Finished: 1950s Vintage Dress for Promaballoona!

Don't forget to check out and enter my pattern giveaway!

Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It's time for Promaballoona! Be prepared for lots of pictures. In retrospect, I probably should have posed with my boyfriend as well, but who would have taken the picture?

Very quickly, I'll give some background. The whole idea of Promaballoona was to celebrate Oona's birthday (in real life, if you happen to be in LA! - which I'm not. Sigh.) with a prom celebration. 

I never went to prom. In fact, I think I went to 2 dances in middle school and that was it. I don't even think there was any dancing with boys. That's not to say I wasn't asked. I was even asked to prom by 3 different guys. One of whom was cute and semi-popular (I was one of the smart dorks, but definitely not one of the popular smart dorks) and I completely laughed in his face. But not because I didn't want to go with him. I really wanted to say, "Me? There are so many girls who are prettier and funnier and more __ than me. Why do you want to go with me?" 

But I didn't say that. I just laughed. He looked shocked and hurt. I looked around awkwardly. Then I walked away. Trey, if you're out there and reading this, I'm sorry.

Yes, I was once painfully shy and awkward. For about 15 years.

So anyway, I developed social skills some time after the age of 22. Long after the time for proms and dances. Which is part of the reason I was so excited for this! While I couldn't make the party, I did want to make a fancy dress and go out and have fun on my own. Or, you know, with a date. :-)

I decided to go with a vintage dress because I have always loved vintage things, and dressing up in general, but until recently I typically didn't have the courage to wear them. 

It's not that people or kids are mean or rude, it's that I just didn't have the courage that I do now to not care what other people think. I have no problem walking down the street in something different. Of course, it helps that I live in New York City now. :-) Back to the dress...

It came together beautifully!

Grayson was my worst problem. Not only did he enjoy laying on my  fabric, but he also liked eating the instructions.

I used Butterick pattern 5708 that I got on sale for dirt cheap, and I found this amazing satin fabric for only $4/yard at my local fabric store. I was originally going to go with this beautiful blue/purple color, but my boyfriend had just yelled at me 3 hours earlier for always wearing the same colors (i.e. blue, purple, and black). So I went with a nice bold red.

Part of the problem I had with the pattern was actually the end and the tying of the straps. There was an option where it could fold over my shoulder and tie closer to the bust, giving the appearance of a wrap, but I couldn't get it to lay correctly. Nor could I get it to match on both sides. I ended up asking my boyfriend to tie it since he's good with knots, but he tied it at the shoulders.

They looked so nice, I didn't have the heart to ask him to re-tie them.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but most of the bodice is actually an upside down triangle. I was afraid that would look terrible on me or somehow look awkward with my chest, but actually it doesn't look bad as thought. Well, as long as I maintain proper posture. I suppose that's a plus for most people, but I'm typically a sloucher.

One of the things I was nervous about was the full skirt. I had so much fabric for the skirt. You have no idea. Unless, you know, you've made a 1950s dress before. 

I never have and the amount of fabric scared me. I gathered it, per the instructions, and it shrunk down a little, but it was still pretty massive. Because the top was so fitted, I was nervous. (Looking back, I have no idea why.)

Regardless, you guys, my point is this: because it's a 1950s pattern and because it's a full skirt, the instructions say to wear a petticoat. I was like, "Psh, yeah right. Who would wear a petticoat for real?!"

Well, turns out that I would. I remembered yesterday that I bought one for a Halloween costume last year. I wasn't sure if it was long enough, but I dug it out of my closet and it ended up being the perfect size and the way my dress puffed out was amazing. It was a little itchy, but I didn't care.

Look at the fullness of the skirt! It's so amazing!

Ha, I'm including those pics above to show you more of the full skirt, but mostly I feel like they look like I'm in a horror movie. Like I just woke up and was all, "I'm supposed to go to a party today, but where did all the people go?!"

Of course, the downside to a full skirt is that when the wind blows, it blows your skirt. Which is bad in general, but when you're wearing a white petticoat, you especially don't want people to know.

Stupid wind. 

Another great reason for wearing vintage? The amount of guys who stopped to check me out and hit on me went through the roof. Ahem. Not that I'm looking. My boyfriend actually got very angry at a few of them. But it wasn't the typical gross cat calls that I sometimes get. Or the smirk and a "Hey baby. How you doing?" Guys were so much more polite.

 Women also stopped to give me compliments, which I enjoyed far more than the men stopping to hit on me. I'm surprised children didn't ask for a picture with me. (Just kidding. I'm really not that full of myself.)

Okay. Now on to the biggest downside of this dress. It was very easy to make. I made very few modifications. I think it looks pretty good on me. The fabric is beautiful...

But the fabric is so freaking hot. I mean, it was in the high 80s at least with the highest humidity possible. The dress was just sticking to me. And not in an hot, sweaty tshirt kind of way. I'm from the south, and I'm used to wearing lots of cotton and jersey in the summer for obvious reasons.

But this felt like a deathtrap. I'm not exaggerating. I had it unzipped the second I got in the building. Luckily I encountered no neighbors while going up 4 flights of stairs.

 So yes. I think this post is long enough. The pattern was a breeze, I just love the dress, and total for everything (including the pattern!) was $21. I'll just have to only wear it during the fall, winter, and spring.

I kind of want to make it again, but this time in a cotton. I might adjust the neck line to not be so droopy so I can lean over without having to worry about showing off the goods.

Happy Birthday, Oona! If there's ever a bash on the east coast, I'm definitely there to celebrate!

Finished: Tailoring a Jersey Dress

Don't forget to check out and enter my pattern giveaway!

Remember when I made the yellow jersey dress for the 1920s festival? Remember how I copied the skirt from an existing dress that was old and beginning to fall apart and was too big? Then my old sewing machine threw a hissy fit and I didn't get the jersey dress done in time? Well, this is the original dress, and incidentally the dress I ended up wearing to the festival. 

After finally figuring out the proper settings on my old machine, I wanted to continue sewing jersey and the frugalness in me came out so I decided to hem up my old dress to fit as well.

But first, let's check out the before:

Yes, that's my bra. No, you're not supposed to see it. I even have it pinned so as not to show off the goods even more!

Sorry for the mushy shot, but this is the only picture I could find where you could see how I would compensate by pulling the dress up. A lot. See the folds under my arms? Not supposed to be there.

 And now I interrupt the post for kittens. See my new kittens! The black one (who is actually a combination of gray, white, and brown) is named Grayson and the other one is named Franklin. I've only had them for a few weeks and they grown so much in just that short time! (And yes, they're practically perfect in every way - except when trying to get them to look at the camera.)

Okay, back to the dress. 

I decided to take about 2 inches off from the waist to the arm holes and 4 inches off the straps to make it fit.

Apologies in advance for the weird face and poses. I decided to do a bunch of photoshoots all in one day. This was my last one, it was starting to rain, and I was getting tired. (Also, I really wanted to go inside and play with my new kittens.)

See how nicely it lays now? Honestly, I never realized how much of a difference that would make - I just thought it was fine to constantly pull and tug a dress.

This is the face I make when saying: Make sure my hair isn't covering the straps. See the line where I sewed? It's super tiny and hardly noticeable at all, unless you're looking.

Actually, I think I was also jealous over the amazing gardens my neighbors have.

I was going to and hide the stitching, but I would have had to undo a lot of the border around the entire dress, and I knew it was going to be a pain to shorten the straps, stuff it back in and stitch it up so no one could tell. Plus, it was 2am and I was ready to go to bed. 

I'm actually really proud of these stitches because I somehow lined them up perfectly. If you've noticed at all, I'm terrible at making sure lines match.

I know the top is a little higher and I could have probably taken out some of fabric covering the top, but I don't mind being a little modest. I think it looks nice! And seriously, in case I haven't said it enough, it's so much better than constantly pulling it up, which is what I was doing before.

 So now I have two yellow jersey dresses! Originally I was like, "Ugh, that's so silly. Why did I do that?" But I'm really happy with both of them. Now I just need to wear them more often...

New Name and a Giveaway: Vogue 6574

Yes, it's true, I changed my blog name! For all those squinting and wondering who's showing up on the dashboard, I changed my name from "I Think I Just Screwed It Up" to "Sew Classic."

I felt like my old name was a little negative, not necessarily properly reflecting the crafting/sewing nature of the blog, and frankly, a little long and annoying to type into the address bar.

So with that said, let's get right into this week's giveaway!

This is another old pattern from the 1960s that I find to be darling. The shift, option B, is perfect for summer and can easily be layered in the winter, though I do love the sleeves on the other dresses. And that Peter Pan collar is my favorite!

Is anyone else incredibly jealous by the $1 price tag?!

The pattern has been cut, but it's been properly cared for and all the pieces and instructions are there. It's  Vogue 6574, size 16. Bust: 36" Hip: 38"

To enter:
Leave a comment below telling me where you'd wear this. I like to live vicariously through you guys. :-)

Additional/Optional entries:
1. Follow this blog and leave a separate comment saying that you do.
2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with a link.
3. Post this giveaway on Pinterest and leave a separate comment with a link.

Rules and Things
There are 4 ways to enter, additional entries/comments will be deleted. Two winners will be selected via random.org and the winner must respond within 48 hours or I'll select another winner. I'm opening this one up to other countries - so anyone from any country can enter! Contest ends August 8th at 11:59pm EST.

Thrifting and a Brief Excursion to the 1950s

I know it's not sewing or craft related, but don't forget about the giveaway I have going on! Pereg Gourmet has generously donated some boxed food (with dehydrated real foods, no chemicals or preservatives!) and some of their amazing spices to one of five readers. It takes only a few minutes to enter!


Okay. So this is more of a craft project that couldn't be. 


I went to Goodwill and found this amazing suitcase. Originally, they were asking $20, but when I went back recently, the price dropped to $7. I decided it was worth it.

Clearly, I need to replace the Turkey sticker that someone decided they didn't like.

I was thinking about turning this into a pet bed or something interesting, but since I was actually buying it this trip, I did an inspection.

Yes, a pet bed! One of the newest additions to my family, Franklin. (Brother not pictured.)

The case is still intact, and the locks still work. The only problem is that the lining is starting to fall out, which really isn't that much of a problem.

Nothing a little glue won't fix. Probably.

Everything else still looks beautiful.

So then I was going to turn it into a picnic suitcase, similar to this one:

Isn't it adorable? I love picnics and I hate having to carry everything in multiple bags. One cute suitcase with everything would be perfect, right?

Not according to my boyfriend. "What a waste of time and money! Even if you go on picnics once a week, you'll only use that 12 times a year." Hm, good point.

So it looks like I have a new suitcase! What else could I do, but dress up and have a nice retro day around the neighborhood?

Waiting for the bus to take me back to the 1950s.

I'm all self-conscious about the crack in my sunglasses that somehow never showed up on camera.

Adorable print! Got this at the thrift store too.

Contest Winners and Updates

Congratulations to Boner and Rachel for winning the pattern giveaway this week! I'll try and have another contest up and going in the next few days.

Also, I'm hard at work making a dress for Promaballoona. I found the pattern on sale at Joann's a few months ago (along with some other amazing retro patterns), and I've been dying to make it ever since. This is the perfect project!

Of course, I can't make a proper dress without a proper sewing machine. After making the jersey dress, my machine just doesn't want to cooperate - or maybe it never really did. I ordered a computerized Singer to replace my mechanical Brother, so hopefully now I won't have as many problems. I was quite pleased to see all the reviews/complaints of the Brother on amazon that were very similar to mine, but I still can't figure out how it still managed to have such a high rating because they somehow got past all its problems. Obviously, it's just not for me.

So once my new sewing machine gets here, I'm also going to finish the curtains (that I stopped midway through because I HATED the stitching from the Brother). The boyfriend wanted short panels, so that's what I'm making. If I have enough fabric, I'm going to do something with ruffles like this:

I'm pretty sure it won't be this nice though.

And then finally, I've got this fabric:

I have no idea what to make with it, especially since I hate lining things. Perhaps a nice breezy shirt or dress? Hm.

Finished: 1920s Inspired Jersey Dress

Just in case you missed it, I'm giving away a couple of my vintage patterns here. Only a few people have entered, so your chances of winning are quite good. Not interested in those? Stayed tuned because I have a lot more skirt, dresses, and tops I'm going to be giving away in the next few weeks in an effort to reduce junk and share the love with those who don't find it to be junk. :-)

Also, I run a food blog that's all about using real food with only natural ingredients. There are recipes and some food news, but now I'm having a giveaway! Head on over if you like food and check it out. It's a mix of prepared foods (from real dehydrated foods - no chemicals or anything!) and spices.

Now that that's out of the way, on to sewing news!

In New York twice a year, there's something known as the New Age Jazz Festival, which is basically a lawn party (aka a picnic) where everyone dresses in 1920s costumes. I've missed it every year that I've been here, and I wasn't about to miss it this year.

 1920s clothing doesn't really flatter me since I have such a small chest and waist and massive hips. I decided that wasn't going to stop me, and I would just modify an outfit slightly. I have a dress that I used to love. It's always been too big for me, but since I lost more weight, it's now far too large for me. I was planning on copying the skirt since it has sort of a drop waist and changing the top to a scoop neck. ( I can assure you that scoop necks in the 20s were very common since I watched Midnight in Paris several nights in a row for research.)

So I bought two yards of yellow jersey and gave myself a week. I figured that would be plenty of time. Tracing the skirt and waist from the existing dress wasn't too challenging. Tracing my tank top and adding wider straps also wasn't too bad. I've heard cutting jersey could be difficult because you might accidentally stretch it, but again, no problem there.

This was turning out to be the easiest dress ever!!

Tracing the skirt. I lost my chalk... so I used a highlighter. What? It's yellow. And it washes out. (Right?)

Tracing the top and adding more of a sleeve.

I pinned everything up and according to online instructions, using a double needle was best. Conveniently I had a double needle and two spools of yellow thread. And that's when I started running into problems. I spent literally, actually two days trying to figure out the stupid thread situation.

I know they're not the same color, but I was going off of memory when I bought them (separately). Not that it matters anyway...

I was so proud for figuring this out. *sniff*

If you've never knitted on jersey before, you can't use a basic running stitch because it doesn't stretch and since jersey does stretch, the thread will pop. A double needle is supposed to eliminate that problem, but it didn't seem to work very well for me. In fact, the thread kept coming out of the needles, even while sewing. Also, when the machine was sewing, one of the needles would just randomly skip a bunch of stitches. WHY???

I tried looking online, and no one could tell me. They would offer unhelpful suggestions like: adjust your tension, adjust your length, check your needle, make sure it's the proper needle, make sure it's on the right stitch.

Every time I adjusted it, the machine would work brilliantly for approximately 10 seconds, long enough to give me hope, then would start to screw up.

Seriously, I was about to throw my machine out of the window. I tried searching for my specific machine and "how to sew jersey," but I all I got were a bunch of stupid reviews saying how awesome my machine is because it can sew jersey. LIES! WHERE IS THE JERSEY SETTING? HOW DO I DO IT??

Finally, after trying 5 different settings, I found the jersey setting. Or at least, I found something that will work. And finally I figured out the proper width and tension setting. (Of course, now I can't remember the proper settings for cotton... The manual for my Brother is zero help. Anyone?)

Anyway, the dress finally just stitched right up. Of course, it wasn't in time for the festival, but it still looks cute enough to wear every day. And perhaps I'll wear it to the festival in August!

The only slight problem is the neckline. The fabric that lays over my collarbone tends to roll. Ironing it didn't seem to help, nor did cutting down the excess fabric. Any ideas?

See the rolling? And no, it's not because my arms are raised.

Hm, looks like the sleeves roll a little as well.

Now that I figured it out didn't screw it up too badly, I can't wait to do more because jersey is my favorite material of all. If I had my way, everything would be made of jersey. And soon it just might!

Vintage Pattern Giveaway!

So in response to my last post, where I felt terribly guilty for having and buying things that were just going to waste and kill the planet, I decided to clean out craft room a little, and find all the patterns I wasn't interested in. There's quite a few!

Even though I've really only used one actual pattern to make a dress (and no, it's not completed yet...) I have a large collection of vintage patterns through giveaways, sales, and family members.  I'm going to try to give away a few each week for the next few weeks, though the time may vary slightly.

Some patterns are cuter than others, but that's usually the way it works, right? Also, let me know if there is any interest in vintage nightgowns because I seem to have acquired a lot.

So my first giveaway are 2 lovely patterns that I think are darling, but they look terrible on my body type, so I'm not even going to try. I'll be giving away the patterns separately so there will be two winners!

First up is Simplicity 7580, a cute sundress from 1968. It's a size 12. Bust 34, waist 25.5, hip 36. The pattern has been cut, but whoever had it before took great care of it because it seems to be in great condition.

Next up is a Very Easy Vogue Pattern 8766. I can't find a year on it, but I think it's safe to assume the 1970s.  There are 3 dresses and a pants outfit. It's a size 16. Bust 38, waist 30, hip 40. The pattern has not been cut and it looks like no one has ever unfolded it before!

To enter:
Leave a comment below telling me your favorite decade of clothing and if that's the style you try to wear daily or if you just admire it. Also be sure to mention which pattern you'd like and a way for me to contact you if you're the winner. :-)

Additional/Optional entries:
1. Follow this blog and leave a separate comment saying that you do.
2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with a link.
3. Post this giveaway on Pinterest and leave a separate comment with a link.

Rules and Things
There are 4 ways to enter, additional entries/comments will be deleted. Two winners will be selected via random.org and the winner must respond within 48 hours or I'll select another winner. Because this is coming from my pocket, I can only ship to the US at the moment - sorry! Contest ends July 23rd at 11:59pm EST.