The title might seem like an odd combo, but bear with me here…it is all connected, at least to me with this newest outfit. In this post, I’ll proudly reveal myself to be a big fan for the decade of the 70s and its amusements – something that many vintage bloggers as well as those who lived in that decade seem to generally not share in common with me. As one who is at the age to have totally missed that era, I can feel a connection to the decade of disco music, pinball machines, bell-bottom pants with platform shoes, and Star Wars because all these things played a big part in my parents’ lives. What they were “in to”, I saw in old pictures, records in the basement, and clothes or memorabilia in a forgotten closet – and all that was cool and interesting to me. Parents are interesting anyway, right? Reasons given, I’ll move onto what I actually made.
Inspired as I was to make things for Allie J’s “Cozy Layers” Social Sew #8, I might have went a bit over the top here. Anyways, let me present my 1974 waterproof jacket, easy 1974 knit flared jeans, and a draped sweater vest. Whoever says winter dressing is no fun hasn’t worn these kind of garments! These pieces are so fun and warm…and handmade;)
THE FACTS:
FABRIC: Pants – a cotton polyester blend brushed double knit in what looks like a denim finish; Jacket – a olive green snakeskin print vinyl with a knit backing, a poly micro suede and a basic polyester for the lining, and a fleece sandwiched in between; Vest – a poly cotton blend sweater knit for the draped front and the leftover poly micro suede for the back
PATTERNS: Pants – McCall’s #4052, year 1974 (love the whole play suit separates – lots of options here); Jacket – Butterick #3914, late 1973 to 
early 1974; Vest – Simplicity #1588, view A, year 2013
NOTIONS: I only used what thread, interfacing, and other notions from on hand. The pants button came from the stash of Hubby’s Grandmother so it might be vintage. I only bought a metal jeans zipper for the pants.
THE INSIDES: Most seams are bias bound on the vest, the pants edges are left raw, and the jacket seams are covered by the lining.
TIME TO COMPLETE: The vest was finished first on November 21 after only 3 or 4 hours, the knit jeans came second being finished on November 22 after 3 or 4 hours, and finally the jacket was done on November 28, 2016, after about 15 hours.
TOTAL COST: The denim knit was something I bought about 5 years back so I don’t remember where it came from or how much I spent for it. All of the rest of the material for this outfit was bought about 2 years back when there was a Hancock Fabrics store closing, so it was incredibly dirt cheap. In all, not much fabric was used here – 2 yards of each fabric, except for ½ yard of the vest sweater knit, and voila! Look what I came up with!
I won’t bore you too much detail in this post about sewing and construction details because not only are there three me-made garments here, but also one of them was tricky and complicated (the jacket) while the other two (vest and pants) were super easy. I must say I am very pleased with all the patterns, especially the vest and pants. The jacket is great, too, don’t get me wrong, and surprisingly warm for being a not-too-heavy of a weight. My only reserve is that I am doubtful whether or not I paired the right fabric (the vinyl) and pattern together. My hubby makes me feel better by saying that the material would have been hard to work with (and it was) no matter what pattern I’d have chosen, but this style is uniquely neat especially with the raglan sleeves. The vest is more of a novelty item, but I am realizing it will go with more than what I first thought, mostly because I like it so much! However, one can never beat an easy creation that looks so good and fits so great, so the jeans are the ultimate winner, especially for being so basic and versatile.
I will go over each item briefly to comment of the fit and anything I changed. First comes the vest. I made a straight size small and found that I should have graded a size up for the hips the same way as I do for regular garments such as blouses and dresses. The neckline of the draping were taken in by an extra inch to make for less of a droopy wrap, purely personal taste. A facing of the micro suede used for the back was drafted from the pattern for the neckline edge. I found the back of the vest to be quite long, ending at the bottom of my behind…not flattering. So, to vent my frustration waiting for our Thanksgiving guests to arrive, I unpicked the bottom hem and re-sewed it 2 inches shorter in the back of the vest.
I love the texture and interest of this vest, besides the fact it is a wonderful weight to wear. It keeps a chill out of my middle but yet the lack of sleeves keeps me from 
over-heating inside stores and homes. I’ve always associated vests with the outdated 80’s things (like boxy front-halves of a weskit) that I wouldn’t be caught dead in, but now that I have a fashionable vest, I may have to re-think the value of this kind of garment for winter layering. The funny thing is, this vest made in this desert sand khaki color, with its rough texture, and criss-cross design totally reminds me of the outfit for the lead character “Rey” in the 2015 Star Wars movie, “The Force Awakens”. I know it’s not exactly the same thing but I believe you can definitely tell where I see similarities. This vest, though modern, also reminds of the creative and interesting, bold but relaxed style that see in 1970’s dressing.
My idea to whip up the pants was spawned of all my ideas from and of the vest. All of my previous pants have all been made of woven fabrics so I went for a thick denim knit sitting all lonely and forgotten in my stash for the last 5 years. Now I’m glad I never sewed it up into a dress like I had originally planned because these 70’s pants are way hotter…oh, and comfy. Everything I love about vintage 1940’s trousers is combined with my love for the 70’s here – full and wide legs, true waist, chic styling, and perfect fit. Add on a body skimming booty and less excess fabric around the thighs and welcome to the disco era. My favorite part is the lack of both the conventional waistband and the front placket here, replaced with a simple loop and button above the zipper. It makes for a very clean look that’s so easy. The instructions showed to sew in a ribbon waist, but I used some wide non-roll navy elastic instead and I think this turns out much better and is a better (and more forgiving) fit. The best part? These pants are a perfect fit for me without a hair’s breadth of change…go vintage patterns!
These pants make me feel very tall, skinny, and all legs. This was the 70s ideal body type anyway, and I like the feeling because in reality I normally think of myself as short, not skinny enough, and definitely not very leggy. I kept a very long hem on my pants so as to wear my new 4 inch platform strappy heels.
After making year 1974 pants, I remembered a project waiting in the wings downstairs for the last several years. This, together with the thought of another cozy layer to add to the 70s gloriousness, and I reached for the jacket project. This was rather an exhausting project that I don’t know I was ready for, but it should see much use in the next few months, starting immediately. There are some things I wish I could have made to work out better, but I am just proud at my first official coat and my first sewing with this kind of vinyl. I do love the slightly golden sheen to the snakeskin print and the waterproof protection without looking (and sounding) like a plastic raincoat.
The most stressful part of sewing this coat was the thought that I only had one shot to get things right…unpicking and re-stitching wasn’t really possible here because once a hole is made, it’s permanently going to be there. Also, the vinyl was sticking to all the metal parts of my machine so I had to sandwich a layer of wax paper around the coat’s seams at almost every stitch so it would glide under the presser foot. This wax paper method worked like a charm, and was easy to take off, it just was something else to add to the difficulty level. So, in total not only did my stitching have to be accurate, and I was limited to my use of pins for seams (reverting to clothes pins), but I had to sew between wax paper. This coat must have given me at least one grey hair. My only change was that in lieu of gathers under both the front and the back yokes, I made my own pleats – two ½ inch ones on each front and one giant box pleat down the center back.
My two giant pockets are lined in a remnant of a 1970’s curtain which I had on hand from a buying someone’s small fabric stash at re-sale store. It was so bold and fun, I also added bright green bias tape to finish in inner edge. No one will ever really know it’s there, but I like how the print makes me smile whenever I see the funky brightness inside my pockets.
I still don’t know how to close the coat – any suggestions? I don’t like it belted and it is warm enough that a little air actually feels good. I’m beginning to think I should just leave it open and casual.
1974 is an interesting year for me to channel. My dad graduated that year from high school and (among other things that happened) he became a lover of the pinball machine. Every chance we could as I was growing up, my dad and I would hover over and eye up every pinball machine, with the occasional dropping of a quarter to do a real play. I always saw my dad as a champ at the game and he still enjoys playing when he can. Luckily there are some game lounges around in our town nowadays that are much more respectable than those of the pinball culture 40 years back. 1974 was also the year the California Supreme Court ruled that pinball was more a game of skill than one of chance and overturned its long prohibition, opening the way for general acceptance of this form of amusement nationwide (info from here).
So much of this outfit is due to the influence of my dad. He still has some of his 70’s bell bottoms, though he got rid of his platform shoes, trench jacket, and elephant pants years back. Now his daughter has her own version of what he used to wear, sorry dad! He loved Star Wars and bought me many of the toys and even watched the movies from the roof of their house on the drive-in screen which had been up the street. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree I guess. Star Wars is still around on screen, and the 70’s style is coming back today, and retro amusements are just as fun, so it’s hard to resist re-visiting my dad’s past with my own handmade twist. This one’s for you, dad, hope you don’t shake your head at this…just smile.
And now for some Star Wars light saber fun with my own son before bed time…
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