In Sewing News this week...

There's a lot of great stuff going on in the sewing world this week and in a bit we'll do a recap of some great blog post you might want to check out, but first, the Corselet is here!

This is by far the most ambitious multi-size pattern drafting attempt I've ever made, and it's finally done! (Though I may have sacrificed the better half of my eyesight in accomplishing it.

The corselet is a corset without boning. It's main purpose is to reduce unsightly bulges under clothing from bra or pantie lines, and to cinch the waist into a smooth line. it's the best way to get that hourglass 1950's curvy silhouette without the embarrassing underwear lines. Not mention, it's rather sexy!
This corselet can either be closed in front with a zipper or hook and eye tape. (boning can be added if you need more support).

The really cool thing is, you can pair it with your favorite bra pattern and with a little tweaking here and there, you could make one of these.... Sigh.

And as usual, with the release of a new pattern comes the giveaway to win your own copy.
To enter this time, you can just leave a comment telling me the newest thing you've learned how to do in your sewing adventures. I'll announce the winner next Monday, the 23rd.

In other news, Va-Voom Vintage is celebrating 1000 blog followers (congrats, Brittany!) with an entire WEEK of giveaways so go check that out!
(kicking it off with some goodies from yours truly :)

Sew Vera Venus recently posted the most stunning velvet dress for you to ogle over, and she's also currently offering a free pattern pdf for an adorable capelet.

Photo from Sew Vera Venus

 And How About Orange just posted a great roundup of some new sewing tutorials.

Hope you're having a great week!

Updates and Giveaway Winners

It's that time again time for me to announce the winner of the new pattern giveaway.
The winner was selected by the random number generator at random.org:

And the winner is Khristie B, who wins her choice of either the new Halter Top Blouse PDF pattern

Or the new Wrap Blouse PDF pattern.

Congratulations to Khristie, you can email me at afewthreadsloose@gmail.com to get your pattern.

Also new in vintage PDF patterns is the Multisize Bateau Neck Blouse Pattern.

It's an easy project made from only two pattern pieces and can be made with little time and effort.

And as promised, and mentioned yesterday, I'm half way done with the corselet pattern. Here's a sneak peak:

Have a great week, everyone!

A Couple of New Patterns by Mrs. Depew Vintage

Want to know what I've been working on when I haven't been sewing? I have been trying to develop a couple of new pdf patterns that are more cold weather appropriate.
I have a particular love for the 1920's, the hat styles, and the cloche in particular.

With this in mind, and cold ears every time I step outside, I put together this cloche pattern pdf (actually from a late 1940's/ early 1950's pattern throwback).

I love the idea of sewing it from warm, soft wool in two tones. It can be made in soft velvet, felt, or brocade for colder weather, or light cotton or silk for warmer weather. All you need is your fabric, interfacing, grosgrain ribbon for the band, and some buttons; super easy!

And of course, I would make matching gloves to go with it, preferable trimmed with fur. Which is what I did for my second PDF this month.

This glove pattern pfd can be made either long or short, depending on the sleeve length of your favorite outfit or coat, in several sizes. The gloves can be made using fabric scraps, they take very little fabric to make.

What is your favorite warm weather accessory?

(Also, if you haven't already, check out the giveaway I have going on to win a $20 gift certificate. Last chance to enter is this coming Sunday )

Pattern of the Day.

As some of you know, it's been my long held morning tradition of trolling etsy, coffee in hand, for any super unique patterns to have been recently listed. I sort of got out of that recently in an effort to save for my unhealthy Christmas addiction.
But I was weak and gave in today, and much to my delight, I found a great pattern that I only feel slightly giulty for buying.

I give you McCall's 6523.

The rosette is gastly, I know, but the ample hip pleating is just fantastic, and this dress is nearly a double of the only vintage Designer dress I have... and love.. and can't fit into anymore (or ever, for that matter).

I managed to squeeze into this dress for the gala night on our (belated) honeymoon cruise in January. And then we sat down to diner, the ship entered open water, and I was promptly overwhelmed with both seasickness and an inability to breath in my tight dress. I had to run back to the cabin to change and I sort of gave up on the dress afterwards. That and the advent of 10 lbs didn't help either.

My favorite feature of this dress was the way it made my hips seem wider and my waist seam tinier, in the most Monroe-esque way. The pleats have been lined with a very stiff horsehair interfacing, making them almost have a life of their own.
There isn't any more room for me to make this dress bigger... so perhaps I'll just have to sew another one?

New pattern for the wee ones...

This week, I had one goal. Finish the new pattern I was developing before I started on the slip/ camisole part of the Lingerie Sew-Along. Well, I finished... and now I totally feel like an idiot.
I slaved all this week on this cute little sun suit pattern pdf and then I emailed one to my sister and she so obnoxiously (but rightfully) pointed out, "It's a shorts pattern... it's November, Anna."

DAMMIT!

I started on this adorable pattern in July and then put it aside for other projects, travel, and the big move from one house to the next, and I'm a complete idiot for not leaving it until summer. Luckily, I have a kids trouser pattern from the same era and I can re-do it a bit to include a long overall/ trouser version.
Ugh. I'll be putting that off for a while though so I can start on the Slip/ Cami sew along posts for you all.

In other sewing news, this was drawn to my attention and I seriously need to get some of these nearly poetic sewing labels:

They are offered for sale at Sublime Stitching. And they make a great point! There are so few really easy, immediate gratification sewing projects out there that you can tote or wear around proudly. The good ones always take sooooooooooo long.

And speaking of things that take forever, that's why I haven't attempted sewing myself a coat yet. That, and wool intimidates me... and I'm not even sure why. But I am sorely tempted to sew one after seeing something else in my Victoria's Secret Catalog:

This gorgeous military coat got me to thinking and I dug through my stash to see if I had any coat patterns. Of all wonders, I had McCall's 2054 in two different sizes! The version on the left is nearly identical!

Can anyone recommend a good place online to buy wool fabric?

Lingerie Sew-Along: Finishing the Bra Band, Part 5

When we last left off, we had finished binding the top of the bra. Now we're going to finish facing the bra band.

The bra, inside out.

First turn your bra inside out so that the WRONG sides are on the outside. Start at one end and pin the bra band together RIGHT sides together.

The back bra band, RIGHT sides together.

Pin a few inches of the band at one end, then match up the center and pin that for a few inches, and do the same for the opposite end. Then pin the rest of those gaps. This helps to avoid strange bunches of fabric since the band is cut on the bias.

The bra, RIGHT sides together.

You'll want to leave a 2" gap in the band just under one of the cups for turning the bra right sides out again.

Lingerie Sew-Along: Binding the top of the bra, Part 4

First off, for those of you who are interested in a fascinating blog post on the 1940's style bra silhouette, check out this very well researched post on By Gum, By Golly.

Photo from By Gum, By Golly.

We also had a good question yesterday about darts: after resizing her bra pattern to allow for a larger bust size, Xye asked: Anna! Where is the top dart supposed to lie? Mine is pointing the dart nearest the side/furthest from centre - so not central to bust point? And how far from centre back should the tapered point of the upper bra piece end? Mine is ending about 2" from centre back (I think, while squinting and half turning to look in the mirror!). Thanks!

This is a great question! Xye, your top dart is in just the right place! Good job! The back sounds about right too. On mine it is about 2 1/2" from the center back, but this will vary a bit depending on whether or not you extended the back, and how much stretch your bra band fabric has on the bias.

And now on to binding the top of the bra:

When last we left off, we had just finished creating a separate outer and lining. Place the outer and lining pieces WRONG sides together.

Outer and Lining Wrong sides together.

Start by matching the center front and pin a few pins to secure them together.

Pin the center front of outer and lining WRONG sides together.

Lingerie Sew-Along: Darts, Pressing, and Attaching the Bra Band, PART 3

For today's post we'll go over our darts, pressing aids, and our first seam for the bra band.

If you have a bit of experience sewing already, you should be familiar with marking and sewing darts. If this is new to you, or you just want a quick refresher, here's a blog post I did on darts.

Here I have marked my darts with pins. This is what it would look like after I pulled the pattern piece off, but before I separated the two pattern pieces. Make sure your darts are on the WRONG side of your fabric! If you have a fabric that makes it hard to tell one from the other, use a chalk mark on the wrong side to help you keep track.

Once you fold your darts and pin them in place, start at the bottom and straight stitch up to a point.

I DID IT! I finished the bathing suit pattern... and of course, there's a giveaway...

It's done!
(You can't see me, but I'm doing my victory dance, and it's one of those really good, embarrassing victory dances.)
So after weeks of work, lots of swearing, paper cuts, marker stains, headaches, and bottles of wine, I have this to show for it:

Bathing Beauties Sewing Pattern

It's a 1940's style one or two piece bathing suit pattern that I modeled after several of the vintage patterns in my collection. Version 1 is a fully lined one piece bathing suit with pantie underlining. Version 2 is a two piece/ Bikini/ Bra and skirt. The bra is faced, the skirt also has a pantie underlining, and tie belt.

I'm really, really pleased with how this one came out, and I also found a great tool that let me save the file at only 3.7 mb! That's the same size as one of my tiny 5 page pdf patterns. Yay! I won't have to email it in 2 parts!

You want one don't you? I thought so. So of course there's a giveaway in here. 
All you have to do is...

1. Become a follower of A Few Threads Loose... and leave a comment saying you did. If you already follow, you can leave a comment about that too. The more, the merrier!

2. For another entry, you can "like" A Few threads Loose on Facebook... and leave me a comment saying you did.

3. You can also mention A Few Threads Loose or the pattern on your blog for another entry.

4. And lastly, I really want to know what you look for when you are buying or sewing a bathing suit.  I personally think that what you don't show can be just as sexy as what you do show. I want something that covers my bum properly, makes my thighs look smaller or hides them altogether (while I'm dreaming) and I have to have a big floppy sun hat to match.

I'll announce the lucky winner some time in the first week of September (we're moving to a nicer house nearby and I'll make the announcement once my computer is unpacked.)


Good luck!

Mail Call!

It's mail call! My favorite part of the day is when my husband comes home. Most of that is because my husband came home... but the rest of it is because he brings our mail with him! Well, my mail 'cause I'm the one that get's most of it.
Today I had a whole pile of packages and here's what I got:

Oh yes, yummy, yummy things in the mail for me. I made out like a bandit, right?

 So we have Hollywood 1478, which I paid $1 for... sometimes you can win on ebay. And we have Hollywood 1809, which I got for more than a dollar, but had to have. It just looks so comfortable!

Then we have McCall 1262, the purse pattern which, to my surprise and delight, turned out to be in the original factory folds, never used! The envelope is still crisp and glossy to the touch! Let's hope I have the nerve to unfold and use it (tracing a copy first, of course. I would never actually use an original.)  And then there's Advance 3012, one of the very rare, hard to find teddy patterns I've been on the hunt for.

After that we have Simplicity 4754 which I'm happy to add to my Working For Victory Collection. I'm in the process of trying to buy every pattern from the era where women had to fill in after their men went off to war. Maybe it's being a military wife that makes them so interesting to me. I've just gotten so accustomed to the military wife culture where women are used to, and ready to take care of business with their men off doing their duty that these patterns seem like a perfect fit in my collection.
And lastly there's the Sew Lovely G 803 Toga Gown which I think would be perfect for silk jersey, if I ever decide to try dealing with that headache of a fabric again.
So that's what I've got, in addition to the two McCall's Style News booklets you saw in  the top picture, which I'll be turning into PDF's soon.
Stay tuned for more as I'm currently working on the most amazing 1940's bathing suit sewing pattern, which will be a downloadable pattern soon!

All about pdf patterns

The new frontier of sewing patterns is digital. Everything seams to turn to digital at some point and sewing patterns are no exception. E patterns are now being offered by the big four (Simplicity, Butterick, McCall's and Vogue) as well as a dozen websites including Etsy.com.

The great thing about digital patterns is that you can buy them and print for a fraction of the cost. There's no waiting for the mail to come, as most are emailed to you within 24 hours, or better, directly downloaded. I highly recommend Burdastyle.com for downloading patterns. Here's my favorite:

That's right,  you click download, and this pattern (which is free, by the way) is on your computer. You hit print, tape the pieces together, and start sewing.

Now, my very favorite thing about digital patterns is that some enterprising individuals, (yes, including myself) have started taking rare, expensive, hard to find patterns and making them available for download. Most of these are vintage originals whose copyrights have expired. Some are just used as inspiration to create an original pattern that still reflects the style and design so sought after in certain digital patterns.

Mary Anne Bandeau Pattern

Now there are some drawbacks to print at home patterns. They can be bulky and hard to store. There are two ways I store my larger printed patterns. One solution is to store them in a labelled file folder. My favorite way to store them though, is to print the pattern picture out and tape it to an envelope. I use the 6" x 9" manilla envelopes so they fit right in with my other regular patterns.

Marilynn Apron Pattern

Another great thing about pdf patterns is that once you buy them, they are saved on your computer. If you rip a piece, or lose one, or want to make it in a different size, you can just print again.
Some pdf patterns are larger and more complicated to put together. Many buyers are put off by the paper and ink they'll have to use up on their home printer. An easy way to get around this is to save the pattern to a cd or small thumb drive, take it to your local print shop (xerox, staples, they all do it) and have them print it for you.

So just in case you're interested, and so you know I'm not just plugging my shop, here are a few of my favorite pattern pdfs:

LaPrairieLady

Also from LaPrairieLady

From PatternRunway

From BettieMarie

Any questions?

Gearing up for mayhem...

I am shortly to start job hunting again... which is litterally my least prefered past time.
Things I would rather do than job hunting:

•  Have a visit to the gynecologist
• eat mayonaise that's been left in the sun for hours
• spend 48 non-stop hours walking in 4" heels
• run a marathon in the nude
• wear a dress made entirely of live snakes

I think you get the idea.
So to compensate for this horrid thing that I have to do again, I'm going to have to sew some super fabulous outfits to do it in. Hence my latest sewing pattern purchases. I thought you might like a look at how I'm going to survive it all in style:

McCall's 5262:

I just bought this lovely business this morning over my morning cup of tea. I plan on making version A on the left... in cobalt blue if I can find the fabric...

McCall's 5637:

I think I'm going to have to make this one in just about every color. I don't normally go for bolero jackets but this one is really making me change my mind. I may just have to make the whole outfit up.

McCall 8220:

I bought this one about a week ago and I'm expecting it in the mail any day now. What I really love is the sleeve detail; it's all one piece, bodice and sleeve and it creates this really gorgeous line. Can you tell that I'm going to be looking for some sort of office work? My Norwegian has gotten a lot stronger and I'm hoping that I don't end up as a barista again... if I do, well, there will be a whole new post on fantastic cute 1950's party dresses and separates (my go -to barista garb).

On another note, I found my white whale. I really did! I have been hunting online just about every day for this pattern for two years!

I got it just days before I left for the states and I'm getting ready to make it up next in a fantastic 1950's rose print.

There's more to come soon on several new pdfs I have added to my etsy shop so stay tuned!

What I've been up to...

I realize that it's been about 2 months since I've actually posted about something I've sewed. Mostly that's because I spent nearly a month in the States visiting friends and family, and the last 3 weeks have been completely devoted to a custom project with a deadline for a friend. (More on that later.)

The last few two days I've been taking it extremely easy, and I've discovered what a difference following the doc's orders to rest has made on my broken rib (long, embarrassing story which I'm keeping to myself). Of course, by taking it easy, I mean sitting at the computer digitizing a new vintage pattern, and then sewing it myself to make sure I got it right.

So, without much further ado, what I've been working on, Advance 3975:

I have been working on turning the bikini bra top and shorts into a pdf, and sewing it myself.

So far I have the bra top done and I'm pretty happy, having taken it in quite a bit from the original 38" size to fit my nearly non-existent 34" bust.

I know I look rather flat in this picture, but let's face it, nothin's ever gonna make me look busty unless it's attached to a scalpel and a medical degree.

What I did different from the pattern? I just cut two extra strap pieces from my contrasting red cotton (which I'm using to make the matching shorts) and used them to edge the top and bottom before threading the strap through the center.

The pdf for the bra top and shorts can be found in my etsy shop. Up next, I'll be showing pictures of the shorts, if I can ever manage to get the zipper in straight.
Also, I'm curious, readers. Have you ever used a pdf printable pattern before? If so what did you like about it? And if you could have me make a pdf of a pattern, what pattern would it be and why?

Also, check out this great vintage pattern being given away at My Happy Sewing Place!