The 'Maillot à Pois Rouges' Mimi Blouse

I'm happy to share my latest sewing make: the 'Maillot à Pois Rouges' Mimi blouse!  'Maillot à Pois Rouges' literally means white with red polka dots but it is also the jersey that is worn in the Tour de France by the person who reaches the mountain top first (the 'King of the Mountains').  While I definitely did not cycle up any mountains, it seemed a nice metaphor for this sewing project.  This Mimi blouse sat lingering in my stash for far too long and finishing it felt like a good sewing achievement!

The fabric is a nice lightweight mixed blend fabric with a cotton contrast collar. I'm usually not a big fan of thin collars but I do like how it looks on this blouse!  The blouse was easy to put together and features a nicely gathered back yoke, pleated sleeves and a button-down front.

The most time consuming parts included attaching the collar and sewing the buttonholes and buttons – primarily because they are the two things that really stand out on the shirt (especially when if you decide to do a contrast collar!)  I have to say that making the collar symmetrical (or as symmetrical as I could!) was the biggest challenge!

Overall, I'm happy with the results and now I have a nice spring/summer weight blouse!  I'd love to try sewing it up all in one fabric.

What about you?  What has been your most recent sewing 'mountaintop' achievement?

McCall 3554: The Black Cherry Blouse

I am so happy to share my latest 1940 McCall Project make: 'The Black Cherry Blouse'.  Many of you know that I am collecting and trying to sew my way through the entire 1940 McCall pattern catalogue!  There are a lot of patterns from that year and I just love all of them.  I'm making good progress on the collecting and less on the making! HA!  You can check out my entire 1940 McCall pattern collection on pinterest and also see what I have sewn up so far for the 1940 McCall Project.

This is McCall pattern 3554, which was released at the beginning of 1940.  It can be made up in long or short-sleeve versions.  I opted for the summer friendly short-sleeve version sewn up in a very soft cotton fabric.  The pattern is very busy but if you look closely, it's a bunch of black cherries with little green leaves.

The pattern has two pockets on the front – which almost disappear due the fabric pattern.  These are functional pockets that close with a button.  The back is gathered and attached to a yoke.  The sleeves are not inserted the normal way, rather they are sewn open onto both front and back bodice with a lapped seam and then closed by sewing the entire underarm seam and following that line all the way down the side of the shirt:

The shirt also goes very well with my me-made trousers (made with a TNT reproduction pattern from 1941).  In fact, like these trousers, this shirt pattern could easily become a staple in my wardrobe.  I already want to sew it up in all sorts of fabrics!

YAY! I'm already plotting and planning which 1940 McCall pattern to sew up next.  Any suggestions?

Vintage haircut and style

Readers, it was time.  Time to get my hair cut.  It had gotten to an awkward length that made doing pincurls difficult.  My stylist had gone on maternity leave and I was too scared to go to anyone else!  But luckily she came back! YAY!

I get my hair done by the vintage stylist, Ariana at Miss Dixiebelle's Retro Boutique in Edinburgh.  This is definitely one of my favourite places in Edinburgh.

I mean leopard print cover? Flamingo wallpaper?  Vintage hair dryer? Amazing vintage stylists?

Yay! It's exactly what I wanted!!  Didn't she do an amazing job? Perfect length and nicely layered.  I can't wait to play with the new hairdo!