What I sewed in July
After June travels, my work contract ending, and classes wrapped up, I wanted to dedicate my plethora of newly gained free time in July to sewing. With what free time I had outside of work and class the past year, I dedicated to homework and practice. This was finally the first moment I had to create what I’d been wanting to.
To start, I had no goal to sew X number of garments. But a pile of patterns I’d been collecting, some really pretty fabric, and the goal to make things correctly not quickly.
Pink Basic Skirt
My first idea was to make a vintage 50s knee length full skirt. I thought this would be a simple start to test my sewing skills. Skills being a waistband, zipper, hems, and for the first time, using a serger on the edges.
When I started to lay the pieces out to cut though I immediately thought “will I actually wear this pattern this summer” and the answer was “probably not”. The idea then evolved into wearability.
So I decided to just make a simple pencil skirt in the pink slightly stretchy material in the picture above using a basic skirt sloper. A few adjustments were made to the shape like widening the body width so it wasn’t tight. I didn’t want the skirt to look like a business pencil skirt. I wanted a casual straight skirt inspired by Prada skirts that I could wear around the city.
The skirt! I love how it came out. The length, wearability, and especially the color for so many good color combos to create. Especially with the dozens of colorful sweaters I’ve collected over the six years I’ve lived in San Francisco.
McCalls M8402 Vintage 60s Shift Dress
My second project (I just finished this week!) was a simple vintage 60s shift dress. I actually had started this dress last summer. So basically a year ago. When I first decided I really wanted to get serious about learning to sew. I thought this would be easy (lol) but I quickly realized my skills weren’t quite as good as I thought. So, after a year of classes, practice, and learning I remembered I had started this dress and should finish it!
I love how it turned out and plan to make more in different fabrics. The only difficult part I encountered was sewing the facing with the shoulder seems. I used the burrito method which seems like magic haha but there a ton of good YouTube videos on this method which is so helpful to know.
Romper With Removable Skirt
Finally, I started and almost finished this cute 50’s vintage romper with removable skirt pattern. I went with a hot pink cotton for the top and bottom and then a matching Hawaiian print for the skirt. I thought a tiki inspired design would be really cute and fun to wear.
I just need to finish the skirt and add the waistband to the shorts. The pattern has the option to either be a romper or a two piece. I chose the romper but somehow messed up the width of the shorts so they don’t quite match up with the top waist. So, to simplify this project and not spend hours trying to match them up, I decided to make it a two piece instead.
I haven’t sewn many pant flies so this was definitely a learning lesson and great practice. But overall, the pattern wasn’t super complicated for not beginner but not expert. The skirt is pretty straight forward just quite a few pleats to sew.
I plan to finish this project this week and can’t wait to wear it and share the final product!
Overall it was a great month for sewing and learning. I’m hoping to continue the moment into August and make more wearable outfits while growing my sewing skills. Let me know if the comments any questions or thoughts you have on the patterns above!