Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

The pattern came from a friend's grandmother and was passed along to me in February 2009 .  When I posted about it, both Little Hunting Creek and Audrey of Sew Tawdry commented that they had made the pattern in high school!  What fun!  It's been on my list for quite a while, and Pattern Review's Vintage Contest finally got me to push it to the top of the list. The fabric, a printed dotted Swiss, came from Fabric Mart in June 2010 for $4.99/yd.  I had just enough for the top and no more.  I love it when that happens--no jigsaw layout with questionable grain, no large scraps to contend with. It's a one size pattern, size 10 for a 32 1/2" bust.  Did these one size patterns come pre-cut?  I feel like all the vintage patterns I've made are already cut out, even if they don't show signs of having been used (this one had no pin marks). The instructions are always interesting for vintage patterns.  One side of the instruction sheet covers the blouse, t...

After seeing the horror that was the back of my Burda 10-2011-123 wrap dress (left), I decided to devote some time to rescuing it.  To me, going back to a project that is done is like mending:  soooo much worse than just starting from scratch.  So it took a lot of self-prodding to get back into it. As drafted, the dress has released darts in front and back.  To improve the back fit, I made the darts wider and closed them up at top and bottom.  I experimented with closing the front darts as well, but it didn't add anything.  Adjusting the side seams wasn't effective either.  I also wore my silk slip to ensure it flowed smoothly over my tights.  The back fit is vastly improved, as you can see above, although it still does not look 100% great with a belt . I also hand-stitched the two ends of the removed ties together to make a self belt.  The bow looks much better when tied on the same side as the flounce, though I opted for the obi when I wo...

The Tweed Ride was a huge success! I would guess that around 250-300 people participated (it was hard to tell, exactly--bikes take up a lot of space so you can't really clump people close enough together to see them all at once). As you can see, I went with the brown booties. At the last minute I was able to make a top, and I felt brown went best with the overall outfit. They ended up working well and I really do love the style of these crazy shoes. Here's the whole outfit, on a fun set provided by BicycleSpace for our rest stop there. The yellow top was my very last minute addition to the outfit--I found the perfect fabric at G Street on the $2.97/yd table on Saturday and made the top late Saturday afternoon. I made the cape three years ago, but never wear it because it is so motion restrictive and impractical. I was glad to give it another wear for the event! My mom gave me the kilt, a sturdy Pendleton wool from her younger days. The hat came from my trip to Ecuado...