Bustle Pad-Natural Form Era

How's this for under ten dollars? I made a bustle pad for the Mermaid costume.  The pattern is Simplicity 1819.  I used 100% organic cotton from an old bed sheet, the ribbons were off of a gift, and stuffing from a pillow.  So Free!

 

 

 

 

Historical Sew Fortnightly

Challenge: #13, Under $10

Fabric: 100% cotton,

Pattern: Simplicity 1819

Year: 1878

Notions: thread and questionable content ribbon, polyfil stuffing

How Historically accurate: machine sewn with proper fabric.  50/50 I would say

Hours to complete: One at most

First worn: July 4, 2014 for Mermaid photo

Total Cost: FREE

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Jeannine

Challenge #6 Victorian Mermaid Fairytale Dress

I finally completed my Fairy tale reinvention of ah historic dress.  My daughter loves The Little Mermaid so I decided to attempt an 1878 dinner dress.  First: the completed costume on my dress form.

 

Here is the inspiration dress.  It is in the collection of the Met Museum. It is a Lord and Taylor dinner dress in silk. It has a lovely side profile, but I was not too crazy about the front view.  Makes the wearer look rather broad through the shoulders.

 

 

I traced the photo to lay out how I wanted the three colors of blue to look.  I also smoothed out the edges of the train to make more mermaid rounds rather than squatted edges.

 

 

Here is my daughter in the dress.  We are a good two hours drive from the ocean so we took photos in the back yard. I also changed the back of the jacket to remove the long tails. I used TV428 for the jacket.  I did not put cuffs on it and I cut out the collar.

 

 

For the skirt and train I sort of created my own pattern.  There is also a bustle pad that I made.

 

 

 

 

 

I used shells and pink "coral" for the embellishments.  I envisioned more but decided I didn't want it to be over the top.

 

 

No sea but she did pose by the pool!

 

 

 

By the way, She is a size 2 in ready to wear.

I am so happy this is done.  On to the next.

 

Historic Sew Fortnightly:

The Challenge: #6 April First (LOL) Fairytale

Fabric: 100% polyester bridal and costume fabric from Joann's

Pattern: TV428

My own construction for skirt

Year: 1878

Notions: Thread, shells.

How historically accurate?: Umm, 30% for the patterning and technique. All machine stitched except for attaching the ruching and shells.

Hours to complete:  Untold, Don't ask! Way too much time spent thinking of how to do the skirt!

First worn: July 4, 2014 for photos.

Total cost: Approx. $100

 

Thank you for stopping by to see what I FINALLY accomplished.

Jeannine

1941 Politics of Fashion Dress

Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #11

On a previous post I broke down the politics of the dress codes of the 1940s war time. The government regulated fashion down to how much fabric and trim a manufacturer could put in any ensemble.  I wanted to recreate a proper dress from 1941.

 

 I received My pattern that I purchased on ebay.  It was complete and exactly as I expected.  The cover is rather fragile, but the pattern pieces were in great shape.

 

 

I was rather surprised by a few things.  The zipper was called a "slide" and the sleeves were set in in pieces rather than stitched together and gathered like modern patterns. However, the pattern fits me perfectly without any alterations.  It is a 16.  I wear a 12 in current patterns and a size 4 off the rack.  So obviously, size numbers are just numbers.

 

The following pictures are of my daughter wearing the dress as I made it for her.  The belt is purchased and the shoes are mine from the 90s.

 

 

Daughter did her own victory curls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was fun making this dress.

The facts:

Challenge: #11 Politics of Fashion

Fabric: 97% Cotton 3% Lycra, so not completely accurate.  The stretch in the fabric did help in getting the sleeves in correctly.

Pattern: Simplicity 4239 from the 1940s

Year: ca. 1941

Notions: "slide" (current) Coats thread, 4 plastic buttons

How historically accurate is it:  85% because of notions and Lycra in the fabric

Hours to complete: 9

First worn: Friday the Thirteenth for Pictures.  Daughter will wear it for her office job.

Cost: Approximately $45

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Jeannine

 

D-Day

Remembering D-Day, June 6, 1944, and all who served to preserve our freedoms.

 

 

 

Thank you to all who served.

Blessings,

Jeannine

Pin Up to Wartime Fashion

I find it interesting how I can become obsessed with something so quickly.  The first weekend in June Husband and I went to spend time at Disneyland, our happy place.  On Sunday we began to see many ladies wearing Victory rolls in their hair and pin-up style outfits.  I texted my daughter to find out what unofficial day it was at the park.  She found out it was Pin-Up Parade sponsored by Pin Up Girl Clothing.

Of course from there my mind set upon making a 1940s inspired costume.  So I began research to find out what would be actual World War II era dresses for American women.  I found out some things I never knew.

I went to Wikipedia for a brief overview. (Never use Wikipedia as a quotable source. That's what we tell high school students.  However, it is a good place to find some basic information that you can then research on other reputable sites.) I found out that the United States had a department called the U.S. War Production Board (WPA) which issued Limitation Order L-85 in 1942. It listed specific ways Manufacturers had to limit fabric usage.  All silk and nylon went to war production, as did brown and green dyes and much of the wool.  Skirts were narrower and shorter, embellishment almost non-existent. For much more information I read the articles here. Blitzkrieg Baby has a ton of information.  Look at the articles for May 2009 through October 2009.

 

 

These are examples of the pared down fashion of the day.  Shorter sleeves, less fabric in the skirts, single breasted button front with fewer buttons.

 

 

Fabrics were often cotton for summer or light wool for winter.  Printed rayon was also available.

 

 

Here Ava Gardner wears a proper wartime dress. Notice that emphasis is on legs and on shoulders.  Shoulder pads were in most dresses and suit coats.

 

 

Brenda Marshall sports a proper dress and a fabulous hat.  Women were encouraged to reuse the same suit or dress by switching out the accessories. Ms. Marshall was Mrs. William Holden and starred in several movies.

 

 

I found this pattern on ebay and noticed her name.

 

 

 

 

 

Hedy Lamar

 

 

 

I just won the bid for this pattern on ebay.  I hope to find some suitable fabric and make it up for the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge #11, The Politics of Fashion. Good luck to me.  I have a lot of other projects in the works as well.

Thanks for dropping by.

Jeannine

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished Victorian Corset

I wanted to give you a quick look at my completed corset.

 

 

I am happy with the way it came out but think I need to add bust padding in order to get the shape better.  I also laced it myself rather than having help.  I will post next week with a fully laced and padded version.  I think I need to have my "ladies maid" press my chemise!

 

Blessings,

Jeannine

Victorian Corset

I have been taking an online corset making class and this is what I've gotten so far.  Just have grommets and binding left to go.

 

 

The class can be found here.

 

The Pattern is from Truly Victorian.

 

I hope to finish the class this week and then will post soon.  I am excited to have a corset that truly fits me rather than the ones I bought from an online corset company.  They assume that all girls have large busts. Not so.

 

Thanks for checking in on me.

 

Jeannine