The Pink Stewardess Suit

I actually bought the pattern for this suit in 2008, almost 5 years ago. I had only really been sewing for a year or so, and hadn't done much with regular commercial patterns at that point, and was looking for projects to increase my skills.  I don't even know why, really, I picked this particular suit, except that I love outfits with matching hats.  And the 50's suits were just so prim and proper, which is the exact opposite of me.  Maybe I thought I could fool people? ; )  In any case, after researching on the internet, I found the pattern info, and finally located a copy of the pattern on Etsy. It's an actual vintage pattern from 1958, previously uncut. Which is sort of amazing to me, that it survived all these years without being used, what is the point of a pattern that isn't used? 

I didn't sew the suit right away, because I couldn't find the right fabric.  And I had a lot of learning about fabrics and sewing techniques to do, and so I filed it away in my "future projects" pile, and then forgot about it.  Until last August, when I made the Padme Star Wars costume.  I had used suiting fabric for the skirt, and while shopping for it, I came across a herringbone suiting fabric that was ridiculously pink and so out of place among all the neutral  browns and grays. I just couldn't resist it.  I pulled out the suit pattern, purchased the fabric and notions, and found the pillbox hat forms I'd stashed from my last millinery shopping spree. 

I made the hat first, I figured it would be the hardest part of the outfit. And it was.  It's fully lined with pink lining material, and I had to underline the pink suiting fabric so the form would have the right shape and look. It took a few tries to get the everything to fit the form exactly, and then I had to hand stitch the lining into the hat, which is no small feat with such a small, curved area to work in. But I was so excited to finish it, what could be more ridiculous than a prim, pink, 1950's pillbox hat? 

I ended up putting the project away when I moved, and then the holidays came, and so it was February before I pulled it back out again, determined to finish it.  I made the skirt first, since it was easier, and would go faster. The skirt is fully lined with the same pink lining as the hat; it has a side zipper with a hook and eye closure at the waistband. The fitting is done through darts at the waist, in both front and back.  I did a test fit after pinning in the darts just to make sure it fit correctly, since there would be no way to correct it after the waistband was sewn on. Luckily, it was a perfect fit, and the waistband went on with no hitches.  I hand tacked the lining to the zipper, and at the back kick pleat, and hand hemmed both the lining and fashion fabric.  I am really impressed with how well the skirt came out; it wears really well thanks to both the fit and the lining, and looks like a professional suit skirt.  I am now sold on fully lining skirts! 

Motivated by my success with the skirt, I moved on to the jacket.  It's a simple design; the sleeves are part of the jacket, and not attached separately.  The shaping of the jacket is done with darts, and interfacing is used to provide structure.  I had been working with interfacing for the last few years, and was much more confident with using it, and so didn't question the use of it in the jacket. The pattern calls for sewn in interfacing, used in the collar, lapels, and at the bottom hem and sleeve hems.  It wasn't until I got to the part on the pattern that said to use long running stitches on the lapel facings to hold the interfacing in place that I started to question the choice of interfacing.  The long running stitches were on the back of the garment, but the short stitches were visible on the outside of the garment. I hid them in the herringbone pattern as best I could, but I was not happy with this.  I finally balked when it came time to tack in the bottom hem interfacing. There was no way to hide those stitches.  Why wouldn't the pattern call for fusible interfacing that would be bonded with heat, and therefore wouldn't require hand stitching it in?  A quick search on the internet turned up the answer... at the time the pattern was printed, fusible interfacing was just being invented, and wasn't yet readily available to home sewers, and therefore not specified. I did debate continuing on course just so the suit would be completely done using vintage techniques, but decided the convenience of fusible interfacing was well worth the hours of hand sewing saved, and the final look would be much more professional, and therefore well justified.  The jacked came together very quickly after that; the lining is made the same as the jacket, and then hand tacked in (Instead of bag lining, where the jacket and lining are sewn right sides together, then turned out like a bag, and pressed).  The bottom and sleeve hems were all hand sewn.  Last, I made buttons using a button kit and the same pink suiting fabric, so they would match perfectly; then I added button holes to one side of the front, and attached the buttons to the other side.  Finally, I could try the whole outfit on! 

I am thrilled with how it turned out.  It not only fits perfectly, but it is incredibly comfortable.  The linings really make a difference in how the suit wears and feels.  And the color is just ridiculously pink, what is not to love about that? I rarely make a same pattern twice, but this is one I could see making again, in a different color, with trim around the collar and lapels. It's just such a cute, wearable suit. I kind of want to wear this to a board meeting at work, because it's just so ridiculous that no one would be able to take me seriously. ; )