Simplicity Circle Skirt

I whipped this super cute skirt together over the weekend. After becoming so frustrated with the charmeuse satin dress, I needed a quick sewing fix. This was definitely it.

Simplicity 2906, View A



I ordered a petticoat to wear underneath it and don't want to photograph myself in it until I have the petticoat to wear under the skirt. Hopefully it will arrive via FedEx tomorrow!

McCalls M6011

I spent some time this weekend trying to finish up a few projects that have been languishing in my sewing studio for far too long. This one did *not* get completed.

McCall's M6011, View C



I began this two weeks ago and walked away when I got too frustrated to sew another stitch. I have a love/hate relationship with the fabric. It is a charmeuse satin that is lovely but sooo slippery. I couldn't get the fabric to "be still" even after pinning it within an inch of its life!

I lined it with a thrifted white cotton twin sheet that I purchased for $1. I love using thrifted sheets for my linings. I despise most lining fabrics and really like the idea of, not only recycling the sheet, but also saving my money for "real" fabric. I hoped that the cotton would help with the slipping issue and it did somewhat, but not enough.



I had a really difficult time inserting the sleeves (my least favorite sewing task). And no matter what I tried, I simply could not get the zipper to insert properly. After ripping the zipper out for the third time, I threw the dress against the wall (hence the wrinkled look) and walked away. This dress might get completed before the end of summer - then again I think I may just throw the damned thing in the trash and start over with a better behaved fabric!

Haslam Dressmaking System

The Haslam System of Dressmaking is a comprehensive pattern drafting method used to create garments based on one's specific measurements. Using 14 body measurements, you first create your foundation pattern using the Chart and instructions found in the Foundation Drafting Book.

The Chart is similar to a dressmaking/tailor's square and is a template of strategically placed holes, curves, lines and measurements that will (hopefully) enable me to make patterns customized to my body’s measurements.

The foundation pattern is the "base" design. Once the foundation is complete, you can create patterns for any of the garments using the instructions and diagrams in the book.

A little background information:

Haslam is a "chart" system. A chart is a 19th- and early 20th-century term for what we would call a sloper or block pattern. Charts came as a cardboard or wooden set of the most basic pattern pieces in the most common cut for the given era. (Which, by the way, changed periodically, so a chart for one era is likely to have too early or late a cut for another era.)

Usually charts were for bodices, because they required the most fitting, but a few skirt charts were manufactured. The charts had a means of grading the pattern to different standard sizes, usually lines and holes to aid the dressmaker in tracing the right outline and dart placement. Charts were manufactured partly for home dressmakers who made clothes for several different family members, but especially for professional dressmakers without much real training or the time or money to obtain it. In the 19th century, dressmaking was a common fallback profession for women suddenly thrown into the job market by widowhood or orphanhood.

I have the Chart and three Foundation Drafting books - one for the early-mid 1940s fashions, one for mid-late 1940s fashions and Foundation Book 2, which is used mainly in combination with the mid-late 1940s and 1950s Books of Draftings. I will be working my way through the Book of Draftings No. 22 (from the 1950s), which contains draftings for:

fifteen dresses
beach dress
shorts and bikini top
swimsuit coverup top
four suits
four coats

If anyone owns and/or uses this system, I would love to hear from you!