Weekend Wear

For Weekends Everything You’ll Need 

Let Butterick Fashion Magazine help you plan the smart summer clothes you dream about

Travel in a jacket dress with grosgrain binding on its boxy jacket and gored dress.

For Saturday in the sun, a three-piece play suit with shirt, shorts and dirndl skirt.

Dance on Saturday night in a chiffon dress with woven shoulders and waistline that release soft fullness.

Sunday morning breakfast in a crisp dotted swiss housecoat with puffed sleeves and bows.

Take pictures from the clubhouse porch in a simple dress, new because of its belt and pockets.

For Sunday lunch, a printed linen dress with white pique collar and a zipped closing.

Six outfits for two days – that is my kind of girl!

Pretty Inspirational

Five Different Figure Types

But they all depend upon exactly the same fashion adviser . . .

  

Butterick has never played figure favorites.  

We believe that the woman of regal stature has just as much potential chic as the saucy young slip of a junior miss.  The difference is simply a matter of correct proportion! . . . of choosing clothes wisely according to your particular figure needs.  The new Butterick Fashion Magazine gives a place in the summer sun to every one of our famous five figure types we have sketched on this page!  Get your copy today and go exploring in it.  You’re sure to find the smartest summer wardrobe you have ever owned if you let your fashion adviser guide you . . .

And if you were wondering what those figure types are . . .

Women and Misses

Shorter Women of Larger Hip

Women’s

Misses of 5 Feet 4 Inches or Under

The Junior Miss

Fashion Forward for July 1938

Here are a few new designs for July 1938.  I love the prints, the polka dots, the gathers, the pleats, the smocking, and everything else for that matter!  And the hats are pretty spectacular, too!

Butterick Fashion News will help you with all your clothes problems.  Write to the Editor, 

Butterick Co. . . . enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the reply.

Do you like your clothes to fit?  Then buy patterns according to Butterick’s 

five figure types and avoid needless alterations.

The young crowd swears by Butterick’s Deltor Instruction Sheet to guide them 

step by step to sewing success.

Linen and Butterflies

Finished!  And thank you to everyone for commiserating over my car woes - a good night's sleep can make a world of difference!

Even with the long sleeves, this frock is deliciously cool – it is the perfect thing to wear in the ridiculous heat.  And because the arms are covered, it works very well in an air conditioned office building.

I am always reading novels that describe persnickety characters whose linen clothing does not wrinkle.  How do they manage to get the clothes on without creating a few creases?  Have you ever met one of these individuals?

The cotton content in this linen blend does help a bit with the wrinkling.  But I actually like the semi lived-in look that a few wrinkles give to a linen garment.

And I am still in love with the print.

There are very few butterflies to be found around my apartment.  However, there are always numerous hummingbirds buzzing about on our morning walks.  I guess I should try to find a bird print!

I am quite sure that I will be using this sheath pattern to make myself another dress!  There are a few ideas banging around in my head, one or two of which include fabric already in my stash.  I see an altered neckline, and a different sleeve, and all sorts of minor alterations to the original design. 

Basic patterns sometimes create a never ending stream of inspiration!  

Dress:  Made by me, McCalls 5106

Earrings:  Banana Republic

Shoes:  Liz Claiborne

A Very Long Day/Week

It has been quite the week.  Getting back to work after a holiday weekend is always a challenge, but this was ridiculous.

Motivation was next to impossible on Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday started out quite well; I had a very exciting trip into San Francisco (more on that to come!).  However, when I returned to my car, parked four stories under ground, my key would not turn.  The old wiggle the steering wheel trick was not working for me, and my ticket was not going to let me out of the garage after about ten minutes.  PANIC TIME!

A wonderful man who works in the garage spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to make the darn thing work.  How do you get towed out of a garage, anyway!?  It is hard enough trying to maneuver a small sedan around some of those turns!

Thankfully, Tink finally decided to cooperate and start (yes, I named my teal colored car after a Disney character – my previous Corolla was a lovely rosy mauve color, and her name was Lucy Rose “Mauve” Montgomery; I have a feeling quite a few of you will get the Anne of Green Gables reference).

Unfortunately, when I tried to start the car after work that evening, the same thing happened.  Tink was now a worthless tin can.  AAA took over two hours to show up, and it took another hour to get the car on the flat bed truck and to the repair shop, but not before the driver told me he did not have the proper vehicle to tow my car – well then why are you here?!? 

This is the outfit I was wearing.  And let me just say, four inch heels and a pegged skirt are not conducive to hoisting oneself into a flat bed truck.

After getting home and feeling very sorry for myself, I made myself a delicious salad and turned the television on.  Criminal Minds did the trick – suddenly I was not feeling so sorry for myself – things could be a whole lot worse . . . like missing limbs worse.

I should be grateful with all of the driving I do that this is the first time I have ever been stranded.  Sure, the occasional battery goes dead or there is a flat tire to contend with, but a jump later or a spare tire and I can move the darn car. 

So I am currently running about eight hours behind schedule, but Tink is back in working order, and I am hoping to catch my breath sometime soon!

Dress:  Made by me, Vogue 1220

Shoes:  Oh . . .Deer!

Necklace:  Farmers Market Stall

Earrings:  Liz Palacios

The Home Stretch

This dress is almost finished!

I decided to line the cuffs so all of the interior raw edges do not show through this sheer fabric.  And instead of a buttonhole, I am using button loops.

Of course, I stitched the loops on without thinking about the fact that the piece gets folded in half and had to remove and re-stitch two of the loops.  Whoops!

The facing wants to curl up, so I am going to stitch that down all across the front edge.  Thankfully, the underlining makes it possible to hide those stitches!

Hemming an underlined piece is so much fun - the stitches almost disappear.

The last thing to deal with was that pesky kick pleat.  The original pattern had a vent, but I like to sew that opening shut.

Almost there!

Zipper Time

I am still working away on McCalls 5108.  I decided to ignore the directions, and install the zipper before stitching the back pieces to the front.  This way, there is far less fabric to contend with.  It is also the way I construct most of my skirts, so why not a dress?!

There have been a few questions about how I use silk organza strips to stabilize the opening, so here is a bit of an explanation for you.

First, I tear strips of organza approximately 1 to 1.5 inches wide.  Tearing the strips ensures that the pieces are on grain and have little to no give.  The edges will probably curl, but a quick bit of steam from the iron will sort that out. 

I like to mark a line in chalk on the wrong side of the fabric just inside my stitching line for reference.  Then the organza strip is pinned in place on the wrong side of the garment, and stitched along that chalk line.  Because the stitch line is within the seam allowance, it will not need to be removed.    

I like to extend my organza strips a few inches beyond the zipper opening.  The bottom of the zipper can get extra wear and tear depending on placement, and the strong silk fabric helps to keep the seam from pulling or tearing, especially with a loose weave fabric.

A hand picked lapped zipper is my go-to, but the silk organza strip can be used with any zipper application, or any seam that needs a bit of oomph for that matter.  Once the strip is hand basted in place, it is treated the same as the fabric piece.  The silk organza adds strength, but not bulk - which is what makes it so fabulous!  

This is not something I do with every project, but generally with lightweight or drapey fabrics.  I find a little extra stability is needed to support a stiff polyester zipper.

Once the zipper tape is sewn in place, the seam allowance will fold open, creating two layers of the organza on either side of the zipper that can be trimmed and finished along with the fabric edges. 

I am choosing not to line this dress because of the underlining - if I want an extra layer, I can always wear a slip.  But I am finishing my raw edges with, you guessed it, rayon seam binding!