Vintage Patterns

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Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to pick up a few vintage patterns at a local antique mall. Two are sized 46 or 48, so they will fit with minimal adjustments. The coat pattern is smaller, but I love it, so am willing to fiddle with the sizing (and now I have my lovely dress form to help me!). And at $1 each, the price was more than right!
Finally, I found these two booklets from Singer - How to Make Dresses is dated 1927 and Children's Clothes is dated 1928. These will be fun to refer too and play with.

So no lack of patterns (I did not detail the new ones I purchased) and hopefully no lack of impetus to sew! Wish me luck.

Tagged by Amy

Amy from Skirts and Shirts Galore (website above) tagged me to publish seven things you may not know about me. Thanks for the tag Amy. Here goes:

1. I love Panera Bread. The onion soup is wonderful, the bagels devine.
2. I tried knitting, even got a sweater half done, but it made my wrists hurt too much. So I had to have a friend finish the sweater for me.
3. I am also a potter. I hold a technical diploma in pottery (ca 1978).
4. I have just discovered Homemade Brand TURTLE SUNDAE ice cream - wonderful.
5. My master's degree is in Historic Preservation Planning.
6. I still am close to Linda, with whom I've been friends since 7th grade, and her husband Frank, who joined us about 9th grade.
7. Although I've lived in the US since 1979 (and for 15 years before that) I am still a Canadian citizen.

Back to Sewing?

Well - life has not cooperated in my sewing at all lately. We painted the living room and dining room. The big hurricane Ike that devastated the Gulf also blew the biggest windstorm in south-west Ohio history, knocking out to power to 90% of residents - including ME! No power for three days. No phone for three days. No television for five days!

But things are going well right now and I am just back from a flying trip up to Michigan for the AMERICAN SEWIING EXPO in Novi. I took took of the pre-show classes and spent Friday morning at the vendors malls and exhibits.

On Wednesday I took "Drafting the Perfect Pants" with the wonderful Barbara Cruse. The process used the "Islander" method to make the pattern. Barbara was so helpful to all of us, and now I have a pattern drafted exactly to my measurements. I sure hope to get a muslin done this week for the final fitting.

On Thursday, I had a strange but fun experience. I participated in making a dress form from gummed brown paper - as the model and twice as the constructor. It is great - lightweight but sturdy. The charming and helpful Jan Bones from Excellence in Sewing in Winnepeg was the instructor. She has a line of lingerie patterns - I didn't realize she was the one who created the pattern for yoga pants I purchased this spring. Anyway, her website is: http://www.sewinglingerie.com if you want to take a look. I'd steal her photo of the brown tape dress forms if I knew it was OK - so you may just have to wait until I get a photo of mine!

AND in both classes, the funny and friendly Laura Wyatt was the class helper. She is a hoot - and a newly certified Islander instructor. She started her own sewing school in Fayetteville, Tennessee - I think she said south of Nashville. If she is half as nice and knowledgable as she was at the Expo, grab the chance to take a class with her. Her school is called Its Sew You, and it has a website, but I didn't mark it! Sorry.

Both of those classes have given me a bit of a boost toward getting back to sewing this fall!