Manic Pop

So this top took me FAR too long to make - and there is good reason for that. This perhaps was the easiest pattern of all to make for me (albeit a slight bit more technical due to the button placement, button extension, etc.) But life got in the way for me. I was sick with some ridiculous throat thing with a cough for about 2 week which is completely unheard of for me. I usually am only sick for about 3-4 days but this thing just lingered. I was miserable and slept a lot. I also interviewed for and got a new job in the process as well as have been shopping for Christmas gifts, Thanksgiving happened, so... there's all that.  Onward! Max actually helped me pick fabric/helped design this one with me. The tunic top is based off of a photo of a near-exact tunic top from 1967 in an old  McCall's catalog. I didn't want to spend time searching for that specific pattern online so I went up to the sewing room and BAM banged out the pattern. Alas, the pattern is also self-d...

While a small departure from my normal 60s/70s  retro fashion posts, I couldn't help but want to share some images in a book I found in my basement recently. It's a Butterick sewing book from 1927! Yep, you read that correctly - in my basement! I went to go do laundry and it was just lying on the floor. No rhyme or reason, it was just there. I live in a house where old people's belongings still exist but the people don't any longer (we've moved a lot of stuff around, gotten rid of a ton) but this book must have been in a box near the steps in the basement that I overlooked. I'm assuming the cats knocked something over as we have a pile of stuff headed to a thrift store. While this book is not filled with a ton of amazing photos (it's a very solid how-to book) there are a few cute illustrations that are definitely worthy of sharing! Come take a look with me! Cover. Title page Roman numerals! I had no id...

Admittedly off to a rough start, I got myself dressed and am heading out for something for myself. Might be an Argo Tea, might be some flowers for the porch from Home Depot.... something.  I'm alone for most of this birthday today, so I'm probably going to try to sew one last item before my trip to Connecticut which I'll be celebrating my 27th birthday with family... and Carvel ice cream cake! For some reason, this dress just asks for a bouffant-ish hairstyle. I seem to usually have my hair like this whenever I wear this dress. I bought it long ago at Lenny and Me in Wicker Park though they have since closed. Photo of me in this dress by Jane Chu, 2011. See more photos from mine and Jane's photoshoot in 2011 here . It's still one of my favorite vintage dresses! I'll be in both Connecticut and Brooklyn soon, so I plan on using that whole week to splurge on myself for my birthday. That's what vacations and birthdays are for, right?...

I found this vintage 70s dress today right after work (!)  Our backyard is sort of atrocious. But when I moved in here almost 4 years ago we had weeds that were about 3 feet tall. It's been a battle to say the least but at least we have some flowers popping up in the flower bed along with some rhubarb near the corner of the yard. I typically harvest it and make a delicious strawberry rhubarb crisp with it! I usually have extra, so I do give to friends as well.  So flowy!  It's finally nice out in Chicago and I think this would be a fun addition to my Connecticut/New York trip coming up. It's a bit unlike my mod garb I like to wear, but different is good! Nice to change it up a bit. Normally, this is a sort of a dress that I would hem, but I love it as a maxi in all of its 70s glory. I tried it on, not thinking too much of it initially and it fit perfectly. The only thing missing really is a wide-brim sunhat. I don't really wear hats though -...

So Max's mom found for me some McCall's pattern catalogs from the late 60s. She knows I collect them and I was nearly hyperventilating over the fashions in these things. There are a couple from this catalog that I am planning on plain knocking off, but I didn't include those because they were sort of background photos. Here are some of the best ones! From 2 McCall's catalogs: Spring 1968 and Summer 1968 and you could buy them for 60 cents apiece. I wanted to share the most interesting photos. It's true - I am obsessed with orange. Dress silhouette look familiar? See previous blog post!   I actually almost thought this chick was me... in my shorter hair days of course.  At this point in time, there was apparently a switch over in pattern sizing in the fashion/sewing industry. This catalog had had a big announcement about it. By these measurements, I am a size 12. Keep in mind sewing sizes are usually not equivalent to sizes of t...