Sewing Vintage: Vogue 9643 Blouse

One of my personal goals for this year was to start sewing more things for myself and blog about it. I really love vintage patterns and find it so enjoyable sewing in a more vintage style. For instance, no one sews zippers in the side seams anymore, but when you look at a vintage pattern it will often instruct you to insert side seam zippers. I'm also a little bit (a lot) obsessed with the 1960's and have found some really fabulous patterns from this era. My favorite are by McCall's and Vogue from the early to mid 1960's. I'm not sure why except the illustrations from these two companies are absolutely fabulous. I just can't get enough of them!

Last week I was searching for blouse patterns and came upon this wonderful Vogue pattern. I got it in the mail a few days ago and as I had just finished an order, I decided to take a day off and sew this blouse for myself. It's good to give yourself a break now and then and sew something fun! I decided not to do any alterations and just see how it would turn out. I know that size 12/32 usually fits me well so I took a chance. I think it turned out rather nice! I could probably take in a half an inch at the bust/neck and back, but it's not bad. It's nice that there's room for movement since it is a woven shirt with no stretch. I also added in a side lap zipper. I haven't inserted this type of zipper in a long time! I used a vintage zipper I had on hand although it doesn't match the fabric perfectly, but I don't really mind. That's why I made a lap zipper so it wouldn't show. 

A little tip on using vintage patterns: I really recommend you trace the pattern and try to not use the original tissue pattern to cut out your garment. It doesn't take long and tracing gives you a chance to get to "know" your pattern better. I do this for all patterns I use anyway. 

Finally, after trying on the blouse, I realized the neckline was fairly wide and there was no way I could wear a bra without the straps showing. So I sewed in some snaps and a piece of bias tape I made. It's so easy to do and solves the problem perfectly! I love a wide neckline like this and hate wearing strapless bras for everyday garments. 

I hope you enjoy these pictures and perhaps it will inspire you to sew more vintage clothing for yourself! I already have several more patterns lined up to sew for my spring/summer wardrobe! Happy sewing!

Pattern: Vogue 9643 (copyrighted 1961) 

Fabric: Printed cotton lawn made in Japan (I was able to squeeze out this top with the tiny bit of fabric I had left, not quite a yard!)

Time: Afternoon to evening, about 5-6 hours or so.

P.S. I used sponge rollers for my hair. It's been my regular style for the past few weeks and I love how easy it is. Let me know if anyone would like to see a tutorial for this!

Sewing Patterns: More Sizes!

Several people asked if I would add more sizes, so over the weekend I updated the denim skirt pattern with several new sizes. The sizes are now graded 1" apart and range from 00-20. For those who already purchased the pattern, I have sent you a new copy of my updated pattern. Let me know if you have any questions! :)

New Sewing Patterns!

I have been working on making my patterns available for quite a long time now and I am so happy to finally be able to share with you my very first sewing pattern! I picked a simple design to start with while I learn the ropes of creating pdf patterns. This pattern includes sizes XS-L (edit: Now available in sizes 00-20), the same size range as my ready-to-wear clothing line. I'm open to adding more sizes and would love to hear from you if you are interested in other sizes and which ones you would most like to have.

This first pattern you may remember from my Fall/Winter 2012 collection and also my Spring/Summer 2013 collection. It's a basic denim button-up skirt, slim fitting and mid to high waist. I used a cotton denim with no stretch, however you could use a stretch denim if you want a little more movement in this skirt.

The pattern is available in my Etsy shop HERE. I've also started a Flickr group for anyone who would like to share pictures of their finished projects using my patterns. Please let me know if you have any questions! I would love to hear from you!



P.S. A little shout out to my sister Kate for creating my lovely new logo and making the line drawing for my pattern!

Phoebe blouse in Spoonflower fabric

A little over a month ago a lovely lady contacted me about making the Phoebe blouse in some Spoonflower fabric. I was so excited when she said she wanted to use the prints by Melissa Wastney of Tiny Happy. I've read Melissa's blog for some years now and have always admired her work. I thought it would be fun to share a few pictures of the finished blouse. I can't wait to see how it looks on Meredith!

1960's Inspired Jumper Dress

 

Over the last several months I have been working on something a little different than my usual designs and I'm happy I can finally share it with you. This jumper dress is very much inspired by my love of the 1960's. I have always dreamed of making a dress with a fabric covered belt and buttons. I think they add the perfect touch to a vintage inspired garment. I was so excited to find someone who has a machine to make fabric covered belt buckles and I hired her to make me some for this dress. I think this style is so flattering for many body shapes and hope to make a summer version of this dress in a lighter cotton fabric. Of course I'm always open to custom orders and would be happy to discuss other fabrics if you are interested. I hope you enjoy these pictures that were taken during a snow storm! I know it's a little late as everyone is thinking of spring and summer clothing. But I didn't want to wait until next year to show you this dress! 

: : : s h o p : : :

Anna Allen Clothing mailing list

Please join my mailing list for shop updates as well as new collections and soon to come sewing patterns!

Subscribe to my mailing list!

* indicates required

Email Address *

Everyday Curls Video

This post contains affiliate links. Scroll down for coupon codes, updated 5/30/16

Yes, you read that correctly! I made a video! I have thought so long about making a video tutorial about something, but honestly I get a little freaked out about being on camera. So this time instead of talking in the video and messing up a thousand times, I decided to do a voice over. It made things a tiny bit less traumatic for my "basically" first video (I made a really terrible video several years ago on how to have Heidi style braids for short hair).

I hope you enjoy this little tutorial on how I curl my hair and please be gentle with me! I might make more videos, however it did take me an entire day to film and edit this video!! I'd love to figure out a way to possibly make some sewing tutorials as well. Maybe even a "day in the life of a cat" video! I can't promise I'll make any more for awhile, but any suggestions on other videos you'd like to see?

xoxo
Anna



P.S. Here's the blog post I did last year which is basically the same as this video tutorial, only I add in more information about the products I used. Also for anyone interested, the top I'm wearing I recently made using a pattern from my very first clothing collection called the "Phoebe" top.

P.P.S. Here are some coupon codes for the curling wand if anyone is interested! 

(New discounts! Updated 5/30/16)

ANY wand $28! Use code: PICKONE (expires 5/31)

Buy any wand 50% off, get a FREE Style Setter Straightener and Free Shipping! Use code GETYOURS

Any set $88! Use code ANYSET88 (expires 5/31)

Silhouette Straightener + Argan oil $39. Use code QUICK39


(The codes below may or may not work. Some have expired.)

$110 OFF any set! Use code LOVETHIS

70% off all wands + Free US/Canada Shipping. Use code CURLS70

60% OFF all wands + Free US Shipping. Use code CURLS50

50% off Sitewide (excludes collections, haircare, access) + Free US Shipping! Use code SAVEBIG

Curl Jam + Dryer + WT Shampoo & Conditioner $179. Use code ITSALLGOOD

Megastar + Argan + FREE US Shipping $79. Use code MEGAGOOD

Power Couple Set + Free US Shipping $79. Use code POWERSET

Buy 2 CLASSIC WANDS + Free US Shipping $58. Use code 2FORME

Titan 3 + Free US Shipping $89. Use code 3WAYCURLS

Bold Dryer + Free US Shipping $59. Use code BOLD59

All Sets (including Octowands!) + Free US Shipping $99. Use code 99SETS

White Truffle Collection $49. Use code HAIRCARE

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive 10% if you make a purchase using this link. However, the item featured in this post was purchased by me and I was not paid to write this review/tutorial. All opinions are my own.  

Christmas time is here! Happiness and cheer!

Merry Christmas! I cannot even believe Christmas is one week away! This time of year always goes by so fast, but this year I decided I'm not going to stress out if I don't get everything done. I'm just going to have fun! Over Thanksgiving I put together a little gingerbread house decorating party with my in-laws and I think everyone really enjoyed it. The party was really last minute, but I was able to find enough time to make all the gingerbread houses for decorating (highly recommend this recipe). The Christmas cookie making was also totally last minute and it turned into a lovely evening with my sweetheart decorating cookies and enjoying the coziness of our Christmas tree. We thought this year we wouldn't be able to hunt for a Christmas tree in the forest because we were late in getting our registration in, but I found a different place that didn't require we purchase a permit early, so that worked out perfectly! It's so much fun hiking into the woods to find the perfect tree! I think we did pretty well this year, if I do say so myself! Since this was the first year with a new kitty in the house, we weren't quite sure how he would react to a Christmas tree. But so far he hasn't tried to climb it or play with the ornaments. Although one morning we did find two straw ornaments on the floor! He knows he's not supposed to play with the tree, though, and he's generally pretty good about it. We are so lucky to have a pretty chill cat. Speaking of the cat, we successfully took him on a 12 hour road trip over Thanksgiving and the whole trip went fantastically well. So much better than I thought! He absolutely loved staying at my in-law's house over the holiday too. There were STAIRS to run up and down and lots of space to play in. I think he realized how much fun carpet is because he doesn't slip like he does on wood floors when he's in crazy running around mode! haha. That cat, he really cracks me up!

I hope you are enjoying the season and not stressing out too much! Wishing you all the most joyous Christmas and a very happy New Year! xoxo