Mauve Madness II

This September (Sewing Month!), I wanted to challenge myself with something new, or at least brush up on some sewing techniques that don’t get much use. I’ve been taking Gertie’s Starlet Suit Jacket course on Craftsy, but my jacket needs are still a few months off, and so far I have only watched the lessons.

I decided to toss a few challenges into the Mauve Madness collection. Here are two big ones: a silk blouse made from a vintage pattern almost four sizes too small, and a fitted, pleated skirt. Whew!

Click on any pic to see larger version

I purchased this size 30 pattern as part of a large lot, and really, I probably should have put it aside for sale or to give away.

B3495, mid-40s?

The sewing experts suggest that you should not try to grade a pattern up more than two sizes, and this was at least three sizes. I just could not resist that diagonal yoke panel-bow tie. I set about enlarging it to a size 36.

The back and lower front pieces each have a center and a side seam which can be expanded by ½ inch without losing shape.

New front piece (on muslin)/Original front pattern

That gave me 8 x ½ = 4 inches already. I added a larger wedge at the lower back edge since I needed to increase the hip measurement by, let us say, a lot more!

MUCH larger back piece

With the front bodice gathers and the waist tucks at the front and back waist, there was also a lot of fitting flexibility in the torso.

I decided my biggest concern would be across the shoulders in back, and where the diagonal yoke stretches from the sleeve across to center front. If these areas were too small, any arm movement would tear the blouse apart. Therefore I spread the back another ½ inch all the way from the middle of the shoulder down, and did the same with the tiny triangular front shoulder piece and the yoke/tie piece.

Larger front yoke and tie pieces.

I diverged from the pattern instructions a couple of times. The pattern did not mention any interfacing, but I interfaced the front and neck facings to help them stay put. In addition, the instructions called for the yoke-tie piece to be faced only to center front, and for the tie to have a narrow hem. I thought it would look better to have a two-sided tie.

This is a silk-cotton blend, but it was as sensitive and slippery as 100% silk. I hand-basted any seam on a curve or bias, because the fabric would slide in all directions as it ran through the machine.

I got lots of practice on finishing with this project. My French seams are nice and neat on the side seams, but I still haven’t gotten the hang of French seams on the sleeves. Maybe you’re supposed to use another finish on sleeves? The sleeves and hem are hand-sewn, and I did nearly go blind trying to stitch with dark grey thread on dark grey fabric. Not as bad as black but almost!

And one more thing about the pattern: it is not dated, but I place it in the mid-40s due to this public service announcement on the envelope flap:

Isn’t that interesting? Have you ever seen this on a pattern? Do you have an idea of the date?

 

On to the next big challenge!

This fabric is a loose-weave silk or blend.

It has that raw-silk smell, a nubbly texture, and the threads are easily snagged. I first stabilized it by fusing a very lightweight interfacing to the entire yardage. This skirt requires a surprisingly large amount of fabric because so much of it (20 inches) is inside the pleats.

1930s style skirt adopted by the 1980s in this pattern

It’s a very simple shape with simple construction, except for these pleats! I can NOT believe how difficult it is to sew seven parallel straight lines! Twice! (The front and back have the same pleats.)

Normally a skirt with sharp pleats would be made of wool or a synthetic blend in order to hold the crease, but the interfacing allowed this floppy silk to stay sharp.

Then would you believe I decided to line it? Yes, I lined it with Bemberg and I used the same pattern, pleating it in the same places. Fourteen more pleats! The only difference was that I cut away the extra fabric in the stitched-down portions of the pleats to reduce some of the bulk.

It has its share of problems, but they are all minor and overall I’m so happy with the pleats that I can overlook the other stuff. Of course, it isn’t hemmed yet…

I was making progress on the next item in the Mauve series when my iron broke. Hmmm. Are the sewing gods trying to tell me something? I will be back on the job as soon as I can get a new iron, but that means I have to decide which one I want.

Any suggestions for a good steam iron?

Katrina