BHMPD Challenge: Daphne Maxwell Reid with McCalls 9125

For my first project of the month, I made up the tunic from this McCalls 9125 Daphne Maxwell Reid design. It is also a project for the Black History Month Pattern Designers Challenge! 

I picked up this pattern while thrifting a few months ago, and haven't been able to get it out of my mind. So I found a lightweight cotton in the stash and went for it. So, this also fits into the PatternReview Stash contest :) 

I chose to make the short tunic with longer sleeves for this project. The pattern includes two tunic views, a light over-jacket, pull on pants and a skirt, and a scarf. A whole wardrobe here! 

I had this lighter weight cotton with a great print, so chose a simple pattern to highlight it. The tunic has a rounded off squared neckline (a favourite style for me) and slits in the side seams. I really like the details in this otherwise simple pattern. 

I was careful to line up the centre fold along the middle of one motif so that there would be balance in the print. It was pretty straightforward! Front, back, sleeve and facing pieces. I did shorten both the body and the sleeve, by about an inch each. I ended up making a deep hem on the sleeve so I could fold it up in a little cuff, as well. If I did this again I would add a touch of width to the sleeve to allow for more room for a cuff. It works here but another half inch would make an improvement to fit. 

I gave the bottom a narrower 5/8" hem and feel that it worked out pretty well! I really like the colours here and the traditional print -- although the colour is hard to capture in these photos. I think that maybe it's really halfway between the closeup of the side slits and the large photos. 

Daphne Maxwell Reid is a former model, an actress, photographer, and fashion designer - including creating patterns for the Big 4. I have found a handful of her patterns from the 90s at my local thrift stores, and was really drawn to this one! I love this tunic and this fabric, and I still have lots of her patterns to try out! 

As styled on this still chilly day

Black History Month Pattern Designers Challenge

 

Check it out on Instagram
or on the BHMPD website

February sees the returning challenge, Black History Month Pattern Designers Challenge that I mentioned in my monthly sewing plans earlier this week. I've done this one for a few years, although I missed completing a project last year. But I love this one! I really want to participate again this year. 

And this year I have many options. I have looked through my paper patterns both new and old, and have found many, from a variety of designers, like Lydia Naomi, Khaliah Ali, Beauté J'Adore, Diahann Carroll, Daphne Maxwell Reid, and more. This is one I just thrifted recently and I really like it!

I also have some newer patterns from contemporary designers, in PDF, like Les Lubies de Cadia - I recently purchased a few of her patterns in a sale, and am planning on making one of them for the BHMPD Challenge, probably the Lysiane Shirt. Although I also bought the Girma Dress, which she's discontinuing -- I've had my eye on it for a long time so had to jump. But I have lots of choices which is great for a mood sewist like me! 

Lysiane Shirt

Girma Dress

This is such a fun challenge, and a great way to discover new pattern designers of all kinds - from sewing to knitting, quilting, bagmaking, fabric stores and more. Check it out!

Literary Sewing Circle: Inspiration!

 

It's the first week of our Literary Sewing Circle featuring All The Things We Leave Behind by Riel Nason. Have you found a copy yet? Have you started reading? If so, how are you finding the opening chapters? 

Today's inspiration is going to look at some of the characters and places in this story; we'll find ideas based on their names. Here are a few suggestions of projects you could make based on these elements. 

We'll start with our main character, Violet Davis. Violet tells this story, and her perspective shapes everything. Maybe you will want to make an outfit based on these options. 

First we have the Sinclair Patterns Violet Ruched Tee It has pretty lines and feels like it could be a relaxed summer top.

Or maybe you're thinking more delicate with the Seamwork Violet Blouse

And there is also the choice of a complete outfit all in one with the FibreMood Violet Dress 

Perhaps you're thinking more of something inspired by Violet's calm and reliable boyfriend Dean, If you want to make something manly, consider the Mood Fabrics Dean Jacket 

Or if you're thinking something more comfy, try out the Bobbins & Buttons Dean Sweatshirt 

Of course you might be inspired by Violet's best friend Jill. You could make the very 70s Jessilou's Closet Jill Wrap Skirt  

Or for more 70s fun, check out the Sew Hungry Hippie's Jill Tunic 

If Violet's parents are the ones you catch your attention, you could make the IThinkSewBags Charles Duffle Bag (on Etsy) as something her dad Charles might have used in his travels.

Or perhaps the easy wearing DG Patterns Anne Dress will reflect Violet's mom Anne instead. 

You could even be inspired by Pepper Shaker, the resident cat at the Purple Barn! Check out the Made For Mermaids Pepper Puff Sleeve Top  Imagine it in a fabulous feline novelty print! 

Or this fun pattern, the OhMeOhMy Sewing Pepper Top & Dress It's so 70s! I could see Violet or Jill wearing this one.

Looking outside of Violet's immediate circle, the caretaker of the Vaughn estate and his wife offer some potential. While I couldn't find a pattern for Cecil, I did find the Style Arc Mavis Knit Tunic for his wife. 

Of course the Vaughns themselves might be the source of your inspo, with matriarch Ivy offering a wide range of potential makes.  There's We Are the Fabric Store Ivy Dress & Top, or the Ivy Pinafore by Jennifer Lauren. 

We Are The Fabric Store

Jennifer Lauren

It could be that George and Alvina Quinn (aka Quinny) are the two that catch your eye...while there are numerous George's out there, I am focusing on Alvina with this Free Alvina Beanie in Crochet If you know how to crochet, it's cute! 

Or you might focus on the Quinn part, with the Merchant & Mills Quinn Trouser

Then you could add on the 5 out of 4 Patterns Quinn Cardigan for coziness

Or with a slight spelling change, you could highlight their patchwork prowess with the Quin Patchwork Dress, a free pattern from Fabrics-Store.com 

On that note, you might be inspired by King's Landing, the historical village where Jill works. You could make any historical outfit from that earlier bustled up era, inspired by Jill's costumes or the one Violet is quickly packed into the day she helps out at a wedding. The wardrobe genius at King's landing is Elsie Mackay and there are a couple of outfits that might suit her. First an historical one, most suitably, with the Wearing History Elsie 1910s Blouse

Or just for a more relaxed 70s vibe, the loose fitting Mocha Elsie Dress could be a fun pick. 

You might even find yourself inspired by Violet and Bliss' special deer, Speckles, and decide to make this free Speckles Quilt by Tilda's World to use up some of your scraps. 

Or maybe it's the locations that appeal to you, like the Seven Birches Campground where Violet and Jill are staying for the summer. You could try the Birch Dress by Mood.

And then add on a great 70s style waistcoat, like the Birch Vest by Patternscout!

You could be inspired by Violet's actual home community across the river from Seven Birches, Riverbend - if you knit you could try this Riverbend Scarf from Garn Studio.

Or you might just try finding some of the Riverbend Collection fabric line by Noodlehead and making something from that! 

Whatever you choose, I hope you are enjoying the read and finding lots to inspire. 

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Have you connected with any of the characters yet? Is there one you particularly like? Anyone that you dislike? What do you think of the time period, the New Brunswick setting, and the narrative style? Do any of the characters spark ideas for a project yet?

Sew Frugal with the Milou free dress pattern

 

This is a project I made for a number of reasons - a few online challenges, and the desire for a new spring dress in a nice yellow! 

I was inspired by the #SewFrugal challenge on IG, always a fun one; you are asked to make something from a free pattern using fabric from your stash. Add to this the "Mellow March" theme from MAGAM, also on IG, and a PatternReview contest, and I was inspired. 

I decided to try the free Milou Dress by Fabrics-Store.com. The loose fit, but with inset gathers on front and back, looked fun to me. I had a lightweight yellow cotton-poly sheet in my stash that I thrifted a few years ago, and thought it was the perfect match. 

I enjoyed making this, although with a free pattern you often do get what you pay for. I found this one pretty good overall, with one major exception. The neckline is tiny, and I mean just under 20", when the average woman's head is 21-22". Mine, however, is a large head - I have a gargantuan cranium! So it was particularly impossible to fit this over my head, which is important in a pull on dress! Luckily, it is a neckline with just a bias facing, so it was very easy to enlarge the neck opening and bind it appropriately. Of course if you wanted to keep a higher, tighter neckline you could always add a back slit in the neckline and face it. 

Another slight complaint is that there were no tips in the instructions on how to get a clean corner on the insets. I looked up a tutorial on Youtube to remind me. There were links to a few other techniques in the instructions, including one on how to add side seam pockets. I did this of course! 

Otherwise it was a pretty good project. I do find that the sleeve is a bit wide at the hem, I'm not sure I like the straight line all the way down. I do like the sleeve rolled up, but I am thinking of going back and narrowing the sleeve down toward the hem a bit. I also added 2" of length but I could cut that to 1.5" if I make this again, as I ended up taking a deeper hem than my usual. 

One of the challenges in the PatternReview contest was to make a basic solid coloured dress and style it for day and night. I had fun with those photos, but do think I'll likely wear this most in the day verson. I consider yellow a basic in my wardrobe! This was a fun make despite the small issues that cropped up, which were all easily fixable. I like the finished pattern - the original was colour blocked (very subtley, in white and cream linen) so that's always an option, too, but I love my solid colour version that I think shows off the main feature of the pattern, those inset gathers. 

Evening look!

1986 Blouse in Upcycled Rayon

This Style pattern was one I had on my wishlist to make at the beginning of this year. It all came together to convince me to make it now, as there is a blouse making challenge on IG, as well as the return of The Refashioners, AND a challenge to sew with some Viva Magenta. 

This was a perfect fit for all of that. It's a pattern from 1986 that I thrifted a while back. The price on the back for Canada is $6.75, which I think would have been a pricey pattern back in the mid-80s. And for such a simple design! The cover images look like there are some big shoulder pads in there, which I would have expected of a pattern of this vintage; however, there are none called for in the pattern. 

I used a half-made dress that I was given a few years ago. The rayon print is beautiful, and there are swirls of magenta in that print! I had first taken the bodice off and made a simple elastic waist skirt from this fabric but found I wasn't wearing it much in that form. And the print is too lovely to waste. Thankfully I had kept the bodice in my scrap bin, so I unpicked the skirt from the elastic and used that to cut the main body of the blouse. It was slightly too short on the left side of the pattern that had the button extension at the shoulder, so I ended up piecing a bit onto that side to get enough length. This print hides those extra seamlines well. 

I used part of the bodice to cut the collar pieces, and scraps from the skirt for the two small facings. There is still a little of the bodice left so I will reuse that in future! I dug through my button stash and finally decided on some plain black buttons that have a little extra with a white streak that runs through them. They were also from a big batch of random buttons given to me a few years ago. 

The blouse is a little shorter than designed (about 1/2") just because I had to fit it onto my skirt pieces. But I think it works. The front is fractionally shorter than the back but there are slits in the side seams so that's not an issue either! I cut a 14 at the neck and shoulder, and 16 the rest; however, I also added about 1/2" in width to the side seam, starting at the waist point and grading out to the hip. This shirt is basically a rectangle, so if I hadn't added that extra, it would have been too tight around my hip. 

I love this silhouette and may try one of the other views someday. The buttoned up one definitely caught my eye first, though, and I enjoyed making this simple, purely rectangular top that is a great piece for under a jacket. The original dress that I recut this from had some thin shoulder pads already covered in this fabric, so if I can find where I put them when I deconstructed this dress originally, I think I will add them in to give it just that touch more of the cover look!