And here’s my jumper . . .

Silly pose and I’m not sure what is going on with my hair, but a decent shot of the jumper.   I went out and bought red tights and shoes today.  Well, the shoes are really “cordovan” but there were no suitable red shoes in my size. 

Better of me, but hard to see what the jumper looks like.

Detail of the armhole princess seam that curves to waist, covered button (non functional), inverted pleat, gathers, and the topstitching I did in black thread before I realized the fabric was navy blue and tan houndstooth. 

If I were to sew this over again I would have eliminated the bust dart.  I thought it was a nice detail on the pattern, but isn’t so great on the finished product—the result of the combination of a very short dart; thick, stretchy fabric; and my middling dart-sewing skills.  

It’s been one of those weeks . . .

I have been busy sewing every spare minute I can find in order to complete my last project for the vintage sewing contest.  Well, make that two projects.  I was making a blouse and co-ordinating jumper from this pattern.  I’m nearly finished with the blouse which is made from fabulous Italian batiste from Gorgeous Fabrics.   I picked out a black and tan houndstooth from my stash to make the jumper.  I’ve had this fabric for years in my stash.  It was listed on the website I bought it from as being black and tan; I’ve always thought of it as black and tan.  But after I’d sewn a good deal of the jumper I happened to look at it under an OTT light and saw that it really wasn’t black but very very dark navy blue.   Logically, I know that if the color is so dark that it appears black that I could wear it with the black blouse, black tights, and black shoes or boots.  But now that I know it’s navy blue I just can’t pair it with black.  Navy blue is a color I avoid so I really have little to match.  I was thinking that red tights and shoes would be cute, but I’m not 100% certain that I could get away with that look (not to mention that I own neither).   I do have a cream turtleneck to wear underneath.    This jumper is turning out to be a trial–there were fitting woes and other fabric issues (the fabric has lycra in it and is stretchier than I originally thought which has made fitting a little tricky).  And with a jumper there is a fine line between stylish and, well, I’ll just say not stylish.    Speaking of jumpers, I love this one from the October Burda WOF

More for the vintage sewing contest . . .

 Here are some photos of the jumper and blouse I made for my daughter from Marian Martin 9847.  I did have to alter the blouse and jumper slightly to make them narrower and to make the shoulders less sloping on the blouse.   I described the blouse in an earlier post, so I’ll just describe the jumper here.  The jumper has front and back bands that go around the armholes and that are cut on the straight grain.  The main front and back pieces are cut on the bias.  I used a linen/rayon blend fabric that worked wonderfully on the bias although of course it wrinkles easily which you can see in the photos of my daughter wearing it.   I made bias facings for the neckline and armholes which I slip stitched, following the pattern illustration.  I’d probably use a different stitch if I sewed it again–something with less exposed thread on the interior of the garment.   I hung the jumper for a week,  then put the jumper on my dd and marked the hem and  a one inch hem allowance, which I double folded and basted.  I drew in the basting and steam shrunk any excess fabric in my allowance (this worked great with this fabric) and hand sewed using slipstitch hemming.   I tried out a ton of different buttons on this jumper and considered buttons covered in self fabric, but decided on buttons in a matching shade of blue instead. 

I am really pleased with how this jumper  and blouse turned out.  Never have I made a child’s outfit with so much hand sewing.  I actually love to hand sew, so this was no chore for me and while I stitched I thought of all the other mothers who made this outfit for their daughters and I wondered what kind of lives the mothers and daughters had lived.  

Jumpers are in fashion for fall–so what about this one?

Only two views are shown here, but the straight skirt version can be make into a dress and the a-line into a jumper.  I really, really  like the jumper with the straight skirt but I need a dress that I can easily kneel on the floor in, carry a toddler, bend over to pick things up in so I am planning to sew view C which is the jumper top with the flared, inverted pleat skirt on the bottom.  And the blouse which is fitted with bust and vertical waist darts in front and shoulder and vertical waist darts in back.  I love the shape of the sleeves and the little collar.   Maybe I’ll make the blouse in white, maybe in black batiste.  The jumper will probably be sewn up in a black and tan houndstooth cotton fabric that I have that has a lot more drape than I expected from a fabric of it’s weight.  It will be wonderful for fall.  I need another coverable button for this project.  I may have to do some altering to the upper chest in this pattern as it should fit my full bust–usually I fit my upper chest and add everwhere else so it will be interesting to have a different fit issue.    

I’m still working on the little girl’s linen jumper (the muslin had too much ease so I altered the pattern and have cut out the pieces–just have to sew it up!).  And my 2 year old starts his morning out program this week so I will have a little more time to get these contest projects finished!