Star-Spangled Man with a plan

As my last post implied, I am really in a 1940's mood right now.  In lieu of any actual content, I thought I'd share one of my favorite scenes from a new "old" movie...

In my opinion, they did this scene just right for the 1940's!  From the enthusiastic singing to the dancing girls, it was perfect.  I love the part where "Hitler" comes sneaking in, that is definitely something they would have done back then (before political correctness!).

And here's another one for the costumers among us:

I hope you enjoyed them, whether you've seen them or not!

Rebecca

WWII Reenacting woes...

So today I went to a fantastic WWII museum (dressed 1940's style in the shirtdress and a new hairnet/snood I crocheted).  I've always been interested in not only the fashion styles of a time period, but also the things that were going on.  When I get into a time period, I am interested in everything I can find out about it.  Going today has kind of re-sparked my interest in WWII reenacting.  I've been trying to figure out some way that I and a few of my friends could get involved.  I am not really interested in being a nurse (well, maybe, I haven't tried it) or a "girlfarb" (I could never, never pass for a guy.).  I am thinking about maybe doing some USO kind of things, or trying to make my own group of "home front" reenactors who could do presentations at a military reenactment, to show the other side of things.  I wish there were more opportunities for women in WWII reenacting (although I understand there are similar issues with Civil war reenacting also.).  There aren't really very many roles women (and children, for that matter) can accurately portray.  Unfortunately, even the most accurately dressed 1940's American female civilian does not belong in a 1940's war zone any more than a modern person does.  That's not going to stop me from dressing out to go to a reenactment, though.  I still feel more accurate that way, even if I'm not.  I'm going to try to find (or make) more opportunities for my friends and I to reenact.  If any readers know of any, would you be so kind as to make suggestions?

Rebecca

2 finished 40's dresses:

So I was going to post sort of a dress diary on the teal 40's dress I was making, but the first week I was working on it, there were some unexpected things that led to me not feeling like it. By the time I felt like posting, the dress was almost done, so I decided to wait on it.  Well, it has now been done for several days, so I figured I would finally share the finished dress!

Here it is!

I love the way it turned out! The collar looks great, and the sleeves are perfect for dancing, because they have plenty of "give" and freedom of movement!

I am particularly proud of the sleeves, because I ended up drafting them to get them to look the way I wanted.  I was having trouble sewing the cuff on, but then I realized that the bottom of the machine comes off to make it where you can sew sleeves on it.  After I did that, it worked perfectly!

The darts turned out really well.

18 buttons in all!  This was the first time I was able to get the buttonhole function to work on my machine.

The skirt is roomy enough for dancing, but it's a really good fit for the 40's, because it's still narrow enough to be pre-New Look. 

I had to make a box pleat in the center back waist, but I like it because it adds to the shirtdress feel.

Here are some in-progress shots:

I added a lace hem facing for a luxurious touch, because to me the 40's and 50's mindset made a little bit of glamour accessible to every woman, while still being sensible.

And the hem facing sewn in (it's hard to see).

Both the hem facing and dress fabric date to the 70's, so they are vintage, just not quite as old as the dress style!

The entire dress was draped by me on my dress form.  This picture shows the left front side taking shape.  Once I had it how I wanted it, I trimmed around the edges, leaving a seam allowance, and cut a matching piece for the other side.  Believe it or not, this was the first time I had actually had to pattern match plaids.  I think it turned out pretty well!

Then I started to shape the collar.  The bottom half was in 3 pieces, and the top was 1 piece.

The back of the collar.

Sewing the collar on was the hardest part, it took a combination of machine and hand sewing, but it finally turned out looking very sharp!

While I was taking the pictures for this post, I realized that I has never officially posted the finished version of the dress I made for my sister back at the beginning of the year.  Well, it has been done for several months, and worn a few times, and here it is:

I ended up binding the edged with red bias tape, which brings out the color of the strawberries.

I had to cut the neckline a little lower than I was originally going to, because it was too small for a head to fit through!  That's kind of the purpose, isn't it?

The back looks very pretty, and I really like the way the dress turned out.  It has a very 40's character, between the print and the style, and I anticipate both it and the other dress being worn to many 40's events in the future!

Rebecca 

A Summer of Sewing!

So, as I have just finished school for the year, I thought I would tell you about my summer sewing plans (In time order):

         1. A 40's/50's dance dress.

My ballroom dance class is doing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", and my boyfriend and I are the youngest couple, and we are also good at tricks, so the dress I wear has certain qualifications that it has to meet in order for me to dance in it (it can't fly up too much, but the skirt has to be loose enough for movement, etc.).  Right now I only have 1 40's dress (the one I made for my sister), but it has a tighter skirt so I can't do all of the tricks in it. Therefore, I will be making a new one, which has to be my first project because the recital is in June.  

My fabric:

I am going to make a late 40's/50's style shirtdress out of this, because I've always wanted one, it will be perfect for dancing, and it is a lovely 50's teal!


2: Finish the waistcoat.
(I am making this as a gift for my boyfriend, and I'm not going to post pictures until it's done)
I have this mostly done, all I need to do is put in the pockets and sew in the lining.


3: Finish my stays.
These have to be done before I can make any more 18th century gowns, jackets, etc., because they are the foundation for the rest of my clothes.


4: Make panniers.
I am going to make the kind that have two parts, like Leomomi's.  I'll need to make panniers because me next project is...


5: A Francaise/Sacque back gown (!)
I am so excited about this one!  I can't wait to start it, which I guess is good, because hopefully it'll help me get done with the other ones faster.


My fabric:



It's a cotton "chintz" fabric with about 5 colors, which would be more expensive than just 1 color because they would have to make 5 different blocks, 1 for each color.  It was a status symbol in the same way as silk was.  There are several  extant red print gowns, many of which are cotton print.  Therefore I feel comfortable with using this fabric. 
(UPDATE: this fabric is taking FOREVER to ship, so unfortunately it may have to be moved down the list a bit if it doesn't get here before I need it.)


My inspiration for the gown:



The Mint Museum
I like this, although it is probably silk, and I don't have enough fabric to make a matching petticoat.



MFA
This gown is closer to what I want.  It is a cotton print, with sleeve ruffles, and it has a non-matching petticoat (Mine will probably be red).  I also want to include the narrow tucker around the neckline.


6: A Quarter-back gown.


My fabric:



This is a really pretty 1-color block-print cotton, in the same fabric as the one above.  I'm going to make the gown out of this, but there is so much fabric I might be able to make more things.  (It would make a nice pet-en l'air).



The Historical New England collection


I want my dress to look exactly like this one, but in red print and as an open gown/polonaise.


7. A new "nice" apron and cap
I have some linen check material that I am going to make a more stylish cap and apron, for wearing with nicer gowns, like these.


8. A petticoat that will match both gowns.
(Probably red)


(The "If I have time and/or money" category)


9. A blue linen roundgown
This will be something I can wear to my site because it's more of a working-class type gown, but it will have trimming. It will be in this linen:

       

Sphinx, by fabrics-store.com

10. A new linen shift

11. A Costume Close-up jacket

In this material:

A grey linen-cotton material with a white stripe.

Well, I think that's about the most I'll be able to do in one summer, and hopefully I'll be able to get it all done. I'll try to do better and post some dress diaries as I go along.  These are some exciting projects!

Rebecca

Hmmm...

So, I have several projects that I have finished/am currently working on that I could post pictures of, but they are gifts, and I don't want the recipients to see them, so I have a lack of current project pictures to post.

However, I am currently working on a project for my art class about how art styles of particular periods influenced fashion.  I'll give a bit more detail once I am finished, but right now I'll leave you with some pictures I am going to use.

Baroque

The Hall of Mirrors from the Palace of Versailles, France.

Rococo 

I want to make a gown like the one on the right!

One of the hallmarks of Rococo furniture and architecture are S and C-scrolls, and this gown shows how that translated to fashion.

Neoclassical

This chair from the V & A is a very good example of the simplicity of Greek and Roman designs that were revived in this time period.

For a time, dresses lost their elaborate trimmings to echo the simplicity of the style.

Art Nouveau 

Art Nouveau style is characterized by natural, scrolling forms like vines.  Some of the architecture looks as if it was carved with water from a piece of stone (like a riverbed or stalactite). 

An Art Nouveau ring.

Art Deco 

A French airfare poster.

An elevator door.  Art Deco used a lot of solid geometric forms in beautiful designs and patterns.

An Art Deco ring.  I love this one!

Updates and Sneak Peeks

It has taken longer to finish my sister's dress than I thought.  That is partially because I have been working on some other projects, none of which are finished either.  I have been pretty productive though, so I'll give you some sneak peeks of what I have been up to.

I drafted a pattern and am almost done with a 1940's dress for my sister. 

I found and altered a pattern for a new pair of 18th century stays. 

I made a cardboard mock-up of the pattern.

(And got fabric and boning for said stays.)

I designed a knitting pattern for an 18th century pinball

(a term to be explained further in another post).

 I've started to knit the front.

(And I am teaching my other sister to knit!)

 I learned how to make death's head buttons.

(This is a larger size I practiced on, the second one I ever made!)

I got this fantastic book! I'll talk about it in another post.

This new year is off to a pretty good start!

-Rebecca

A new sewing project for a New Year!

My first project of the new year: After watching a movie set in the 1940's, my sister decided that she wanted me to make her a 40's inspired dress. We sat down, looked at some inspiration pics, and drew out a design. This has been my first time using my new dressform to sew with, and it is going very well! My sister tried it on today, and everything is in place for finishing it up tomorrow or sometime very soon. I will post pictures when I get the chance; I've tried to show every step of my progress along the way. I'm looking forward to seeing her wear the dress out of the house. It looks great on her!

Rebecca