO box and into my wardrobe, for now at least.

another UFO done and dusted

I had another night out with the ladies from my mother's group on Friday night, and now that they all know that I sew there is always an expectation from them that I will wear something new that I've made! It's fantastic motivation for me to get sewing, just what I need sometimes.... I was going to wear the black and white vintage dress I made recently but we were going to a Lebanese restaurant where you sit on floor cushions around a low table and a dress isn't too practical for that arrangement.

So I decided to finish off this top I started at least 2 or maybe even 3 years ago:

It's made from Vogue 7232 which seems to be OOP now although the patterns is probably only a few years old. I've made this from some lilac satin brocade that has a silver and gold flower pattern embroidered onto it which looks lovely in real life but was a total slippery pain in the butt fabric to sew and press. Probably one of the reasons it became a UFO really! I think from memory I started making this to wear to a specific event but didn't finish it in time and then never got around to finishing it. Hmmm, this seems to be a common reason for me now that I think about it.

It wasn't difficult to sew, but it was very difficult to do a fitting because the side seams are sewn absolutely last - it's basically two shells sewn together around the neckline and hem, turned out the right way and then sewn down the side seams leaving a small opening in the lining layer to slip stitch shut. This makes for a very neat finish but I couldn't really try on the top until this last step to make sure it fit properly, and as it turns out it didn't fit too well at all.

As usual with wrap tops, the front gaped open badly on me because of my rather concave chest (not even breastfeeding for nearly 12 months has helped me in that area!). The pattern really needed adjustment before cutting fabric to fix it, but since I was well past that stage I just pulled the two sides tightly across my bust and put some snaps in to hold it in place to fit rather than put the snaps in the marked places on the pattern. The result of this you can see in the photo above: the hem of one side doesn't lay exactly over the other side, instead it sits lower. But I can live with that, because the wrap around belt sort of takes away the attention from it.

The sides still gape a little, but it's not obscene:

The other problem is that the obi style belt is just a little too short to tie up properly because the fabric is so slippery is keeps untying every time I sit down. In the end I put a press stud on the ties to hold them shut and then just tied the fabric over it. Whatever it takes to make it work right?!

Anyway it's out of the big box of UFOs and into the wardrobe and that's what matters. I've also half made View A (the version in the middle) in a lovely white stretch cotton poplin but it is also sitting in the big box of UFOs too! I don't know if you can see my handwriting on the pattern, but I've written that the top is way too short and the sleeves are way too long. Again I should have done a tissue fit or even (gulp!) a muslin. I have plans of saving this top by sewing a contrasting band around the bottom of the shirt so that it finishes below the waistband of my pants and skirts rather than leaving a very unflattering inch or so of skin between the hem of the shirt and top of my pants.

All I can say is be suspicious, very suspicious, of patterns that only have line drawings and not photographs of the finished garments on the pattern envelope - I always get tripped up by them!

my longest (and most shameful!) UFO

Still ploughing through my UFO pile although it is becoming increasingly boring. I don't know why it is, but for me finishing a UFO is almost as tedious as doing alterations to RTW or mending - something to be put aside for later.

Anyway I found this UFO at the very bottom of the pile and it is my oldest project, because it is one of the first things I meant to do to actually make by myself to learn to sew (up until then my mum had made the majority of the clothes with me observing) when I was about 17 or 18, which makes it about 13 or 14 years old! I can't believe I still have it, but I can know why I didn't make it - I was impatient and itching to get on to the more interesting and complex garments.

The reason that I class it as my most shameful is that I didn't get past cutting out the pattern and it is such a simple camisole style top that it would have taken me no time at all to finish. I cut it from Vogue 1576, now long OOP. But in hindsight it was better that I didn't make it because how this top turned out may have put me off sewing for life: the fit was way too big (it fits my 31 year old 6 month pregnant body!), the style is a a little basic which is a good simple top to wear under a suit but wouldn't have fit into my wardrobe as a 17 year old, and the colour is a little blah, being a caramel beige cotton.

So to salvage it and remove it from UFO list, I hacked into it since I had little to lose. Firstly I cut a few inches off the back because it sat too far down my hips, but I left the front piece long so I could gather it at the sides to create a pouch for my belly. I finished it with a narrow hem using my narrow hem presser foot which is THE most fiddly piece of sewing equipment I have but turns out brilliant hems. Then I cut a new armscye using the highly technical method of guestimation and simply folded it over and topstitched - the pattern is supposed to be reversible so no facings were included. Then to liven it up I topstitched 6 rows of red thread using the twin stitch needle - it's a bit wonky but not too bad. And here you go, the product of 13 years neglect and one hour of attention:

Plus it gave me an excuse to wear this cool plastic leaf brooch I picked up in an opshop ages ago. To make sure that the top didn't become an orphan, I decided to refashion the red pencil skirt you can see in the photo above to wear with it. I made this a few years from stretch bengaline, but since I don't wear red suits (I'm just not that confident) and it's not often that I don't wear a suit to work, I rarely wore this skirt at all. But because it is so stretchy, all I had to do was cut off the narrow waistband, take out all the darts, put narrow elastic across the back and turned down the top and topstitched. And it fits brilliantly! And worn with my most favourite BWOF jacket ever, it now has a place in my wardrobe and in fact I've already worn it to work like this:

In the comments to the last post, Northeast Iowa Mom asked what I meant by the term 'op shopping'. Sorry! This is one of those unique Aussie terms I think, but yes it means thrift shopping - here in Australia charity stores selling second hand goods are called opportunity shops and as usual Aussies always shorten everything.

MaryJ - I try very hard not to go to Crowle House Fabric Cave. Yes I know it's for a very good cause but the times I've been there in the past I've bought so much fabric it's not funny, so now I vow to only go there to buy if I can bring fabric to donate as well! It's what makes the second hand world go around - you donate your old (crap) and buy new (crap) to you!

Jean asked if anyone has been touching my belly yet. The answer is no thankfully, and if they tried to I'd block them karate style LOL. Although my husband keeps interrupting my reading or tv watching trying to feel the baby kick, even though I tell him it's not hard enough movements yet to feel on the oustside!

Anyway it's a Sunday evening and it's all peaceful domestic bliss around here. I have a chocolate cake in the oven (an actual cake as opposed to the metaphor for the child in my womb ha ha), some handsewing to do to finish the things I made over my long weekend and Dr Who is on in a few short hours (yay!). Hope you all had a great weekend too, it's what makes the working week almost worthwhile........

Bring on the warm weather

so I can wear this latest UFO I finished of course! Even though the last few days here in Sydney have been sunny and blue skies, it has still been rather chilly and after I took the photo below of this skirt I raced back inside to put my trackie pants and cosy cardigan back on LOL. The things we do for our blogs hey?

You may have noticed that I've made quite a few skirts from Vogue 9615 (ie the skirt from the last post and several before that), because the wide yoke waistband is ideal to make from stretch fabric to accommodate a preggy belly. This skirt however was the very first one I made several years ago now at least, well started to make anyway! It turned out a bit too short for my liking, and because I used the same fabric for the side in seam pockets as the skirt (a heavy stretch cotton drill), it was bulky right at my saddlebag thighs where extra bulk is certainly not needed. So I set it aside whilst I thought of something to do about it.

So to make it work now, I pulled it apart and took out the side in seam pockets and removed the centre back zipper. Then I sewed the front and back pieces together, made an extra wide waistband from my trusty stash of cotton elastene in white which gave enough length for the skirt to sit just above the knee right where I want it. But since there still wasn't enough fabric to turn up a hem, I applied some narrow bias tape in a vibrant blue that I had in my stash (thrifted I think) which also gave this plain white skirt a bit of detail. Then I made patch pockets from the in seam pockets I removed, edged them also with the blue bias tape and here you have it, a finished UFO that only took a few hours and a new need to finish it.

I also need to make a nice loose and flowy top to wear with this skirt, because this blue knit tank is not a maternity top and is being stretched to its capacity! The shoes however are supremely comfortable, a pair of Nine West blue leather flats (yes flats!) with a moulder rubber base that are almost like wearing slippers and they are quiet - I really hate flats that make the click clack sound that should only come with a killer pair of heels!

And I'll leave you with a very accurate (for me anyway) quote from my trusty Bible "What to expect when you're expecting" - in the sixth month what you may be feeling emotionally:

A beginning of boredom with the pregnancy ("Can't anyone think about anything else?")

UFOs are taking over my life!

Sally commented on my last post that quilters use the term UFOs to describe those WIPs that never get finished - trust me I know that term very well! But here’s a question for you: when does a WIP become a UFO? For me, it’s when I put aside a project because of some frustration, and start on a new project or three. A few months will go by, I will have a clean up of the sewing room, and the WIP in progress will enter what I like to call the cupboard of limbo – much like the waiting room for ghosts in that crappy movie Beetlejuice the cupboard in my sewing room is full of unfinished objects hanging there, taunting me…..

Some of the UFOs only need minor work to finish them, such as hemming or a button and it’s just plain laziness on my part that I haven’t finished them. Others need taking apart and major fixing such as resetting a sleeve cap or taking in to make them wearable. However, with so much fabric and patterns, I do get somewhat impatient with the difficult child and like to move on.

You know how the fabulous Erin over at A Dress A Day writes her drabbles about the Secret Lives of Dresses, stories of how they were once worn and loved but now are left behind as fashions change and their owners fade? Well I often think that about UFOs: such high hopes were had when pinning the pattern, cutting out the fabric and sewing up those first seams, but something changed, went wrong, and the dress that was once meant to be entered that realm of never was, maybe never will be.

Maybe I just think too much, but feeling guilty at wastage of time, fabric and money, I entered sewing purgatory, retrieved the garments waiting for some attention and the opportunity to be worn in the sunlight and made a list (I’m good at list making, completing the task is another matter). There are well over 45 projects on that list, excluding a few complete wadders and a few ‘what was I thinking with that fabric/style’ and will now endeavour to complete a UFO for every new project that I do. Plus the success with the white shift dress that was twelve years in the transition phase of UFO to completed object inspired me.

So first up was a relatively simple UFO: this skirt just needed a lining and some serious shortening (from mid calf length to knee length). I actually wore this once, before I realized the faults that needed said rectifications. It’s a vintage Style pattern, made from tropical weight black wool with an inverted pleat front and back made from a narrow piece of Amy Butler cotton in yellow. The pleat back and front gives the skirt a nice swish to it when I walk:

I used this 1980 Style pattern, which indeed was sew simple (just love their pun), but also turned out to be much longer than I imagined, but I think this was because I tend to wear my skirts below the waist and vintage patterns are designed to sit at the waist.









And a big thank you to all those who came over from Sew Retro and posted comments both here and at Sew Retro - it made me so excited and grateful to get all those nice comments! And in response to Karen's question about vintage sizing, I find the sizing runs a little large, but since the older patterns don't often give finished garment size I check using flat pattern measurements, a tissue fitting and a lot of finger crossing.