
Lilacs & Lace
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Chronicling my adventures in creativity. I adore sewing and knitting, mostly vintage or vintage-inspired patterns. I hope this blog will inspire others to create lovely and lasting garments that speak of a past era and yet remain timeless and elegant.
Lilacs & Lace
1w ago
In an effort to finally post a few of the neglected projects on the blog, I have been exploring old folders of photos and I came across this blouse. I made the blouse in 2016, but did not get photos until at least a year later. The time stamp on these photos got messed up when they were copied to a new drive, but I remember it was a very cold morning, and from the fallen leaves, I would guess it may have been November or December of 2017.
This was actually the second version of this pattern that I made. The first was made in a quilting cotton, and I was curious how it would ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
While I technically finished this dress is 2024, I was distracted by holiday shenanigans in the sewing room, including Archie's Winter wardrobe, and I didn't manage to post the finished pictures of the dress in a timely fashion.
This was one of those projects that I was very excited about to begin with, found I really didn't have enough of my vintage fabric remnant to make the darn thing, came up with a solution, second guessed myself a ton with my solution, found a coordinating fabric that I thought would work, decided that print was just too much for the over-the-top print of the dress, mi ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
Vogue 9107 / "Magnolia" Sweater
Butterick 6592 / Vogue 9107
I have gotten in the habit of posting a year in review, and it's that time again . . .
"Magnolia" Sweater / Vogue 8685
"Cherie" Sweater & Vogue 1961 / "Jersey with a Soft Bow" Sweater
While this doesn't really sum up every project that I had my hands on this year, these images represent items that I managed to post on the blog in 2024. The total comes to 22, which seems like a decent number when you figure that is almost two projects a month. Considering the backlog of photos that I ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
It has become a long standing tradition that I make a Christmas themed dress in December.
This year, I was fairly certain that I wanted to use this holly printed flannel. I even got a head start on things when I cut into this project the first week in December, but somehow, time got away from me and I was rushing to finish the dress a few days before the holiday.
I also planned to make a matching blouse to wear with it, and I did finish the blouse - it just wasn't the right choice for this jumper.
I did, however, make Archie a matching Christmas coat, so all things consi ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
Last month when I was looking for coat patterns for Archie, I pulled out two options that I thought would work nicely for him. The first, Simplicity 2696, turned out great with a couple of minor alterations. I also wanted to try out Butterick 4885 to see which would be a better base pattern for future warm weather options for The Pup.
I had plenty of leftover fabric from my Christmas jumper, and I also had some wool batting leftover from a quilt project that was taking up space in the sewing room. I have also been wanting a walking foot for my Bernina machine for som ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
I was never sure about the combination of this plaid print with the very bright red berries on my Christmas jumper. In the end, I didn't want to pair the two items, so I ended up wearing them separately. Which is fine. I don't need much of an excuse to wear my quilted skirt, and this was an excellent one.
As for the blouse, I do think that it will make a nice addition to my wardrobe. I have a jumper in a similar green hue that will work nicely with the plaid, as a matter of fact.
I have also been reminded that I wanted to make myself another quilted skirt at s ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
I was expecting to make a red knit top to wear with my Christmas jumper, but after the scarlet dye turned the fabric more maroon than red, I ditched that idea. None of my stashed fabric prints worked all that well with the dress, but I did come across this plaid print which wanted to be made into a blouse. Simplicity 9818 was slated to be made out of a couple of warm weather appropriate prints earlier in the year, but that fell through, and the 3/4 sleeved version seemed like a good choice for the red and gold plaid print, so I got started.
The pattern instructions call for worke ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
I purchased this fabric on sale last year after the holiday had passed. It's an odd textile that is 100% cotton and feels like a brushed flannel, except that it is much heavier than the flannels that I have come across. It's also incredibly wide - I think it's about 90" wide. And I have no idea what it was originally intended for . . .
I thought it might make a nice holiday jumper, and I was curious to see how I liked Butterick 6955, so it seemed like a good pairing.
The design is a basic bodice and skirt with a standard facing. There is some top-stitching involved ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
For this project, I'm not entirely which came first . . . the fabric or the pattern.
Well, I suppose it must have been the pattern. I picked this vintage Vogue pattern up at an estate sale a few years ago and promptly forgot about it. I then happened upon a very small amount of this fabulously over the top upholstery fabric and knew that I needed to have it, but I wasn't exactly sure what I would do with it.
I was intrigued that the Vogue design did not require too much yardage (although that small number was more for the version sans collar, which I later realized). I did ..read more
Lilacs & Lace
1M ago
This color combination takes me back to my childhood choral uniform. Our performance outfits were a very similar combination, although the dark pinafore was more teal than green, and perhaps the collared blouse was a slightly lighter shade. But the overall theme is the same.
Of course, I didn't realize what I had done until I put these two items on one morning and had a bit of a flashback.
I never got around to sharing this sweater, except for minimally on Instagram, and I think that the construction photos got eaten by a failing external drive. It's a vintage patte ..read more