Summertime 1950's Style

I was beyond excited when I found out this month's theme day at school was 1950's. Totally up my alley and I'd just been waiting for my day to shine. :p I mentally examined my 'vintage' wardrobe. Nothing popped out as something I would be interested wearing. lol Yeah that's me....

I recalled this adorable dress I'd found on pinterest some months ago. After some voting and digging I decided to go ahead and try my hand at it and found the perfect springy/summerish material.

Cute right?!

 I used a very simple bodice pattern - Simplicity 1873. Size 12 fit almost perfect I did have to take like 2 inches out on the side seams, but the rest fit.. lol I hate that I have to make such big sizes these days. Lawd.

The front "scarf" detail is just 4 ish inch wide strips cut on the bias. And the ends are angled. It doesn't cap my shoulder quite` like the original seems to be, but alas I am happy.

The skirt was 3 panels the full width of my fabric so probably around 125" circumference. Simply gathered at the waist. 

The back collar was a bit trickier just because I was careless and got one point way longer then the other. Making the piece itself wasn't to bad - just made angled lines and away we went.

I whipped the dress out in about a day. The crinoline however took a tad longer mainly due to cutting and procuring the materials.

I set my hair in sponge rollers the night before. I was extremely pleased with the result. All I did was unroll them on the way to school and ruffle the crown of my head up a bit to be rid of any disturbing partings and threw on bit of firm hold hair spray. These pictures were taken after a full day of wear. So needless to say the curls stayed in fabulously.

The crinoline is 3 layers. 3 tiers each. The bottom tier is 8 yards in circumference, the 2nd 4 yards and the top 2 yards. I was unsure if it was full enough - mainly at the top. I wanted a nice feminine bell shape rather then a triangle. After seeing it all together I think its satisfactory. Its obviously very simple in design. This is the original I was aiming for. And this tutorial is very very similar... Certainly wasn't my favorite thing to work on. So monotonous and the amount of ribbon & thread I used was unbelievable!  

My beloved Aris Allen dance shoes! Love them bad boys - makes me so happy everytime I get the opportunity to break them out. 

Pearls of course. They seem so cliche, but totally completed the ensemble if you ask me. 

I took a very simplistic approach with my make up. Super light blush, 2 different shades of light brown eyeshadows, and Rimmel gel eyeliner which is the best thing ever for wings and such. I did fill my brows a bit believe it or not. I'm apparently not capable of having high arches tho. Which is rather dissapointing. lol I  somehow managed to loose my red lipstick during the night so I was forced to improvise alittle till I could get my hands on some. And then I walked out with 3 different ones cause I couldn't decide which shade I like best. lol Girls problems...I swear.

 Anyhow this is super helpful for someone who wishes to achieve something similar. 

And that's that. I now have a cute, fluffy little 50's dress to wear anytime I please!!!!! It was a great success at school as well. Yay for a victory!

Love,

Brooke

The Dress Of Dread!

This dress has certainly been one of dread. From fitting trials to my little brother chopping into a piece I didn't have any material to replace it with to getting black nail polish on the front of the bodice...Oi! I've nevermore been so happy to have something concluded.  But after all the longer the wait the more jubilant the inauguration, no?

 The material is a reproduction print. I can't remember exactly who made.. :-/ lol Needless to say I've been working on this gown for quite sometime. If I recall correctly I used Past Patterns 702 as a base for the bodice.

 Lil sis and I spent hours fiddling with the fit. We had to re-cut the armsyce quite alot. Let me just say that's no fun. We also re-positioned the side and shoulder seams. And just downsized it in general.

I'm still not quite satisfied - I believe it needs a tad of padding around the front armsyce. But its a huge step up from where I've been, seeing as I've previously not had any of the proper lines. I daresay I absolutely adore having a dropped armsyce as restricting as they can be. 

I used tucks for the waist treatment on the front bodice. I only had enough ease for 2 very thin ones, but alas they do the job on my less then slight bust. 

The skirt has layered directional pleats. I thoroughly tried to be sure all the stripes were making a pattern. I of course used a deep hem facing. Those can be life savers for sure. I also employed wool hem tape for the first time. I'm totally in love with it!! 

The sleeves are made using a basic slim sleeve pattern - the simple sloper that I base most of my 1860's sleeves off. The bottom section is cut on the bias to allow for alittle extra movement seeing as they are rather snug. The puffs are just rectangles with alittle chevron action going on with some of them because I ran clean out of fabric and had to piece all of the them. There is like 8 or so pieces for each sleeve. Directional stripes are no longer my friend. lol ;) I also did some extreme piecing to have enough piping for the neckline, armsyce, cuffs, and the bottom of the waistband.  

All in all, I believe I'm sufficiently content with the visual display. I decided I was going to take my time and put the proper efforts in so it would look as good on the inside as the out. There's nothing more pleasing then clean, over casted seams. :D

And then the little details that seem to enhance the whole ensemble and make it look properly integrated!  

The belt is silk taffeta. I first cut a strip of cotton duck the width I desired my finished belt to be. Then I cut the taffeta wide enough to wrap around the duck, plus 1/2 an inch to fold under. Next I whipped one long side of the taffeta to the center of the duck and wrapped it around folding the other long edge under 1/2 an inch and whipping it down over the previous side. 

The rosette was a beast. I cut a circle foundation out of duck, slightly smaller then finished size I needed. Then cut a circle of silk half an inch bigger on all sides. Which I then centered over the wrong side of the foundation, folded the extra material over, and stitched it into place. I next cut several strips of silk on the bias. I pleated mine (53 tiny things to be exact). However you could gather it as well. I set my strips in layers because I wasn't pleased with how they laid as one continuous thing. Lastly I made a covered button and set it in the center (the wood forms from Needle and thread rock btw.) 

My bow is made out of cotton velvet. Cut in 3 pieces - the bow and 2 ties. This was the inspiration....

Lastly my faux gutta percha reproduction earrings made by Mandy Kallal. I love those things. They complete the ambiance in my humble opinion.  

And there you have it, my dears.... ;)

Love,

Brooke

A Polka With Circular Iotas!

The week of my sister's wedding she decided she needed a couple new dresses to wear during her new married life. Sometime ago she made a little black dress using Simplicity 3673 - 1950's Retro. It became a staple - suited her perfectly and she got many many compliments on it.

Thus, in regards to that she concluded that would be a good pattern for us to use.

Seeing as we were frequenting Hobby Lobby plenty often for last minute wedding bits...we took the opportunity to pick up a couple fabrics (both which ended up being polka dotted) and trims.

It has simple lines and its quite fast to construct. The most time consuming part is all the darts in the top of the skirt...

 

As you can see we fiddled around abit and she came up with some clever trim placement. I'm no good with such things, however, I like to think my stupidity inspires it.

Van-dykes for the skirt!

After some confusion over what size the previous dress was made. I had to take in the sides a considerable amount. That's always most discouraging - finally completing the finishing touches and excitedly having the recipient try on the garment only to find it doesn't fit properly. Never the less that's all part of being a seamstress. It happens, and we must overcome the issues and contrive a beautiful piece.

Love,

Brooke

The Tale of A Wedding: Clothing The Ladies

Just a few short weeks after my sister got engaged back in April...we started planning the wedding wardrobes.. its took very little searching to find we weren't going to locate anything ready-made that would be suitable. Thus the quest for a pattern began. Michelle quickly decided on Retro Butterick 5603 - we thought it was a cute and flattering choice for all the different body types involved.

Fabric is always the tough part. We ordered several swatches. Some from Fabric.com and more from  OnlineFabricStore. We ended up choosing Plum Taffeta from OFS. Despite having previously seen the swatch. We had a bit of color shock when the 18 yard roll came. It was much brighter then we'd expected. We took it outside and did some detailed examining and decided we'd go ahead and use it. 

.

This dress definitely has some quirky bits.The neckband was by far the next most time consuming thing...they were constantly puckering and looking crappy. Can't have that now can we? All those hems were mighty fun too.   

However, by the time I got to the 5th dress - I had things down to a science... From start to finish each dress, on average took about 24 hours... I am not a fan of cutting out (okay I hate it) so that always slows me down a lot - but once its done everything is down hill from there.

Gunna take a moment to tell my future self that ^ is not something you want to be doing the morning of the wedding. Just trimming down seams for a smidge more room. But with all the last minute sewing I did - it just added unnecessary stress that I didn't need.

6 unique and beautiful ladies...and I personally think it looks pretty dang rad on all of us?! I had to make very few alterations. A couple length adjustments, alittle downsizing on one, and a bit of nipping in at the waist on mine (by far the hardest. My body shape drives me mad some days. I needed like a size 12 on the bust and a 6 at the waist...not fun at all. Thankfully lil sis is picking up pinning quite well).

That V in the back was such a bear to work with, but I do so love the way it looks. Totally my favorite part of the dress!

In conclusion I will just say its SO, beyond rewarding to look at those pictures and think I did that!! Yes, there were moments I didn't think I was going to make it thru and moments when I just plain wanted to be done, but in the end it was all worth it! I've created lots of memories along the way - it even impelled me find new music which, in turn, became favorites and will forever have special meaning because of it. I mean com'on who doesn't love that?!

So thoughts? What do you think of the style, color, etc?

Love,

Brooke

*All photos credit - Jessica McDonald http://romantiquephotography.wordpress.com/

The Saga of A Wedding Dress

I went back and forth for months over what I would wear. It was my big brothers wedding, after all, I needed something special. I couldn't decide between something fitting to the theme of their wedding (western) or something more futuristic that represented the true me. I just wasn't feeling the normal inspiration that usually comes over me when I have a special event to outfit myself for. Thus everything I was coming up with was completely off the wall and just plain quacky. Finally at the end of July I remembered a picture of simple 1940's dress my bestfriend had sent to me...

The source...

All the sudden I was extremely excited and immediately started locating the components I needed to complete this puzzle...

I first ordered a hat off Etsy. After several days the seller canceled the sale and wouldn’t respond to my messages.....I was quite disgusted..lol After all, I’d spent hours searching for the thing and thought I'd found the perfect one. 

In the meantime a friend pointed me towards Aris Allen’s reproduction shoes. I knew there was no way I’d ever fit my monsters of feet into originals. So I ordered a pair of these. I was soooo thrilled when I tried them on they made my feet look tiny and are soooo perfect for the late 30’s early 40’s not to mention the superb construction and how comfortable they are….I did, however, decide to go with a different size. So back those went. They were definitely a pleasure to work with and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. Fabulous customer service, quick shipping, and just an all around wonderful product! (Yes, I love shoes.)

The search for the perfect hat continued. I didn’t have a huge budget for one and wanted something nonintrusive. I picked out several then after looking at them more I would decide I didn’t like them any longer…Finally I found a couple on eBay that I liked. I took a vote and ended up choosing a repro felt one. It was coming from Australia tho and it was at this point less then 2 weeks till the wedding. I once again got lucky tho and it got here with several days to spare…so much worrying…in the end for no reason, but nerve wracking at the time none-the-less.

Finally my attention turned to the dress..Not sure why I hadn’t thought of this earlier, but I NEEDED FABRIC. I searched the internet a bit and found a few plausible options, but it was soon apparent I’d waited too long to order anything. Plus I wasn’t really happy with the colors of any of them… It was then necessary to make my yearly trip to Joann’s. Much to my joy they didn’t let me down. I found a lovely red 70% wool suiting…It was perfect – as was the 40% off coupon I was able to use. :P

Three days before we were to leave for the wedding I was, at long last, able to start the actual creating process of the dress. Once I got home from work on Tuesday evening - I started making the pattern. I used McCall's 3129 as the base. The thing has been around forever and much to my surprise was still in the pattern books when I went to Joann's the other day! Some of these things just won’t go away. The biggest job was bringing the princess seams straight up to the corners of the neckline rather then curving to end in the armsyce. I did this on the front and back. We decided the back of the neck should be squared, as well, instead of  leaving it high and rounded. Next I slit the front side panel and added bust darts. Never been a fan, but they are kind of necessary to achieve that vintage silhouette I was looking for. Lastly I shortened the skirt about 11”. That allowed 2 inches for the hem which ended up being about perfect! Then began the real fun. The mock up fit nigh on perfectly. I decided to end the bust dart about an inch sooner and that’s all I had to change! Yay for simple things, right!?!

The next night I started cutting out. That went fairly quickly…altho I do believe I threw a nap in there at one point. (Let me tell ya these last few weeks of wedding prep are stressful as all get out) I got the basic construction done to where I could try it on...Started getting excited and feeling relieved that it was lookin better then I’d imagined it would. The next day I threw the zipper in. I was so proud - got it in perfectly on the first try! And it was a new method for me. Woohoo! ;) My lil sis then got more practice taking side seams in. I always have a hard time getting princess seamed things to fit right on my body shape. I’m just a few inches shy of being a ‘perfect’ hour glass…I have enormous hips, a nipped in waist, and then a fairly large torso above that …Never fun seeing as I want the fabric to do the same and it has such a strong mind of its own…Either way…we prevailed…The rest the construction went smoothly till I got to putting the lining in. I decided to take the shoulder seams apart so I could use the lining instead of any facings (trying to figure out to accomplish this kept me awake the night before. lol) Upon trimming the neckline and giving it a closer inspection - I discovered, much to my horror, that the center panel was a ¼” shy of hitting the corners of the neck…I’d forgotten to account for the fact that the sides of the neck angled out and once I put a full seam in there it would be off…To say I was disappointed would be an understatement! This once perfect dress...totally screwed up…grr…things like these drive me crazy! Alas, the cooler head triumphed and I decided I would just have to get over it…

 

Next came the make-up. This picture was kind of my inspiration...

I went with a full white shadow,  perfecting the winged liner was perhaps the hardest part…not used to doing it quite so…what can we say…dainty? I wanted the whole upper lid lined, preferably very thin on the inner eye swelling and then turn turning to an angled wing. My issue is usually symmetry from one eye to the other. :p I used Maybelline New York Master Duo gel liner. That danged stuff was expensive…. 

The hair....I REALLY wanted victory rolls or at least a few swirly things, but I had no one to help me and I ended up running out of time...so next go round perhaps?

 

And that, my dears, is how this get-up came to be…

 

Love,

Brooke

Samantha's Dancing Dress

My friend Samantha needed a new dress for an event her dance group was doing...We started planning it a couple months back and I got the fabric a few weeks ago. But life got in the way and I didn't start working on it till last week.

 This is was the inspiration - mainly for the skirt. She drew a sketch as well which was incredibly helpful! I always love it when my clients know exactly what they want!

The actual cutting and construction of this dress took place in less than 32 hours. I started on a Sunday night at like 7 or 8 and  worked till 3 am. Got up around noon the next day and sewed all day, once again till 3:30 am. Then got up at 8 took out the remaining gathering threads and headed into my 'real job'. Panic threatened to take over, but thankfully a good friend kept me company by texting me most the night. I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that saved me..So thank you, Joe! :) Hopefully I've learned my lesson and won't procrastinate so badly anymore.

 I've previously made her a dress so I just altered "her pattern" from a front opening, yoked bodice to a back opening, slightly gathered, natural waist number. Also adding a boat neckline 1/2" narrower and 1/2" lower then normal. The sleeves, as you can see, are single puffs. She choose the lovely material from fabric.com - available here.

There's just something about china buttons that make me happy (especailly when I can get my mom to sew them on. hehe) I'm so glad I found a fellow reenactor that has a seemingly never ending stream of them...I always had soo much trouble finding them before.

There's 3 4.5" flounces. The top one was sewn on with a little frill left sticking up as seen in the CDV up top. These were by far the most time consuming part. I first sewed the hem facing to the bottom of the skirt. Then attached the first flounce. Next I sewed the hem facing up and continued onto  attaching the last 2 flounces. I had some trouble with my gathering threads breaking. So that was extremely irritating, but a good reminder to not use old thread for tasks such as those. I did a 6" hem facing as usual.

Piped the neck line and bottom of the waistband. Pretty much my staples - I'm not fond of how it tends to look when I sew skirts on to the waistband without piping. :-/ And I feel like it makes the neckline lay much better as well.

I think I gauged this skirt and sewed it on in record time! I've come to love gauging now that I can do it somewhat evenly on prints...not with standing - I do love doing it on plaids and stripes even more. :P I did a 2" fold over on top of the skirt to balance it or whatever its called...so that actually means there's only 1.5" different between the front and the back since I have to have .5" 'seam allowance'.

And with that we have the finished product on the lovely model, Samantha!!

*Photo credit: Samantha

 

Love,

Brooke

First Adventure With a Wedding Gown

I can't put into words how excited and honored I felt having been asked to make a wedding dress!! And by one of my dearest friends - no less. It was *such* a privilege! I'd been dreaming of making one for along time. So as you can imagine I was beyond thrilled when my darling friend, Lauren, asked me to make hers!  

She did a bunch of searching in the couple months following her engagement and decided on this dress as the basic design idea.

As you can see its a bit 1950's inspired.

 

 

 

 

 

              

Source: etsy.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Lauren on Pinterest

 

Less than a month before the wedding we began the actual creating process. We spent a 5 hours fitting session together one afternoon. Where we draped the bodice, measured for the skirt length, went over different options, etc.

The very beginning...forming the shoulder and side seams.

For safety reason we shaped the neckline on the dressform... ;)



So much pinning and tweaking...

 

Do you ever wonder how we make heads or tails out of these things??? Yeah so do I... lol



The final mockup. We did 4 all together I do believe.

We decided on this gorgeous silk chiffon for the material. Fully lined bodice and skirt, as well as 3 layers of chiffon for the skirt. Frankly I was a bit nervous. :D Close-ish time limits and having never worked with chiffon before. But I couldn't have asked for a better or more patient bride!

Getting ready to cut. A wee bit nerve wracking...



20+ yards of silk chiffon! So lovely.



We hand gathered all the layers of the skirt. Each one was 170" around... thus equalling 1360" of gathering threads and approximately 19,040 stitches. The bodice went together very quickly. I hemmed the 'sleeves' by hand, as well as over casting all the seams and whipping the armscye "hems"...only catching the lining. Easier said then done. ;) Oh and I just have to say the zipper went in perfectly on the first try! I think that could be a new record for me. lol They are one of the reasons I prefer pre-1920's sewing. ;) We did a very narrow serged stitch to hem the skirt. It worked okay and looked fine, but I think next time I'll do it by hand. Once again my historical sewing side coming out. Me and sergers don't get along.

Me and Michelle hand gathering on the shirts.

I think this shows how fun silk chiffon is to work with... lol

After getting the dress itself finished we had another fitting. Everything was looking quite nice, but we decided to add a sash to set it off.

The first try on of the actual dress.

Experimenting with different sash ideas.

Overcasting the waist seam - after I was sure I wouldn't need to be tearing anything apart. :).

The sash

Tiny little sleeves. Super fluttery and sheer. :)

Finally finished!

Just really liked this shot. ;)

The back....

All in all I think it took about 2 weeks to make it.

A couple sneek peaks of the day...

Keep your eyes open for a post in the next few days about the actual wedding where you'll get to see more pictures of the dress, complete, on the gorgeous bride, with the sash properly placed, as well as a fluffy skirt. ;)

Love,

Brooke