Beach Bustier Adventures

Happy weekend to you all, my dear readers! This has been a really busy month for me and I apologise for not posting more often. We had a lot of important events recently in our local military community that kept me busy, as well as pretty much a weekend-long birthday celebration for myself. Not to mention the super fun steroid withdrawals I've been having (Yay! I'm just thrilled to be off the horrid things!) keeping me sickish and therefor lazy. But on the bright side, my chronic pain is better enough that I have a sewing project to share with you!

I had a blast sewing this beach bustier top. It was one of those projects where I got to see my sewing practice start to pay off; you know, when you can finally see that you're a better seamstress than you realized? My top stitching came out straight, my seams all matched perfectly, and this little baby is clean from the inside out!

I made this beauty using my 1950's Style Beach Bustier Digital Pattern with the intention of adding a skirt to make it into a dress. I had originally planned on making it strapless so I boned the side seams for more support. Then after a fitting, realized that if I waned strapless I needed to have used a size smaller. So in went the original halter strap which I really liked better in the long run.

I hadn't added any buttons at this point, waiting for the skirt to be attached so I could work out a smooth button/ zipper combo in the back.

Well, I added the skirt, and in a hurry to get it finished in time for an event, completely botched my closure plans. I kid you not, the whole thing has been sitting in a crumpled pile on my guest-bed now for a month. All I need to do is rip the zipper out and sew it in again with a bit of the dress taken in, but have I gotten around to it yet? No. (hangs head in shame).

Well, there you have it. I'm not perfect, but I sure can make a pretty half-done mess, now can't I?

Are there any UFO's (UN-finished objects) laying around your sewing space, shaming and guilting you as you ignore their cries for closure?

And the winner is...

Hello lovely readers. Today is Monday, and you know what that means. It's time to announce the winner of the giveaway for my new sewing pattern!

And the lucky winner is: JacieKakes! You can email me afewthreadsloose@gmail.com and I'll send you your pattern! Jacie also happens to have started writing a blog recently and I found myself giggling at the clever way she describes things. You should really check it out! Jacie also commented that the next pattern she would like to see from Mrs. Depew Vintage would be a Geisha style robe like the one in this picture:

And I have to say, you're totally right! This is gorgeous and I've been wanting to do a robe pattern for the longest time! Wow, Lana turner... what a babe.

On my last visit home I recently acquired a beautiful cream silk charmeuse robe almost exactly like this. The lovely thing was coming apart at the seams and I spent most of the last two days carefully hand stitching it back together. Now it's soaking in my laundry room sink and I'm hoping some old stains will work their way out (any tips?)

I'm thinking about starting with a pattern from one of my old German pattern magazines and working my way out from there. What do you think of this one? (robe/ nightgown on the left)

Which leads me to a very important question that I would really like your input on. A robe pattern would be a great deal larger to print out as a digital pattern than what I've done thus far. To save paper and ink for the seamstress using it, I could overlap pattern pieces onto the same sheet (much like a Burda pattern sheet, only with one pattern). My question is, if you've already gone to the trouble of printing it out, is too inconvenient to also have to trace a few pattern pieces off? Or is the right pattern worth all the trouble?

And in other news, here's a quick sneak peak at what I'm working on right now:

If you didn't win the bathing suit pattern and would still like a copy, you can download it directly from my Craftsy shop, (yay instant download!) or you can find it in my Artfire shop, and my Etsy shop.

And don't forget to stop by Ohhh Lulu... to enter the giveaway to win her beautiful new Betty High Waist Panties pattern (yay Sarah!). I've already got my pattern and I'm off to the fabric shop (I've nickname the place, 'the mess') tomorrow to get supplies!

How about you? What are you working on this week?

The Much-Anticipated Bathing Suit Pattern Giveaway!

My lovely readers, you have been so patient with me. I put off the main part of my pattern drafting work to do the Pin-Up Sew-Along and now that we've reached a nice lull with that, I have finally had time to finish the much asked-for and anticipated bathing suit pattern!

Many of you are familiar with the famous photograph of Marilyn Monroe in the lovely and clingy white bathing suit and that was my main inspiration for putting the pattern together. I find myself getting a bit curvier than I used to be (isn't that always the case?) and I love the idea of a suit that emphasizes those curves while still providing a bit of modesty for the one's you'd rather not draw attention to.

I also created it in sizes x-small through x-large, in two versions, one strapless and one with halter collar strap for supporting those more endowed like Marilyn than myself.

Before I got started I had fun using an app called Penultimate to create a mood board with bathing suits and patterns that fit into this glamorous Hollywood image that I wanted to recreate, adding sketches and ideas to incorporate into my cover image for later as I progressed.

And of course, as I always do when I release a new pattern, I'm offering a free copy to one lucky winner!

To enter the giveaway you can do one or all of the following, just leave a comment for each entry to get your name in the proverbial hat.

1. Tell me what kind of pattern you'd like me to create next. I'm always open to suggestions!

2. Become a follower of A Few Threads Loose on Twitter, Google, or Bloglovin'.

3. Like A Few Threads Loose on Facebook.

4. Like Mrs. Depew Vintage on Facebook.

5. Mention this giveaway on your blog.

I'll announce the winner this Monday the 9th.
Good luck! 

The Beach Bra Sewing Pattern

Ooooh boy do I have something cool to show you! I paid a fortune to get my hands on this little pattern and it was totally worth it. Readers, may I introduce you to the other love of my life, the beach bra pattern:

This little lovely bit of 1950's heaven came from a supplement, instead of an actual pattern. It was a breeze to make up and only took me about 4 hours.

I have all sorts of plans for this little baby including adding a skirt to make a dress out of it, sewing it with a contrast collar, and hopefully finding another vintage pattern to make matching bathing suit bottoms as well. The options are endless.
And I just couldn't keep it to myself. So I made it into a PDF (8 hours of hell on earth working with photoshop: not in my repertoire of talents) and it's for sale in my etsy shop. All proceeds will go towards the purchase of an excellent wig to replace all the hair I pulled out whilst trying to make a multi-page pdf.
All that aside, I'm really happy with how this little gem turned out:

The pattern has 3 very well placed darts that actually didn't pucker when placed over my meager bosom (darts always pucker on me).

This makes me want to go swimming, and also makes me sad that I live in a country where summer is all of five minutes long.

Here's a little peak at the layout. Instead of pinning everything twice, I just traced copies of my pattern pieces so I could pin and cut them all at once.

For the long pattern piece that you draft per the pattern instructions, I just made two and taped them together, as opposed to more complicated cutting instructions.

The collar looks more complicated than it is, and the pattern came with great illustrations drawn right on the pattern pieces to help you puzzle out placement.

Naturally, it doesn't fit my dress form as well as it fits me, because Slut Jane II has bigger boobs than me.

I will be making this again, and again, and again.............