The Onsie Project - Complete

Wow Busy day at the Angelic Cow Headquarters!!!!

So as promised earlier this month the onsie project now complete and it's final review and posting of pictures. First though let me say that I will likely retake these after September which has been dubbed the no junk food month.

The onsie project started as this at the beginning of the month. Making it was actually quick once I got going - tracing it was a different story and I still have not gotten over my hatred of double ended darts, I am however finding them easier (there is a total of 6 in the onsie).

This project was made much easier by the acquirement of the machine of awesome, because it does one step button holes. I LURVE MY ONE STEP BUTTON HOLE-R!!!! It is too easy, push a pedal and instant button hole - if this machine does nothing else my old one didn't I don't care. I can not stress my love of this enough.

I am really quite proud of this as I stash busted EVERYTHING bar the buttons (I just didn't have 7 or so blue buttons lying around) but the rope, material and zip all came from stash. I was really happy to accidently find the rope as the shade and the size, everything about it is a perfect trim for this outfit.

I cheated on the skirt a little and rather than sewing by hand and whip stitch the inside waistband I attempted to stitch in the ditch, much easier but I will also have to get much neater. In this incarnation it isn't too big a problem - I mean who is going to get close enough to see my stitch work anyway?

The shoes, I think are awesome. I got them on a buy one get the second half price at payless shoes, so I have them in navy and black, but seriously how awesome do they go with this outfit!!!! It's a steal, it's a deal, it's the sale of the century. Particularly as I wanted to wear this to the 50's fair, but I did not (after the pain of last year) want to wear heels to the 50's fair.

Things I would change on this project if I were to do it again, well an extra inch or so in the body length of the onsie would probably help to alleviate some unwanted wedgies. The Hem on the skirt needs some work as it is slightly wonky but I can't work out why so that is now on the I will care about it later pile. To put more roping on the onsie or to not put more roping on the onsie that is the question - i am still pondering and don't expect to answer it for a while yet.

The "Pretty Dress" a History

Once upon a time I was browsing the wonderful vintage pattern wares on Etsy and I found this exceptionally pretty pattern.

After deliberation with my other sewing half Ange it was decided that it must be bought and owned by us. After further deliberation I won out to be the owner of the pattern, Ange it would seem would need to be happy with simply owning a finished product at some point. We dubbed this pattern "the Pretty Dress" as no one in any land could deny that this dress is indeed pretty, and it's name has stuck.

I should point out here that I had MANY MANY patterns sitting unmade, and this project remained my top priority only long enough for me to buy the materials for it, a nice soft white bastite, and lemon yellow bias tap for the accented trim.

I hunted out on etsy and purchased a petticoat pattern as the bastite would require it, for this I bought a lemon yellow cotton.

At some point I started the petticoat, which I will write about in more detail in a further post - but basically it got to the so close to finished I could smell it when the "issues" with it made me toss it to the side in despair, to fix it that mystical "one day" when all my failures at sewing are fixed/finished. From then on the entire "pretty dress" project sat untouched by me. The materials for it just another precipice on cloth mountain

Ange on the other hand was obviously much more infatuated with this pattern than I was and diligently set to tracing and creating this dress. A benefit for me because I would not need to trace it and could just use her copies. Again, I borrowed the tracings - and they sat together with the original for months gathering dust. Many projects came and went and yet "the pretty dress" stayed unmoved from its foundations.

With the introduction of the great stash bust this month, I have been forced to look to the projects in various states of completion. This particular pattern was holding up about 5m of material in the stash and honestly did not look to hard to complete - and so last Monday on my day of holidays I set to work.

This dress is almost finished, the petticoat almost corrected - and hopefully with this post going up I will find the gumption tonight to make those final touches and be able to post the whole process and results by this weekend.

Also outstanding - the Onsie 50's beach outfit (status complete post to come after I wear it to the 50's fair) and the 40's workwear project (status in limbo, I will have to get back to this soon)

Stash bust project one

So project one of stash bust is this McCalls Pattern (4031) from the 1950's.

I bought this pattern from the Etsy Store The Selvage shop, who had good pricing, good patterns, and great service. I actually got the pattern a year ago (literally 19th of August I bought it in 2009), at the time I had a huge thing for onsies, short onsies, as apposed to anges thing for long onsies. In any case I love the style but don't have the legs really to pull it off. Finally I have gotten to the point where I think screw it and I am going to make it anyway.

Right away when I ordered this pattern I thought it needed a nautical type theme - something you may notice as I stash bust, I kinda have a thing for nautical themed stuff. I bought the nautical like material in a "wow they are selling stuff cheap at spotlight lets buy anything" spree, that seemed to be the fashion for Ange and I at the time. I put the two together but that was as far as I got.

Fast forward a year, I have traced it all, cut out the onsie, and am now contemplating the skirt - should I creat an inbuilt petticoat, since I have to line it anyway - and I do have (something I forgot to photo for the stash) about 75m of white cotton, in which I can make the petticoat. I am also contempating do I do a piping on the onsie to tie it into the skirt fabric.... so much to choose.In any case I have a few days to think cause I am waiting on my new machine.

The fabrics are:

Onsie - (using view without the elasticated legs) a navy blue poplin, it came out much more royal in the photos but it is actually quite dark.

Skirt - the skirt is a cotton in an off-white/creme, with navy starfish and anchors on it.

I am hoping to have this one done by the end of next week - so hurry up machine.

(as a side note I have also increased my exercise reseme in order to try and get those legs that will look great in this come the warmer weather - in the southern hemisphere we currently have winter and it sucks.)