Completed Project: 1970s Betsey Johnson High Waist Pants

When I moved back to North Carolina almost 9 months ago, I unintentionally lost a lot of weight due to stress and other factors. I found that all of the pants and trousers that I'd put so much time into making no longer fit, which left me without a few essential wardrobe basics. So now, along with looking for thrifted vintage pieces, I'm trying to sew and build up my wardrobe again (with a 1970s slant, of course)! I used Butterick #3846 (a "Young Designer" pattern by Betsey Johnson) to make this pair of simple high waist pants:

Do forgive the dark and pixelated photos! I am well in need of a new camera (and some natural sunlight)!

I omitted quite a few details from the original design and opted to keep these pants extremely basic. I thought the extreme high waist fit and wide legs made enough of a statement. The original pattern design included huge patch pockets over the hips, round applique patches at the knees and a detachable bib.

I wore these out to lunch today and received a few nice compliments. The fabric that I used is a lightly slubbed medium weight denim-look cotton that I purchased with a huge lot of patterns at a local sale. I thought this type of fabric would be perfect for the transition from winter to spring - not too heavy or too light. The pants have a front zipper, wider than usual waistband and button closure.

I will definitely be wearing these often and I'm so glad to have a basic pair of high waist pants in my wardrobe again!

TOTAL PROJECT COST:

Fabric - approximately $1.00

Zipper - approximately $2.00

Pattern - $6.49 from Granni Gert's Attic @ Etsy

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$9.49

Completed Project: 1970s Floral Brushstroke Dress

Here it is: my first completed sewing project of the year! I used Butterick #4393 (a 1970s Jane Tise young designer pattern) to make this dress which has a shaped yokes, a casual, flared silhouette and 3/4 length puffy sleeves.

I was originally going to make the blouse, but I decided to make the dress since my wardrobe is severely lacking in them. For the yokes, collar, front tab and cuffs, I used grey cotton shirting from Jo-Ann's. The sleeves and body are made from lovely vintage 1960s floral brushstroke print cotton fabric that I found at a local thrift store for a mere $2.00! I used a fabric-covered button for the front buttoned tab.

Although it has a pretty unstructured fit, this was quite complicated to make, mainly due to the self-lined yokes, puffy sleeves (TONS of gathering), side seam pockets and topstitching. The construction put many of my sewing skills to good use.

Here is a scan of the pattern - it is definitely a keeper!

Love...1970s Style

Yikes! I really fell out of the habit of blogging during these past two weeks...too many things to do and way too little time, as usual. Sadly, I'm going to have to withdraw from Self-Stitched September (insert frowning emoticon here). I signed up with the best of intentions, but life with an 11 month old baby-soon-to-be-walking-toddler makes sewing and taking photos very unpredictable. There's always next year, I suppose....

Now for the new post!

I have a small collection of 1960s and 1970s "mini magazines" that were published by Simplicity, Butterick and McCall's and given away at fabric/sewing shops as a really cool marketing tool. This is one of my favorites from McCall's; there's no copyright date, but it's definitely from the early 1970s! I like the theme of this one, which seems to be "Love 1970s Style" with the oh-so-happy couples modeling butterfly collars and wide-leg pants with the usual pattern company styling and sincere enthusiasm that I find so endearing. Be sure to click on the images to see them full-size!

And since the theme of this post is "love 1970s style" I wanted to post this gem, which I found in a Redbook magazine circa 1975 which tries to sort out the complicated cross-relationships between a handful of celebrities:

And here's a collage that I made of my favorite 1970s couples (click to enlarge):

(First row from left to right): Ali Macgraw & Steve McQueen, Todd Rundgren & Bebe Buell, Sid Vicious & Nancy Spungen, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen.

(Second row): James Taylor & Carly Simon, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm McLaren, David Bowie & Angela Bowie.

(Third row): Angela Houston and Jack Nicholson, John Cazale & Meryl Streep, Maureen McCormick & Barry Williamson, Julie Christie & Warren Beatty.

Lastly, here's a new (vintage) pattern that I added to my collection last week! I've been looking for this particular pattern for a really long time and had to break my "no pattern buying" rule to get it. The 1970s John Kloss Butterick patterns are sexy, simple and amazing. Plus this particular dress pattern has only 3 pattern pieces. Yes - only 3 pattern pieces! With my extremely precious and limited sewing time, I should be able to make this within a few hours so it's going to be my next sewing project. Hopefully, the next post will be of me wearing this dress!

Round Two: Separates, Skirts, Pants, Coats, Jackets and Accessories Patterns

I weeded out more of my pattern collection today. Here are the various accessory, skirt, coat/jacket, pants and separates patterns that I've decided to keep (and I just realized that all but one are circa 1970s!).

Separates are the best because they give you more bang for your buck! I love the jacket/blouse with the fitted midriff, the flared skirt, the Bermuda shorts, the pants...well, everything about it!

I adore the wide leg pants in this pattern - they are very reminiscent of 1940s style pants. And what girl doesn't need a simple wrap coat to compliment her wardrobe?

Really pretty raglan sleeve blouse, wide leg pants and flared skirt.

I like the fact that this pattern offers two different styles of pants - wide leg and straight leg. The vest is cute, too!

Simple to make Betsey Johnson hooded coat/jacket that could be adapted for many different seasons.

I'm in love with the over sized pointy collar on this 1970s coat! The fact that it was designed by Betsey Johnson also helps.

Reversible hooded poncho for those rainy days.

I know, I know - this is very similar to the Betsey Johnson pointy collar coat, but I love the fact that this coat has a hood and utilizes extra large buttons!

I've made the drawstring skirt before and I still want to make the wrap skirt with the super-wide waistband. Not a huge fan of the long tiered skirt, but the other styles make it worth keeping.

Every seamstress needs a fitted pencil skirt pattern in her collection! I had several, but this is the one I decided on.

Cute A-line skirt and flared skirt pattern. Both are must-have basic wardrobe separates.

This pattern offers lots of different skirt styles, which made it a definite keeper.

I used this pattern to make several quick cotton shorts for the spring and summer. Easiest pants pattern ever and, even though the only closure is a drawstring at the waist, they are very flattering!

I wanted to keep this one, not for the purses, but for the obi wrap belts!

My only hat pattern. Not a huge fan of the scarf/billed hat, but I love the floppy brimmed hat and the fedora style hat.

Vintage Romper Patterns Galore!

Rompers / Playsuits are really popular right now. Although I haven't made one myself, I've seen some pretty cute handmade ones on Burda Style recently. I currently have a TON of vintage romper patterns in my pattern shop. Here are a few highlights:

Strapless button-front romper / long jumpsuit and hooded cover-up - $6.00.

Set of 3 strapless rompers, including a bubble romper and a wrap-around romper - $6.00.

Overall-style capri-length jumpsuit, short romper and jumper dress - $5.00.

Funky front-zip kimono sleeve romper and jumpsuit - $5.00.

Bohemian short bubble romper and long jumpsuit with gathered neckline - $5.00.

Front-zip romper with raglan sleeves and a front-wrap mini or maxi skirt - $5.00.

Completed Project: Into the Woods Blouse

I'm on a roll! Here's my latest completed sewing project - a blouse that I made from Simplicity Simplicity 8927 (copyright 1970), View 2. There are so many design elements that attracted me to this particular blouse pattern: the small collar, the raglan sleeves, the retro mod style and the front closure which is actually a zipper concealed by a front placket.

The fabric is a cute Heidi Grace forest print with tiny birds, ladybugs, flowers and trees! The contrasting small collar and front placket are made from the same organic white cotton that I used for the trim and pockets on the 1970s apron dress. I used 6 tiny birds from the fabric to make the non-functional fabric-covered buttons for the placket.

This blouse was a cinch to make - only 4 hours from start to finish, so I recommend it to anyone who wants to make a cute little mod blouse in no time at all! For my next project, I'll be making an outfit from a 1970s Kenzo "young designer" pattern: a pair of paper bag waist bermuda shorts and a blouse made from a crazy vintage 1960s space-age print cotton that needs to be de-stashed!

Completed Project: Vintage 1970s Halter Apron Dress

Remember the pattern that I wrote about in this post? I finished the dress last night and wore it today! It only took about 5 hours from start to finish (although not in one sitting, which is impossible to do when you're the mother of an 8 month old boy!).

The fabric that I used is a vintage cotton calico printed with teeny-tiny cherries and daisies. And - get this - I've had it for 10 YEARS!!! So sad. I've been sewing for a little longer than that. This is why I am busy stash busting! The trim/straps and over sized pockets are made from an organic white cotton that I got on clearance from a big-box sewing store a while ago.

I usually don't put patch pockets on anything that I make, but I decided to this time, and I'm glad that I did! I trimmed each pocket with a 1" fabric covered button. Also, I think I have officially found the perfect photo-taking spot, which is outdoors in our backyard against the house. Usually I take photos inside against a gray wall, but the results have been hit-or-miss lately.

The back of the dress is gathered with elastic. I had to shorten the elastic so it would take in the dress more; it was a size 16, which is the perfect pants/skirt pattern size for me, but always ends up being way too big in dress patterns.

I think this dress will make a smooth transition from summer to fall as a layering piece to wear over long sleeve tops and tights. Self-Stitched-September, here I come!