Vintage-y Apron

This was one of those projects that had been languishing in the WIP (work-in-progress) basket for oh........almost 18 months. You know how it goes. You want to finish it but something always comes up! I had cut it out and planned to finish it for a 1950's themed birthday party but with my mom's birthday in a few days, I thought that was a nice occasion to finish it. She loves aprons and can always use a new one so I think it suits her too. I used Simplicity 4692 which sadly, does not seem to be in print anymore! Simplicity does have quite a few vintage inspired apron patterns out though. If you are in the mood to make one, I am sure you could find one that you like!




It calls for cute pockets and more bias tape than I used but...... :whispers: I ran out of bias tape and did not feel like making anymore. Let's just say that i was going for a simplified look ;)

I was actually rather horrified to find that it suggested velcro for the neck closure. I really did not think that was very polished looking so I did two vintage buttons instead.



I said this was for my mom right? Well, I might just need to borrow it!

As Always,
Bethany Lynn

Finished!

I listened to Narnia on CD, I chatted with friends, listened to music galore and my family kept me company. I think that is what made me finish this dress. I clocked it and it took me about 12 hours. It seemed like a long time...... over 8 hours is hand sewing. That can get rather boring ;) But no matter! It is finished and it does need a collar. These are not the best pictures but they will do for now.



Oh, and those tucks in the skirt? They were a huge mistake. See...... I had the skirt finished and the bodice finished and I needed to still cut out the waistband. So I cut it out..... of the SKIRT! I thought it was scrap and really did panic when I realized. Now my skirt was too short. I ended up inserting a panel in the middle of the skirt and putting tucks in to cover up the seams. PHEW!






Till next time!

As Always,
Bethany Lynn

Another work in progress.......

Hello All,



You know what that is right? That would be twill tape and cotton fabric attached to panels of fabric. That sounds like the makings of a mid-19th century skirt right?



And what might that be? How about the back of a bodice, a pile of piping, two finished sleeves and thoughts of blue silk taffeta buttons marching down the front of the bodice? Yup, that sounds about right! Now to just finish it so I can start work on another *before* I go on a a trip.......

As Always,

BethanyLynn

In the works........

Hello All,

I think I have mentioned it before, but I really cannot work on one project at once. I have to always have more than one project! I am not really sure why but I have found it to be quite common among seamstresses and other people who have some sort of craft. I am one of those types who needs more than one project but more than one medium too! At an early age, I did not want to just work with textiles, I wanted to work with fibers also! I learned how to crochet first but I really wanted to learn how to knit. Crochet has a lot of advantages but it always seemd like knitters had the best patterns available to them. Not to mention that knitting was the most common in the 19th century and crochet was only used for small decorative trims. This made me even more motivated to learn how to knit.

Now, I could go into a lovely story about my mother or grandmother teaching me how to knit, but sadly, I cannot tell such a story! All my grandmothers live very far away from me and my own mother does not know how. Lately, a lot of women have understood this predicament of so many and one lady, has been so kind to create http://www.knittinghelp.com/ I learned how to cast on and do the knit and purl stitch from there and even how to increase. I have not mastered decreasing yet but I have not needed it quite yet either ;)

So with thanks to knittinghelp.com, I have started on a sontag for cold weather living history events! I have wanted to for so long but I just now bought a PieceWork magazine that had an informative article and pattern included. There are lots of patterns on line (like this one) but none are very detailed and being a beginner knitter, I need detail! If you ever get a chance to pick up PieceWork March/April 2009 and want to make a sontag, I highly recommend it!


(That's a knitting needle holder that I made out of repro fabric and some twill tape in the right hand corner of the picture)



As Always,
Bethany Lynn

Past Patterns #707

Hello All,

I have finished another chemise this time though, for a different dear friend and using a different pattern. It really is more fun to use different patterns! Makes for more interesting sewing.



Once you have used most of the 19th century chemise patterns out there, I think a person comes to realize that they are generally the same! A wide neckline, short sleeve with facings and a generous body contained in a band is really all they are. Some are easier to follow as far as there instructions go and others are better at sizing.

I have to say that this is not my favorite pattern as of yet and while I do like the outcome, I don't know if I would use it again. I am concerned that the neckline might be too large (and cause the chemise to slide off the shoulders) and the sleeve bands too small (just uncomfortable!)! I won't know until the recipient trys it on and gives me some feedback of course, but even if it does work, I didn't really like the instructions either. It really is quite pretty but I think I would rather use something like Simplicity 9769 instead. With all that said, here are pictures! I didn't change anything except to not put so many tucks in the front as was called suggested. I hope it will be less bulky that way.







As Always,
Bethany Lynn

Lavender

I have a thing for lavender. I have for as long as I can remember but up until now I had not had the experience of growing and harvesting it myself. You don't really know lavender until you have! It smells so much better and you come to appreciate it so much more if you put all the time and effort into growing it yourself.




I honestly can not remember when I planted this plant though! I do not know if it was one year ago or three but I really thought it had died! I was so surprised when I was weeding just a few months ago and found this thriving plant! I really have to wonder if the neglect actually made it grow and my over watering from years past actually made it decline for a while!

Anyways, it is back now and I have just harvested it this past week. I really did not get very much from the plant but I think it is a good start. I hope more will come next year and if I am on top of things, I might harvest more than once. Because there was so little, I did not want to just dry it all and make it into sachets. I think I could only make one sachet if I did it that way!

I remembered that years ago we had aquired a lavender wand. I want to say it is from Germany but I really cannot remember. I did know that I wanted to make some for myself though! I simple google search turned up all sorts of helpful things and these ensued.



If you want to try your hand at growing lavender, my only tip is to check out a good herb book yourself and read as much as you can find on the plant. I learned that I had a dwarf variety but that there really are all sorts and the best times for harvesting too.

As Always,
Bethany Lynn

That quilt of mine......

Yes, I have finished it! It has taken me quite some time to get pictures of it but the poor thing has taken its maiden voyage so long ago that I decided it need pictures on here sooner rather than later! She has graced beds in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia already and has been used for naps and picnics lots of places. May she have many more memories with her to come.



As Always,
Bethany Lynn