Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Liebster Award - Oh my!



I've been very lucky recently to receive 3 Liebster awards!! Whoo hoo! 

Yes I know this is one of those things that go round and round the web to no end, but hey its nice to be considered!

Liebster is a German word that means dearest, and this award is given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers who you think deserves more recognition!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Pattie Suit issues (and music!)

So after all of that fun making jammies and jumping on the bed, I'm now feeling worse for wear. The gloomy wet weather has finally taken its toll and handed me a cold. On top of that my Pattie suit is not going as well as I'd like. (see the original post here)

Considering I normally make dresses and easily whip them up in 2 or 3 sessions, making something with more of a challenge sometimes leaves you feeling a bit silly and hopeless.

All that supposed expertise flies out the window

Does this happen to you sometimes? Doing something harder than normal which leaves you feeling like a dunce?

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Pyjama Party Sew Along!

Time to show off my Jim jams for Did you make that’s Pyjama party!


No not that Jim Jam

These Jim Jams!

 How close is my head to the roof?

Friday, June 21, 2013

Tutorial: Setting in sleeves

So as per Fabees request, I have prepared a post on setting in sleeves!

There are two typical sets of sleeves that you will see on most garments.
A set sleeve and a puffed or gathered sleeve. There are other kinds but we will leave them for now.

While both were fashionable in the 60s the one we are going to focus on today is the clean tailored finish of a set in sleeve.

When you look at a sleeve pattern and try to piece it together, you will notice that there is always excess fabric. This is great for puffy sleeves, but for set sleeves we need to use a technique called easing.

Ease (as a verb) means to move or shift with great care. And so this is the principle of set in sleeves. Going slowly, taking you time and being careful will result in a well sewn shoulder seam.

With practice you may get quicker but for now be careful and take your time.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Giveaway Winner!

Okay so I'm a bit later than 7pm - what with real life happening an all (aka work) 

There was 4 entries into this wee little contest - The odds have never been better! 

So a big congratulations to Fabee CrazeeGirl

Surprise!
Fabee CrazeeGirl mentioned that she wanted to learn more about setting in sleeves properly, so I will be prepping up a little report/tutorial on that soon! 

Fabee CrazeeGirl please email me and let me know your postage details! 

Thank you also to the other entrants - Midnight and Dawn who wanted to learn more about interfacing, and Melanie who wanted to learn about sewing shirts, trouser fly's and fitting! 

Wow such great topics! I will take all your suggestions on board and try to come up with some tutorials for each of these. 

And a special mention to Lucy in the Sky who mentioned that she would like to learn the piano (again) as she was once quite apt, but without practice has forgotten some of the notes! So sad! 
Don't worry Lucy I'm sure you'll pick it up again one day!

Thank you ladies for participating in this giveaway - hopefully l'll have something  more substantial to give away in the future! 

Thanks again! 

Cat xo


Sunday, June 16, 2013

Psst! Did you know I'm doing a giveaway?

Yes a giveaway! Just a little one over here



This nifty little zine if perfect if you don't know a needle from a pin or if you'd like learn some basic techniques on repairing clothing - perfect for all those vintage items that need a little love.

To win all you have to do is tell me something you would like to learn. It doesn't have to be sewing related (but that would be good so I can set up some tutorials!)

I will pick a winner tomorrow at 7pm AEST (in 24 hours) and have it sent out to you wherever you are in the world!

Good luck! xo

Friday, June 14, 2013

Shift!

Back at the start of Autumn I spied this image of Celia Birtwell and Cathy McGowan in simple plain coloured shifts. No bishop sleeves, dropped waists, smocking or psychedelic patterns. Just simple and casual.



So chic!

And then I noticed more....



Clock wise from top left - Jean Shrimpton, France Gall, Julie Christie, Model 

Thursday, June 13, 2013

June 13th is Sewing Machine day!

Today, June 13th is sewing machine day! (Whoooo!)




The sewing machine has existed in many forms since 1755 (258 years!) and many variations were invented and patented over time eventually leading to a "patent war" in the 1850s between Isaac Singer and Elias Howe.


Singer won but had to pay out Howe with some of his earnings as Howe owned the original patent. Even though it was 20 years old at the time. 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Bliss of Mrs Blossom

I picked up this fabric from Fabric-a-brac (blogged here) and I knew it had to become a dress! The fabric is good enough that I could have even made a jacket – but alas there was only 2 meters!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Blog Society + Giveaway!

Yesterday I attended the launch of Blog Society  and their workshop ‘Learning the art of digital story telling”. It was hosted by Jaclyn Carlson from Little Paper Trees and also included Jen Bishop from InteriorsAddict  and Vivian Mansour from Ish and Chi 

We then broke off into groups to learn a few new skills on styling and photography. I don’t often get to do nicely styled vignettes on this blog, but it was still useful and there are ways I know I can adapt them into sewing life. My group was hosted by Jessica Bellef – Stylist for Temple and Webster  Photographers Milton Gan and Emma Scamell

We learnt about using scale, texture, colour, harmony and shape. Here are some of my attempts…




It was a really useful day and I meant lots of amazing people from all different genres. I was so great to meet my fellow Sydney bloggers;

Noah and Willow (Events planning)
Mscritique (Beauty, Style, Food, Travel)
Lipstick and Cake (food, beauty, lifestyle)
Annette Wilson (Photography)
Antipodean Diaries (Beauty, Style, Food, Home)
The Urchin Collective (Life, style & Curiosities)
The Style Project (Interior Design)
Potty Mouth Mama (life, beauty, fashion and everything else)
Eat Read Love (gorgeous styling, food and photography)
Amanda Fuller of Kaleidoscope (Interior & Graphic design)
Amanda May  (Fashion and Styling)
Dom Morris of Crafted  (crafty tutorials and more)

There was so many wonderful people there I didn’t get to meet everyone (If you were there, let me know and ill add you to my shout out list above!)

After such a great day of networking and learning, I popped down to the book store and picked up some new sewing books – including this nifty zine Fix your Clothes by Raileigh Briggs 

It’s a cute little book which has some very handy hits for repairing your clothes like sewing on buttons, mending seams, darning holes, and caring for certain fabrics.
Pretty basic stuff – but I have met people who didn't know how to sew a button and this zine would have been great to pass on!




As a sewer (and now blogger) I can never stop learning. There are so many techniques out there that I’d love to know and become an expert at. Reading other blogs, going to workshops and meeting other people all help with us learning more and more about our craft or life in general.

To win this book all you have to do is tell me something you would really like to learn. It doesn't have to be sewing related (but that would be good so I can set up some tutorials!)
I will pick a winner and have it sent out to you wherever you are in the world!

If you’re a pretty good sewer and you’re not keen for the zine (rhymes!) let me know in you comment

Cat xo 

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Fairest Of the Seasons



Nico - The Fairest Of the Seasons


It's getting mighty cold now that winter has arrived in Sydney. While everyone in the North is enjoying the first days of summer, we're settling in for the long and boring winter.

Boring because our winter has none of the festive benefits of a northern winter;

No Christmas
No Snow
No outdoor ice skating
No public holidays unless you count the Queen’s Birthday Public holiday this coming Monday and after that there's nothing till October!

Very boring and cold and DRY! And the daylight hours are of course shorter making it hard to take decent outfit photos for you all.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

The Pattie Suit - Progress report

I received my fabric in the mail last Friday for the jacket/skirt combination that I was talking about here.

Before I started, I attempted to read through the instructions, which were the biggest load of gobbledygook, so I threw them in the bin and took out my favourite sewing book - The Readers digest complete guide to sewing.
It has an entire section on tailoring a jacket and recommends techniques that make way more sense and the pictures are clearer.

I also decided to name this the Pattie Suit, because it’s shorter than "jacket skirt combination" and because I'm currently reading Pattie Boyd's biography - Wonderful life. So my sewing will be embedded with quotes and stories from Pattie's life.

So far I have finished the body of the jacket and will move on to the collar, and facings next.

This is what's happened so far

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Baby you can drive my car

I’ve been working on this early 60s coat for awhile and I finished the hand stitching this weekend.

Initially it had a collar but I didn’t have enough fabric to make a full front facing so off came the collar!

The fit is similar to the 50s style car coats – it’s shapeless and only has 2 small darts at the back to stop it looking too sack like. The pattern I used was Butterick 2624


Sunday, May 26, 2013

Fabric-a-brac

This Saturday I woke up nice and early to catch the train into Newtown for the Fabric-a-brac pop up shop.

Newtown is one of those special places in a big city. You can dress as you wish and no one will blink an eye. It's the alternative centre of Sydney and you'll find many shops to support people's love for vintage clothing or mid-century home wears as well as piercing and tattoo parlours, cyber Goth outfitters and plenty of hairdressers who will style your hair to match your outfit. In international terms it could probably be compared to Camden Town in London or Portland, Oregon. It's become very popular for upper middle class families and lots of high end boutiques have moved in lately, but that's ok. Its underbelly is still owned by the weird and wonderful!
My friends and I Ioved it so much as teenagers we would replace the words of Petula Clarks Downtown with Newtown and sing it on the train on the way there!

Friday, May 24, 2013

Pattern Purchases & Pop Up Shops

I had a little shopping spree this morning on eBay and bought a few cute dress patterns from the late 60s

McCalls 8917 from 1967
It's says it’s a teen pattern so I might have to make a muslin first just in case there's any trickiness across the shoulders. The long-sleeve version looks like it will be great in a soft viscose rayon or silk. Hope fully I can find one in a fun psychedelic print





Monday, May 20, 2013

Dedicated Follower of Fashion - Green Dolly


I work in a fairly big company and although they are a pretty relaxed and flexible place, I work in the very Business-y part of the business and so I'm expected to look dressed and pressed each day.


Normally early 60s dressing lends itself very well to corporate wear - wiggle dresses, twin sets and lovely dress/jacket combos, but it's all a bit done in my opinion. 
People stop referring to it as 60s and call it "Mad Men inspired". Now don't get me wrong I love Mad Men and Pan Am when that was on, and will put on my dress/jacket combo when the occasion calls but there is a whole other half of the decade to wear!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Green Shell Top Tutorial


Today I will be showing you a variation on Burda Shift Dress 09/2012 #107

This variation turns the top into a tank style top with a cross back. You can use Burda 09/2012 #107 or Collette patterns Laurel as your base as we only need the front and part of the back of the pattern.

If you have another pattern for a shift dress or plain top, you can use this too! I will instruct you to make this top to fit you so make sure you have your measuring tape and if you have one a dressmakers mannequin or packing tape shell (if you ever made one). I don't have a mannequin and I did ok so don't worry if you don't have one




Thursday, May 16, 2013

Friday eye candy


Seeing as it’s that most special of days (Friday!) I thought I’d treat you all to some 60s eye candy.

So many lovely sewing and styling ideas

Happy Weekend!


Catherine Deneuve and David Bailey


White Summer (The Yardbirds)

Its been getting much much colder here in Sydney lately, but I've just added this spring top to my Burdastyle studio

A lovely White cotton gaberdine shell top with cross-back straps and detachable bow



I know it might not be 60s in anyway, but I thought id share it with you because... well, I made it!

To get us back to our scheduled programming here is the first thing I ever posted on Burdastyle. A navy linen shift dress...




Check out my bob haircut! I miss it sometimes

This was back in the day where I didn't know what facings were and thought I had to do teeny tiny hems along the neck and arm holes! Even though I've been sewing since I was a child, this was my first dress, from a pattern and without my mum present to help me. 

How far I've come!

Do you have a Burdastyle account? Share your name below!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

New Penzance Island - Style 2475



Here’s a little tid bit about me. I love Wes Anderson. I love his movies and TV commercials. I could watch The Darjeeling Limited over and over and when I'm in a sooky mood, Fantastic Mr Fox cheers me up. But none of his movies have inspired me fashion wise since The Royal Tenenbaums until Moonlight kingdom

Suzy Bishop – the young heroine of the movie has a pretty enviable set of outfits. The wardrobe was put together by Kasia Walicka Maimone who was interviewed in the Lula Issue 16 (where she talked about working with Wes and making the costumes for the movie)

Also did I mention the whole movie is set in the 60s? (whoo hoo!)

So of course I couldn't help myself but sew up my own version of Suzy’s yellow mini dress. She wears this at the end of the movie while Sam paints and her brothers listen their record. Suzy's appears to be made in yellow broderie anglaise


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

A sewing related music video?

Check out this video by Black Books, which utilises thread, fabric scraps, pins, buttons and the occasional water droplet to create a moody and dramatic scene



Who knew your sewing box could be so edgy? 


LinkConnector Validation

Beat it on down the line

So I thought I'd show you what I'm currently busy working on and what I've got planned for the next few months of sewing...

I've recently bought this fabric print in Cotton Sateen from Spoonflower which I intend on making into a skirt and jacket outfit.
I've never sewn a tailored jacket before and am yet to find a decent tailoring supplies store in Sydney. So it's gonna be interesting!


 This is my inspiration image. I don't have this pattern and it isn't for sale anywhere I've looked, so instead I will use a combination of 2 other patterns Burdastyle Mini Skirt 08/2012 #135 (without pockets) and Burdastyle Jorinde 4112. I may change the lapel of the jacket slightly.



The skirt I have sewn many times, so that will be a cinch. The jacket - well I'll keep you included in my attempt at tailoring!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Vogue 7219


 So lets kick off then shall we?

Step in shirt dress with or without top-stitch trim has bias collar and full length shirt sleeves; pockets in side seams

Last year I purchased this sweet shirt dress pattern from eBay. It's a lovely dress from 1967 and has all those things you'd expect from a late 60s dress like Bishop Sleeves and the wide tent shape

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Why hello there!

Welcome to what I hope is the first of many posts on Sewing the 60s!

I’ve been obsessed with the 60s since I was a little kid, dressing up like a flower child and listening to The Beatles and Pink Floyd with my dad. I used to watch Peter Sellers movies and Get Smart and dream of wearing the beautiful dresses and outfits those pretty dolly birds wore. My mother once passed onto me a vinyl beach bag covered in multicoloured daisies and as much as I wanted to use it, I also decided not to because even at that young age I knew it was a treasured token of my mothers childhood and of the 60s.

Fast forward 20 or so years and I finally have the skills and historical knowledge to make those charming outfits for myself. I may only be making replicas of those delicious garments  but ill try to do so with the same spirit and freedom of that wonderful decade. 

So join me on this journey through sewing the 60s. I may also slip in some Craft, Fashion and Social history (another love of mine) as well as venture into some other decades of which 60s fashion would not have existed without!

Thanks and Welcome to Sewing the 60s!