Modern, vintage silhouette - The Winifred dress

Hello Gingerdolls,

I was pretty excited last week when Abby emailed me a copy of the new Winifred pattern.  Shirt dresses comprise a large part of my vintage pattern collection, if I see one near my size I grab it.  There's just something about this classic style that I can't get enough of.  Sadly due to needing substantial grading work most of my vintage collection has not been sewn.  But hello, Abby has my back and drafted Winifred. I promise I didn't bribe her or anything, she must be physic.

After getting all my fitting work done, I went to ransack my stash for appropriate fabrics.  While I was swayed by a large scale flora print, in the end this Liberty of London Tana Lawn was the winner.  From far away it just looks like bright streaks of color, but up close it has sky scrapers in between all the streaks.

Colorful and a little modern, a perfect juxtaposition to a vintage silhouette.

Those of you with eagle eyes will be noticing that my Winifred does not exactly match the technical drawing. I confess to being a serial pattern tweaker and made a few changes to suit my personal tastes.

Pattern Tweaks
Smocking -  I've used elastic smocking to gather in the back waist.  This was something I learned from a Gertie Shirtwaist dress pattern and loved how comfortable the finished dress was.  To start a horizontal chalk stitch line was drawn in between the bottom 2 waist notches. I hand wound some elastic thread on a bobbin and put regular thread in the top of the machine.  The stitch length gets set bigger than usual because the elastic will pull and make the stitches small.  I used a stitch length of 3.  Starting and stopping about 1/2" from the seam allowances, I stitched on top of the marked line. Then using my presser foot as a guide, stitched several more parallel lines spaced 1/4" away.  I stitched a little further up the back than the top waist notch making 9 lines of smocking. After all the smocking is stitched, steam it with your iron to make it completely ruche up.

I also left off the belt tabs so that a real belt could be worn with the dress. 

Pockets - I like a full skirt with pockets so I swiped the pocket bags from the Billie Jean dress.  They were inserted in the side seam and 1" below the lower waist area notch. I used the normal steps to insert side seam pockets, sew bags on front and back skirt, then sew up pocket bags with the side seam.

Tucks - Instead of using tuck darts on the front, I sewed in a plan tuck.  My fabric print has a linear nature to it and the straight tuck suited it better.  The tucks are the same length as the tuck dart legs and are sewn in the same location.

Neckline Changes - I made the collar an 1" wider at the front and increased the open part of the neckline by 2.5". I like collars and flashing collar bones. ;)

I hope everyone is excited about Winifred as Abby and I are. 

And don't forget there is 10% discount on  the Winifred pattern until this Sunday! You can pick up your copy here.

 We can't wait to see your makes so remember to add then to the Bluegingerdoll Flickr group after you post them on your blog. 



 Happy Sewing - Heather

Introducing Heather...

 Hey everyone! 

I have  some super great news to share with you as well some eye candy with  a stunning Stella blouse.

May i introduce Heather, who blogs over on HandmadebyHeatherB who will be helping me out round here on the blog. Things have gotten a whole lotta crazy town around here and i came to realisation that i need me some help! Although i was hard for me to accept that fact, the blog in itself is a beast. It is  such a huge part of Bluegingerdoll and takes so much time that i need to hands the reins over somewhat so i can focus more on the pattern designing, as well as all the stuff that comes with running a small business. Sooooo i asked  Heather if she would be up for giving me a hand here on the blog with tutorials, pattern hacks and anything in between that we come up with. You could say she will be right hand woman :) 

I am super excited to see what Heather will come up with as well and filling out the blog with some cool new tutorials and also showcase the patterns. You haven't already seen Heather around the blogosphere than boo to you.. cause she is as quick as a whip and sews up a storm like a boss AND she knows her sewing shit :) So pop on over and check out her sewing project goodies.


So to kick off Heather helping me out check out  her most recent make for Bluegingerdoll the  Stella blouse which is amazing, fits like a dream and the fabric is divine.
 

 

There are more in depth details on pattern alterations, fabric and all the stuff in between on Heather's blog. She really goes over the  pattern with a fine tooth comb, so you if you are unsure about a pattern not just Bluegingerdoll  then  check our her blog.

 



 




 

I hope you join me in welcoming Heather here on the blog and look forward to having a good ole chuckle with her, because she is hilarious!

Also if you have tutorials, ideas, thoughts or anything that you would like to see here on the blog, then give us a yell.

Hope your having a great weekend, wherever you fine folk are :)

Abby
xxx

Strawberry Mae...

For  all of you still sewing up your Mae blouses at the moment to enter the Mae sew-along contest or those of you in need of a little inspiration, check out this most lovely of loveliest Mae blouse made by Heather over on her blog handmadebyheather.

Heather was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about her sewing experience with the Mae blouse, so take it away Heather:

What type of fabric did you use? What inspired your choice of fabric?

My Mae blouse is made from some vintage cotton purchased off of Etsy.  It's most likely quilting cotton, which I usually shy away from for garments, but I'll make an exception for a vintage fruity print.  I love fruit prints, especially ones that aren't too cute.

 Did your Mae blouse live up to the image you had in your mind?

Yes!  I've mentioned before that my figure is probably just a larger version of yours.  Makes it easy to picture how Bluegingerdoll patterns will look on me, just add some more cake ease.

How did you decide to reflect your personal style in the pattern?

Mostly through fabric choice. I wanted a top that was classic looking but fun. Also I match my vintage inspired pieces with modern shoes and accessories. Otherwise I just look like I'm wearing a Halloween costume.  

Tell us a bit about your sewing process, any tweaks you made?

I started with some of my normal fitting tweaks, a forward shoulder adjustment and adding more ease in the waist and hip area.  I think the neckline is lovely as is, but I also like flashing my collar bones, so I decided to cut it back.   I did this by tracing the scallop edge with a clear ruler 5/8" away from the pattern edge.  This change makes the centre scallops larger but the neckline still looks great.  Make the same change to the facings and sew as instructed.

 What thoughts do you have about the project?

This was a fun little project to sew together other than the fact I can't see any markings on this fabric!  Putting in the buttonholes was a bit of a hit and miss affair.  It all worked out in the end and I can even button all those buttons myself!

Have you got  any plans for any future Mae Blouses?

Oh yes, I wanted to sew along with everyone else so I'm making a white with black polka dot version. It's gonna have some red accents just for fun.

Thanks Heather for sewing up the Mae blouse so, so  beautifully!


The Mae giveaway is still very much open to all who wish to participate, there is still time to upload your finished Mae blouse to the Flickr group, and go in the running to win some fab prizes! I will extend the cut off date, due to a quite a few queries from you all that want to participate but are a little bit behind. So you will have until Tuesday the 24th to  upload your photos,  then lets the voting begin!!!

I have spied some really gorgeous Mae blouses in the Flickr group already and all i can say is WOW! They all look so AMAZING..  I'm even more excited to see  more of your beautiful Mae blouses!



Abby
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