Hinterland #1

Well I made up my first Hinterland Dress, after much pattern fiddling & two muslins (two more than I usually do!) I had to make a lot of changes to this one for a variety of reasons. 

First I had to make a small bust adjustment, as this pattern is designed for a C cup. This was the first time I've actually gone to the trouble to do it, and I'm glad I did, it really worked out. Because of the size differential, this adjustment actually got rid of the bust dart entirely. 

I also added a 1/4" neckline dart (something I often do) and then had to take in a 1" dart on each back shoulder. It was a lot! But the back neckline still wasn't sitting quite right, so after reading a bunch of online reviews both on IG and in the blog world, I adjusted the shoulder slope. When I change the shoulder in a pattern, it's usually to take up the outer edge of (usually) just the right shoulder. But here I took 1/2" up from the NECK edge, tapering out to nothing by the shoulder seam. This was unusual for me, but it really worked. After that the bodice seemed to fit quite well. And so I went ahead with a wearable muslin! 

The changes I made to this particular dress were to lengthen the pocket bag so that I could anchor it into the waist seam - that reduces floppiness, which is great. I used an old rayon from my stash that I'm not overly attached to, so that I wouldn't balk at making mistakes! 

There are still a couple of things I would like to adjust with this pattern. First, the front neckline does gape a bit -- I hope I didn't stretch it out (staystitched it right after cutting but...) but thinking it might need to be adjusted by another 1/4" dart. I often have to take up to 1/2" out of the centre front so this doesn't surprise me terribly. 

The other change is that the waistline, after all my adjustments, is too hi-low for my tastes. I like the height of the front waistline, but then it dips down quite a bit to the side seams and across the back, and I'm not fond of that. I am going to straighten out the waistline to the length of the front bodice all around, and then make another to see if all these adjustments do the trick.

I don't usually spend so much time on fitting a simple dress like this. However, I bought the Creative Hinterland design course, so want to get the fit perfect so that I can begin on the design options and know any issues I'm having are from my redrafting and not the original I've begun on ! 

In any case, this is quite a wearable, light summer dress and I'm sure I will get some use out of it. It was a challenge but I'm happy I followed through on it. 

Weekend Review: Vintage Fashion

 

Vintage Fashion / Ottilie Godfrey
London: Arcturus, c2013.
128 p.

I picked up this little book at the library -- I mean, look at that cover! It's so charming. The subtitle of this one is "Classic 20th Century styles and designs", and it does sort of live up to that. It covers the vintage eras of the 20th C., namely the 20s to the 80s. Each chapter covers the highlights, with famous names of the decade, particularly memorable looks and trends (including models), and lots of photos. 

It's entertaining to flip through, even if it is really focused heavily on Europe and North American designers and fashions, and features so many of the models of those eras.

I enjoyed the overview; if you know fashion already, you're going to be familiar with nearly everything in this book, but there were a couple of photos that I hadn't seen before, and it was nice to be able to study some representative examples closely. 

Not a must have, but a fun book to look through from the library. Lots of great details to enjoy, and a bare bones historical tour for those new to the field. 

July Sewing Plans & Updates

It's July! Time to think about what I want to accomplish in my sewing room this summer! 

Everything slows down a bit in July so I am not making huge plans but there are a few things I want to get to. Aside from regular sewing I have also started an embroidery project that I can work on outside - because I know I am going to want to be outside & not in the basement quite as often!

But these are my main areas to focus on this summer:

Pattern Tracing - I have many patterns I would like to prep, including some Make Nine projects, a couple of Burda magazine ones & a couple of Indies that have snuck into my queue ;) 

Mending - I have some hems to shorten & a summer shirt to fix for my husband. I also want to alter the shoulder area of a thrifted dress so that it fits better. 

Use stash - I have buying quite a lot of fabric so far this year (almost all thrifted) but have great pieces in my stash. While sorting recently I found so much yellow - so my primary focus is to sew up some yellow this summer, with maybe some blues too. I have a fun 80s print to use up as well & am quite excited about that project! 

And otherwise, just to continue the ongoing stash and wardrobe cull/reorganization. I have to do that in small spurts as I find it overwhelming to make a big mess all at one time. Slowly but surely. 

I hope your summer plans include some fun as well!

Happy Canada Day!

 

Hoping you have an enjoyable day off with sewing, reading, snacks, 

fireworks and whatever you may like!

Weekend Review: Stitches of Tradition

 

Stitches of Tradition / Marcie Rendon,
illus. by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
NY: HarperCollins, c2024.

This Ojibwe story honours the ribbon skirt as a tradition that stitches together generations. A young girl gets her first ribbon skirt thanks to her grandmother's sewing prowess. They measure and cut and create a skirt for her to wear to a baby naming ceremony — and then as she grows older, new ribbon skirts to wear to a Fall Ceremony, a swearing in as her aunt becomes a district judge, and finally to her own coming of age ceremony. As she grows, she learns to help with the sewing and continue the traditions. The text features repeated paragraphs that both ground the story and move it forward, making it an engaging read aloud.

The text and illustrations are both by Ojibwe artists, one from Minnesota and one from Barrie. Together they've created a heart warming book about the connections between generations of women and the traditions that bind families. The text is sprinkled with Ojibwe terms, with a glossary and an author's note at the back, explaining the importance of ribbon skirts. The topic and the colour saturated illustrations make this a visually appealing book for young readers and their elders. It's a gentle story full of love, connection, and sewing!

Quilt Canada 2025!

Last week I was fortunate enough to take in Quilt Canada for a day, seeing as how it was held only a couple of hours away! I had fun going down as part of a bus trip with a local quilt guild, which made it much easier - no driving the 401, just hanging out on a bus and relaxing with a bunch of other quilt people :) 

It was a great show, lots of exhibits from different artists and guilds alongside the National Juried show. It took me over 2 hours just to go through the exhibits, before I could even think of visiting the vendors. I was pleased to see that there was an exhibit by Canadian SAQA members, a national show called Renewal. 

Here are just a few of my faves that I saw there! 

Best of Show: After the Fires by Wanda Lumsden

Winter Solstice by Susan Selby (loved this one!)

Of course I couldn't resist a little treat for myself as well -- I picked up some LDH Scalloped Pinking Shears. I had been eyeing them before going, and when I tried them out I decided to just go for it! They are so pretty. 

I don't usually get the chance to go to shows like this, so it was really fantastic. Enjoyed the show and the company!

Weekend Review: REDress

 

REDress / Jaime Black-Morsette, ed.
Winnipeg, MB: Portage & Main Press, c2025.
160 p.

Today's book is a feature for National Indigenous People's Day, June 21. I read this from my library, and it was a powerful read. It looks at art and how artistic projects have been used to draw attention to issues in the Indigenous community in Canada, particularly the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women campaign. (MMIW)

The title refers both to actual redress of wrongs, and to the Red Dress project, the best known project to draw attention to MMIW. This project uses red dresses, hung from trees, clotheslines, and in public spaces, to represent lives lost in this ongoing tragedy. It's a project that was begun by artist Jaime Black-Morsette, the editor of this collection. It's been installed in a variety of museums as well, and it is haunting. This book gives a bit of the history and purpose of this activist art installation.

There are also essays on other activist art projects, like beaded moccasin vamps also meant to draw attention to missing women. There are a number of ways that clothing has been used symbolically in the works included in this anthology, alongside other essays and statements from Indigenous women, Elders, grassroots community activists, artists, academics, and family members affected by the scourge of MMIW. 

There are many clear photos and imagery to support the essays, and the book is very well produced. While the theme makes it a hard read at times, it's so important, and I felt it was a great look at this topic as well as 15 years of the Red Dress Project. Definitely worth searching out.