Vogue 2609, or How To Halloween

What is the best fabric to make a muslin out of? Just plan muslin? Some old fabric laying around? Or could it be $2-a-yard purple satin?

I went with the last option for this year's Halloween cosutme: Vogue 2609. A 1934 design, I wanted to look my best for the party. Now, I didn't plan this costume out well in advance. Oh, no. I barely knew what I was doing a week before and had no idea what I would be that night. When I found out it was an Edward Gorey-themed party (hosted by the lovely Dances of Vice), this pattern immediately jumped out from my memory. Maybe not so turn-of-the-century as Gorey, but certainly in a fabulous and macabre feeling, if made in the proper way.

Awkwardly brushing out the edges of the caplet featured in this pattern

I've never sewn this pattern before, but I was confident in my sewing skills, so I cut out all of the pieces (including two of the godet pieces the same way - so in the final product you may or may not notice that one of the back pieces is ... not as shiny as the rest of the dress, because it's sewn in backwards) and set to work on sewing it all together.

The open-back design! (That tie at the bottom is supposed to be tacked down - pshaw, it's fine!)

What I noticed, looking at the pattern back (which I did not have the convenience of doing while I was at the fabric store, the pattern being out of print) was that it didn't have a zipper. I had bought one anyway because I figured it needed to be closed somehow. Well, this being 1934, they didn't exactly have zippers. They had snaps. And I wasn't going to put in a whole long set of snaps, because I like simple solutions. So, I ignored that part of the directions and did it my way, putting in my zipper. I felt happy to have bested the patterns of the past with the technology of the future.

The next part that unsettled me, in reading the directions, was the fact that the godet (the skirt part at the very bottom) was supposed to be appliqued on. Again, I was not doing this and decided to do it my own way, which I saw as the correct way. I just sewed the godet to the dress, as one would do - right sides together, make sure to get it all pinned down, sew together, turn right side out. (I was kind of nervous that the applique-style attatchment might not work as well, for some reason, and so I just felt more comfortable putting the skirt in the way I did.)

The last surprise of this dress was the contrast fabric. When I was getting it cut, they told me the price, which was far more than the dress fabric. I thought it was right-side out on the bolt, because it was satiny, and just said "Whatever" and went with it. Well, after I cut the pieces for the dress and went to get them ready to attatch, the two halves of the fabric didn't want to come apart. I took a pin and separated some of the remnants from my cuttings and learned - a bit to my horror - that this was no satin at all. This was some kind of terrible, weird Latex-coated fabric. There was no turning back, though, as this was probably a day or two before and I didn't want to get anything else. I would deal with it and triumph over it, as I had with the rest of this dress.

But I think, in the end, it turned out quite spectacularly in the end. I was happy to tell people that I'd made my dress, and though I personally don't have any photos of myself at the event, I did find one from someone else where I'm in the background:

Photo by Gabi Porter for MetroMix New York
(more photos here)

Yep, right there. On the right, with my lovely open back and my friend who came with me to the most magnificent Halloween party I'll probably ever attend. I hope to go more of their events sometime, just to see all the people who get so done-up! (You should search for more images and just look at all the gorgeous things people wore. Really. I was amazed.)

Advance 2709

Sorry I haven't been sewing! There's been lots of work going on at home, hence why I have only just finished hemming and photographing my newest creation, Advance 2709.

I love this pattern! Its set-in, diagonal pockets. Its six-gored skirt. The fact that it has a provision for just a shirt-waist dress as well as the full shirt dress. (I only had four buttons, so I went for the shirt-waist. Also, I hate making button holes but love shirt-waists, so... that's also a reason.)

From The Year 2050

The back of this dress has a nice yoke and gather detail and the sleeves came out quite puffy as well, which gives the dress almost a '40's style feel to the dress that looks far more '60s on the envelope. Perhaps this is also because of my height and the length that the dress ended up being. But I think this came out splendidly. I found this fabric, with its great pattern, on sale and I think this will end up being my go-to dress next summer. The fabric is really a quite thin cotton, but the fit is wonderful - it comes in close at the waist but it isn't uncomfortable.

Ah! I just can't get enough of it. I can see myself sewing this pattern again and again, but I'll probably take some length off if I make it in a solid.

Here are some more photos in a sort of natural-ish light, showing front and back.

From The Year 2050

Caffenol processing, take two

My last post was about home developing, and as I just finished another try at it, so is this one.

This time the film came out much better, much more like traditional processing - a good thickness to the final film, I waited for it to dry before really fooling around with it so it didn't get as much dust and scratching on the film.

The only problem I ran into this time was loading the film - it seemed to get caught up in the reel (which I, incidentally, broke a little bit.. one of the sides doesn't have a ball bearing in it anymore... luckily the tank came with two) as I was starting to load the film. I took it all out, reloaded it but the reel didn't seem to want to hold the whole 32 exposure roll. Maybe it's because I'd already broken the ball-bearing, who knows. I got fun little spots at the end of the roll where the film had touched the tank or something. Oh, well, I got basically all of the shots, so it's all okay by me.

With the experience of my last developing and the help of the lovely Caffenol flickr group, I determined that my developing time was way, way too little. This time, I developed for 27 minutes instead of just 12, and the results were far better. Film that's relatively opaque and commercial-looking. For something coming out of a bathroom, from just coffee and washing soda, that's pretty amazing.

Here are just a few of the shots I took. I took more shots of more things this roll, as I was confident I wouldn't ruin it and I wasn't in any sort of rush, as I had been with the last roll.

Home made photo project

One thing, other than sewing vintage fashion, that I love to do is photography. I took a photography class in high school that, while we used film cameras, was otherwise done by computer. Therefore, I never learned developing - something I'd always wanted to know. It was a big disappointment for me then.

In college, I made friends with art majors who did photography and this past year one of them showed me how developing was done. (This knowledge was helpful in today's project, I must admit - seeing it done is something I often need in order to do things myself.) There was a darkroom there, full of enlargers, but I have a scanner here that does negatives, so I don't really need any of that.

In following photography blogs, I've learned of a process of caffenol processing. It's called caffenol because one of the major components in this is coffee. Instant coffee and washing soda, really. That's all I used, though some people also add vitamin C. It worked surprisingly well, I was really excited.

Through the weeks of gathering the instant coffee, washing soda (easy - but not super-easy - to find), fixer (the only chemical you'll need) and a developing tank, my excitement only kept building with each new thing I'd found. I'd bought 15 rolls of black and white film a while back to start this project and am excited to start really getting into it.

I did this project in my bathroom - a good place with running water and a fan (to get rid of the gross smells of the developer), and hopefully in the next couple of days I'll be putting up an edit with some of the shots I took. Though I haven't exactly perfected it (it came out rather transparent) I am very encouraged by this small success. It's empowering and exciting to be able to not only shoot film but develop it too, and on the cheap without having to use all kinds of crazy terrible chemicals.

Edit (9:20pm)

Simplicity 3085

I decided to make a dress from one of the two patterns I won back in June, Simplicity 3085. I found an old plaid that I'd bought a while ago and thought that it would go really well with the general design of this dress.

From The Year 2050

It ended up being a bit big on me, as the pattern was for a bust 35, but it's kind of like having a comfortable house dress instead of a totally fashionable day dress. It still has a really interesting look and is nice to wear around.

From The Year 2050

The only real problem I had in this dress - besides almost not having enough fabric and having to cut the collar in two pieces instead of on a fold - was the bottom part of the button detail. It's supposed to mirror the top where it just juts out slightly for the buttons, but the details were awkward and now it just kind of bunches up there. I couldn't get it to point like the top does, no matter how I tried. If I remake this, I'll try to figure out my own way of doing it instead of reading the directions exactly, as they were really quite confusing anyhow.

I also ran out of enough fabric to make the pockets, so I made it out of some leftover orange polka dot you might recognize. I like them, though. They make me feel kind of like I have the pockets of an old timey hobo. (I also originally put those in the waist seam backwards so that my hands would have to go backwards to sit in them. That was an easy fix.)

From The Year 2050

Through this project I've also become a more confident buttonhole-er and that's a very exciting possibility! I really like the fabric of this dress and I'll probably wear it out anyhow, just putting a belt around the waist to tighten it up. It was generally an enjoyable and simple dress to sew, except for that one teeny detail. There's pleating above and below the waist and I think it's generally a very pretty pattern.

Butterick 5032

Home from my recent vacation and I was itching to get sewing again. I had already cut the fabric for everything but the facings before I left, but we took the machine in for servicing so I couldn't start sewing.

I was excited to see how this wiggle-style dress would turn out - I thought it might be nice to have a slimmer dress in my wardrobe and I thought that it was one of the few patterns that the "running eighths" style fabric would work with.

From The Year 2050

Knowing the danger of modern patterns (this is one of the modern reprints of older Butterick patterns) I checked the measurements on the tissue and, lo-and-behold, I had to cut it a size smaller. I probably could've gone down another size on the top of the pattern - it does gap a bit around the top, tending to be more on the back.

From The Year 2050

I only noticed it as I was sewing the top and bottom together, but I had cut the whole top on the same four patterns of the running eighths and the bottom on all eight. Therefore, the whole front matches, but the back doesn't. I still think it makes a nice effect and I matched the lines dividing the patterns almost perfectly, so the effect isn't as bad as it might've been. (Also, I need to iron it.)

Overall, I really like the outcome of the pattern. It turned out a bit long on me (maybe I just have a taste for shorter skirts, but down to mid-calf is not very appealing on the petite figure) so the kick pleat in the back is a bit useless, but I think it's quite a flattering pattern. The front pleats on the skirt section are new to me, but I kind of like them. When holding the partially-finished top to myself, I thought the neckline was a bit high, but it's actually not too bad. I am a fan of the square neckline and I find the neckline on the back to be very flattering, probably on many people. I'd probably sew this again if I need another wiggle-style dress!

Key West, or Cayo Hueso

I was invited on a two week vacation to Key West with my boyfriend and his family that I just finished. It's a great place and I think two weeks was probably the perfect amount of time, as we got to see pretty much everything and didn't have to rush getting things in.

I took the plane from New York to Miami to Key West, with a short layover. On the way down to Key West, I was sitting next to the man who would open Hemmingway Days - a playwright from Canada who was decked out in full Hemmingway garb, including a pith hat he had in one of his carry ons. He told me that this was the best way to see the Keys - to flyover and watch the shallow waters change color. And it was really beautiful - I was glad to have a window seat.

Joe drove me back to the house that his brother, John, had rented. It was a great little house in the old town with plenty of bikes for everyone staying there. There were stained glass windows and it was brightly colored. It was fabulous and John gave Joe and I the master bedroom because it was just the three of us staying there both weeks - their oldest brother, Rich, and his girfriend, as well as their parents, were only staying for the first week and their friend Ryan was only staying for the second - so he thought it would be fair to give the two of us the giant bed and adjoined bathroom. Also, so that Joe could clean his gaping moped wound that he received in Europe in peace. There was also a pool and hot tub behind the house which were really enjoyable to have, especially on hot days and cool nights.

Throughout the two weeks we were there, we went to the Hemmingway House (mostly to pet the cats - we didn't take the tour, I'm personally not a big fan of Hemmingway but I do love cats), did a Duval crawl (the major tourist/bar street in the old town side of Key West - full of all kinds of bars, including a clothing-optional one, and all kinds of dumb stores selling the same T-shirts), biked all over the Old Town, the Key West Butterfly Conservatory (you can buy some pretty amazing butterfly "sculptures" - actual butterflies arranged in plexiglass cases to hang on your walls), went to beaches, kayaked, took two different sunset cruises, chartered a boat (which I got seasick on... unfortunately), went and watched all of the different street performers at Mallory Square (including the Cat Man.. he's crazy), going to a drag show (always a great thing to do, I promise) and all kinds of other things. Oh, and we saw the Today show being filmed. We left after like half an hour because 6 or 7 am is way too early and I wanted to sleep.

One of my favortite things in Key West were all the great restaurants. I think probably my favorite was a little "mostly vegetarian" restaurant we went to three times. It was always really good and really filling - and I'm not even a vegetarian! Cooking some of our own meals turned out really well, too.

It was nice to go someplace different, relax, see people that I haven't been able to for a while, and just have fun in such a crazy and unique place as Key West. It was good to bike everywhere, too, because here in suburbia it's cars everywhere. Having bike lanes is also nice, when you can get them.

The trip back was a bit stressful as Joe and John left before I did and I had to take the keys back and also make sure I got back in time for my taxi. (I was supposed to leave the day before, but my flight was cancelled for some kind of mechanical problem and for some reason I got booted to the next day. They told me I could rent a car to Miami but I wasn't about to drive 3 or 4 hours. It gave me another day with Joe, though!) The flight was fine and I got more of my amazing book (Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong'o [Kenyan]) read.

Now I'm home and ready to get back into the swing of things and hopefully get sewing again! (And maybe knitting, too!)

Me on the weird foldable bike I rode around Key West more photos of Cayo Hueso