A Very Happy Day

I have a terrible memory. Not the kind of terrible memory that loses keys (because they always go in the same place the second I walk through the door), but the more embarrassing kind. My emotional memory is very weak. Vocabulary words from high school? I got those right here. "Remember that one time...." from high school? Um, did I even *go* to that high school? Because I don't remember a thing. It is more problematic than the regular kind of bad memory, I think, because it involves meaningful experiences with other people, who might be a little miffed that I can't remember it at all.

There is an upside to this, though, because things are new to me much more quickly than to other people. I have not been able to sew much lately because of travel, visitors, and general life stuff. The last time I spent a full day sewing was before my trip to Spain in early September.

By this week I was so frustrated that the same project had been on my sewing machine for a month that I decided to try to work on it each evening for 30 minutes. I'd force myself into the sewing room around 9:15 (after getting home from the gym and having dinner), accomplish some small task, and head to bed. I don't usually sew during the week because I'm just tired after a full day of work and working out and want to spend time relaxing. It wasn't much fun, although I did see progress on the dress.

Because I have no emotional memory I thought that my purpose in sewing was to get clothes (I stopped buying clothes other than jeans and workout clothes about 3 years ago). So I motivated myself by thinking about wearing the dress when I finished it.

I had the day off work today and earmarked it as A Sewing Day--I was going to take the whole day for myself and just sew. And, although it sounds silly to say this is an epiphany, considering I write a blog about sewing:

I LOVE TO SEW!!!!!

It was like rediscovering an essential component of myself to sit at the machine all day today. I love the creativity, the problem solving, the intellectual challenge (I have a strictly 2D brain and 3D sewing projects blow my mind), and of course the clothes/fashion/styling/outfits, but the other parts are just as integral to my enjoyment.

Man. I had a great day.

And then, on top of a day spent having FUN, I ended up with three finished projects: the lingering month-long project and two quick knits (love those quick knits). I am so in love with all three projects. There's something from old stash, something from new stash, something blue...nothing borrowed, though. There's a classic piece and a trendy piece and a piece that will fit into most years' trends. There's one thing for work, one for day-to-night, and one that's strictly for fun. There's a tailored piece and a voluminous piece. Dresses and a separate. All will work for three seasons depending on how they're styled, and I might even be able to squeeze the fourth season out of two of them.

I even have a teeny bit of hand-sewing to do (I never have hand-sewing when I need something to occupy me, and I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to do it shortly).

And since posts without pics are no good, here's a sneak peek. I hid all the details but at least you can see the fabrics whose serger clips are the newest ones littering my sewing room floor.

Retro Air Hostess Pillbox Hat Tutorial

When planning this costume, I knew a pillbox hat would be an essential element. While making the uniform and realizing that there is a fine line between Air Hostess and Diner Waitress, I knew the hat had to make up the difference so I wanted to do a fabulous job. I wanted to make the hat out of the blue fabric, because the green poly was just so awful (as previously discussed). I had enough scraps to cut the band; I had to piece the crown, but I just barely got everything cut out!

For the dimensions of the hat I turned to (what else?) Down With Love. Based on the movie costume, I planned for it to be four inches tall. However, once I got it in process I realized that was a bit too tall so I cut it down to 3.5 inches, and I think the height is good. Someone taller than me with a bigger head (I have a child-sized head at 21.5 inches) might do well with four inches.

You may recall that I went through a millinery mania last year but, as with so many of my manias, I lost enthusiasm after buying my relatively inexpensive but still pricey hat block and supplies without actually producing anything (other than my sewn hot pink newsboy cap from a pattern, which made use of exactly none of those supplies). However, now that the weather has turned cool again my interest is renewed and for this hat I went back into my hat-making resources to see what I could learn. I learned quite a bit!


MATERIALS

Outer fabric
Lining fabric
interfacing
Frame material (I used plastic needlepoint canvas, available in large sheets for cheap at fabric and craft stores)
duct tape or yarn
needle and thread (i used my sewing machine on this project, but it is totally possible to do it all by hand and it is not endlessly laborious or time-consuming)

STEP 1: DRAFT YOUR PATTERN

This step was fairly easy for me as I just turned my pillbox hat block upside down and traced around the crown, and then made measurements of the brim side for the brim pieces. I think the brim pieces should have had curved top and bottom edges, because the grain is a little weird at the side seams, but flat pieces worked just fine for my purpose.

If you don't have a hat block to trace, you can just make a circle for the crown (mine is a bit oval), though it will involve a bit of math. To get the dimensions of the circle, measure around your head. This will be your circumference. To draw your circle, figure out your radius (remember the formula is 2лr (that's 2 x pi x radius, where pi=3.14).

So, for my child-sized 21.5 inch head:
2лr=21.5
лr=10.75
r=3.42, or approximately 3 1/2 inches (or if you want to get more precise, 3 7/16, or you can use cm)

You can either rig up a compass-type arrangement to draw your circle, or you can double the radius to get the diameter, in this case 6.84 inches, around 6 7/8 inches, draw a + in which the two arms are 6.84 inches and cross in the center, and draw your circle around that.

You'll need to add a seam allowance around the circle.

Then draft up your side band (a rectangle 4 inches tall and the width of your head + 1/4 or 1/2 inch ease + seam allowances at top, bottom, and side seam).

STEP 2: CUT OUT YOUR COMPONENTS

To cut out my frame, I put the pattern underneath the canvas and traced around the pattern (omitting the seam allowances on the tip altogether, and the omitting the upper and lower seam allowances of the band) in highlighter, then cut it out. To assemble the frame, I used duct tape. This was fine for the side "seams" and the top, but I also ran duct tape around the bottom edge to ensure the canvas wouldn't be sharp. I really, really regretted this when I was sewing the hat to the frame so don't follow my lead there.

I interfaced both my outer and my lining fabric to make sure everything would be sturdy and crisp looking. I used medium weight fusible interfacing.


STEP 3: ASSEMBLE THE FRAME

Then it's time to make a frame. I actually started by making a buckram frame, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the buckram that Joann sells is not--gasp--hat-making grade. There was no way the frame would have provided any kind of structure when my fashion fabric had about 10 times more body. So I set that aside and went for my costuming/make it work favorite material--plastic needlepoint canvas. Tape the top and the crown together on the inside and the outside with duct tape. Easy.

STEP 4: SEW OUTER FABRIC

The next step is to assemble the outer fabric. It helps to have (1) stretchy fabric and (2) largish seam allowances because you're going to assemble it on top of the frame. This means that the outer fabric will be slightly larger than the frame and slightly larger still than the lining. I didn't account for this in my pattern (I cut all components--outer, frame, and lining--the same size), I just dealt with it at the construction stage.

Once my frame was constructed, I hand stitched the outer fabric in place around it. I went back and reinforced the stitching by machine, but the hand-sewing would have been enough to keep it in one piece.

STEP 5: ATTACH OUTER FABRIC TO FRAME
This is not necessarily an essential step, but I felt the hat would look better if I stretched the fabric over the frame and sewed it to the frame. Normally, I would just sew the outer fabric and lining together and sandwich the frame in between, but I wanted this to have a tight fit. I used a curved needle and took advantage of the properties of needlepoint canvas (i.e., that it's intended to be sewn upon and has little square openings for the purpose). Sewing through the duct tape was horrible. I should have just stopped and ripped off the duct tape but I did not because I am dumb. But once the fabric was sewn in place the hat was already looking pretty great.

STEP 6: ASSEMBLE LINING



Next step is to make the lining. I assembled it on my hat block because I have one, but if you don't you can just sew it with slightly larger seam allowances than drafted (this is assuming you have used perfect seam allowances on the frame and slightly smaller seam allowances on the outer fabric). Because the outer edge will be hand-stitched to the outer fabric, there is no need to leave any seam openings for turning.



STEP 7: HAND-STITCH LINING TO OUTER FABRIC OVER FRAME

Once your lining is assembled, place it into the hat, turn under the lower edge and pin in place, and hand-stitch to the outer fabric. It really doesn't take that long and gives a nice finish on the inside. I sewed little loops of ribbon on the inside that barely stuck down below the edge of the hat to put bobby pins through to make sure it wouldn't fall off.

STEP 8: EMBELLISH

The hat needed a little something once it was finished. In Down With Love the decoration is a hat pin, but since (1) it is ludicrous to pretend that I have enough hair to make use of a hat pin, and (2) I do not have a hat pin, I went with a cockade. I cut a circle out of my sheer print (using a bowl with a diameter of around 6 inches, I think), serged the edges, gathered it up in a yoyo, and pinned it in place with wings.

And voila! LOVE the hat. It totally made the costume.

All photos of this project are here, and you can read more about the concept and the uniform if you're interested.

Retro Air Hostess Uniform: Simplicity 2927

When planning this costume for last year I had been unable to decide between and Simplicity 2927 and Simplicity 3559, a 1960s reissue, but I ultimately decided that S2927 offered more opportunity for using two colors and went with that one.

I had only one day to sew the dress because of my travel schedule, but it's an easy pattern to make. I picked up the blue fabric, a sort of faux-linen with a lot of stretch, from G Street Fabrics' $2.97/yd table; there was only a little over a yard and a quarter, but since I was making a short dress I figured it would work. The green is a poly crepe from Joann's Casa Collection, $4.80/yd with coupon.

I kind of hate to rip on Joann, because it is handy to have a brick and mortar store I can pop into for notions and I don't want them to go out of business, but can we take a moment to talk about how awful this Casa Collection poly crepe is? If my "special occasion" dress was made out of this sh!t I would cry. I mean, it goes without saying that the hand is horrible; just touching it makes you cringe. It is thin and flimsy *and* it ravels. The crepe-y texture is mystifyingly gross (like, what higher class fiber could this possibly be imitating?). And it's not even cheap! I really hope all the sewists out there who don't have physical access to anyplace other than Joann have discovered that you can order better fabrics at a lower cost online.

Anyway, I had planned to make the side princess panels out of the contrast green, but the thought of having this fabric up against my skin other than at the neck was unbearable so I cut the side panels out of blue; I had to cut them off grain to fit everything onto my limited fabric but it doesn't appear to be pulling the dress out of shape. I really wish the pockets had been drafted onto the side princess panel, it would have been much more sophisticated than just a patch pocket. But I did not have time to redraft so I stuck with the patch pocket motif. I really liked the way EvLouise's version on Pattern Review turned out with the contrast collar and pockets, so I went with that. Of course, after I went back to look at the reference photos I saw that color-blocking was a popular thing!

To bring in the green more I finished the armscye and keyhole opening edges with bias tape made of the green. I am not sure there is really any point to polyester bias tape as it doesn't steam into shape, obviously, but it actually worked better than I expected. I used my bias tape maker and got faint iron impressions onto the bias strips, which allowed me to line things up. As usual, the Simplicity armscye was too tight on me as drafted, so I trimmed off about an inch at the bottom, scooping out more at the lower front than the back, tapering to nothing at the shoulder (other than, in this case, trimming off the seam allowances for the bias tape finish).

The keyhole opening is to be accomplished, according to the pattern, by cutting a small rectangular facing, placing it right side to right side, stitching around the small keyhole opening as drafted, clipping, and flipping. Yuck. That is asking for the worst kind of flapping floppy facings. I wanted a more exaggerated opening so I cut a teardrop shape keyhole and finished with the bias tape.

I took a huge swayback tuck out of the back pattern piece, as per usual. Even with the tuck I had to majorly contour the center back seam to get a decent fit. This ended up shortening the back hemline significantly--I cut about two inches off center front to hem and zero off center back--but luckily this is meant to be worn short!

I had deliberately chosen a green regular zipper (rather than my normal choice of invisible), and was considering making it an exposed zip but decided that would be going too far. Then I thought of doing a lapped zipper, but (1) this is a technique I have only done once before, and (2) I feared with the highly contoured back seam the lap would gape open. So I just did a regular zipper installation. I used to be so good at regular zippers, but I have been on invisibles so long that I have totally lost my touch!

As the dress took shape, I began to get concerned. It turns out there is a fine line between "Retro Air Hostess" and "Diner Waitress." Diner Waitress just does not offer the glam I'm looking for. I knew the hat and scarf would make a difference, but I wanted to jazz up the uniform to make it look a little more "martini" and a little less "milkshake."

I wanted the pockets to be functional so I wouldn't have to carry a purse (did not have time or inclination to make or find an old school flight bag), so I added buttonholes and used gold buttons to close them. The collar is not intended to have functional buttons, so I just sewed three buttons there for decoration. I felt that this added the necessary punch to the uniform.

I loved this pattern for the uniform, but I don't really see it as regular clothes for me. It's very similar to Simplicity 6276, a 1974 pattern I made last year and I haven't ended up loving that dress (I think it will get purged in the next Goodwill run). This has a narrower profile, while S6274 is more A line (which I am down on right now), but the band collar is just not my scene.

All photos are here and the Pattern Review is here.

Halloween 2009: Retro Air Hostess

Cidell and I had the idea to do Retro Air Hostesses last year, but I ended up being in Germany for work and had to miss Halloween. I had already purchased the fabulous poly chiffon print for the scarf last year and didn't have any other burning ideas, and in fact, didn't necessarily plan to dress up at all, as discussed previously, until my brother and sister-in-law decided to come visit for Halloween. So the Retro Air Hostess was back on and here it is:



I'll discuss the costume in a three part series. This is the introduction, then I'll cover the uniform and then the hat.

First, there was research. OK, that's not really true. I did some research last year but this year I didn't have time before I started my uniform. After I'd finished the dress, I poked around a little.



I was much influenced by the highly underrated movie "Down with Love." (Seriously, if you have Netflix, just go ahead and order this movie. You can thank me later.) Jeri Ryan plays a stewardess character and the hair, hat, uniform, and overall manner are just fabulous. I couldn't find any decent places in the movie to do a screencap, though imdb has a better shot here (partly obscured by a suitcase). The late 60s vibe was what I was going for (though my uniform is more like early 70s, I admit), so I had to re-watch the movie of course to get it down.













There is a great series of images on flight attendant uniforms here (the link is to part 1; the post contains links to parts 2-4). The collection here is mostly the same but has a few additional images. The most comprehensive collection is here; the uniforms are on mannequins, which is fabulous for detail but not so great for getting the right "feel" for the time period. The Irazu Air and PSA uniforms were the most like what I was going for.







After seeing these uniforms I kind of wished I had done a contrast color in the princess panel, but oh well. I think I captured a bit of the spirit in mine. At any rate, I feel very kicky and ready to travel the world.


All the photos are here! Alas, I didn't have my trusty photographer so they're boring indoor shots, but I did have fun doing them.

Second Birthday Dress: BWOF 12-2007-109

Thank you, everyone, for your kind comments on my birthday dress! I am overwhelmed!



I had to travel for work on my birthday, and not the good kind of travel, either. I was off to Las Vegas for a week for some particularly painful depositions and knew I'd be working like crazy. However, I was determined to do *something* to celebrate my birthday, hopefully a nice dinner out on the town in between working before and after. I didn't know how silk jersey would travel, and plus the casinos are always so smoky and you have to walk through them to get to the restaurants, so I didn't want to bring my "real" birthday dress. Time to come up with a quick backup!

I flipped through my BWOFs and came across 12-2007-109, which looks sophisticated but is made up in a knit. That deep inverted front pleat is great for tummy disguising and I loved the shawl effect of the sleeves. Because this is a knit, it was super-quick to trace out and sew.

I sewed it up in a subtly metallic jersey from stash (purchased way back when from the $2.97/yd table at G Street). Unfortunately, because I was in a hurry I didn't spend much time with the fabric in doing the cutting layout, and didn't realize it has a bit of a nap. I cut everything out in the same direction, but it is a little rough-feeling if you run your hand down the dress, and smooth if you run your hand up the dress. It would be nicer had I run the texture the other way, but it isn't uncomfortable to wear as the bodice and strap are lined with a softer poly knit.

Although the description of the sleeves says "The wide straps of this gown are tied in front before being attached to the back, creating not just a pretty neckline but also cap sleeves," this is not true in any way. There is no tying. The sleeve is sewn as a continuous line after threading through the keyhole, with the seam hidden inside the tab at center back. Nothing complicated there.

So it's not any kind of actual twist, just a keyhole opening that you thread the strap through. The keyhole opening is drafted to be quite long. I shortened it some, but even still my bra shows through the opening a little (a flesh-tone bra helps).

The sleeves, alas, don't work as advertised. My metallicized fabric has a bit less stretch than your typical jersey, and is a bit stiffer, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. But unless you stand perfectly still without moving your arms the shawl sleeves are going to push up onto your shoulders. This makes the look a little less sophisticated and a little more Betty Rubble, but since this was for Vegas the less classy/more trashy thing was fine.

I just left the hem raw. I love that this is an option with jersey.

Despite working until midnight most nights, we did manage to take one night off and have a lovely dinner at Circo in the Bellagio. We had a smidge of a view of the fountains and the food was fantastic. I think there is more metallic clothing per capita on the Strip than anywhere else in the world (including a couple I saw in which the girl was wearing gold metallic leggings and the guy was wearing one of those tacky Ed Hardy shirts on which every line was limned in gold), so I fit right in.

This is another project photographed by Cidell, so there are some great photos! The pattern review is here.