Vintage Book Review: McCall's Sewing in Colour (1964)

To be honest my life is overrun with books. Since I was a tiny child (I learned to read very early) I have been a voracious reader, devouring every tome that I could lay my grubby little hands on. Since then not a lot has changed - still got the grubby hands - except I no longer scare myself with books of ghost stories just buy mostly sewing books. I have quite a few now and like to pick them up on my travels as often as I can. 

McCall's vintage sewing - written when brown polyester ruled the world

My copy of  "McCall's Sewing in Colour" is from 1964. I picked it up on eBay for a song. It is quite a thick hardback book, about 300 pages, and as the tag line states covers " Home Dressmaking, Tailoring, Mending and Soft Furnishings". There are lots of line drawings and several colour plates with great photos.

60's sheets for the win!

The contents of this book are a bit different to some others that I own from the same period. There is a lot of emphasis at the beginning of the book on picking the right pattern for your lifestyle and figure type which just goes to show that nothing much changes, even from 50 years ago. We were still fretting about whether a pattern would be right or not. There is even the age old discussion about stripes. I love a horizontal stripe and wear them often. Ain't nothing going to make me look smaller so might just go with it. I want to be stripey!

Would our bums look big in those spots?

There is quite a lot of pages on choosing fabrics. This is useful and I suppose that apart from fit it is one of the major culprits in pattern failure. Plus a section on colour.

I am in love with this colour palette. No black too. Very strange

To give you a flavour of the book the chapters headings are listed as:

1) Building a New You

2) Keystone to Fashion

3) The Raw Materials

4) Fabric Facts

Yes, I keep my stash in my spice cupboard.

5) The Tools of the Trade

6) The Easy Rules of Pattern Alteration

7) Groundwork for Action

Feelin' hot, hot hot!

8) Blueprint for the Professional

9) Construction Data - Stitches and Seams

10) Construction Data

11) Design Details

12) Important Closings

13) The Personal Touch

14) Tailoring Talk

15) The Three R's- Repairing, Remodelling and Remaking

16) The Decorator's Touch

My eyes! It burns my eyes! Could you sleep in this room?

So the big question is would I buy this again? The answer is yes. There are better books with regard to sewing process tuition and the styling is obviously from the land that Pinterest forgot but it is a nice read and I am glad that I bought it.There is something in this book for everyone, beginners and seasoned hands alike and not a "how to a make a pillowcase" or pair of PJ pants to be found. Something a lot of modern books should keep in mind. There is a lot of info to be had in sewing books from this era, especially if you want to take your techniques to the next level, and you could easily buy two or three for the costs of one new one. Plus, I think reading these old books is fun but then again I read sewing patterns on the train!

Hope you are having the best time.

K xx

Review/Tutorial: Prym Bias Binding Tool, Me-Made Corsetry Plus Some Sneaky Sewing Time

 Bear with me sewing people. This post is going to be quite long as it has some sewing with loads of pics plus a product review for a tool that I find to be one of the most useful that I own. Now to start off I was at the Studio yesterday and managed to sneak in a  little sewing time, in between moving furniture and mini-meetings.

Totally rocking shot  of Lois Wetherup by the awesome  Tom Farmer @ Glasgow Photographer, Knickers and fascinator by the super-taleneted Marie @ Amuse Bouche. Corset by me.

There is much going on at the moment, everything is in a state of flux, so loads to do.

Recognize this fabric? Yep, it is the leftovers from my Flea Market Fancy shirt. Nothing wasted in Kitty Towers.

More on that when it is all finalized. However despite all the too-ing and fro-ing I managed to complete the lining for the orange neck corset and make the outer and lining for a red one.

Lovely super thick silk, so many pieces.

The red one will match the corset above that I was commissioned to make for a Miss Scotland to be featured in a Christmas-themed shoot for The Sun newspaper a year or so ago. I am trying not to look at my wrinkly fabric. Nice fit though for only having the rough measurements.

I am going to use the two of these in the upcoming photo-shoot and am looking forward to getting them finished. I have to say that making a neck corset probably takes me as long as making a bigger one.

I always line in quilting cottons. They are so pretty and the cotton is nice to wear next to the skin.

My pattern has 12 pieces to cut out in the outer silk fabric, interfacing, corset coutil and then a lining. the shell is sewn up from the interfaced silk flat-lined to the coutil. The boning is sewn to the shell and the lining will be hand-stitched onto that to keep it in place. They don't lie flat as they are both shaped to be three-dimensional. Plus I will steam them into shape and leave them to cool down in the same way that you would do a coat collar.

Once that is done I will  tidy up the edges and cover them with bias binding, sandwiching all the layers together and unpicking the holding stitches. This is where one of my favorite wee gadgets comes in - my Prym bias binding tool.

NB.To be fair I also have ones from Clover and they are equally as useful but this is the one I will always reach for first as I like the little handle and the size.

One of my favourite tools, ever!

The tools are simplicity itself to use and they come with pretty good instructions but here is my method.

Here are my bias strips. I have ironed them flat. Look how the grain is on the diagonal. That is the bias and will allow it to curve round edges easily.

You will want to cut out strips ON THE BIAS that are twice the width as stated on the tool e.g for a 12mm tool cut 24mm, for an 18mm tool cut 36mm, etc. If I am using silk (as I am here) I cut out 40mm strips instead of 36mm just because they will shrink widthways when you pull them through the maker. You won't need to do this with a thicker fabric like cotton.

Plus you need to be quite accurate in your cutting or your will get wonky binding.

The back of the tool. Right side of fabric facing this way.

An easy way to get your first cutting line is to fold over one end of your fabric so that the selvedge is at 90 degrees to the selvedge on the other side to form a right-angled triangle. Give this an iron and, hey-ho, your cutting line. The pointy ends of your strips make it easy to push through the maker but if they don't you can pull it through gently with a pin.

To make your binding you will need to push your fabric through the tool with the right side facing downwards. The fabric will be folded round as it goes through to create the little flaps on the back of the bias as illustrated below.

Please ignore the stray thread. Never noticed that one when I was taking the pic.

It helps to secure the end of your strip to your ironing board with a pin so that you can pull against it gently when you are ironing. Use loads of steam (test your fabric first) and keep the point of the iron quite close to where the binding comes out. you should then end up with beautiful "single-fold" flat binding that you can either use as is or iron over double to create "double-fold" tape.

Easy peasy! Now you have no excuse for finding matching binding, plus the design options are endless. I really recommend buying one of these if you use binding at all. They come in lots of widths too and are only about £7 or £8 depending on size & brand.

Apologies for the wonky photo editing and hopefully will have a few more things to show next week.
Take care,  lovelies!
Kxx

P.S. I won a sewing pattern  giveaway from the brilliant "Pendle Stitches" blog so will be making a much needed bag at some point. Huge thanks for the pattern. Am chuffed to bits. xx


Disclaimer: The views above are totally my own and this is definitely not a sponsored post.

A Dreaded Sunny Day So I'll Meet You at the Cemetery Gates..........

OK, sorry not to have posted last week but I was not at home. Traveled over to Edinburgh to see Mum as she was a bit poorly. Also the last couple of weeks have been a bit crazy with some major changes going on and no internet! As a consequence I have done no sewing (again). This is a bit of a recurring theme on this blog but yesterday one of the massive changes was that I finally got the studio back to myself. Today I have been hard at it sorting things out, shifting furniture and generally changing things round so that I can finally have a space to work in that is clean, (reasonably) clutter-free and my own again. It feels great.

I have tons of vintage notions.

So with nothing hot from my machine to show you I am kind of at a loss what to post. I was going to write about the recent interesting "Wardrobe Architect" series on the Coletterie blog but although I was pinning like mad on my Pinterest Board which you can see here, I still don't have a clue what to sew or wear. Wardrobe Architect is a great series, it has really made me think about what I like and my personal style. The big problem, no pun intended, is that all the styles I like are for skinny boho 70's groupies and vintage glamour pusses and I am none of the above. So what do you do when your person can't match up to your personal style? I need to regroup I think.

So with nothing to show you I will leave you of some pics I took at the Necropolis in Glasgow.

In a Julia Margaret Cameron Stylee! (Hurrah for Photoshop)

 I used to work in the hospital close by and go there for a wander at lunchtimes. 

It is a beautiful Victorian cemetery, opened in 1833, and filled with loads of statues and forgotten graves designed by the likes of Alexander "Greek" Thompson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Cheer up love. Bah, and I thought "I" was a bit of a Goth!

 If you are ever in Glasgow it is well worth a visit and you can get stunning views across the city from up on the hill where the Necropolis stands. I have a bit of a thing for graveyards (and Photoshop, can't you tell). They are always so peaceful. Great places to take a book and real havens for wildlife. You sometimes used to get deer in the Necropolis and loads of beautiful bunnies.

Anyway, have a great week people. Happy June!

K xx

Sewing for Newcastle Fashion Week

Well this weekend was a bit hectic. Lots of sewing going on. However, this will be a short post as I can't show you anything.....yet that is.

I made a little waist-cincher and some other random bits of sewing. It is really tiny, about 20 inches closed but it is for Newcastle Fashion Week. As you know, some of us at F6 Studios are collaborating for Fashion Front Row, the "young designers" showcase (I feel it may be stretching the definition a bit with me) but it is looking good. FFR is on Wednesday night and I will post pictures as soon as I have them but I am sworn to secrecy until then. I do have to say that everyone has worked so hard and produced the most amazing things. I am so proud of them. I will do a proper post about all the things and the designers after the event.

We have all been sat in the sewing room working together and it has been really invigorating to spend time with such creative people. I am really missing my sewing machine now.

Image totally stolen from the NFW Facebook page... Oops :) But hey, it is advertising, right?

If you are in the Newcastle area you should pop along to some of the events which are running from the 9th May until the 17th. If you are interested in seeing the program you can click here. Newcastle is a pretty stylish city. People really make an effort when they go out (even if it is a bit OTT with the fake tan sometimes) and take clothes fairly seriously. There are some great colleges and universities in the area too with a very high standard of work from the students.

Anyway, I won't rant on and will post some pics as soon as I have them.

Hope the sun shines on your week!

K xx

Sheets, Shirts and Wardrobe Planning

This blog is a little late as I was recovering from the weekend. No drink was consumed, just the usual amount of running around like a headless chicken. Sprogzilla had a friend sleepover Saturday night- they were  really great to be honest- but I was too knackered yesterday to think about anything much bar some mindless iPad scrying. Well not totally "mind"-less, I spent a lot of time reading the Into Mind website which is all about personal style and wardrobe building prompted by the recent "Wardrobe Architect" posts on The Colleterie blog.

Those of you that know me in real life can stop laughing now as yes, I do resemble the Cat Lady from The Simpsons on most occasions (nor do I care) but recent changes in my day job mean that I am going to have to bite the bullet and start dressing like a sensible adult. However, I hate with a passion most of the baggy, shapeless tents that pass for plus-sized clothes, plus I don't want to look like a corporate Stepford Wife. Is it possible to retain a bit of individuality and still toe the party line? I am going to give it a good try.

I have cut out the pattern this week for Simplicity 2339. This pattern is one from their "Amazing Fit" range which has different sized pattern pieces for A, B, C and D-cups. All well and good but a bit of a non-event for me as I still have to do a 4-inch FBA over and above the biggest size, plus a broad back adjustment. I am really taking my time doing the flat-pattern alterations and am using both my Fast Fit book from Sandra Betzina and the "Sew Busted" Maria Alto DVD to help with the FBA and lowering the bust dart. And people ask why I never make myself anything!

I actually have muslin to make a muslin up in. I am taking this really seriously as I would like to have some smart, well-fitting shirts for a change and a TNT pattern would be nice. However, I am not sure that my fabric choices are serious. First off on the left I have a lovely vintage cotton sheet, the fabric is beautiful, and on the right is some quilting cotton "Flea Market Fancy" from Westminster Fibres that I bought in John Lewis. I am hankering after polka dot button plackets and collar/cuffs with these but might just play it safe. The quilting cotton is quite thin so I thought it would be OK for a shirt. I will get the final adjustments cut out tomorrow night. Hope that it fits after all the changes.

Excuse me Miss but your shirt is sheet. Well! There's no need to be rude.

I managed to get a half hour of wandering round the shops on Saturday and managed to pick up a couple of nice necklaces in a blue colourway. I bought a lot of vintage turquoise beads a couple of weeks ago and am looking to layer them up so need to add to the collection first. I love the colours and the owl is so cute.

Fashionable? I don't give a hoot.

Anyway, do you plan your wardobe? Is it a bit organic or set out with military precision? Do you ruthlessly cull the old and sick or just keep adding and still have nothing to wear (like me)?

Kxx

Grumpy and Umpty

The last couple of weeks I have been a bit tired and had a lot on at work, so today I am feeling a little bit cross for no real reason. I even ripped down the scarf I had knitted up over the weekend and it was almost done too. Grump, grump, grump!

Don't worry love, I am sure that the Sisters of Mercy will reform.

I managed to get in a quick trip to Knit and Stitch in the Colliergate in York on Friday where I bought a lovely pattern book for Louisa Harding Yarns called "Fade to Grey". Cue 80's soundtrack, and indeed the patterns do have a bit of a romantic, gothic feel. I was particularly taken by the lovely purple wrap on the front.


I also had time to pop round the corner to Ramshambles and bought a couple of balls of wool to knit up a couple of the neck warmers that I knitted for Sprog before Christmas. The pattern for these is so nice and it is free! My favourite kind of pattern. You can find it on the ""In the Loop" blog. The original pattern is in French but if you scroll down you can download it in English too. Several people at work have knitted these and get compliments every time they were them and people are always asking Sprog where she got her's from. It is knitted on 60cm/5mm circular needles and takes about 150m/100g of wool in an Aran weight so it is nice for using up odd balls and makes for a cheap knit.

I bought myself some Aire Valley Aran from West Yorkshire Spinners in a russet/blue grey variegated colourway shade 862"Autumn Mix". I also bought a ball of King Cole Riot Chunky in shade 650- a lovely mix of blues and grey that will suit Sprog down to the ground.

This is such lovely wool. Hope Sprogzilla likes it.

In case you are of a certain age and think that this post title seems vaguely familiar I will leave you with a short video from The Flumps, a fixture of my childhood lunchtime TV consumption when I came home from school for lunch. Because today I am also under a cloud.