Vintage Pledge Two: Hit or Miss

This is my second finished make from my three makes vintage pattern pledge.  My first, a skirt from a Betsey Johnson design is here and these trousers are from the same pattern.  I made these a while ago but it took me a while to get them photographed and even longer to blog about.  They are a mixed success.

Forgive the rather anonymous poses,  these pictures were taken the weekend our cat Mindy died so my face was all red and puffy from crying.  Anyway, back to the trousers.  They were made from Alison Glass Handcrafted in Geese which is a monotone graphite white print.  The end result was a rather high contrast for trousers as you can see from the snap below so I dyed them with Dylon hand wash dye in navy.  I tend to keep away from the machine stuff have ruined a machine seal with it in the past.

Like the skirt, the pattern fits pretty well and I like a wide trouser but the fabric doesn't really have sufficient drape to carry off this shape and without heeled shoes on they do not really work.   They also don't have pockets and whilst this was OK with the skirt, trousers without pockets always seem a little pointless to me.  I feel self conscious wearing them and find it hard to match them with any tops in my wardrobe.  I don't wear much dark clothing as it tends to drain me of colour.  The top in these pics is from a Japanese pattern book,  'She Wears the Pants' and all details can be found here.

There is a very '90s feel to these, and I guess to many of the modern swathe of Batik prints that are coming through at the moment and I don't think it's really for me.  I really fell for this fabric when it came out but sometimes you need to look beyond that and ask yourself if it truly suits you and I think this one is definitely up for question.  

Ho hum.  Not sure what to do with these,  they haven't even had a wearing yet!  I will be moving on to the jacket part of this pattern next in mustard corduroy and I think that is distinctly safer territory!

My Betsey Johnson Pattern Collection

For a frequent dress maker, I have a modest number of patterns.  I tend to keep only what I will realistically make, patterns that are my size or close or the occasional patterns that is so beautiful/kitsch/of its time that I feel bound to hold on to it.  I have more vintage patterns than modern and my favourites are from the 1970s.  I was born in 1970 so the aesthetic is one I grew up with and I like a little homespun ditsy prairie look with a nod to 1940s and 1900s so Betsey Johnson is my perfect pattern designer, this is my collection.

Lots of the big name pattern houses featured young designers in their seasonal collection.  There is an excellent blog post here showing Buttericks range of young designers, collated by vintage enthusiast and collector Lizzie Bramlett- she now blogs at The Vintage Traveller.  I have been collecting mine from Etsy and Ebay for a few years.

Butterick 3292 was my missing link, a pattern that I had seen here at Gold Country Girls a while back in a glorious three part feature on Betsey Johnson at Butterick, had to have and was scouting around for ever since.  I randomly came across it recently in Canada on ebay and stayed up for a late night bid.  I was prepared to pay big bucks but I got lucky, no one else bid and it was under £5.  What can I say?  I love them all, every item, the colours, everything about it.  I have some mustard corduroy on order and plan to make the jacket first.

Butterick 6535 was another lucky purchase.  I bought it with a couple of other designer Butterick patterns for very little- again on ebay. There are no instructions but the cutting layout and all the pieces are there.  The shirt and maxi skirt would be my choice on this one.  You can see them made up for the original pattern promotion here.

I think this was an Etsy purchase on a bit of a whim.  I do like an Empire neckline and princess bodice- both features that work well for me.  I am not usually a short dress wearer though. I would have to lengthen this but that is easily doable.  The shoes remind me of the new Orla Kiely range for Clarks.

I bought Butterick 3848 from Etsy last year- maybe around £10.  When I took part in Me-Made-May'14 one of the highlights on the Instagram tag feed was a photo posted by someone who made and wore it first time round.

I have made view C wrap skirt (longer length) of Butterick 4089 and have worn it extensively.  I was inspired by Ruth's version and she inspired me again with her broderie cotton lace interpretation of skirt E.  This is a pattern I shall definitely revisit.

I can't remember where Butterick 6534 came from but I do know that I didn't pay much for it and I see it for sale at a high price tags- £15-20ish.  You can see these patterns sewn from the original catalogue here.  Betsey Johnson produced a lot of stretch knit patterns for Butterick.  These tops are high on my to do list.  I might lengthen them a little but I have used the pockets before and they are a really cute addition to a top.

Butterick 6838 has a rather fragile envelope but the contents are complete.  I am a little unsure about the long  knit coat/jacket option, and I wonder how successful the tank top would be but the shirt shape is good with great yoke details front and back.

As a spur into action, I have been over to A Vintage Sewing Odyssey and joined in with The Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge.  

"I, Kerry of verykerryberry, pledge to make 3 garments from my Betsey Johnson 1970s pattern collection in 2015".

Want to join? Visit Marie, or her co host Kerry of Kestral Makes to find out more.