Simplicity 5285 Update

I have a confession to make.... I've finished the blouse already!! You could say I 'got in the zone' and before I knew it I was sewing the buttons on. However I'm going to be a tease and wait till Friday to model it.



What I will share with you today are a couple of photos of me making it, and a little teaser photo of it on Peg (my dressform)

Old Hollywood Inspiration: Bette Davis

Bette was born in 1908 in Massachusetts. Her career started after she graduated from high school when she enrolled in John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School.

She started out in plays during the 1920's and in 1930 was hired by Universal.

Despite the initial interest from Universal after one movie 'The Bad Sister' they let her go, she then went on to sign with Warner Brothers in 1932.

Her first movie with them was 'The Silent Voice' was was a big hit, and on the back of this success she was loaned out to RKO for 'Of Human Bondage', which was another smash.

She won her first oscar for 'Dangerous' in 1935 and again for 'Jezebel' in 1938, after this she sued Warner Brothers for not giving her enough lead roles that an oscar winning actress should have. She lost the lawsuit, but her roles did increase.

In 1950 she starred in 'All About Eve' which got her another oscar nomination.

After this time, the roles starting drying up. She appeared in 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane' in 1962 alongside Joan Crawford.

She then made a small transition to T.V work, but eventually retired in the early 1980's after suffering a stroke.

She then died in 1989 from cancer.

All images sourced through google images

Spring Sewing

This week I've been thinking more about what I want to wear for this spring. I've recently become a little obsessed with making blouses and collecting vintage blouse patterns. I've already made a couple such as my leopard print blouse & my gingham blouse, but I still have the urge to make more!

Blouses are so versatile, and depending on what you make them with, can be practical for everyday or special occassion wear.

I'm more focused on the everyday, something I could pair with a high waisted skirt for work or could wear with jeans on the weekend.

With this in mind I wanted to invest in a 'go to' pattern for a cute vintage style button up shirt. After scrolling through the endless patterns on ebay & etsy, I decided to go for this:

Its from 1963 and features two types of collar, a small peter pan or a classic shirt collar. It also gives you the option of a cute patch pocket and sleeves.

It doesn't use up much fabric and I reckon I could get away with using only 1 metre (providing its sleeveless & the facings are in a suitable contrast fabric). I've decided to use up some powder blue polka dotted fabric I found in a charity shop in the summer. I've been wanting to make a blouse with this fabric for so long but there's not a lot of it, and I haven't been able to use it for a top until now! (Yay!)

I'm going to be making view 2 first as I can't resist a peter pan collar!

Woop! I Won An Award!

The wonderful Sue from Sewin' Steady has given me the Versatile Blogger Award! Im absolutely chuffed (that's British for happy) to bits Sue! Thanks :)  

Here are the rules:

1. Add the badge to the winning blog page.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it. 
3. List the rules.
4. List seven (7) random facts about yourself. 
5. Pass on the award to fifteen (15) deserving and conscientious bloggers who are nominated for their diligence, demonstrated skill, and achievements in the world of blogging and specifically in the sewing related category. 
6. Contact the nominated bloggers and let them know they are recipients.

So... 7 random facts huh? I was thinking of doing something like this as I've had a few new followers recently, and the last one I did was around the time I started this blog which you can read here. So here it goes...

1. I have a degree & a diploma in Fine Art. I love to go gallery hopping at least once a year in London, normally in the summer to see all the exhibitions happening as well as seeing some of my favourite pieces of art. My favourite place to go is the National Gallery, especially the Turner/Constable room.
2. I love Alfred Hitchcock movies, he's probably my favourite director along with Wes Anderson & Quentin Tarantino.
3. I couldn't swim until I was about 12, one of my school friends taught me.
4. My favourite band of all time is Fleetwood Mac, although I do prefer the albums made after Lindsay Buckingham & Stevie Nicks joined. I actually got to see them for the first time at Wembley in 2009, probably one of the best nights of my life!
5. I absolutely detest olives.
6. I grew up on the South Coast - where I've just moved to in Surrey is the first time in my life that I haven't been about a 15 minute walk from the sea. It's really odd knowing that I'm not near any kind of ocean!
7. I will be more likely to buy something if it's got polka dots on it, or is leopard print.

And here are my list of 15 fellow bloggers (in no particular order) I feel deserve to share the title

1. Paunnet
2. A Sewing Odyssey
3. Adventures In Adventuring!
4. Andi B. Goode
5. Dial V For Vintage
6. Diary Of A Chain Stitcher
7. Four Square Walls
8. Muffin Top Vintage
9. Presser Foot Propaganda
10. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo
11. The Fiercest Lilliputian
12. The Musings Of A Dedicated House Fiance
13. Vintage Girl
14. Pattern~Scissors~Cloth
15. Bobbins and Bombshells

Finished Project: Mad Men Challenge

Happy Friday Ladies! Another week coming to an end, another finished project under my belt!
This week saw me take on the Mad Men Challenge set by Julia Bobbin.
After much I thought I decided upon an outfit worn by Peggy Olson as discussed here.

Using Vogue 5308's bottom pieces I made this skirt using some wool that my mum gave me.
It was quite fun to sew, and the inverted pleats were simple to make, the hardest part was getting them to lie flat! They still need a bit more pressing really!

The top was actually bought from a thrift store and I still can't get over how similar it is to Peggy's except mine has ruffles too, and doesn't have sleeves.

This was a nice simple project to put together, and I almost feel like I wimped out a bit for this challenge as everyone else seems to be tackling dresses. Hey ho.



I'm so excited to see what everyone else has been working on! If you're participating good luck with the rest of your sewing & I can't wait to see the finished pieces!

Sew Cinematic Inspiration Post: Dress

In the midst of all this 'Mad Men' madness I thought I would take the time to share some images that I'm thinking of using as inspiration for the ongoing Sew Cinematic challenge that you can read about on Rhinestones & Telephones blog if you click the badge on the left hand side.

For the dress part of the challenge I've decided to make a 'little blue dress' inspired by Zooey Deschanel's character in '500 Days Of Summer'.
As we're now entering Spring, I've been wanting to make a dress using a light blue cotton or denim and the character of Summer is near enough always wearing blue of some kind in this movie.

For more inspiration I've been scrolling through Asos to see what RTW items are available

I like the idea of adding some cute details to the dress like scallops, lace, bows or maybe even some embroidery? I'm also thinking about making it sleeveless, or at the most with cap sleeves. 

I'm also really tempted to make myself a dark denim skirt after seeing the still from the movie!

Are you taking part in the challenge? If so, what have you decided to make?

500 Days of Summer images taken from here
Little Blue Dresses images taken from here

Mad Men Challenge: Midweek Update

So as revealed on Mondays post, I'm currently making this outfit featured in season 3.

It's going very well at the moment, but alas I have no photos to show you of it in progress as I keep forgetting to take photos!

The trickiest part so far has been the condition of the fabric. It's been tucked away in a loft for god knows how many years, and as such parts of the fabric are not in the best condition. I've had to re-cut the back centre 3 times so far as everytime I unfold it I keep finding holes!

Luckily I found a piece that was hole free, otherwise I would have run out of fabric!

So as I'm lacking in photos today, I thought I would share some other images of Peggy's outfits throughout the series that I'm particularly fond of...

All images sourced here

Old Hollywood Inspiration: Joan Crawford

Joan was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in Texas, 1905. Her career started after she won a dance contest in 1923 which led to work around the US. In 1925 she left for Hollywood.

In 1928 she starred in 'Our Dancing Daughters' which brought her notoriety, and more roles.

In 1943 after leaving MGM for Warner Brothers she starred in 'Mildred Pierce' which is one of most defining roles, and won her an oscar.

She continued to work throughout the 1950's landing mainly bit parts or supporting roles, but in 1962 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane' saw her and arch rival Bette Davis take the two leads.

Her last role was in 'Trog' in 1970 which didn't do too well, and soon retired after. Crawford died in 1977 from cancer.

All images sourced through google images