Dressmaking and some knitting.

Vintage pattern

I found this pattern in a charity shop some time ago. Butterick 6301 dating from the late seventies and early eighties. I did have a copy of this pattern when it first came out, making the waistcoat, skirt and blouse. That first version had the skirt and waistcoat in a light woolen suiting. The blouse was made from a light off white viscose. I wore them out. Sadly, that pattern got lost amidst the house moves.

This pattern is the junior size, 5. It was interesting making a version in my own size. I made the paper pattern first, and now have a version in cheesecloth under way. Hopefully it will work out without too much alteration.

Cheesecloth version of 6301 under way.

Burda culottes pattern from 1989

 This will be the next dressmaking challenge. I will be making a second version of these culottes from Burda Magazine. I wish I still had the magazine - another victim of the house moves over the years. However, I still have the pattern and the line drawings to go from.

These will be made from this viscose fabric found on the Northwich fabric stall. It is lovely and soft and will drape beautifully.

Yesterday I found myself frustrated by the lack of a pin cushion. All my dressmaking pins seemed to be clustered into one cushion. So I collected together some of my selvedge scraps and pinned them onto some leftover cheesecloth.

Not very long after this stage, I was merrily stitching using a two stage zigzag. With the remnants of a piece of wadding which had been languishing in a cupboard, and a 5 inch diameter pot found some time back in a charity shop, I had this pin cushion ready to use.

It is now helping me with the cheesecloth blouse. The pot is quite heavy, so is stable beside my sewing machine.

Wolf in sheeps clothing hat

This little hat for my grand daughter is nearing completion. The deadline for this is next week, so I am on time I am pleased to say.

The next two items are recently completed projects:

First, the orange dress which I dyed then printed. This has been washed and ironed ready for wearing again.

This second project is a pair of culottes which I started a few days ago. I made the classic mistake of cutting the pieces out without a seam allowance. Luckily, there is a deep leat on the front and and a long dart on the back. Reducing both of these meant that this pair of culottes now fits well. Again, the fabric is a lovely viscose from the market stall.