Swivels: Footwork
Finally getting to the promised footwork part of swivels – better late than never, right? I hope so.
Finally getting to the promised footwork part of swivels – better late than never, right? I hope so.
As a swing dancer, I’m always on the lookout for vintage-y pieces that aren’t precious real stuff. Silky blouses with flowy long sleeves are one of the hardest garments to find and are highly coveted among my friends. We get our inspiration from these dancers, among others:
So every time I see a 70’s necktie blouse with lovely gathered yokes, pintucks, bright colors and bold prints, I’m sad that it looks so darn 70’s! They’re affordable, sturdy, and cute. But the necktie just won’t work.
A couple weeks ago I needed a “shiny shirt” for a performance, and rather than risk wearing real vintage I pulled out this F21 blouse from the pile and attempted some Swing Era Transplant Surgery!
Here’s the steps in case you want to try:
Put the blouse and mark the new collar. (My seamline is marked with the blue pins on the viewer’s right.) Try it both buttoned up and unbuttoned. I went as wide & long as I thought I could get away with!
Mark your edgeline (where your pins were). If you’re smart, use disappearing ink or chalk. I’m not smart and usually use a Sharpie cause it’s handy, so I made tiny dots…hope you can see! Your lines should be more or less straight – no need to curve the collar tip.
Transfer markings to the opposite side.
Staystitch a line 1/8″ inside your edge to stabilize the layers.
Carefully cut along your edgeline, and apply Fray-Check if needed.
Grab your trim, swap out the thread colors on the machine if needed (I changed to black on top and white in the bobbin), and apply trim along the entire collar edge to cover your raw edge.
If your trim is double sided (like rickrack) you can just fold it back at the corner instead of trying to turn the corner – it’s a tight corner, so it’s worth finding doublesided trim!
My project’s a little messy, but that’s not visible unless you’re photographing it on macro. 🙂
Here’s the finished product – I love how the contrasting trim highlights my new collar!
If you try this project, send me a link or a picture – I’d love to see!
It seems like a long time ago since the Air Raid happened (really, 1942 was a long time ago!), but I’ve been hanging onto my measly few pics to share.
Because it’s always cold at this event, I asked my mom to knit this Victory scarf for me – isn’t it great?
It looks like a simple pattern, but I haven’t knitted anything in about 7 years and I didn’t feel up to relearning at the moment. (I never did learn how to cast on and off properly!) I asked her to make it a little skinnier than the pattern states, and I think she just used smaller needles instead of redesigning the pattern. That also made the tension tighter, so the V popped a little more. Smart lady!
Muddy shoes! But they kept my feet warm, and now I can try dyeing them like the website suggests. Perhaps mudbrown, so they’ll be ready for next year…
I don’t have any pictures after the dancing started, cause I was on the floor the whole time! But here’s a few links with more pics if you haven’t had enough.
The Sky is Falling!
WWII Factory Coveralls
Air Raid Outfit Post
Inspiring Outfits
Gar Travis Photography
And we’re back! 3 weeks after moving in, the internet is finally installed. Did you miss me? Nah, I didn’t think so…but I’m glad you stuck around anyway!
Believe it or not, we’ve been busy even without having internet (moving will do that to you).
We visited the Long Beach Flea Market, which is every bit as dreamy as everyone said: