Inspiration: Swedish 30s pattern magazines

I've recently been on a bit of a shopping spree for 30s inspiration... Pattern magazines can be quite expensive here, but I've managed to score a few on Tradera/Ebay anyway. Here's my small but growing collection...

I love that some of the magazines came with pattern sheets! Although they make modern Burda magazines look like a walk in the park:

Basically, I just wanted to share some of my favorites with you =) Wanna see them? Here they are:

1932

1935

The text reads "A practical vacation dress"

1936

I'll def post more about these magazines over time, they have an abundant of interesting tidbits in them!

Love, Erika

Summer SWAP 1,2 and 3

First items on my Summer Sewing With A Plan are ready!

1) Half circle skirt in blue mixed cotton. At least I think/hope it's part cotton... I bought the fabric ages and ages ago, and half of it became the first sewn garment featured on this blog (a pleated summer skirt). I've had loads of grand ideas for the 1,5 metres left of this fabric, but nothing has ever seemed right. This may not be a fancy fabric, and it has a shady content, but it's grease and dirt-resistant, it hardly wrinkles and the pleated version is one of my most used items. Hence; another half circle skirt! =) This time with an invisible side-zip.

On a side-note: now I understand the whole shebang about using invisible-zipper feet. I'd only tried it on very thin and flimsy fabric, and thought it was a big hoax. But on this sturdier fabric it worked great!

2) Jersey top. Not much to the naked eye, but a big deal to me as I've adressed and - keep your fingers crossed - conquered the fitting issues in my previous makes! The excellent advices I got on my post really summed up to one thing: a modified SBA. What?! I'm an E-cup, for heavens sake. A very new situation to me... However, my starting point was my sloper for wovens. That sloper has undergone serious alterations, amongst others an FBA. Protruding things stretches jersey more than flat surfaces, meaning that what would in woven have been needed extra fabric for my bust, was in jersey surpluce.

Not wanting to alter the length of the sideseam or the shoulderseam, I reduced the overbust, the neckline and the underbust-gathers. I cut up the front bodice along these lines:

And then overlapped the desired amout (meaning: I made a rough estimation by testing the last top and tested by pinching how much it made sense to reduce over the actual bust. So, I guessed). It worked out darn well!

I also reduced the sleeveheads so the sleeve is inserted flat.

3) Time to test the new top-pattern as a dress! This is a real Frankenstein... The skirt and midriff is from the chevron dress (with 1,5 cm added at center front of midriff-piece), the back bodice is from when I altered the chevron-dress pattern for a V-neck dress that didn't get made, the front bodice and the sleeves are from the new TNT. (And I traced all pieces so all patterns are complete! Quite shocking...)

I've skipped the stabilizer in the underbust seam, but kept it for the shoulders. The waist is helped by an elastic inserted in the overlock seam. I messed it up a bit, though, as I sewed in the elastic wrong (forgot to stretch it and put it on the skirt side instead of on the midriff side) so this dress will be best to wear with a belt. The elastic may also get a bit better after washing. Ah, well, this was the test-run dress =)

New solution to finishing the neckline: cut a 4 cm wide strip and treat it like a mix between biastape and waistband. Attatch right side to right side...

...fold over the overlock-seam so it's engulfed by the band and top-stitch with a zig-zag just next to the seam. Setting my machine on a narrow zic-zag, I can use my zipper-foot (or whatever it is, that's what I most often use it for) and get really close. The finished band ends up a bit round, but I like the effect.

All the hems are folded under once and then top-stitched with a narrow zic-zag.

That was my three easy starting projects; fast to make, versitile and easy to wear. Now it's time for a couple of more jersey projects on the summer SWAP!

Love, Erika

Me Made May - I'm in!

Zoe from So, Zo, what do you know? is hosting another round of the by now iconic Me Made May-challenge! I participated in Me Made-june two years ago, and learned a lot about the gaps in my closet. At first I was a bit hesitant about signing up this year - for me it would feel like cheating to pledge to just do what I anyway do, it needs to be a challenge. A dream (and a longterm goal) is to be able to go all-in, but I'm not there yet (outerwear, knickers and knitted cardigans all remains for that). However, I decided to pledge...

"I, Erika of Swingin' it in vintage, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to 1) wear one me-made garment that is not a skirt, each day for the duration of May 2013 and 2) wear a me-made dress in a non-social dance context minimum once a week during May."

The plan is to not sew anything for this challenge. The summer SWAP I'm of course making anyway! I will sew during May, but only what I anyway would have. The goal is instead to see how much me-made I actually wear, what gaps that remains and which type of make(s) I really feel most comfortable using in my everyday life. Also I want to give myself a nudge to wearing blouses and dresses in my everyday life.

I have a pretty good idea what I need in my closet, and what I need to sew to complete the list, but it will be interesting to test the theory against reality.

Oh, and this won't turn into a daily update of outfits-blog during May, I'll post weekly outfit-round-ups =) Inbetween them, there will still be ordinary posts.

So, are you in on Me Made May?!

Love, Erika

Green wool dress, 40s style

It's ready! Yay! =) This dress took a while to make, partly due to the time of year when I started the project (from now on I should stick to TNT jerseys during February), and partly due to the shifty nature of the fabric. It's 100% wool, with a beautiful drape and a loose weave that makes it easy to press and easy to hide stitches in, but in my mind I named this make "The maybe I'll just baste it first-dress" =) All details have been basted, and though it may seem timeconsuming, the alternative (pin, sew, unpick, pin, baste, sew) would have taken longer...

The dress is made using a pattern I drafted from my blockpattern. This is my third make of this pattern, and each time I alter something. Close up of the altered details:

Shortened neckline to prevent gaping.

Upper front body is underlined in a fitted, thin muslin, hopefully controlling the ease from the pleats to lay still =)

Gathers altered to pleats, at bodice to yoke (front and back), bodice to midriff piece and end of sleeves to cuffs.

Shirtsleeve-placket instead of a bias-bound one. (As usual all the buttonholes are handworked).

Handpicked, lapped side zipper.

Inside of hem



Hem from the right side

Hem reinforced with fusible interfacing, hemline basted, steamed and pressed as shown here. Handstitched.

Regarding what era to pin it to, I'm just not sure... At first I thought of the late 40s, with the pleats and the half-circle skirt, but the sleeves are a bit wrong for that, aren't they? The 70s spring to mind, and it sure does have a lot in common with that decade. The only details landing it in an earlier decade is the length of the skirt and the sidezipper. Maybe late 30s/early 40s? Just at the start of WWII there was a period when skirts were getting wider and more circular again (soon made slimmer due to fabric rationing), and the puffy sleeves of the 30s were still seen. Maybe it would would fit that time period better? Anyway, it's somewhere in the general 40s style =)

Hmm, maybe I can have fun with that... A hairdo, seamed stockings, fancy shoes, and it's obviously a dressy 40s look. Ponytail, cotton/wool thights, winter boots, and it's a more casual 70s look.

So happy to finally have completed and photographed this dress! Sorry about the photo's though, some a bit murky and I'm not sure what's going on with the colour. The colour in the view of the back and in the hemline-pics is the most accurate =)

Love, Erika

SWAP and changes in plans

A post about wardrobe planning, purges and sewing lists...

I never came around to blogging this, but past fall I made a big wardrobe clean out. What prompted it was the constant feeling of having nothing to wear while my closets were brimming over with clothes and shoes. I decided to take a new approach to planning my closet, and instead of starting with what I had, I made a list of what I needed.

Different occasions in my life were listed, such as "Work", "Dance", "Work-out", "Town/dinner at friends", "Cozy at home" etc, then each occasion split into types of garments, and seasons where needed.  The types of garments became categories and the occasions/seasons became sub-categories. Then the real planning began, for example: how many winter skirts would I like to have for work? How many would be too few/too many? What is the minimum amout that would give sufficient variation?

I looked through my closet: what did I already have that I actually used for these categories? (Or could use, for example if I had a piece that worked with it). I filled it in, and noted how many I wanted to make.

It looked something like this:

Skirts 16

Winter 5

Blue wool

Brown/plaid vintage

Brown/blue plaid me-made

Green wiggleskirt

Deep red 30s A-line

Spring/Fall 5

Grey plaid

Green halfcircle

Black wiggle

Blue fullcircle

Beige wiggle

Summer 6

Blue pleated x2

Blue A-line/halfcircle

Red

Provencale patterned

White 30s

And this is just one category of the list's total 15 categories...

Armed with this list, I set out to ruthlessly purge both closet and sewing list. In real life, it wasn't that simple. I ended up splitting my closet into 1) On the list-items 2) Throw away 3) Sell/donate 4) Maybe-pile 5) Save for sentimental value. It doesn't really matter if I will never again wear the dress my aunt wore to my parents wedding, I'm saving it anyway. I have a whole bunch of family heirloom pieces, like a mink stole, a traditional folk-dress etc, and both those and my me-made medieval clothes are VIPs in my closet =)

Before and after photos of the three closets for hanging garments:

And no, it does not look this neat now. There were more pieces to add, like the VIPs. Also, it's funny how nice it is to have clear closet floors, and how practical they always seem whenever one has something to store away.

Even armed with the list, it was so hard to remove stuff that fits/I like/I've worn a lot before. In fact, I couldn't, I'm weak when it comes to clothes... Instead, I removed everything (one closet at the time) and didn't have to choose what to remove, but what to add. Much easier. The maybe pile got really big though... It was a good thing the mr helped me look through it all, and actually stopped me from some rash purges. For example this 70s dress from my aunt:

I never wear it out as it just seems too much and isn't really my style. It hadn't even occured to me it's a great housedress! It stays =) Overall, it felt good to make this purge, and even though I liked some of the pieces I've removed, I haven't missed a single one of them.

Like I hinted, this also made a huge impact on my sewing list. Before, it's been more "Yeah, I would like some more jersey dresses" and then I'd plan a bunch of dresses (too many, but that's ok, I'm a slow sewist so I never make everything I plan). Now, I have a list of different categories, and it's actually fun to plan after it! I want to make a little bit of everything, so instead spending the year just sewing the dresses I need, I'll maybe make one dress, two t-shirts, a jacket etc. Some pieces for winter, some for summer. Some for leisure and some for dressing up. Diverse, flexible, keeping me interested and motivated, but with an overall plan. The organizing-nerd in me almost keeled over with glee over this chart (I'm showing just a part of it here, 3 out of the total 15 categories):

Outerwear	3 winter	4 spring/fall (2)	3 summer (1)		3
Dresses	5 work/winter (3)	5 dance/summer (3)	5 semi-formal (2)	5 All dressed up (1)	9
Skirts	5 winter (2)	5 spring/fall	6 summer (2)		4

The numbers indicate how many I need, and the (x) how many I'm short, the last column how many there's to sew. So now I'm Sewing With A Plan (SWAP)!

Of course, even the best laid plans can go awry... We're going on a sun trip! In May me and the mr has booked a trip to lovely, sunny Spain. I've never been there, and just the thought of 20+ C and sunshine will make the coming weeks of melting snow and dust-filled air bearable. However... I don't have eunough to wear! Having lived far north and not usually travelling to warm places, my closet for hot days is very limited. And dated. And I don't like most pieces. In fact, I might have purged most of them past fall. Eh... I need to sew for hot summer! And yes, to me anything over 20 C is hot weather. There's a reason I'm going to Spain in May, not July ; )

A little mind map of what I would like to bring along... The garments marked with an X I already have. The rest is 10 pieces (fabrics from the stash, no buying new). Seems like a lot to sew before mid-May? What can I say, I'm an optimist =) I'm also a bit realistic, and pieces that are fast to make and most versitile to wear goes first in the sewing que. The blue silk blouse is last in line, and I'm very doubtful it will get done in time.

The sad side of this is that I won't participate in Mad Men Challende 2, the 60s Joan-inspired dress that was next in the sewing line has been moved to fall. The fun bonus-effect of sewing a travel-wardrobe for Spain is it would mean I'd have a functioning and corresponding me-made summer-wardrobe. Before summer! Wish me luck ; )

First up: finish lining the 30s jacket I made for Amanda's wedding. You know, after I make the last stitches on the wool dress...

Happy holidays!
Love, Erika