Running From Zombies - Alteration Tutorial

I've been getting back into running slowly and at the same time have been loving the newest series of "the Walking Dead". I haven't seen the earlier ones, but hopefully a DVD set will rectify that at some point. 

So when I saw this tshirt at my local MOD surplus store (Gillings, it's The Best) I knew I had to have it!

Unfortunately it was a men's size XL. Gratifyingly big on me! Not so nice for running in. 

I took a little (shrunk, thank you tumble dryer) dress I have that I like the fit of and laid it centrally on top of the shirt. 

Cut around one side. Along the arm too so it was longer than before. Make sure you leave a gap around the edge big enough for your hem. I left about a cm as I didn't want it to be too bulky. 

Fold it over with the fold right down the centre so that it's nicely symmetrical and cut the other side to match the first. Because it's T-Shirt material it doesn't fray so you don't need to worry about the edges. 

Then all that's left to do is to turn the shirt inside out and stitch along the cut edges making sure to line up the cuff and hem neatly. You could pin first, but I just winged it! 

Love my vickers sewing machine! 

Aaaaaaand you're done! 

Geeky posing and gun props optional! 

Love my new T-Shirt! 

Jo :-) 

February Aim & January Catch Up!

First off I'd like to send my best wishes, love and hopes for dry weather to anyone who's been affected with all the storms in the UK. I know we're supposed to have miserable winters but this is crazy! 

So February happened the day we got back off holiday, spent the entire day sleeping and then went to a Burn's night party! 

It's taken me a while to catch up with everything. Work. Laundry. Ugh. Coming back to real life after two weeks is always such a shock to the system!! 

So, as usual on this blog, I present my monthly aim! Late. :-)

I love that picture. Although I'm kind of glad we haven't had any snow yet! 

I decided to carry on January's aim really, to decrease my pile of almost finished sewing projects! Which should tell you how January's aim went! I just completely ran out of time before holidays! 

We've got a Mardi Gras at the Jazz Club (@colchesterjazz on twitter if you're interested!) which my Hawaiian fabric should be perfect for. 

So here's a quick list of things that need finishing. 

Evening dress - I sewed the side seams too tight so I just need to add a couple of inches, re sew, then seam rip the old ones! 

Hawaiian pieces - skirt, shorts, halter neck top. 

Silk Blouse - silver bias binding round arms and neck. 

Sheer skirt - I'd like another of these, and they're very easy to make! You can find my tutorial for one here. http://www.ofavintageair.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/easy-sheer-gathered-skirt-tutorial.html?m=1

I've got a bag to finish made from some jeans. A whole load of wool related stuff, and a dress to turn into a skirt for a friend. 

So that should keep me busy for a month! 

Normal service should be resumed fairly shortly, I think I'm just about caught up with myself now! The 100 happy days posts that I've missed due to lack of Internet will be up soon, too. I think technically I've failed on the challenge as I haven't uploaded one a day, but I have taken them, I just lacked Internet connection for most of the time!! Then I got lost on what day I was on number wise and gave up a bit, so I'm hoping to catch up with it all over the weekend! 

Wish me luck!

Jo. 

P.S. planning anything special for February? 

January Aim - Halfway

First off, I can't believe it's halfway through January already. 

Time is flying along!! 

My aim for this January was sewing. Catching up on projects I've started, but not finished yet, and mostly getting things done for India. 

I'm leaving for hols on Friday, so there's not much time left!! This is the list I had in my original blog post. 

Things I'd like to finish for India:

1) Evening dress that's still on the mannequin. I finished this a couple of nights ago, but I've managed to see the side seams too tight, so my MUST DO job Friday morning is to sew looser new seams and seam rip the old ones! 

2) Halter neck top in Hawaiian print. No progress, the self drafted pattern is not helping matters. When will I learn!! 

3) Shorts in Hawaiian print. Just the (really aggravating) waistband and bottom hems to do. 

4) Wrap around circle skirt in Hawaiian print. Haven't started this, and may just make one of my normal circle skirts on Friday. They only take a couple of hours! (<that's probably the nail in its coffin though!!)

5) Denim shorts. Not gonna happen. No time. 

6) A couple of sheer blouses, time has not permitted, but I've got a half made silk top that I might find the time to put some bias binding on!

Knitting and Crochet

7) pink beret. Nope. Might take this with me. 

8) green headband. Done a bit more, again, might take it with me!

(Old picture, it's much bigger than this now!)

9) cream scarf. Nope. 

10) chunky blue scarf. Still nope! 

I would say I'm failing quite badly at this months challenge!! I think a) I'm better at sewing things I need and b) I got distracted by upcycling some of Eric's old jeans into a slouchy bag and some aprons. 

I have seen up a (beautifully easy) sheer, floor length, gathered over skirt though. Which is wonderful. I hope to share an easy peasy tutorial on it while I'm away! Internet dependant! 

That's all folks, wish me luck with manic sewing Friday morning! 

Jo :-) 

P.S. has your sewing pile shrunk any this new year? 

January Aim 2014

Well. I'm a day late with this which doesn't bode well. On the other hand, I had a wonderful day yesterday lounging with the other half on the sofa while he played flight simulator and I watched the TV series of Pride and Prejudice! Lovely. 

 

So. Hello January. 

My aim for this month is two fold really. 

1) to finish as many sewing, knitting and crochet projects as I can. Chunky blue scarf that's been on the needles for about a year, I'm looking at you! 

2) to sew more of my clothes for our holiday to India. I wanted to so this last year, I even have a pattern for some nice high waisted shorts, so I've got no excuses really. 

We're off on the 17th. So I don't have much time. I may take some crochet things with me, but that'll be it. 

Things I'd like to finish for India:

1) Evening dress that's still on the mannequin. Needs the side seams sewing, bias binding finished, the back of the skirt hemmed and a couple of straps adding if I get the chance! 

2) Halter neck top in Hawaiian print. Very pin up for by the pool! 

3) Shorts in Hawaiian print. To match. Obviously....

4) Wrap around circle skirt. In Hawaiian print. (Yeah I got some free fabric. Check for another blog post in a few days!) This is my own pattern, to go over the shorts with the top to look like a dress but still be practical! 

5) Denim shorts. Simple. Classic. To be used all summer!

6) A couple of sheer blouses (time permitting) for evening wear. 

Knitting and Crochet

7) pink beret. 

8) green headband. 

9) cream scarf. 

10) chunky blue scarf. Apparently I find it difficult to knit holes :-S 

Hmm. Ten things is probably enough for two weeks, with mostly just weekends to do sewing and evenings for wool work! 

Wish me luck! Otherwise my holiday wardrobe will be sorely lacking! 

Jo :-) 

P.S. how many unfinished projects do you have lying around? :-)

Stitch by Stitch

Hello there!

It's a bit cold really for tapping out a blog post. Need to be doing something active, my fingers and toes are freezing! I'll have to learn to knit socks. 

Which brings me neatly onto my topic for today. 

See what I did there....!

We've been starting to clear our garage over this last week. Some sad finds. Ruined fifties petticoats and a handmade dress. Apparently there's mice in there! 

There's still some suitcases of clothes to go through, but Eric's gran was tiny. So I have no hope except for accessories! 

One thing there was an abundance of though was magazines. Including these Stitch by Stitch ones from the 80s. 

They're a little dated, but there's a lot of handy how to's and little projects like the one above that make them worth keeping. 

So without rambling on too much more, here's a few of my favourite pages! 

Free skirt pattern. Uncut. Casual and comfy I think! 

Sweet summer dress fitted with shirring around the bodice. 

 

Suffolk Puff quilt. Not just for prams. Great for using up scraps of fabric! 

Velvet winter dress. With a few tweaks could look very 40s! Slightly less poof to the shoulders maybe! 

Simple nightdress pattern. With tap pant style shorts as well. I'm thinking more undergarments than night wear! 

Trench coat. Basic but smart! 

Crocheted daisies. Why not. 

A lovely little find to cheer up the monotony of clearing!

Jo. 

P.S. do you have any go to guides you love? Cheap pattern sources? 

Shortening a Skirt

There's nothing fabulous on my sewing table at the moment. Indeed, as you're reading this I'm hopefully nipping down the A1 to get home! 

So I've just put together a quick post about shortening the length if a skirt. 

I picked up a lovely (probably 80s) olive green skirt from a charity shop in Cupar for 99p the other day. I'm getting a good 30s or 40s vibe from it if I style it right, but currently, it's just too long! 

To make life slightly more interesting, it's got false buttons up the front, a zipper and button that actually fasten the skirt at the back and a split in the middle at the back to give you that extra bit of freedom of movement. 

Here's what I plan to do. It's probably an evenings work for me with one of my sewing machines. Although the last skirt I shortened I did by hand, and it didn't take too long! 

1) decide how long you want the skirt to be. 

Mine will be 67cm from the waistband. This is the same length I use from my circle skirts (found by measuring my petticoat!) and I find it fairly flattering on me. 

2) hand sew the split at the back closed so it can't be seen from the outside. 

Because the split will end up being stupidly short if I left it, I'm going to sew it up by hand just catching a few threads from behind so it will just look like a continuation of the seam at the back of the skirt. 

3) measure the length of your skirt from the waistband and  mark using a straight edge with washable pen/pencil or tailors chalk. 

Or be lazy like me and iron a crease in as you go.....

4) add a two cm hem to this line and cut off the bottom section of skirt. 

5) fold over twice up to your drawn line, iron and pin your hem. 

I hate ironing but it makes such a huge difference in sewing! 

6) stitch all the way around your hem just less than 1cm from the edge of your skirt making sure you get the folded material behind. 

When I hand sewed a hem I used a very basic running stitch. With the machine sewing, I'll use a matching colour thread and try to match the stitch length to the rest of the seams or hems on the skirt to make it look less obviously altered. 

7) iron again (must I...?) and wear your newly shortened less frumpy feeling skirt with pride! 

Jo :-)

P.S. do you remember you can shorten things in charity shops? What was the last thing you altered? 

P.P.S. apologies for the rubbish photos. I haven't sewn it yet as I've got an eight hour drive ahead of me today! To Essex!! 

Red Gingham Circle Skirt

A quick me made post today. Look

What I finished this week! (Those of you who follow me on twinstagram will have ready seen this and I'm sorry to bore you!) 

But look!!

Isn't she pretty? I've wanted a red gingham circle skirt for ages now. But thick cotton gingham seems to be fairly expensive. So I've bitten the bullet and gone for polycotton instead. It'll mostly be worn over a petticoat anyway! 

Things started off rough as I was determined to sew it in a day for the Jazz Club summer party to go as a picnic blanket! (It was that or a bathing suit. Go figure!) 

Could I get this dear sewing machine to work. Nope. Nothing. Just backward needle thread stitching. Turns out I had the needle threaded the wrong way. Doh. 

Instruction booklets are a god send!! 

Just look at the cute buttons on the waistband! Strawberries! 

To go with the picnic theme you see. Incredibly organised for me really considering I completely forgot a button for the last skirt! 

Ah well. Still learning! I'm thinking something music themed next! 

Wish me luck on the hunt for bargain fabric!

Jo :-)

P.S. where do you find your bargains? Sewn anything lately? 

Cherries and Stripes

Just made a typo in the title which would have led to this being called Sherries and Stripes, which may have been more interesting and definitely more drunken..... hmmm.

This is the first circle skirt I made!

Casually leaning on the bicycle....

The fabric and pattern (not totally full circle, but nearly) were presents from my Godmother last Christmas and it took the lure of Jazz to get me round to making it! I was so pleased with it. I think I spent a good ten minutes just marvelling at the fact that I put a zip in and it WORKED!!

I wore this to Jazz with a black top and a butterfly clasp belt, but I quite like it with these stripes just for fun!

I like how the stripes are horizontal at the back of the top and vertical at the front where it drapes. It's such a comfy top, I always feel very summery wearing it! Either that or just like a deck chair....

Loads of fabric!

It uses up so much fabric to make this skirt, I was a little bit shocked by how expensive it was to make when I did the Strawberry Fields one. I've got my eye on some beautiful fabric on eBay that's black with gold jazz instruments and musical notes on it. It's gorgeous and would be great for Jazz (obviously!) but it's £12.99 a metre plus postage. I need three metres and twenty centimetres.... So it'll be a save up and see job I think!

Jo :-)

Spring Circle Skirt

This isn't vintage as such, but it is a very vintage look! Especially teamed with my wonderful petticoat from Vivien of Holloway. Oh how I love that shop!

This is my second (ever!) handmade garment. The first was a cherry print skirt that I Love so, so much. I've had the fabric since Christmas but starting going to Colchester Jazz club on a Sunday evening really spurred me into making something with it.

It's a lovely simple little pattern, although I've changed the length to work with the petticoat and I seem to keep changing the waistband fastenings about! It's brilliantly full, but not quite full circle which allows a tiny bit of (mostly in my head I think) modesty when spinning about on the dance floor being twirled by some wonderfully chivalrous gents!

I just thought I'd share a few photos of it's construction and all along the way!

Cutting my pattern pieces is always scary! I hate cutting into my beautiful long swathe of fabric and constantly worry I'm going to do it wrong. Any long time sewists out there? Does this ever go away?!

Then I stitch my side seams together. You'll have to excuse the horrifically modern, absolutely tiny but awesome sewing machine I'm using. It was a Christmas present to ease me into sewing. Hopefully one or other of my old singer's will be up and running soon!

Then I insert my zip which wasn't as fiddly as I thought. Cue lots of doing and undoing as I marvel at the fact I put something together that works. This means excitement!!

Then there's some interfacing and faffing about with the waistband, hopefully long enough this time to incorporate a sensible button. There's a picture of the cherry print skirt I'm not showing you!

And that's all folks. I'd like to say it's completely finished and I got to wear it to Jazz on Sunday night, but unfortunately being a total plonker I forgot to buy the appropriate thread for the sewing machine and spent most of my sewing re threading the thing as it broke time after time after time...... I finally ran out of time and had to improvise with a whole different outfit!

There's about a third of the hem left to do, and now my vintage electric singer is installed in the corner of the living room (not it's permanent place, when the study/office/sewing room/hideaway is decorated she will live in there) hopefully it'll take all of, oh five seconds to finish.

Seriously. Half horse power motor on the thing. It's somewhat scary!!

Once it's finished I'll be sure to put a picture up!

Jo :-)

Happy Easter

Well Happy Easter to you all! Is anyone actually here? Reading this. Echoes.....




Latest addition to my Collection!


Anyway! If I get my circle skirt finished on Saturday night I might even be out on my bike as this gets published! I haven't been out on her in ages due to being busy at weekends a lot of the time, dark evenings and her lack of lights! So really weekends are the only time I can get out on her.

My Beautiful Bike!

My other half is away in India for another week or so on business so it means I get to tidy up the house a little, do my own thing and spread my recently acquired sewing paraphernalia around the lounge! It also means sleeping with my hair in pin curls and rollers as he's less than fond of that particular vintage girl trick!!

I'm hoping to treat you to some photos from Colchester Jazz club next week, after my new skirt's outing! If I can persuade a friend their might even be pictures of me dancing! Aren't you just the luckiest!!

I hope you're having a great Easter Weekend wherever you are! Ah Creme Eggs are wondrous things!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my little corner of the Internet! All interaction is very much appreciated!

Jo :-)

Vintage Style Trousers

Gosh. Organisation. A post written last night, to be published this morning. Oh my! Long may it continue!

Now when I say vintage style trousers I'm thinking wide legs, high waist. Typical thirties and forties types as it were. Vivien of Holloway's beauties come to mind!

I've had a couple of pairs of denim wide legged, somewhat high waisted trousers for a year or so now. They're beginning to get rather worn out, I wear them constantly! One pair now has a hole on the inner thigh and in a wild moment, this happened:

Never let me loose with a seam ripper....

You can see where they are worn on my legs, knees and annoyingly large bum! Having pulled one pair apart and laying it out on (totally innapropriate for work!) thin cotton denim I've come to the conclusion that I may need to buy a new pair. Which makes me sad. I've got comfy in these trousers!!

So, I've been on the hunt for some around the interweb and here is what I've found!

Vivien of Holloway 1940s Swing Trousers

Photo from VoH website. Theirs not mine! I just think they're pretty!

Beautiful, classic 1940s design. Only £45 so a bargain really for such good quality clothing. I own a circle skirt dress from here and it's wonderful. My only issue with it would be that it would get wrecked at work! For a smart pair of trousers though, fab!!

A|Wear Ireland Ginger High Waist Wide Leg Trouser




Photo from A|Wear Ireland's Website. Theirs not mine!

 I think these are rather pretty. Certainly not work trousers, but they're currently £9 (?!?) on sale on the website in very limited sizes. If they had my size, I'd definitely be buying a pair!

South Wide Leg Fashion Trousers

From Very's website. Theirs not mine!

I like these, although they have a certain seventies vibe. They come in black and white as well. Also in the sale on Very's website. A bargainous £8. I'd prefer soemthing in denim for work though for the hard wearing properties!

Having had a nose around I think my only decent option for work is to make a pair (once I can get my hands on some nice sturdy denim!) using my old ones as a pattern. I'm intending to make them a bit wider to easily accomadate more layers in the winter and a bit of a higher waist, just cos! I've not made trousers before so I'll make sure to keep you updated! If anyone is actually reading this!

Also, I'd highly recommend Shop Style for searching for clothing online. It's where the trousers above have come from. It came up first on my search engine earlier, but I had already heard about it via Retro Chick's blog post reviewing them so was keen to give them a try!

That's all for now folks!