Well it seems that warmer weather may at last be on its way to the UK so contrary mary that I am I decided to finish a winter suit that has been languishing in my UFO pile for quite a while. It was my second forage into vintage pattern sewing and I chose this pattern from McCalls. I don’t know why I always get seduced by the covers on vintage patterns as the women look so slim and elegant but the end result is never the same on my more, shall we say, rounded figure? However I always find that vintage patterns tend to be a better fit for me than their modern equivalent which is strange.

I made the jacket a few months ago – this was intended to be a try out for the pattern and I used some sale fabric from John  Lewis which to be honest was probably intended for a coat. I just couldn’t find the right trim to finish this off until I went to Paris. I used the black chanel braid purchased there – I ummed and aaahed about using it on this project as after all it is a long way to Paris if I wanted more. I did make a straight skirt rather than a pencil one from the pattern as my hips will not bear that kind of scrutiny. I made a few mistakes on this – one I didn’t match up the pattern very well on the centre back seam of the skirt and secondly I don’t know what possessed me to put a stay lining in the back which only added to the bulk around the collar which is quite horrendous as I also have a facing there. Luckily my hair is shoulder length and hides most of the damage. Third I should have made the sleeves a bit longer. Apart from that it is perfect 🙂 Still we live and learn.

Here are some more piccies –

The lining:

Actually I prefer these as separates – the jacket looks nice with my black trousers (there’s a surprise) and the skirt looks really nice with a red jumper so they may end up like sausage and trifle – rarely seen in the same dish unless you are a ‘Come dine with me’ contestant. Actually I prefer the inside anyway but that would be a step too far! I have made another version of the jacket which you can view on my blog.

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Hi – this is my first post on this site although have been lurking for ages. I bought this pattern in my local vintage thrift shop. It is a Vogue pattern from the 60’s.

Blouses aren’t something I usually sew because for a little more work I can usually get a dress but one of my resolutions this year was to get some good tried and tested basic patterns had to do quite a lot of adjustments to the pattern and thankfully I did a muslin first as there was quite a few issues. I always find the bust point on vintage patterns very high (or perhaps that says something about my breasts!) I made the blouse with french cuffs first.

I also forgot to lengthen the waist on both versions I made – you would think I would learn after the fist make. I also forgot to lengthen the sleeves on the second version which is really stupid as I know I have longer than average arm length. Luckily for me the cuffs on the sleeve are supposed to be double so I now have a very deep cuff on version 2!

Please check out my blog for more details and photos.

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