The End of 2015

Well, it's almost New Year. I almost cannot believe the year has gone so fast, but at the same time so much has happened. This time last year I was in Rome, now I have spent the evening planning a pattern sale dash.

Life:
I got married at the end of 2014, so that has really been the big change this year. The wedding was handmade vintage style, the masterpiece being my wedding dress. Even now, over a year later, thinking about the insertion, pintucks, vintage lace and hand embroidery makes me so happy. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago, and it's been a fantastic year beginning our lives together.

We honeymooned in Europe from December through February which was an incredible experience. Europe, especially the UK has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. I am a committed Anglophile, and my first time there did not disappoint. Below is myself in the Lake District, the scenery and atmosphere of England and Scotland is breath taking, whether it's out driving a snow storm in the Highlands, or climbing to the roof of a cathedral. Before the UK, we visited Germany, Prague, Salzburg, Italy and France. It was a real adventure, and has certainly whetted my appetite for more travel.

Life since February has certainly been quieter! We are renting a little one bedroom apartment in Sydney's Inner West. Living out of home, and in the city has been an adjustment, but I enjoy it, and it's been very satisfying to be able to build up our first home.

Most of the year was taken up with completing my history honours. Honours in Australia is a year long research programme in under grad that results in a 20,000wd thesis. It was fun, rewarding, and grueling. My area of specialty is medieval history,  specifically for my thesis it was twelfth century historical writing in Anglo-Norman England, and the creation of an English national identity post Conquest.

Next year I will be beginning my Masters in Museum and Heritage Studies, with the aim of moving to the UK permanently in a few years, and working in something heritage related. History is really my life blood; from academic study, reading for pleasure, TV shows and movies, and even my dress style.

Sewing:

Closed eyes. Oh dear, posing for photos has never been my forte

This year has been quiet on the sewing front. I have been very happy with the projects I have made. My blog archives only show ten blogged projects, several that were UFO's that got neglected with the wedding dress making. the vast majority of these projects have been successes though! My favourites are my vintage floral shirtdress and my Liberty Mathilde blouse.

I do though have a number of half finished projects. I have certainly been doing a good bit of sewing, just not a lot has resulted in finished items, and I have a few that are yet to be blogged.







My Liberty Mathilde. The photos of the finished blouse came out poorly

The main issue with sewing this year has been getting used to the space. At my Mum's I had use of a studio/granny flat in the backyard. I had a pretty good set up which allowed me to make a lot of mess and not be in anyone's way. I also had a very large cutting table.

This year I sew in the bedroom, and have to try and not leave pins all over the floor, whilst sharing the space with the ever patient, ever loving husband. My stash space is also a lot smaller (it hasn't stopped me bringing down a lot of stuff). I feel like I am finally getting hold of the space, and in the next few weeks I will hopefully be getting the cutting table again! It will live folded up in the corner, and will make things a lot easier.

I made my first collars this year, and I found them not scary at all, may 2016 be the year of bound button holes and tailoring! I also had my first experience sewing with polyester. And I will be sticking to natural fibres from now on. The dress was a gift, so I am glad it's an easy wash and wear for her, but the sewing aspect was less than pleasant.

On the internet based side of sewing I made two steps forward this year. The first was getting Instagram. I really love it, and enjoyed taking part in #sewvember. I am slowly dragging myself into the modern world! I also tried to open an Etsy shop with some of the accessories I had been making. It didn't take off, but I have a few plans for attempting to revitalize it next year.

Style:
My biggest style step forward this year was working out how to curl my hair! This was a big step forward for me. I have very nice, very thick hair. Ever since I started school it's never been longer than shoulder length (any longer and it's so thick it's unmanageable). I would usually just do pony tails, or clip it back at the sides. This year I decided to take the plunge, and do rag curls. My best friend has done them on me a number of times over the years, and she even did them for my wedding. It was so incredibly easy once I just took the plunge, and now I can do nice updos. I am happier with my hair than I have been in years. I even started cutting it myself, which is much less scary than it sounds.

My style has remained relatively unchanged this year, though I have thrown some pencil skirts and shirt dresses into the mix. My summer outfit is still a fit and flare floral dress, or a skirt with a cream/lace/floral blouse. Winter is all about pleated wool plaid skirts.


Plans for 2016:
My sewing plans for next year go hand in hand with my style plans. I love vintage, and want to expand my vintage wardrobe. To this end I am making a trip tomorrow to buy a lot of Simplicity and Butterick reproduction patterns on sale. I will share them with you once they are safely mine!
my general sewing plans include more floral blouses, as most of my blouses are white and cream. Going to see Suffragette this week did not help my Edwardian blouse obsession. I also want to make some more summer skirts.

Dress wise, I want to move beyond the fit and flare. Everything will still be defined waist, but I am wanting to experiment sewing wise. There will be many more M6696 shirtdresses, but I have become very taken with a lot of the 1940's style bodices, so I will probably end up trying a few dresses in those styles.

I am also going to make myself a suit, with my first vintage pattern bought online. The bad Australian exchange rate and postage make online shopping not a good deal, which is probably good for my hip pocket in the long run! Isn't it a beauty?

My other great plan is to get into scarves, both neck scarves, and hair scarves. And if the vintage gods smile on me 2016 may finally be the year of the hat. I own a grand total of one hat, which is the only hat that has ever fit my head. My family has five documented generations of incredibly large heads, and it's something I have come to live with. Hats will never fit, and some garments will be a struggle to get over your head. I am hoping I turn up some good ones in the coming year. The second hand shops here often aren't very forthcoming with things like that.

My other dream is to find a good haul of 1940s and 1950s patterns at the opshop for hardly any money, but I do not think that is likely to happen.


Well, that ended longer than expected! It's been a good year all up, and I am more than excited thinking through all my plans for next year. Do let me know what you are planning. Following all your blogs and Instagrams is what gives me the best sewing and style inspiration! And I promise I will be back soon with the expected pattern haul.



Purple silk refashioned blouse

Today's newly finished item is a refashion. Years ago, I bought this purple silk blouse at one of those opshops where you buy by the kilogram. I picked up a lot of silk that day for about 50c each. I wore the blouse as I bought it for a few years until I decided it needed a change. It was quite loose fitting, had a stiff collar, and dropped shoulder sleeves.

I actually started this months ago. Second picture down is once I cut off the sleeves and collar. I gave it some side seam shaping, and turned the dropped shoulder effect into a kimono sleeve. In the picture of me wearing it you can see the buttons aren't sitting quite right. I don't think it's an issue of it being tight across the bust, The buttons are widely spaced, and I think a press stud there should do the trick.

The reason this took so long to finish was the binding. I tried a rolled hem, but it wouldn't take, so in the end I cut the neckline down into a V, and finished all the edges with pre made mauve bias tape whilst watching Call the Midwife.

All up, a quick project, and I think it will get a lot of wear over the summer

Lace Insertion blouse

Even though I haven't posted for about a month, I sill have been very busy on the sewing front, just not a lot to show in the way of finished objects! I have been posting a lot on instagram though, especially with #bpsewvember photo a day challenge this month. If you are not yet following me, my handle is @kaitlynssimplyvintage. There's a lot of close up of beautiful floral fabric happening over there.

Today's project has been over a year in the making. When making my wedding dress, I made a number of test garments (because making a wedding dress on a tight deadline definitely leaves time to make even more things). There were three test garments all up, this one, my Armistice blouse, and a skirt that needs taking in.

This blouse was a test run for lace insertion. I used this tutorial by Wearing History. The fabric is a very delicate, and incredibly sheer Swiss dot form my grandmother's stash, and the lace is inherited as well.

For the pattern I used Tilly and the Button's Mathilde blouse, without sleeves.

The insertion was added across the yoke, and then more lace was added to the armhole. The fabric frayed a lot, so I finished the neckline with self bias tape top stitched down.

At this point, knowing I could insert lace, I put this aside and got on with the wedding dress. One issue was how sheer it was, everything was visible. I thought about it being a lounging top, but both my Mum and sister thought it was too pretty for that.

A few weeks ago, I pulled this out and go around to finishing it. I had thought about putting buttons down the back, but the fabric frays so much, I just sewed down the back seam, leaving a little extra ease, so the top pulls over. I quickly hemmed it, and it was done. I love when long term unfinished objects come together like that.

 The main problem was then deciding what to wear it with. In the end I went for a plain white singlet, which worked well, but only because it was relatively cool. I am thinking this would also look good with some coloured camisoles underneath. More sewing plans I guess!

I paired it yesterday with a navy and white polka dot maxi skirt (hand-me-downs from Mums are the best). Thinking this will go with pretty much any skirt, especially some nice florals.

Will hopefully have some more finished objects to show you soon. Have a lovely shirtdress half made, and also am hoping to tackle my large refashion/mending pile sooner rather than later

Vintage Floral Shirtdress

A long held sewing dream has been realised. I have finally made M6696. After seeing many amazing versions, especially all of Mary's and Heather's (I would steal both of these lady's wardrobes in a heartbeat), I knew I had to get hold of the pattern. I finally bought it a few months ago and it went on the back burner til after my thesis was finished.

Though the plan is to make many of these dresses, my specific plan was to use up the rest of my bridesmaids dress fabric. But because this fabric is very special, I knew I needed a wearable muslin first.

At first I wasn't too sold on this fabric. I picked it up very cheap at a market a while back (it was either fabric-a-brac, or the closing down sale of my local vintage shop). It's very 60's/70's, and was also very narrow. And even though I am a massive fan of florals, I felt it was a little too girly. I thought a shirt dress would work well, as the more structured lines would make less girly. However, after making and wearing this dress, I love the fabric. Funny how that happens.





I made a few minor changes to the pattern. I really do not like the back gathers that come with the pattern, so I modified the back pattern piece to the darts of Simplicity 2444. This was also a trick I did with my wedding dress. Secondly I shortened the waist half an inch. This makes a massive difference. I am finding a few of my older dresses are too long in the waist, so this will be a standard adjustment from now on. For reference I cut a size 12 with the A/B cup.

I also modified the skirt slightly, but this was to do with the width of the fabric. The fabric wasn't wide enough to take the full pleated skirt. I deliberated on using the straight skirt option, but I was concerned it would need a bit of fitting over the hips, so stuck with the fuller option. My modifications were very unscientific. The waist seam just fit across the width, and then I folded in the rest of the pattern to fit.

The dress went together really easily. I used Four Square Wall's collar tutorial and it went in smoothly first go. I hand sewed down everything.

Pattern: McCall's 6696

Size: 12A/B

Fabric: Vintage floral, picked up second hand

Adjustments: Back gathers to darts, shortened waist, narrowed skirt

Notions: Pink shank buttons from Reverse Garbage

Wear with: pink pearl set, and pink ballet flats

Make again? Yes, I am hoping this pattern will become a TN.

Hoping to be back soon with the bridesmaid dress fabric version

Just a very quick post to let you know I've opened an Etsy shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/KaitlynSimplyVintage
Currently am only offering shipping within Australia.

Liberty Mathilde Blouse

After handing in my thesis almost a fortnight ago I have my sewing time back, which has resulted in a flurry of activity. The first project was a WIP that  had started way back in March.

This gorgeous liberty print was bought last May at the Fabric-a-brac fabric sale in Stanmore, Sydney (a day I remember well as I got engaged that evening). I paid  $8 for around a metre. I still have a good bit left over. I absolutely love Liberty fabric, the quality is fantastic, and the prints speak to my very feminine, Anglophile, country garden and flowers loving heart.

I knew I wanted to make a summer blouse, so I turned to Tilly and the Button's Mathilde blouse. I am planning on branching out and trying a new blouse pattern at some point (five versions in), but I love this pattern, and knew that with a few modifications it would work well to showcase the print with little distraction.

I eliminated the front tucks, and also changed the sleeves. The sleeve pattern is actually cut from the sleeve head of one of husband's worn out shirts. I had tried a few other sleeve patterns, but found them all restrictive of movement, and I was having trouble leveling off the Mathilde sleeve pattern.

The back closes with some beautiful green vintage buttons I bought in the Rocks (a historical, artsy area of Sydney). When sewing them on, I couldn't help but do a colour coordinated photo in this little Royal Albert dish. It certainly pulls together my love of crockery and sewing.


The finished garment photo isn't too clear unfortunately. There was a good bit of glare, and I didn't realise til later one sleeve was caught up. Oh well, I have good close ups of the fabric, and the picture gives a good indication of how it looks worn.


Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons Mathilde

Size: 3

Fabric: Liberty Tana lawn, Fabric-a-brac sale

Adjustments: No pleats in front, modified sleeve pattern, lowered neckline

Notions: Green vintage buttons from the Rocks

Wear with: my black skirts, my pink skirt, the as yet made blue skirt. The colours give me a lot of options. It also goes equally well with my cream or pink pearls.

Make Again: I m on the look out for more vintage blouse patterns, but this Mathilde modification will most likely come out again ( I actually have a refashion waiting to be blogged)


Hope you have all been having a good week.

Liebster Award

I was nominated by Beth at Sewing Soothes the Soul for the Liebster Award. I'm going to share eleven random facts about myself. Instead of nominating a few other bloggers, I'm going to leave it open if anyone wants to pick it up for themselves; there's simply too many blogs I enjoy to pick and choose!

1. I study medieval history, and only handed in my honours thesis last week. I am now deciding what to pursue next year.

2. I am a dedicated coffee drinker (who also drinks tea), and I love nothing more than a good cappuccino. Luckily Sydney has a very good coffee culture, which is something I missed a lot when in Europe.

3. I have a novel draft written based on a very dense fictional genealogy I have developed.

4. I have scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spin. I got to wear a very uncomfortable plastic back brace for a year when I was 12 to stop it getting any more out of alignment.

5. I was bitten by a red belly black snake when I was fourteen months old.

6. I collect vintage china

7. My Dad passed away from cancer when I was 14. It was the worst experience of my life, but I am so grateful for the time I had with him

8. I met my husband in my second week of university, during a getting to know you exercise in a tutorial.

9. As a kid my favourite books were Enid Blyton, then I discovered Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, and quickly became a devoted fan of classic literature.

10. Though I am Australian I have never felt much connection to my own country, instead I am a devoted Anglophile. I love English history, literature, countryside, architecture, culture etc. Getting to finally visit the UK on my honeymoon was a dream come true. We are planning on moving there in a few years.

11. I collect vintage crockery. Like my fabric collection,I unabashedly love florals of all sorts, especially the vintage sort.