With the impending date of an 1830’s Romantics Era picnic at Ardenwood Farm put on by the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild, I commenced work on my gown. Pinterest was the first place I headed for inspiration. There are so many examples of dresses from the era, it was easy to find several that I could draw from for designs. Finding fabric was next and then building all the undergarments. I never did finish ALL of the undergarments, but I did make a set of stays, a shift, drawers (aka bloomers) and a corded petticoat. And I was also gifted a second petticoat that helped fill out the dress as well. Hard to believe there should be MORE underneath the gown, but there is - Sleeve puffers, some additional petticoats and a bum ruffle. I’ll save that for next time or for the Dicken’s Faire.
Read moreBra Making 2.0 - Inside our Bra Making Class with Linda Sepeda
I can’t say enough good things about our recent Bra Making class at The Sewing Room. Linda Sepeda was a fantastic instructor and she really helped us to get the best fit possible.
Read moreMiss Fisher Con or Bust - Fitting my Art Deco Inspired Evening Gown
Miss Fisher Con is less than a week away and my wardrobe is getting the finishing touches (even as you read this!). Here is a little sneak peak into the fitting of the evening gown I'll be wearing to the masquerade on the Saturday Evening of the Con.
Read moreModern & Vintage - Combine your patterns for a Retro Look
This Dress was a long time coming. I started working on it in November of last year. Originally, I intended to make it from a wool crepe and that the red rayon would be a wearable muslin. Using the Colette Patterns Oolong Dress pattern (purchased for 1/2 price, when they were discontinuing the pattern), I decided to make one modification - add godets to the skirt in the princess seams to give it a little flip and flare....
Read moreSewing My Gatsby Prototype - Using a Vintage Dress as my muslin....
After all your wonderful suggestions, I did end up choosing Ladies 1931 Dress from Vintage Pattern Lending Library for my Gatsby Dress. I just can't seem to get enough of those VPLL patterns! More on THAT later. Here is the story of how I came to use a Vintage 1940's dress for my "muslin" prototype....
Read moreA 1920's Blouse Done 3 ways with One Vintage Dress Pattern - Miss Fisher Wardrobe or Bust!
The original pattern
As part of my quest to build a "Miss Fisher" wardrobe, I've sewed up three little blouses inspired by separates her character wears in different episodes. This post will show you 3 blouses I have made, starting with one pattern and explain how you can do it too!
Read moreFashion Your Way to a Better Body Image - 5 ways to do it without Dieting
Body Image - That's a tough one for a lot of us. It's not something talked about openly, very often, but a lot of the people I work with seem to be challenged by it, and daily. I've struggled with my own body image over the years as have most of my friends. As a teenager, looking through fashion magazines constantly (wanting to be cool, fashionable and popular), I compared myself to the models on those pages, dressed beautifully & styled to the nines. The comparisons killed me. You see, I've always been my own worst critic. Self criticism and loathing get to the heart of the matter. That internal critic (along with a little external reinforcement - peer pressure, magazines etc.) led me to an eating disorder, hospitalization and a life unmanageable, all by the tender age of 15...
Read moreHere at Last - The Art Deco Preservation Ball
Well, the day of the ball arrived and I was prepared! This year's theme was Death on The Nile (the Agatha Christie Murder Mystery) with a focus on Egyptian Revival of the Art Deco era.
Read moreFull Bust / Narrow Shoulder Adjustment - Fitting my Embroidered Jacket
This jacket was found at the Vintage Fashion Expo in the Michaan's Auction House out at Alameda point last Fall. I loved it immediately and was pleased to say that it fit fairly well upon first trying it on, all be it, a little loose. This beautifully embroidered piece was only $45, so I nabbed it up and took it home.
Once home, I kept trying it on with different outfits and just found that I felt a bit frumpy in it. Have you ever had this experience? My bust and hips are full, at least in comparison to my shoulders and rib cage. The difference in size is about 3 dress sizes. Yikes. I'm the typical "Pear" - size 4 in the shoulders and rib cage, size 8 in the bust and a 10-12 in my waist andhips. Makes for a difficult fit a lot of the time. Well, this car coat (that's what these short jackets are called) is just a little too "Miss Fisher" to give up, so after close inspection, an alteration seemed in order.
"What to do?" You ask. Well, I say, make it fit in the shoulders. I started by pinning out the shoulder to see how much needed to be reduced - about 2" in the end.
After seam ripping the sleeves off the jacket, I drew a new armhole on the jacket, making the shoulders 2" smaller on each side. This made the armhole quite a bit larger than the sleeve.
In order to reduce the armhole measurement so that the sleeve would fit, I created a dart along the sides of the jacket, as there was no side seam to reduce. This made the bust smaller as well, but that worked out just fine, as the jacket was quite full in the bust already.
The sleeves were sewn back into the garment and the lining pinned in and stitched by hand.
With my jacket altered, and fitted properly, I now love it even more. Time to make an outfit to go with it, don't you think?
Happy Sewing!
