Adventures in Sewing... Part 6

Hello lovely readers! I hope you're all having a greet weekend so far. I've been spending a lot of time attacking those last few moving boxes that just seem to linger for months without magically emptying themselves as one hopes.

And in one of those recalcitrant receptacles I found another McCall Style News booklet from May of 1948. The booklet is full of lovely illustrations of 1940's fashion and much to my delight, also has an installment of Adventures in Sewing!

This one very helpfully goes into detail about basting necklines and waistlines to keep the fabric from becoming misshapen while handling.

Now if you're as horribly blind as I am (in fact, I'm just a hair away from being legally blind without my contacts!) there is a close-up of this lesson at the very bottom.

But about that dress! The layers, the color, the silhouette! I want one! The pattern in the illustration is McCall 7258. I have to say, I much prefer it in red to the muted versions they ended up using on the pattern envelope:

Image courtesy of Pretty Pattern Shop on Etsy

But seriously, ooh la la! I'm going to have to keep an eye open for a copy closer to my size (I'm lazy and prefer not to grade patterns unless my life depends on it or someone offers me chocolate as incentive).

On another note, we have another new sponsor on A Few Threads Loose this week. In fact, it's one of my favorite pattern shops on Etsy so I know you'll like it too! If you're in a pattern hunting mood, I definitely recommend you check out She'll Make You Flip on Etsy.

Image courtesy of She'll Make You Flip on Etsy.

And until December 31st, A Few Threads Loose readers get an exclusive discount! Just use coupon code, "THREADS20" at checkout for a generous 20% discount.


I'm already seriously eying a handful, including this awesome beauty:

I have a thing for scallops. - McCall 8735 from She'll Make You Flip.

Sadly there will be no sewing for me this weekend... just grocery shopping and more homework. My assignment is drafting a front and back bodice with flanges. I have also assigned myself the task of finding some examples of flanges that aren't horribly hideous. I think I might fail that one :)

So without further ado, your sewing lesson courtesy of Marian Corey and McCall Style News!

A close-up for those as blind as myself.

Adventures in Sewing... Part 5

Some of you might remember that I have a rather large collection of vintage sewing pattern flyers from companies like Butterick, Simplicity, McCall's and Vogue. They are great sources of information, good for researching patterns and styles from all sorts of eras.
Among my collection are several McCall Style News Booklets, some of which I have digitized in my Etsy shop. My favorite part about these is that in the late 1940's, many of them included little snippet articles with great sewing tips.

These little articles were usually a one page feature called "Adventures in Sewing" by Marian Corey, author of the 1951 "McCall's Complete Book of Dressmaking".

When I first started A Few Threads Loose, I shared a few of these in a series of posts and today I have finally found another to share!

 Today's Adventures in Dressmaking lesson comes from McCall Style News from June, 1948.

The lesson in question shows you how to face and stabilize scallops. This is a handy thing to know how to do and can be used for scallop hems, scallop trim closures, and other uniquely shaped facings.
Here is a close-up:

The dress being mentioned is McCall 7294, worn by the lovely lady in the middle of the picture below. Should you ever be lucky enough to find this pattern, you'll have a hand tutorial for the hardest part!

For those of you who want to add some decorative scallops to your current sewing projects, I have a  a most indispensable tool digitized to help you create your own, should you want one. This scallop ruler is so handy for adding scalloped edges to your sewing projects, and for re-drafting the scallops on a pattern that you've re-sized.

To make your own, you can just print it out on thick paper and cut, or print it on regular paper and paste it to thick construction paper.
Get the free Scallop Ruler PDF.

Check out these other great Adventures in Sewing posts:

• All About Saddle Stitching
• How to Enlarge a Pattern at the Bust
• About Marking Your Patterns