Month: March 2013

HSF Challenge #13: Lace and lacings

I’ve been having trouble announcing the HSF challenges in a logical way, and keeping up with inspiration posts for the upcoming challenges.  Solutions?  Do them together as one announcement post at the 8 challenges ahead mark!  Here then is the HSF Challenge #13: Lace and Lacings, due 1 July 2013  (NZ time). Lacing is one of the simplest and oldest forms of fastening a garment, eminently practical, and occasionally decorative. Lace has been one of the most valuable and desirable textiles for centuries, legislated, coveted, at times worth more than its weight in gold, passed down from one garment to the next over centuries.  Elaborate and delicate it is eminently decorative, and rarely practical. Celebrate the practicality of lacing, and the decorative frivolity of lace, with a garment that laces or has lace trim, or both. Here are some ideas to get you inspired:

Sherbet Seersucker details

I posted the fun stuff about my Sherbet Seersucker dress yesterday, here are all the construction details for Anne Adams 2653, and a few thoughts on the pattern, for anyone interested in 1930s sewing patterns and techniques. The Good: It’s adorable, comfortable, practical, and goes together in a matter of hours – even with a lot of hand finishing.   I used a size 34 bust (I have a natural 37″ bust, but find that size 34″ patterns from the 1930s generally fit me perfectly), and it fit perfectly, though I did have to use all the ease given at the side seams. This is an ideal pattern for working with stripes.  The pleating, pockets, pin-tucks, cap sleeves, and yoke all lend themselves to interesting stripe placements. I cut the main body of the dress with vertical stripes, set my pockets and cap sleeves with horizontal stripes, and did the same thing on the sleeves.  I matched the stripe pattern where the bodice front met the yoke, and finished the insides of the sleeves with …

The ‘Sherbet Seersucker + Shoes’ 1934 frock

Well, I love bold stripes, but everything I’m making for the HSF ‘Stripes’ challenge has turned out to be quite subdued stripes; in this case, seersucker. This dress started out with this pattern, Anne Adams 2653: How cute is that! A lovely and kind friend owns the pattern, and let me take a copy in trade for a copy of one of my patterns. The pattern was perfect, but finding the right fabric for it turned in to an epic production.  First I found what I thought was the perfect fabric: a geometric broderie anglaise that was both sweet and Art Deco-y.  I bought four metres, rushed home, compared it to the pattern, and realised the broderie anglaise openwork would clash horribly with  the pleats and neck yoke.   Grrrrr!  Next, I found the perfect blue and white striped cotton poplin in my stash but unfortunately I had less than half what the pattern said I would need in fabric – even if I did a contrast yoke, sleeves and pockets.  Grrrrr!  Then I realised …