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Given my daughter's exposure to my dresses (both vintage and home-sewn) it's only natural that Penelope has become incredibly vocal about what she wears. I wear jeans all the time but she won't touch them. She's incredibly picky about her school outfits and if she doesn't like something I've bought, she *won't* wear it. Given this stubbornness, there's only a short list of Halloween costumes she'll approve.
Up until a couple weeks ago, she wanted me to make her another Rapunzel costume (yes, she still wears this one). Simplicity came out with a Disney-sanction Rapunzel pattern this year and THAT'S THE ONE SHE WANTED. Making princess costumes for around-the-house wear is something I'll get behind. For Halloween, I just have to make something a bit more unique.
While we were shopping for birthday party supplies, she wandered over to the cheap wall-o-costumes display and pointed to a flamenco dancer costume. "I want to be that." Given how she loves to dance and how I actually love flamenco dresses, I felt comfortable with that choice. So flamenco dancer it was.
So, I found a simple enough pattern (and modest) and headed to Jo Ann's to shop for red polka dotted fabric. It was there -- shopping with Pen -- that I realized that every time she spoke about her flamenco costume, she called it a "flamingo dancer." I'd correct her and she's say it again. She was adamant that she was right and I didn't have the energy to argue with her. So that's when the idea of a flamingo dancer costume was born.
The headpiece was quite simple to pull together. It's a flamingo head that I made from stitched felt, stuffing and a floral wire mounted to a headband. Using a glue gun, I glued part of a pink boa on top of the head band.
Frankly I was amazed that she liked the head piece. She's very particular about being "accurate" and none of the photos of flamenco dancer she's seen have ever had anything like this on the top of their heads.
But she did seem to love it!
See previously:
Last week we led up to Halloween with costumes and Halloween-inspired creations. This week, we're wearing everybody's favorite Autumnal hue, the color orange.
The Facts
Fabric: Orange striped jersey, thrifted -- $1
Pattern: Vogue 8728, $3.99
Year: c. 1946 (reissue)
Notions: none
Time to complete: 3 hours
First worn: October 2011
Wear again? Yes! Yes!
Total Cost: ~$4.99
Considering how many versions of Vogue 8728 I've seen in the sewing blog world (Casey's, Erin's (versions 1, 2, 3, 4), Adey's -- to name just a few), I knew it was time for me to actually use this pattern that I picked up months ago when Jo Ann's was having a pattern sale. I'm so happy that I finally did.
This week I decided I needed a break from tight waists, skinny skirts and any sort of dress that isn't conducive to lying around. Basically, I wanted a dress that I felt comfortable putting on in the morning and wearing throughout the entire day. I assumed I would have to go modern this week. I also assumed that I would go jersey/knit.
I had forgotten about this jersey knit fabric until I pulled it from the bottom of a pile in my sewing room (yes, my room is messy). The minute I saw it, I thought of Vogue 8728. So this wasn't going to be a modern dress, but it certainly was going to be a comfortable dress. And, as the title states, the fabric is indeed orange. It may look red in the photos, but next to red it's totally orange. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Now, considering I usually try to omit zippers from the most form fitting of dresses made with non-stretch fabric, you can bet money that I wasn't going to put one in a jersey dress. The omission of the zipper (and the fact that I should have made the dress one size smaller) made the dress a bit looser than intended. Once I realized I liked the looser fit, I cut about five inches off the hem and skipped the belt. With these changes, I felt I had a more contemporary garment that was a bit easier to wear on errands and around the house. Oh, and of course I left out the shoulder pads. Not for this version at least. With these changes, the dress was super easy to make up.
Even though this dress is not the most body flattering dress I could make, I absolutely love it! It's so comfortable and wearable. I can't wait to make another 8728!
I'm quite proud to say that Penelope took the following two photos on our pumpkin patch outing. Since I use a SLR, she has to look through the viewfinder. Considering how heavy the camera is, that's quite a feat! Good job, Pen!
And, by the way, I didn't even *try* to match the stripes to form a chevron at the shoulder. I hadn't even realized how well it matched up until I saw this photo. Yay for accidents!
In a couple of weeks, I'm heading to Camp Mighty, a weekend retreat for folks (mostly women folks) who want to be a bit more proactive in getting things done in their own lives. Part of the the event involves a fundraising component: We're fundraising for Charity Water, a "non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations."
To help raise money, I'm selling 3 vintage knitting patterns from 1947. They're available in PDF form for you to download and print at home. If you're interested, check them out over at Etsy. All proceeds go to Charity Water.
Original Inspiration
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The Facts
Fabric: 1 metre baby blue houndstooth fabric that I won in a giveaway, .10 metres of lightweight wool fabric for collar (a charity shop find!), £0.25
Pattern: DuBarry
Year: c. 1943
Notions: 2 self covered buttons (etsy score for a lot of make your own buttons), £0.50
Time to complete: 5 hours
Wear again? Yes! This is a TNT pattern
Total Cost: ~less than £1
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So why don't you join all the thousands of happy peppy people and get a great big bottle of Vitameatavegamin tomorrow!
Thats Vita-meata-vegamin! (wink)
If you haven't seen this episode of I Love Lucy, you really should watch it! It's the funniest episode ever and what I decided to base my costume on this week.
Instead of making a traditional 50's shirtwaist dress, I decided to use up some delightful brushed cotton baby houndstooth fabric that I won in a giveaway many moons ago! I revisited DuBarry 5327 which was my very first blouse I ever made AND I made another version of this blouse as my very first Sew Weekly Challenge (my Coco Chanel inspired blouse).
The blouse features a cute pleated sleeve, two buttons, tucks at the waist (which means it's great with high waisted trousers and other 40's styles) and gathers at the yoke front and back.
Instead of making the blouse collar white, like Lucy's (and like Veronica's version of the I Love Lucy dress), I opted for a darker navy blue to match my 1940 skirt (which I'm wearing here) and my matching 1941 high waisted trousers, all of these are from the same piece of lightweight wool that I found in a charity shop (YAY!)
I Love Lucy!! :)
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Because I'm not a total unreasonable taskmaster, the ladies who contribute to the Sew Weekly are allowed to sit out challenges from time to time. This week Kat takes the place of Sarah, who needed to take care of a family emergency. Our best wishes go out to Sarah and her family! The amazing Kat has completed each and every challenge this year. Seriously, that's awesome. Thanks, Kat for filling in this week!
The Facts
Fabric: Black suiting, gift from a friend. Black heavy cotton drill (no idea where from). Black drill with gothic crosses from Spotlight, $10 a metre
Pattern: Home Journal 5035 for the skirt, Vogue V1136 for the jacket
Year: Skirt 1957, jacket 1945
Notions: 6 vintage buttons, vintage hook and eye for the jacket. Invisible zip ($4) for the skirt
Time to complete: 9 hours for the jacket, 2 hours for the skirt
First worn: October 2011
Wear again? Yes, but probably not together
Total Cost: ~ $10
When I think Halloween, I think of witches and vampires, ghosts and ghouls, and dead souls at their closest point to the living. The colour black, dark make-up and stormy nights.
Therefore, it seemed like a good week to be a bit gothic-inspired!
I went hunting around for inspiration and found lovely pictures of gothic-styled girls with nipped-in waists, flared skirts, and high collars. Vogue V1136, one of the re-released Vintage Vogue series, seemed like a good candidate, with it's nipped-in waist, peplum, and shaped standing collar. Without thinking too much about it, I found some black suiting in my stash and jumped right in. 9 hours, 6 bound button holes, 14 tuck details, and some gathering later, I had a jacket. (Some of these vintage Vogue patterns need to come with a warning about how long they take to make. Sheesh.)
I paired the jacket with a Home Journal 5035 from 1957 - a simple straight skirt with two knife-pleats at the back. To add a touch more 'Halloween' to the outfit, I used some cotton drill with red gothic crosses as the back panel, which also made it look as though it was several decades later than the 1950s. The Home Journal pattern was a dream to sew - straighforward, and only four pattern pieces. If I didn't decide to add lining, it would have been all done in around an hour. I can see this becoming another of my tried-and-true patterns.
To add to the Halloween gothic style, it seemed like a night photo shoot was in order for this week, so off we trundled to the park late at night. The weather came to the party as well and provided a fair amount of Halloween type atmosphere - it was indeed a dark and stormy night! (And no, my hair doesn't usually stand on end like it is in some of these photos.) I attempted to live up to the expecations set by the dark-and-stormy weather, and look dark-and-stormy myself. (It's somewhat odd intentionally not smiling in photos.)
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