vogue – THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS

Or 1980s power dressing to anyone who was alive and kicking in that era! So, I’ve shown Daughter No 1 the patterns and ideas of trousers to make, based on her Pinterest board, and lets just say I didn’t get it quite right. Sort of on the right track, but not nearly dramatic enough for her! Our modern tastes aren’t “statementy” enough. After looking again and a rather long telephone call later, I realised she was after an older look, so I showed her a couple of 90’s patterns, which got a warmer reception than the modern Burda ones, then I found this in my pattern stash!

There were lots of “the right noises” going on, on both sides of the phone, thank heavens for WhatsApp! The penny had dropped on my end, she wanted 80s stuff! High waisted, lots of pleats and fabric around the hip area, and turn-ups! She wanted the waist and hips emphasised, and modern patterns don’t really do that. So she’s pronounced the pattern with the “cross-dressing women” (her words) to be perfect. Well, who’d have thought it?! She wasn’t even around when that pattern came out – in fact, I was only 15… And I think even I would have thought twice about those pants! However, now I need to get on and toile. I have the size 14, the pattern is a single size, so I need to grade down a size and probably take it in more on the waist. They’ll also need to be shortened, by quite a bit, I think!

Then I had a little look on Etsy to see what else was out there that I could use…

vogue 2027 — 1988 Vogue Individualist 2027

I love this pattern! I know, it’s a little nuts, but the trousers are spot on, and I think that jacket is just wicked! Showing my age much?? It’s not one I would wear though, my boobs do not need gathered pouches to accentuate them in, but for someone with a tiny waist, this is great! So I’ve taken a chance and bought it. I have to wait for it to come from Canada, but I have time. First that Vogue pattern of mine needs work, and of course, there’s a long list of make for myself and make for younger daughter that never ends! 🙂

12717145_543715625803880_196405906_n — Koh Sok National Park – Thailand

Daughter No 1 has been sending home the most amazing pictures of her travels, currently touring Thailand. These photos are making me want to go there myself! The sea is the most beautiful colour and everything seems to be so much more vibrant than here in the UK. I thought I’d show you another of the items I made for her travelling wardrobe. Daughter No 1 had chosen this Vogue pattern V9008 last year at the NEC. We (I) never got round to making the pattern up for the summer, it just wasn’t that sort of summer here in the UK. So when it came time to decide what she was going to pack in her rucksack, she remembered this shorts pattern. She liked the pale blue colour of the envelope, but not the pleated style.

v9008 — Image from Vogue Patterns. V9008

We bought some pale blue cotton poplin from Croft Mill Fabrics to make view C. There was only one problem she had with the style, no pockets! It was easy to quickly draw a pattern for some in-seam pockets. I toiled the 8, in according to the measurements. I knew there would be adjustments, I almost always have to fiddle around with the waist and sometimes need to make a swayback adjustment for her.

I found some African printed fabric in the stash that I’d been given and knew I’d never use for anything else and made the toile. Wouldn’t you believe it, she loved the fabric so much she wanted me to fix the toile up and finish it off properly so she could pack it too! Someone else did that to me a couple of years ago…

Collage vogue shorts toile — The toile that wasn’t

As suspected, the sides needed to come in, dramatically, and I needed to take the back in more. I enlarged the dart in the back to make it 1cm and narrowed the back yoke to make it fit better. The side seams needed to come in enough to effectively make it a size 4! The pattern’s smallest size was a 6. The length was perfect. Daughter No 1 wanted clothes that would be comfortable as well as suitable for wandering around towns and cities. As you can see, the toile is now a complete, wearable pair of shorts with a zip and button from the stash.

P1130687-1 — Vogue shorts in blue cotton poplin

Adding the pockets was easy and definitely made a difference. I don’t know why no pockets were included in this design. Where’s a girl suposed to put her phone, nevermind her hands??

P1130689-1

Collage vogue shorts blue — I love how these fit now.

I had also bought some floral cotton from Clothspot to make the short version for purely beach wear but she decided she had enough shorts by then so although I’d already started them, I stopped to work on other things, like that silk dress! The unfinished foral shorts have languished on my cutting table for the last few weeks, waiting for me to just finish them off and move on. February over at the Monthly Stitch is UFO month. Perfect motivation!