Thursday, March 14, 2013

Ric Rac Dress

This was my first foray into ric rac. I love the stuff! It added whimsy and color to this project. I had the fabric picked out for a while, and my friend, Heidi, recommended that I use red ric rac. I'm so glad I did!





















My husband took these photos on a windy day, hence the look of surprise on my face as my dress did a Marilyn Monroe.

This dress is from a vintage pattern. It is a simple bodice with a gathered dirndl skirt. The gathers aren't quite even, which is why I wore the belt. I would have liked to make a matching fabric belt with a red buckle, but I ran out of fabric. I wish the dress fit a bit better (I didn't do a muslin or anything), but overall I'm so happy with how it turned out!


Happy sewing,
Christina

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

First 40s Dress



I have a crazy love of vintage patterns, and I desperately wanted to try something from the 40s. I stumbled across this pattern at a vintage shop in St. Louis, and dug through my stash to find the perfect fabric! The front center seam was just begging for a chevron design, but this presented quite an issue during cutting. As you can see, it turned out pretty darn good! The dress is a bit thin, so I had get to wear a slip with it.

This dress is a typical 40s silhouette with a snug neckline and broad shoulders. The top is a bit loose because there aren't any darts--just the pleats in the neckline and in the back. The pattern calls for shoulder pads, and at the risk of looking like a linebacker, I just might put some in.























In all, the dress took about 7 hours to complete (this includes the difficult cutting and redoing the neckline--twice). But hey, I'm still learning!

An added bonus--I went to the Springfield Antiques Expo this month, and found the perfect Bakelite jewelry to go with the dress! I was hoping for red, but the orange matched nicely (and was a bit less pricey).


















I would like to make this dress again with longer sleeves and I might try wool or gabardine to make it a bit dressier. I also did not do any top-stitching,but I will next time I crank out one of these beauties.

Sew on,
Christina