The Cupcake Goddess

Red Vixen Dress

Here she is folks, my Red Vixen Dress. I finally finished her up this week and I'm pretty excited about how she turned out. As you remember, this is my first attempt at a vintage pattern. McCall's 5995 from 1961. The above is a collage of images I pilfered around the internet and all are from 1961. I was trying to capture the mood of this time period and was looking for inspiration all over. As you peruse through the images of my dress here's a link to the #1 song in 1961.

Now, let's get back to the pattern, shall we? The pattern itself was too big for me and I had to grade down a size, though I think I could still do with one more size down in the bodice. This grading thing really frightened me as I've already said. It turned out rather well though, I think. All in all, I'm very pleased with the dress.

Being as this is my first vintage pattern, let's have a chat about vintage pattern instructions. I'm in love with them! This pattern is from 1961 and I haven't yet tried anything older but they just did things so differently. The pattern instructions rely heavily on a lot of hand stitching. I was rather impressed with that. The instructions show you how to handstitch a buttonhole, and finish seam allowances by hand. I didn't vary much from the instructions except to put in triangular bound buttonholes rather than the traditional sort, but the pattern does call for and give you step by step's for great bound buttonholes. Frankly, I've never even seen this in a modern pattern, though I'm sure it exists. Thoroughly, thoroughly impressed with the instructions here.

After grading down the pattern I noticed that the skirt was still huge. I decided to tailor it after I sewed it and this did prove beneficial. At first, I got it too snug. I could get the dress on and walk around in it, but sitting was impossible. Ha. It's still a little snug when I sit, but how could I possibly go bigger, it's a wiggle dress for heaven's sakes. My biggest question here is how do you make a garment so fitted and still sit? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I think you would have to have a bit of stretch in the fabric to achieve this whereas mine has zip.

Onto the zipper! My favorite part is the zipper here. I'm so proud of it. This zipper is handpicked and lapped. It worked out so wonderfully. I love it!!!! I was just finishing up the zipper when I read this post from Gertie's Blog. I completely agree with her and some of the comments left about the hardships of invisible zippers. I had thought I would do an invisible zipper for this dress and then I remembered the fiasco I had with my green silk play dress. I passed up the invisible zipper for a basic zipper instead. It looks 1000x better in my opinion. Ecstatic about this part of the dress, simply ecstatic.

I couldn't be happier with this dress. It's made using cherry red merino wool twill which I got from here and I lined the skirt with red dupioni silk. Here's a shot of the inside detail. I finished the seam allowances with some homemade charmeuse silk bias tape in baby pink, kind of a Valentiney touch, but hey, it's Valentine's this weekend. And what could possibly be better than to be smitten while wearing this number?

xoxo,

Sunni

How to Make an Ironing Board Cover

It's been a week, dear reader, quite a week. I've been a little overwhelmed over the past little while and it finally caught up with me last week as I took a downward spiral into a nice head-cold. Still coughing a bit, but on the whole feeling much better. And it gave me a nice excuse to lay in bed and get feeling better and tell people, "I simply can't, I'm not feeling well." This whole ordeal is, of course, a classic problem with me and that is the problem of saying "no" to people. Anyone else have this problem? It's hard for me to combat. To put it simply, I'm a work in progress, and that's saying something. I could take a better cue from The Selfish Seamstress in all aspects of life. Her haiku are simply marvelous and some definite words to live by. Sigh....

Enough about that. Last week I said I was going to post a tutorial on how to make your own ironing board cover and then well, I went off the deep end for a minute. Seriously though, have you ever thought about this? I hadn't. Not because I didn't want to, but because in the time it would take to sew up one of these I could sew up a sweet skirt or simple sheath dress and since my time is rather precious and I don't have ample amounts to sew anyway I really didn't want to spend it doing this. Not saying that this takes a huge amount of time, but I'm sure you get my drift. Whatever. I told you I had the trouble of getting a new ironing board and iron and that I couldn't really find a board cover that was going to work. Have you taken a look at the ironing board covers that are available lately? They are total....crap. Ummm...a polyurethane liner? This is disgraceful! First being it is not a natural fiber whatsoever, second that because it's not a natural fiber it doesn't breathe at all and then moisture gets caught within the cover and in between the liner and the board, then causing rusting which will seep through to your clothing and stain; a stain that will not come out. Not to mention, the actual cover, though claiming it is 100% cotton acts like it is a cotton/polyester blend, which has the same effect on the board as the synthetic liner. After a thorough and exhausting search of all the nearest stores, I did an internet search of some tutorials for an ironing board cover and found that they lacked certain things that I had to have in an ironing board cover.  Let's get a few things straight here:

• I wanted something that would last a good long while.
• I wanted to use all natural fibers that would "breathe."
• I did not want that stupid drawstring thing, which does not really work unless the drawstring is encased in a casing along with elastic. Encasing a drawstring alone in a thread serged casing is AWFUL!!! The drawstring and casing has broken every time for me.

OK, I let it all out. That does feel rather good. So here it is folks, a small and very easy tutorial on how to make your own ironing board cover. I realize the materials are a little on the spendy side, but I believe, being a seamstress, that pressing is an absolute must while sewing. Sew, why not give yourself the best quality out there and sew it yourself. I found it was easy to make two of these bad boys at the same time and that will last me even longer! Now that is something to smile about. For all your stitchers out there, here's a little something that will make your pressing troubles a little better. Enjoy!

Download How to Make an Ironing Board Cover

xoxo,

Sunni

The Art of Pressing

Last week I was having issues with my ironing station. For starters, my iron was wigging out and it was time for a new one. I then noticed that my ironing board cover could use a good washing, actually maybe even a throwing out and getting a new one. I took off the ironing board cover and much to my dismay, I found that my ironing board was having some rust issues. The paint was peeling off and there was rust beginning to soak through the pad. Reaching the end of my patience, I chucked the ironing board, cover and iron, went and bought a new iron, board and the cover that came with the board. I was completely unhappy with the cover and had to make my own. I have a tutorial on how to make your own coming up in the next few days. Today, I wanted to cover pressing technique. I press so much when I sew and to me, it's an art form. I love freshly pressed clothes. I love the way they look and I have a great appreciation for seeing a garment on someone else that has been properly pressed. It's such a beautiful thing. Pressing is my favorite part of laundering clothes. It's relaxing to me.

Enough of me, and my love affair with ironing. Here are a few tips, tricks and techniques I use when I press:

Mr. S has kindly volunteered one of his nice dress shirts as an example here. I always start with a hot iron and a spray bottle full of water. Sometimes I use that spray starch which I think works wonderfully for white dress shirts and pillowcases (yes, I do iron my pillowcases, try it, you'll never go back). When I press a garment, I start with the collar. Spray a little water and press. Some collars don't take kindly to being pressed straight up with the iron. It's best to use a pressing cloth. Don't have one? Use a dishtowel, they do the trick quite nicely.

Next comes the sleeve. I press both sides of the sleeve and I make sure that the bottom seam of the sleeve is flat ensuring that the crease from the iron is precisely at the top of the sleeve.

The shoulder is what I press next. I position the shoulder of the garment onto the ironing board sleeve making it lie flat for an excellent press. Both the right and left shoulders should be pressed this way.

When pressing the body of the garment, I always start with the right side (right side if you had the shirt on) and work my way to the left. You can start the other way around, working with the left and going to the right, whichever is your preference. Don't forget the outside edge of the buttons and in between the buttons either. This does affect the way the shirt lays against the body.

Some extras for other garment types:

When pressing longish skirts, I work from right (right side of the body) to left and in two sections. The top section is first and then I do the bottom section. The wrinkles come out much easier with less surface area for the iron to work on.

For pants, I always press the top four portions (right front, left front, right back, left back) first. When making the crease down the center, hold the pants up to you and pull the front section where the crease will begin away from you, lay flat on the ironing board and press. Works like a charm every time.

Old fashioned tips you may not know:

It's best to have a really hot and heavy iron. If you don't, always keep your iron full of water and put a layer of tin foil, shiny side up, in between the cover and your pad. This helps the heat deflect back to the iron making it extra hot.

Spray your ironing board with your favorite perfume and each time you iron, it will release the scent into your clothing. Not to mention, its like aromatherapy each time you iron.

Having trouble with ironing board cover slippage? Those wire plate hangers are a great fix. You can buy them almost anywhere and attach them to each side of the belly of your ironing board cover. They last forever and typically never break.

I do hope you enjoyed these ideas on pressing! May you love to press as much as I do.

xoxo,

Sunni

Pretty Progress

This is what has been finished of my wiggle dress so far.  Remember, I told you about the vintage pattern I bought online.  It's that wiggle dress and jacket circa 1961 and I'm getting really excited to have a good wiggle in it. I read Casey's excellent post on vintage pattern priming and she recommended this excellent resource (though the photos are a little hard to see) for how to grade the pattern to the size you need. This posting from Threads was excellent as well. This grading thing really scared me. I mean really scared me. My pattern still turned out just a little large, so I graded down a little bit more and hopefully I've got my perfect measurements now. I've tested the bodice with muslin and this lightweight bright red merino wool has been cut up, along with bright red dupioni silk to line the skirt and the fancy schmancy triangular bound buttonholes, for which you can find the tutorial here.  I added this little touch as it seemed the perfect occasion to used this method and it kind of reminds one of the crazy things they did in the 60's, you know, like the spacey stuff and all that. I felt the bound buttonholes would blend quite well. What do you think?

A little something I did not know, until recently and maybe you don't either, but a wiggle dress is a dress with a very close fitting, tapered skirt that does not allow the wearer to take normal sized steps when wearing it. In effect, they wiggle as they walk! Ha ha ha! How fabulous will this be? In bright lipstick red wool no less, I will most definitely be the center of all kinds of attention wanted or not. He he. It will be ready just in time for Valentine's Day too. How very...cheeky.

I do indeed intend to make the jacket too. I've picked out this houndstooth canvas that has a red stripe running through it. It tends to tone the bright red wool down a tad but not enough to still give it some real pep. All in all, a very colorful outcome is expected. Very colorful indeed.

xoxo,

Sunni

A Cupcake for Mr. S

Mr. S had his birthday over this wonderfully long weekend. An event that involved cupcake making and eating, a very good breakfast here, catching this movie matinee and the making of quinoa stuffed peppers for a quiet dinner at home. We had so much fun together, as usual. All in all, I can say that I think Mr. S had a very good birthday. And I suppose that even if he didn't, I enjoyed myself immensely. Ha ha ha.

I made these red velvet cupcakes complete with cream cheese frosting. I pilfered the recipe from Martha Stewart, here's the link. And as you can see, though he would never admit it himself too willingly, Mr. S loved these cupcakes. Had to half the recipe, seeing as there is only two of us, and we would eat them all in one fell swoop. A lovely dozen you see here. And yes, I ate hmmmm.. I think 6. Maybe 5.

I also used some silicon cupcake liners, instead of the paper kind. These are incredible. Go out and buy some right now. My lil sis gave them to me a few years back for a Christmas gift and I never used them until just recently. They are superb. There is no paper waste to throw away, thus helping the environment, and the cupcakes just slide right out of the liners. Very easy to use and a baking secret I highly recommend.

By the way, I do believe that these cupcakes are the perfect addition to your Valentine's Day festivities, in case you couldn't tell that by the decor and such. I have another such fun idea for V-day that I will post soon. Go make your cupcakes darlings! Eat as many as you like too! They are good for the soul.

xoxo,

Sunni

What to do When You Watch North and South

So, have you seen this BBC Drama, North and South? Being the nerd that I am, I watched this entire series (which consists of 4 episodes, by the way) til 3:00 in the morning this past Saturday night. And now I'm officially addicted. I'm quite determined to own it and am getting ready to buy the book as well. Haven't seen North and South yet? You'd better, I'm telling you. Put on a girly face and give yourself a good sit down and get ready to fall in love all over again. Ha ha ha. A few tips if you don't have ready access:

This movie is an "instant" movie on Netflix and so I watched North and South via Netflix via Mr. S's Playstation3. They've just come out with the disc that will let you watch movies right to your TV. You can stream Netflix instantly to your Playstation3 or an XBox, if you have one. If you don't have these, you can watch it instantly on the web. (PS, I can't believe I'm actually mentioning these gaming systems on my blog. I never touch them, unless I want to watch movies of course. he he he) If you don't have Netflix, I suggest you get yourself a membership right away. This movie is totally worth it. And you can sign up for a trial membership to see if you really like watching movies this way.

You could just buy this movie too! Its a very worthy investment, especially if you are a "Pride and Prejudice" fan. You'll love it. Promise.

(North and South film stills)

To make your viewing of this incredibly fantastic love story even more enjoyable I've given you a little craft to make along with it. Remember the corsage from my green silk play dress? It's way easy and perfect for making as you are swooning over Mr. Thornton or the incredible costumes worn by Margaret. The Pocket Full of Posies Corsage, the perfect addition to your girls night in.

My particular corsage was made with a few scraps of magenta dupioni silk and some baby pink silk charmeuse. I'm sure it will work with several different types of fabrics. Pick some that are your favorite and have fun. Its all about fun, you know. And being romantic. And being creative. And of course, being a silly girl who loves flowery things. Right? Can't wait? The download is right below.

 

Download Pocket Full of Posies Tutorial

xoxo,

Sunni

The Green Silk Play Dress

Can Olive come out and play? Why yes, she's put on her perfect play dress just for the occasion!

Here it is folks, my green silk play dress. It reminds me so much of going and playing in a sandbox in my Sunday best, like any small child would do. How much fun would that be? Going and getting a coke with a chum will probably be more along the lines of what will happen, which I'm sure will fair better on this dress.

The story of how this dress came to be, as related by the seamstress:

This dress is made from Very Easy Vogue 8380, though it was anything but easy. Granted, it would have been easy had it not been for the fact that I had this magical idea of making the dress from three different shades of green silk. That's right, three. After I had cut up the fabric and had sewn pretty much the entire thing together, that confounded zipper was left, which as you know was talked about here.

I didn't touch the dress for months after the zipper affair, but since the beginning of the New Year, I've decided its finally time to tie up all these loose sewing ends. The said zipper was fixed by adding a tab. Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions on this conundrum. I hadn't even thought of a sash when kiraph mentioned this. I was going to do one as I was so enamoured with the idea of a giant bow tied at the waist but ended up not having enough fabric for the giant sash I would have wanted. Still a very fun idea, and I might end up trying a belt with this dress just for the fun of it.

I added pockets, which the jury is still out on for me, and then I also added a bias ruffle to the bottom. I have never tried a bias ruffle before but did here because I had more fabric with the bias than without, very strange how that happens. Its very interesting how the bias ruffle lays, I really like it. You will have to try this. Just make like you are going to make bias tape, fold over and press and then gather and attach to a garment. You'll see what I mean.

 
When all is said and done, I like it. I'm not sure that I absolutely love it, but I really like it. And I have to admit, its like wearing pajamas, its really that comfortable. Its still very cold here though, so unfortunately this little thing will have to be put away until warmer weather arrives. Such a shame. Oh well. Oh and the little corsage? Made that too and I've got a really fun tutorial for it just around the corner.

Monday morning greetings everyone!

xoxo,

Sunni

A Zipper Conundrum

I always have trouble with zippers. Here you have my almost finished green silk dress. I'm thinking about adding some pockets and possibly a ruffle hem. I love the way it flows and the color, well I'm a greeny person, so its just perfect for me.

Here is what is not perfect. We were going along so well and then this happens. And I'm not unpicking it and taking it out again because I've done that 4 times already and its starting to really show on the silk, making the zipper look even worse. Yes, I do realize the zipper is white. Here was my thinking when I couldn't find the perfect color:

Get a white invisible zipper and then paint the pull green with green nailpolish (which I have) and voila! Perfect! Apparently not so. Now I've got to come up with a way to fix this. I am thankful that if I keep my arm down at my side you won't be able to see the zipper at  all. But since I'm not Barbie with plastic molded arms that always stay in place and I see that this will run into many problems such as driving, drinking, writing, dancing (which I totally plan to do in this dress) and the like I'll have to come up with something that will hide the white part of the zipper that is now showing so beautifully. I was thinking that I could attach a tab of sorts made of the fabric and put a button on the other side. That might just do the trick. What do you think about a big white button? Ha ha ha.

This pretty green number is almost finished, and after I take some pics I'll post how she was made and with what pattern and such. I was also getting ready to post about how to insert a zipper smoothly but, that might take some rethinking. Ahem...Happy weekending all and to you and yours, may your zipping action be smooth!

xoxo,

Sunni