Polka Dot Links: Sustainable Sewing & More!

Some favorite sewing-related links from the past few weeks:

• Susannah at Cargo Cult Craft had the stats on "Sustainability and your wardrobe" (see above image). Definitely gave me a twinge of guilt about all those muslins I've been making...
• Gertie of Blog for Better Sewing gave us a "Humble History of the House Dress"
• Melissa of Fehr Trade has been writing some great reviews of sewing magazines and books (pattern drafting! exciting!). Her post about Susan Khalje's "Bridal Couture" being a must-have made me wish I hadn't sold my copy used before it got expensive and rare. (I bought it thinking I'd make my own wedding dress, and sold it when I ended up buying one on eBay instead).
• Before her beautiful baby girl arrived, Christina of Assorted Notions showed off her last few maternity sewing projects.
• Threadbared dug up a great Sassy spread on "Dopey Fashion Poses" and got into some of the nastier aspects of "looking professional". Totally relevant to our ponytail discussion earlier this week, no?
• Cidell of Miss Celie's Pants showed off her Creamsicle Burda magazine dress.
• Peter of Male Pattern Boldness asked "Is there anything you wouldn't sew?" and wondered what the deal is with slips vs. linings.

Easy Access: Nursing Nightgowns That Double As Dresses?

Casual knit nursing dresses like this BelaBumBum Nursing Nightgown/Dress are perfect for new moms!

With only 6-10 weeks to go, I'm nearly done with maternity sewing. Once I finish my shirred reversible skirt and chartreuse cardigan jacket this weekend (which are both intended for post-preggo wear as well)--it's full speed ahead for breastfeeding wear!

My plan is to start with a few nursing nightgowns that can pass as dresses. I'm going to be feeding Cartoonist Baby every 2 hours in the beginning, and trying to nap as much as possible. It seems unnecessarily complicated to have to change my clothes every hour--but I want to look at least somewhat presentable for visitors.

And really, what is the difference between a dress and a nightgown, except that most nightgowns just aren't all that cute? With some exceptions--I'd totally wear a Belabumbum striped nursing gown (and I could make it for a lot less than the $100ish retail price!):

Actually, my current favorite maternity nightgown is not an official nightgown or maternity wear at all--it's just a stretchy cotton-lycra cap-sleeved polka-dot dress from a discount store. I wear it both for sleeping and for lounging around in on weekend mornings (you can see a bit of it at the top of this post). I could totally wear it out and about if I wanted to, especially in the summer.

I've already got the patterns in my stash, too. This is a modular nursing pattern--I've made it up twice already as a maternity sleep bra (with an full bust adjustment and extensive alterations to make it super-supportive) and would just need to attach the actual nightgown bit and maybe some cap or flutter sleeves:

Clearly stripes or polka dots need to be involved, right?

I have some striped fabric left over from the sleep bras, actually... I call them my Tim Burton bras. They don't look like much lying flat, but trust me that they fit fabulously!

And I have this nursing top pattern from the Ottobre Woman 02/2009 issue, which I could easily lengthen into a dress. It's a bit bland, but with cap or flutter sleeves and a fun fabric, it would be totally cute.

I also have plans for nursing bras with more serious architecture, plus tops and coverups and dresses that are too dressy for nightgown use, but more on those later.

P.S. Update from 2013: Once I actually had my baby, I didn't actually have much time to sew nursing nightgowns/dresses! I still get a TON of wear out of the nursing/maternity sleep bras I made shown above, but I ended up buying a few knit nursing nightgown/dresses from Japanese Weekend and wearing them to shreds. Here I am with my 3-day-old newborn in a nice black nightgown/dress hybrid that I pretty much lived in for the first week—it has a nice ruffled lettuce edge:

And here's a similar style available today with lace edging:

It's totally the little black dress for new moms!

Breaking the Ponytail Habit?

Typical Mikhaela hairstyle, from sketch of never-made maternity dress

In my previous post about my hair woes, I mentioned that my hair has two and a half basic styles:

• "Down" (when it feels like not fanning out into a reverse triangle)
• "Up" aka "Ponytail" (most other times)
• "Half Up, Half Down" (when I'm feeling WILD)

My hair is particularly uncooperative in the summer, when I tend to wear a ponytail maybe 90% of the time, both for work and weekend.

Now, I've always assumed that a ponytail is a totally cute and acceptable hair look--I see it on the red carpet sometimes, even. I like the way it feels to have my hair out of my face, and I feel more well-groomed than when my hair is down and trying to fly in a gazillion different directions. I even have a ponytail in the banner for this website!

But via Already Pretty, I found this debate on Corporette: Ponytails at the Office: Yay or Nay?

So--all these years when I've been wearing a ponytail thinking I look professional and/or adorable, has everyone just been thinking "oh, she's having a bad hair day" or "she's too lazy to do her hair"? I asked Cartoonist Husband and he confirmed that he assumed the days I have my hair in a ponytail were a result of hair struggles, not a deliberate style choice. And they sort of are, but... well...

So I've been asking myself: do I need to cut back on the ponytails (giving them up is NOT an option)? Or should I just do what feels comfortable? Maybe I can start doing half-up, half-down more often, or using clips or barrettes to keep my hair out of my face?

I think part of the issue is I really hate putting any product in my hair--in fact, ever since I've been pregnant, I've been so worried about chemicals affecting Cartoonist Baby that I just wash my hair with mild California Baby shampoo and no conditioner at all. And I always worry blow-drying will just dry my dry thick hair out even more.

What do you think? If you wear ponytails, do you see it as a deliberate style or a "can't deal with my hair today style"? How is it that I've missed this anti-ponytail attitude all these years?

Or maybe I knew about it all along and have just been in denial--before I even read that piece, I forced myself to wear my hair down for the fabulous Brooklyn baby shower three of my awesome friends threw us on Saturday (the lovely ladies in question pictured below). Recognize that dress?

A Life in (Mail-Order) Patterns

Some vintage patterns come in pristine factory folds. Some come carefully cut and refolded, with handwritten hints at their former owners' tastes (such as: "very good skirt pattern for me" or "make in brown check"). And some come with a history.

Enter Mrs. D. I first met Mrs D. in a 23-piece eBay lot entitled simply "Vintage Sewing Patterns - LOT DEAL @LOOK@":

You will be getting all of these patterns. Each envelope has the pattern and pattern guide for cutting. I don't know if all of the patterns are complete, but this lady seem to keep them all together but not guaranteed.

I tore the tape off the box barehanded when it arrived, crossing my fingers that a reasonable number of the patterns would be cute and within a few grades of my bust size (and they were, but we'll get to that!) But as I gingerly opened each brittle mail-order envelope and photographed the contents, I felt as if I was traveling through time.

Most vintage lots I've acquired are random mixes of envelope patterns from the 40s to the 80s, with little clue as to who owned or used them. But thanks to the mailing address that appeared on every one of these pattern envelopes, I knew they were all ordered by one particular woman in Missouri as she sewed throughout her life.

The oldest patterns in her careful collection seemed to be from the late 40s or early 50s (most of the postmarks are undated, but I used this Cemetarian article for reference). For example, this gorgeous deep-V Marian Martin 9279 day dress with pocket detail: bust size 32, postage, 1 cent.

The most recent ones are from 1990--I didn't even know mail-order patterns were still available then! The last one is a multi-size pattern, but from her 80s purchases I gather Mrs. D was sewing a bust size 42 at this point. And the postage had gone up to 18 cents.

Here's what I learned about "this lady":

• She probably had a daughter or two. There are four 1950s girls patterns in the collection, and I am so keeping the below two for when Cartoonist Baby gets old enough. The first one, Mail Order 3863, is from 1954 or earlier--I was able to date it by the newspaper comic strip pages she used to trace the bolero pattern. I think the second, Mail Order 9276, could make a fun modern party dress, with that lovely notched neckline and sash.
  
  
• She was probably on the shorter side. Many of the patterns in the lot are "half-size" patterns, meant for women 5'3" and under. That said, none of the misses' patterns seem to have been shortened for a smaller torso, so perhaps she either traced them, or never actually sewed them up. And I see no signs of any FBAs, but perhaps she was busty as well, as suggested by her note on the below Mail Order 1447 shirtwaist pattern from 1963: "cut shirt bigger." LOVE the tab details on the shoulder yoke, but I'm too tall for this one.
  
• She loved a trim button-front shirtwaist day dress, with pockets if possible. (Witness the Marian Martin 9096 at the top of this post). From her 50s and 60s orders, you'd almost think no other style of dress existed:

  Mail Order (Anne Adams) 4750, from 1958. Wouldn't this be great made up in perpendicular stripes as illustrated?

  

  Mail Order 9213. Check out the gored skirt with partial yoke and those cute cuffs (collar optional):

  

  Mail Order 4874, with its collar and pleats, is a more dressy variation on this theme--I imagine this in a polka-dot silk, especially with those gloves and bag. Though she could just as easily have done it in a cotton.

  

  It wasn't just her--the shirtwaist seems to be a staple of the mail-order pattern business, as evidenced by this pink tissue poster (enlarged version here) in one of the envelopes featuring "Pattern Hits of the Month--Voted Tops by Our Fashion Council for Style, Sewing Ease, Flattery."

  
• ...At least until the mid-1960s, when things got a little looser. Mrs. D had gone up a bit in bust size, and was trying out less fitted styles. Here's 8349, from 1964:
  

  And 9066, from 1963. It's not even belted!

  

  By the 70s and 80s, she was in bust sizes 40 or 42, and had gotten into relaxed jumpers (4785) and culottes (9069). I wonder if she made this tank in a polka dot and wore with sunglasses?

  

  It's not 50s style, but it is belted and pocketed:

  
• She made at least occasional forays into embroidery and crochet. Or not--the transfers on the three apron and embroidery patterns are unused, and I can't tell if she ever made the very 70s owl crochet pattern:
  

  

  By 1983, she was quite relaxed!

  

Of course, there's much more I don't know about her, such as:

• Did she also sew with envelope patterns? There was one mixed in--a 1950s Simplicity envelope pattern for a girls dress--but the pattern was so shredded that I could barely see the illustration. Perhaps she stored those separately.
• Did she ever wear pants? Evening dresses? Blouses? Suits? Perhaps she bought those ready-to-wear, but her mail-order sewing preference seems to have been strongly in the day-dress camp.

So there you have it! A life in mail order patterns! I've made a Flickr gallery so you can see the whole collection and I've been entering all the patterns into the Vintage Pattern Wiki (here's one, for example). I'm keeping all the non-half-size shirtwaists, but as soon as I set up an Etsy shop I'll be selling all the larger sizes, half sizes, and styles that don't quite suit me, like this "Patt-o-Rama 8356" (too bulky in the bust area for me):

Pattern Stashing/Destashing, Pt. 2: Vintage Edition

In the first part of this series, I covered the modern patterns I picked up recently in anticipation of the post-preggo return of my waist. In part two: a look at my recent vintage stashing and destashing.

Although I've bought individual vintage patterns here and there on Etsy or eBay (like the one for my orange silk floral maternity dress), most of my collection are the result of lucky bids on poorly photographed and/or described eBay pattern lots. The ones with clear pictures and detailed descriptions usually sell for too high, but there's less competition on the fuzzy ones. Said lots tend to contain some patterns way out of my size or taste zone--but I can resell those or give them away (and I will, I swear!)

Stashing!

First up--the pattern at the top of this post, a lovely scoop-neck dress with circle skirt from 1948. Here's a less frighteningly faceless view from the Vintage Pattern Wiki:

I'd definitely go knee-length in a lightweight cotton, and I'm not sure I'd do the swirly lace treatment. But I don't know that I'll get to it anytime soon, as it's hardly nursing-friendly.

From 1945, a crisp, practical shirtwaist day dress with nice big pockets and a center front pleat. I'm loving the striped cap-sleeve look. The handwritten penciled note reads "very good skirt pattern for me." Me too!

The below ruffled sweetheart neckline housedress is actually a "maternity dress or pinafore", and is super adjustable thanks to the back tie belt. It reminds me of Gertie's recent ode to housedresses (and this 40s housedress in particular). I'd lower the neckline and go for the tinier ruffle treatment. And I have no idea why her eyes are closed.

This 1941 button-front makes me wish I was a hat and gloves girl. It's begging to be made up in polka-dot rayon... "The button fronts are top-stitched to the side fronts for a smartly tailored effect." For sure!

Oh goodness I love a shirtwaist--and with a gathered bust over a fitted midriff, too!

I mentioned this one in a recent post, but I'll show it off again because I love it SO much (and thanks to Sarah, I've learned it's officially from 1940). In case you hadn't noticed, the "vertical seaming in the front of the frock lends slenderizing flattery to this design."

And before we move on from one-piece dresses--I'm not usually a 60s gal, but this one is my size with a wonderful tie-neck detail. Both the pencil and full skirts are fabulous, and I love the layered polka-dot view:

In the two-piece department... This jacket/skirt combo is undated but the (unprinted) pattern pieces are still in factory folds--1940s, right? I love the shaping so much I could be inspired to bend my "no high necklines" rule...

Here's a "Simple to Make" two-piece dress from 1943, with more hand-written notes ("brown + white check"--no thanks!). I wonder if I could make this work for the office?

It'll be a while before Cartoonist Baby is old enough, but this 1954 sundress and bolero mail-order is worth holding onto:

I'm uncertain about this Hollywood men's shirt pattern -- it's in Masheka's collar size, but I find the men in this illustration to be strangely terrrifying:

So that's some of what's staying around. Since I have a 36" high bust, I'll have to grade some of these a few sizes (I hear that even if you lose all your pregnancy weight it takes up to 9 months for your ribcage and hips to realign). But that's a skill I've been meaning to learn anyway, and I'll have some help from the latest addition to my sewing library, Grading Techniques for Fashion Design. The book explains manual pattern grading in detail, and has incredibly detailed, illustrated step-by-step directions for accurately grading dozens of styles of bodices, skirts, sleeves, dresses, pants, shirts, etc. by one or many sizes; the 1974 edition can be had used for about $10.

As for what's (probably) going...

Destashing:

It's super cute and in my size, but it's just too big and blousy up top for my figure:

Similarly, double-breasted + full-busted can = total disaster (with the exception of trenchcoats). This fabulous 1946 suit probably deserves a better home:

And once again, I just need to admit to myself that square-dancing is not in my future:

By the way, speaking of the Vintage Sewing Patterns Wiki--I do try, whenever I acquire a vintage pattern--whether or not I plan to keep it--to check to see if it's in the Wiki. And if not, I add it--you can see my contributions here.

Back to (Baby) School!

I may be extremely pregnant, but I'll let you in on a little secret--I know NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING about babies. Sure I've read lots of books on the subject, and held the occasional little cousin at a family gathering... but I can count the times I've changed a diaper on one hand. My brother is only three years younger than me, so I was never really old enough to help Mom out when he was tiny. And Masheka is an only child.

So we've been going to baby school. It sounds silly, but I do feel slightly less clueless than I did before. For the past five weeks we took an intensive childbirth class running Wednesday nights until 9:45 p.m. Last night was breastfeeding class; next week is infant care class and an infant safety/CPR workshop. And then there was the Babywearing 101 workshop where we learned to safely use all the fabulous carriers my mom has sewn for us (our tentative verdict--mei tai carriers are way easier than ring slings or wraps). And don't forget the cloth diaper workshop where we'll learn some strategies for using our 67 cloth diapers (also made by Mom). Keep in mind we live in an apartment without a washer/dryer).

And then today we have a mandatory all-day orientation and class at the birth center where we're hoping to deliver the little girl.

Whew! I'm already exhausted!

And in case you're wondering, since I never do image-free posts, the above is the very first thing I made for Cartoonist Baby, a pair of "Better than Booties Baby Socks" (free pattern by Ann Budd downloaded from Knitting Daily). Modeled on the back of my cat Ronnie, for no apparent reason.

I win! I win!

Even though I dropped out!

And I'm not talking about the mini-wardrobe contest. A few weeks ago I mentioned here that I made the painful (but freeing) decision to retire from regular freelance weekly political cartooning. I'd been doing it for 8 years, but the newspaper market had gone sour, I was sick of the vicious hate mail, and my interests had changed.

Anyway, one of my few clients remaining at the end was Detroit's alternative weekly, the Metro Times. Well, I heard this morning that I came in second place for editorial cartooning in the Detroit Society of Professional Journalists' annual awards!

Last year I came in third and the judges said I was a "welcome breath of fresh air with great promise for the future." Sigh...

As you can imagine, while drawing for the Metro Times, I did a lot of cartoons about the economy, unemployment, and the auto industry, and I got some nice emails from laid-off auto workers about cartoons like this one. Here are two of the more popular ones:

Not a bad way to go out, right?

"Magic to Make!"

Now, I don't square dance. And although this pattern is in my high bust measurement, I can't think of a single upcoming occasion in my life meriting a puff-sleeved dirndl dress with giant tiers and a not-particularly-low neckline. It's certainly not easy-access nursing wear.

But these girls are having so much fun it almost seems a shame to destash their little pattern party. After all--it's "magic to make!"

(Like yesterday's fabulous 1940s pattern, acquired via fuzzily photographed eBay lot for a pittance).

By the way, when I first got this, I somehow misread the hand-written note on the front as "irresistible." But I think it actually says "4 yards" + something indecipherable.