A Vintage Sewing Weekend

What an absolutely lovely weekend I have had!!  It started on Friday, when I woke to being 'caught up'; well, atleast for a few days. After months of a never ending stream of bridal alterations and dresses to make, I had a breather. So, after spending the morning cleaning my house (for the first time in weeks, if not months), I did something else I haven't done in months. I went shopping! My first stop was DSW where I found a pair of strappy ankle booties with open toes. I ran a few errands on the way to my next stop - Victoria's Secret. Now, I don't shop there very often. As lovely as their things are, I can't afford them. But, I had a coupon. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I made a stop at The Loft, where I found a gray sweater dress and a cute top; then on to Gap, where I found a pair of jeans and another top.

Friday evening was a quite one at home - just me and the animals. Did I mention that my husband is out of town? Actually, he is very far out of town -Malaysia to be exact. He will be gone for another week. In the mean time, I have been staying busy. Saturday began my weekend of sewing for ME. I had several pieces of fabric I've been wanting to use, as well as several patterns. I began with a vintage Vogue re-make -

I used a piece of fabric I picked up in NYC an August. I was a bit nervous about it looking like I was wearing a blanket. It was very very full through the back, and I ended up taking the center seam in 2.5 inches. It still felt huge, so I made 2 darts going up from the hem to just below the shoulder blades. Maybe if the fabric wasn't so thick it wouldn't have looked so . . . off. But it did look kind of like I was wearing a very short blanket. I think it looks better now.

Here is what it looks like on - (please ignore the fact that I don't have a stitch of make-up on and the light was glaring on my face).

And here is the back -

So, the jacket was Saturday's project. I was expecting a client to stop by Sunday, so didn't really plan to do any more sewing for myself.  But she called to cancel, and I couldn't help myself. I had purchased this lovely silk twill print this summer form Gorgeous Fabrics, and have patiently been waiting to find time for it. It was one of the rare fabric purchases I have ever made where I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I just wanted it. In perusing my pattern stash, I came across  a few vintage blouse patterns I had purchased sometime in the past. My first choice was this one -

I wanted to do view A with the long sleeves, but, after laying the pattern out on the fabric, I began to worry that it might look like pajama's. So I took out this one -

 I made the neckline more open, leaving the opening at the back closed. Instead of using the facings, I did a lining. I detest facings. I line everything. In this, I found a piece of pale pink light weight poly crepe in my stash that did the trick.  The pattern was made for a larger size, so I had to down grade it a bit. Mostly in length. But it turned out very well. I am very pleased with it.

Here you can see the pale pink lining -

So, now it is Sunday evening. Tomorrow it is back to work. But I believe I have gotten my fix; for now. I still am working out details for a dress I need to make before the end of November.
In the meantime, I will look forward to next Sunday when my sweetie is back from lands afar.