Pattern giveaway #6: sweet young things

It's Friday night ... I notice that not too many sewing blogs get updated this time of the week!   So, what are y'all up to on a typical  Friday evening?   Out blowing off steam?   Enjoying a relaxing evening in with family or friends?   Working?   Getting the jump on your weekend sewing or crafting projects?   I'm usually hanging out with my husband and dog, recovering from the work-week.  It's actually a good time for me to blog, too ... if I actually have anything to post about!

This giveaway group consists of petite/teen looks for smaller busts:  I think the art on these skews a bit young, but your imagination may take them to an entirely different place!  If you're interested in this bunch, please leave a comment by the end of Friday, February 24.

1957

1949

1959

1963

Pattern giveaway #5: fifties trio

Here are some fun 50s patterns.  I'm more of a full-skirted girl myself, but I know many love the wiggle.  As for pyjamas, I already have way more pyjama patterns than I need, considering I don't wear them.   Not sure how I ended up with so many, actually!  All three patterns are bust 34.  If you're interested in these, please leave a comment before the end of Thursday, February 23.

1956

Eh ... can't see the number. 50s for sure, though!

They really shouldn't put those numbers so 

near the envelope corners, huh?

Pattern giveaway #4: more petite looks

Oops, giveaway number four was delayed by Valentine's Day celebrations!   My husband and I went out to a casual restaurant we like, where I had breakfast for dinner -- my favorite!  Then my husband suggested that we stop in at JoAnn's since it is in the same shopping center.   He even helped me narrow down my fabric choices -- Handmade Ryan Gosling has nothing on my husband (so long as there's a place to sit and he doesn't need to pee).   I ended up getting a New Look 6087 and several cuts of fabric.  JoAnn's is dead on Valentine's Day night, in case you were wondering.

Anyhow ... giveaway!   Up this time are more petite patterns, in bust 30 1/2 and 31.  If you like this group, please comment by Wednesday, February 22.

Looks 50s to me.

1965

1952

1962

1964

Pattern giveaway #3 -- it's tops!

Please excuse my bad pun, but today's giveaway features tops ... shirts ... blouses ... whatever you like to call coverings for the top half of the body.  These are all bust 34, and span the late 50s and early 60s.  The Western-style blouse would be perfect to wear to Houston's upcoming rodeo.    However, my favorite is Simplicity 3716, even though I can't imagine myself wearing it!   If you want to be in the drawing for this lot, please comment on this post by Monday, February 20.

1963

1960

1956

1958

Pattern giveaway day 2: circa 1960 ladies-who-lunch

I've made some progress on my dress, though it won't be done before next weekend at the soonest.  It's nice to be sewing again, and things are coming along well.  Oops, I probably just invited disaster by saying that!

Here's the next giveaway:  1960-ish looks in bust 34.  Three ensembles and a simple-but-sweet dress.   And buttoning your scarf to your jacket?  Don't knock it, could be the next big thing.

If you like this group, please leave a comment by the end of Sunday, February 19.  I'll pick a winner sometime after that.  As always, no pattern-piece inventory has been done but I have no reason to think these aren't complete.

1962

1960

1960

1958

Twelve days of pattern giveaways

Well, I've managed to get through the past month or so without finishing a sewing project!   I've been busy, but also taking time to enjoy other things.  Including a new pet.   We added a budgerigar to our menagerie, to keep our canary company.   The canary finds her new friend to be a bit of a pest, but we prefer an annoyed canary to a semi-catatonic canary.   She was getting pretty lonely during our long workdays.

Booberry, the new budgie, has been with us for two weeks, and has already assumed command of the household.  He thinks nothing of picking on the dog or giving me a firm chomp if I'm trying to take him somewhere he does not want to go.  He prefers the company of my husband and Sunshine the canary, and is generally nicer to them -- though I think Sunshine doesn't always appreciate the attention Booberry pays her.  They live in separate cages, so while she may not be used to another birdie staring lovingly at her from the other side of the bars, he can't hurt her.

But enough of that -- on to something sewing-related!  I set aside some time today to do something I've been meaning to do for a long time:  sort out some patterns to give away.   I ended up with 41, divided into 12 lots, loosely grouped by size and style.  The sizing ranges from 30 to 35 bust, and some are teen or junior sizes.   Most are from the 50s and 60s, with a few from the 40s and some reproduction patterns mixed in.  (I have a metric buttload of 70s patterns in bust 32 and 34, but I'll deal with them later.)   I HATE counting pattern pieces, so I'm not gonna.  Probably most if not all are complete.

I'm going to try to post a giveaway per day:  if you're interested, leave a comment on the post.  For some giveaways, I may ask a question too, just to make it a little more interesting.  If you choose to enter, make sure your contact information is available, either in your comment or via your blogger profile, or obviously you can't win!  Also, I ask your patience when it comes to shipping:  one of the reasons it's taken me so long to do this is that I have trouble getting to the post office during business hours, and for international winners, I can't use the 24-hour automated postal machine.   Probably mailing will occur after all 12 giveaways are complete.

Sooo ... let's get started!   I'd had the vague thought that I might sew myself a Valentine's Day dress -- you know, something pink or red or romantic or something.   As it turns out, I am only just starting a dress that has been in my head since the beginning of January, which doesn't fit that particular theme (though we'll see ... maybe if I get it done in time I'll invent a reason why it does.)   Is anyone else out there making something for Valentine's Day?  Do you have anything special planned?   Or do you despise the holiday and the horse it rode in on?   (In which case, I guess you could make an anti-Valentine's dress.  That might be even more fun.)

Pattern giveaway #1: romantic late 50s / early 60s teen stylin'.

The full skirts and color choices on the pattern illustrations in this group seem kinda romantic to me ... possibly good choices for Valentine's.  Or square-dancing.  They're all teen sizes bust 34, and I think the Advance pattern is bust 35.   If you're interested, please leave a comment before Saturday, February 18.   I'll randomly pick a winner sometime after that date.

Here's another look at the patterns up for grabs:

Circa 1957:
... are those pockets or is the skirt eating her hands??

Circa 1961: just add clogging shoes!

Circa 1961, with Colonel Sanders bowtie.

 

My Abingdon fabric finds

I'm back from my travels, and I'm happy to say that I did not return empty-handed!

My company has an office in Abingdon, a small town seven or eight miles from Oxford in England.   Most of my trip was spent there (and mostly in meetings) but I did schedule a few days for sight-seeing.  And what lover of sewing goes sight-seeing without checking out whether there's fabric to see as well?

A quick Google turned up Mason's right in Abingdon -- I was surprised, as I figured that if there was a fabric store to be found, it would be in Oxford.  Better yet, it was just around the corner from where I planned to catch the bus anyway.  Mason's actually has three storefronts:  apparel and quilting fabric is at 20 Bath Street, ribbons and trim and other crafting odds and ends are next door at 22 Bath Street, plus a nearby home decor fabric store.

The apparel fabric store is small, but jam-packed.  Reviews I found stated that it was rather disorganized, but I found the fabrics to be more or less grouped by type.  I didn't see a lot of really fancy stuff, and the prices seemed reasonable to me -- not bargain-basement cheap, but not out of sight like the fabric stores I dipped into in London a year and a half ago, either.  I went into the haberdashery annex next door briefly too, but nothing caught my eye.

I told myself when I stopped in on Friday morning, that I would just browse and that was it:  I have a ton of fabric at home and I didn't want to be lugging a heavy sack of material around Oxford with me all day.  A nice practical resolution, and I kept to it with some regret.  But when it became apparent that I would spend my second sight-seeing day in Oxford too, I figured I could manage to get back to Abingdon in time to hit Mason's before closing.  (I had hoped to find a day tour to Stonehenge that I could join, but I guess they're not so popular in January!  Plus, there were still a lot of things I wanted to do in Oxford.)

Two of the fabrics I had spotted the day before had vanished from the shelves, but I found others worthy of my love.  Here's what came home with me:  9 meters, and 48 pounds ($75) total.

Sorry for the poor-quality photo: I didn't want wait until the weekend to take a photo in daylight.   The top and bottom pieces are lawn, the dark green print on black is micro-corduroy, and the brownish gray pinstripe is a bottom-weight cotton that has little, widely-spaced flowers embroidered on it -- should be fun playing around with the stripe direction and flower placement on that one!

I really enjoyed my trip, whirlwind though it was.  If you haven't visited Oxford, I highly recommend it!   Hopefully I'll get another chance to go back someday, as there's definitely more to do and see.  I could easily spend another whole day in the Pitt Rivers museum alone.  It's good to be home, though,  and I'm looking forward to sewing this weekend.  I've had my next project planned for weeks now, which is very unlike me!