Embroidered Simplicity 3684

I finally did it -- made my very own Vyshyvanka! A vyshyvanka is a Ukrainian embroidered blouse, but mine is not traditional. I found this lovely soft yellow cotton at the thrift store recently, and decided to use it to make Simplicity 3684. I chose View C as the one with the most "vyshyvanka" feel to the sleeve and I also liked the simple collar band.

I did all my regular adjustments to this blouse pattern - shortened above the waist by 1/2", shortened the sleeve (in this case I shortened both top and bottom parts of the sleeve by 1" each) and graded from 14 at neck to 16 at bust and 18 at hip. This usually does the trick for me. I do find the shoulders a bit wide, so may take those in at the shoulder seam a bit, would definitely remove some width if I make this again. And the fit is quite close, check those finished measurements before you choose your size. 

It went together quite smoothly. The sleeve/cuff used a continuous lap, which I am used to from Burda patterns, but I do have to stop and think hard about it every single time! I found that the most difficult part of the whole thing, the construction was pretty straightforward otherwise. And as it turns out, I don't have to unbutton the cuffs to slip this on, so it was unnecessary anyhow! There were also two fisheye darts on the back, but when I tried it on I didn't like the way the blouse sat with those darts, so unpicked them and pressed them out again. This fabric is pretty forgiving.

As for the embroidery: 

I tested out various stitches and thread weights on my scraps, to see what I liked best. This cotton is lightweight and translucent so I was concerned about shadowing from the threads on the back. I found a simple motif that didn't require heavy stitching, again because this fabric doesn't have the weight to support lots of stitching. 

I ended up using the rhomb pattern, which can symbolize nature's rebirth, abundance, fertility, etc. From what I could find, this is often used in men's traditional designs, but I thought it would work nicely in my modern, non-traditional project. I used single, small motifs on the cuffs, button placket and collar, but created larger double rhombs for the sleeve decoration. All of these except for the sleeve are interfaced, so the stitching is supported well. I will keep my eye on the sleeve and see how it holds up. 

I chose three threads from my stash - all DMC. White, light blue (827) and a darker blue (996). I used three strands of each and the motifs were all done with buttonhole stitch and a few straight stitches, while the white was all straight stitch. I considered french knots but when I was testing I realized they would be too fragile for regular wearing. Using buttonhole stitch means there isn't much thread on the back, either, which is perfect. The stitching, after the testing and tracing, took me about 4-5 hours to complete. Not too bad, but these are simple motifs so it wasn't as lengthy. I don't know how to cross-stitch so went very basic here, also I know I am a slow stitcher so didn't want something really complicated for a first try. 

Buttons were a lucky match. I searched through a big box of shirt buttons that my sister gave me a few years ago, and found the perfect size and muted colour for this project. I wanted buttons that would blend in and not distract from the stitching. I think these worked really well. 

Well, after much dithering, I finally went ahead with a first simple Vyshyvanka project. I have a handful of other blouse patterns to try out and see if I like them for this purpose, but I had to start somewhere! This Simplicity pattern, which I put on my 2025 MakeNine list, was the one to begin with. Now that's 2 Make Nine projects completed for the year :) 

Weekend Review: Jackets, Coats and Suits

Jackets, Coats and Suits / Threads Magazine
Newtown, CT: Taunton Press, c1992.
94 p.

After last week's book all about pockets, I thought I'd pull out this Threads sources book all about jackets. I've had it for quite some time. 

It's a collection of articles from Threads prior to 1992, so the styles are a bit dated (some in a very fun way). But the techniques are thorough and solid, as expected from a set of articles written by people like David Page Coffin, Claire Shaeffer, Marcy Tilton, and more. 

There's an interesting look at the construction of Armani jackets, as well as Dior influenced styles. And specific articles on shaping wool with pressing, creating welt pockets, copying RTW designs, and even an example of brightly coloured, quilted reversible jackets. There's lots to learn. And if you're interested in American designers, you'll find a nice piece on Bonnie Cashin and the influence she had on fashion -- this article includes a pattern that you can copy using a grid or by measurements, for a Cashin Noh Coat. 

If you don't have all the hard copy back issues of Threads, this collection of articles is a useful one. You'll have lots to reference on classic tailoring and coat construction. There's a variety of styles and topics here to investigate and it may spark interest in something you haven't seen before. 

Finding a Cache of Threads

In the last couple of weeks, I've found some delightful thrift store scores. One of them was this stack of Threads magazines from the late 90s/early 2000s. There were 21 in the stack but I already owned two, so came home with 19 new-to-me magazines.

I really like having physical magazines to flip through when I'm in the mood for it. I can flag any technique or project I want to try; I can pick them up and put them down without fear of losing track of which website I was on when I saw something interesting! And I'm not a Marie Kondo follower, so I actually like having a row of magazine boxes on my shelf :)

In any case, I had a lot of fun looking through these old magazines. I found a couple of articles in particular that are really useful to me right now. Isn't it funny how styles may change, but the sewing info found in these articles remains golden for years.

And I found familiar names from today's sewing world on Instagram and Pattern Review, in the tips and letters sent in, even from the early 2000s! (TCSewhat, I'm looking at you LOL)

Something I really enjoy about older magazines (these ones are at least 20 years old now) is checking out all the advertisements, especially the ones in the back. Even with only a 20 year gap some of them feel ancient. But there are SO MANY Indie pattern designers advertising regularly; we'd be remiss to think that the Indie revolution started with Colette.

I was so intrigued by the advertisements that I started searching online to see if any of those indie designers were still in business. It was surprising to find that many still were, with a few no longer designing but still having their patterns available. So to close, here are just some of those originals who are still designing and selling in the Indie Pattern world albeit most of them with very retro websites. Have fun checking them out!

Islander Sewing Systems

Petite Plus Patterns

Christine Jonson Patterns

Cutting Line Designs

Green Pepper

Pamela's Patterns

WWWearables

Saf-T-Pockets Patterns

Silhouette Patterns

L.J. Designs

Great Copy

Pavelka Design (so 90s! No longer designing but patterns are still available to order)