Not dead!

Listening: Silly Wizard, Live Again.  Commence full-blown crush on Andy M. Stewart's voice.  And, if I'm honest, accent.

I meant to have something to post this week but I got exactly nothing that I meant to get done this past weekend, so unless you want a listing of the errands I ran on Saturday, I'm fresh out of material.  Fear not, though; I'm sewing this weekend come Hell or high water.

I'm going to insult your intelligence by posting some new pattern images.

Excella 5226 (1930's): Nice day dress with off-center front closure (and, I assume, a side placket).  Sorry about the ghastly Photoshop job; she needs a new scan.  She also has the distinction of being my first Excella pattern.  This doesn't have a National Recovery Administration logo but the style of it is very mid-1930's, so my guess is it's from right around 1936-1937.

McCall 1064 (1943): Misses "apron" (wrap housedress; I think this terminology must be a holdover from the 1920's "bungalow apron" or very-informal housedress).  This was an eBay listing; I've never seen the pattern before.  Looks like I'll have to learn to embroider, at least a little bit.

McCall 3740 (1940?): I have to check the date on this, but the style of the clothing and the fashion illustration, and the catalogue number all suggest it's 1940.  I love the blouse.

McCall 5450 (1943): Nice pajamas.  These have especially nice pants with a waistband and side closure.

Simplicity 3700 (1951): Instructions are missing, but maybe I can get another copy.  Cute blouse with potential for interesting trim and colorblocking.

Simplicity 4608 (1943): Nice blouses.  Great-Aunt Marian's stuff included some striped chambray that, if there's enough, would look terrific made into one of these.

Superior 8809 (1920's): Wrap housedress.  I assume I could add sleeves, too.  

Hollywood 1481 (1940's, probably 1942-1944): I've wanted one of these for so long!  This must have been a new listing on Etsy, and it was cheap.  I'm thinking light gray with gray satin trim, for dressy occasions?

Advance 4667 (1947): Nice day dress.  I'm in a giant-neck-bow kind of mood these days.  If I have enough of it, I think the lighter version on the right would be a good project for the weird gray rayon that Sheila gave me a few years ago.

This is another dress that is an interesting transitional style.  The square shoulders showed up at the end of World War II and got bigger through 1945, 1946, and 1947 until they fell right off the shoulder line and the sleeve seam disappeared in 1948.  Skirts stayed relatively short in 1945 and 1946 but you can see that the hemline here is a little longer and the skirt seems to have a little more sweep (as a longer skirt would, anyway).  It will be longer and more bell-shaped in 1948.