The Facts:
Fabric: thrifted cotton print = $3?
Pattern: None
Year: Contemporary
Notions: None
Time to complete: 2 hours
First worn: To get a haircut and run around like a maniac at home.
Wear again? Yes, next week and probably all summer
Total price: $3?

That’s not a misplaced apostrophe in the title:  my son’s name is Oscar and this is his dashiki, inspired by George Clooney’s blue Hawaiian shirts worn in The Descendants.  I admit that I have yet to watch the whole film, but I don’t think that was a requirement for this challenge, hunh?

I made Oscar a dashiki last summer in the midst of a heatwave, when we couldn’t even tolerate T-shirts. (Montreal gets up to about 40C with the humidex, and without air conditioning, it can be quite stifling.)  He wore it as often as it was clean, and it was an easy enough top to sew, so I decided to make him another one.  I used another great thrift store find, a short piece of cotton souvenir fabric from the island of Guadeloupe.  It was a quick job to trace around the existing one and add a bit of width and length for a growing boy.

This is the 4th or 5th time I’ve made a split front top, and it’s still not perfect, but I’m improving.  I can’t get that bottom point to lay flat; it may have to do with my hesitancy to clip right to the very last thread before turning inside.  I always leave a few threads, which makes it a bit bunchy and wrinkly.  You’d think I’d have learned my lesson by now.

Either way, he loves it and once I got him to try it on for fit, he refused to take it off, even after it was full of itchy hair from the barber.  He spent the whole appointment telling the barber about how his Mama made his shirt and how he was going to fly for two days to Africa and get to sleep in a mud hut and see elephants.  I don’t think she believed a word of it.

I tried to get some photos of him before the haircut, but anyone with one of these critters living in their house will know how difficult they are to photograph.  Here’s a general idea of how the photoshoot progressed:

Perhaps Rango would have been a more appropriate inspiration:

BTW, I made this red apron for my daughter last week from the left overs of my Down Under Sundress, but then I didn’t end up posting.  I guess I didn’t consider that a free-hand, lopsided  wabi-sabi apron with purchased bias trim warranted a post unto itself.  And frankly, a two year old is an even more difficult model than a 6 year old!

Since this was going directly into her box of no you can’t wear that to school clothes dress-up clothes I wanted it to be easy to put on and hard to wrinkle.  With that in mind its made out of inexpensive knit fabric.  I also used the same peasant dress pattern as last week.  I figured the most distinctive part of Belle’s dress is the skirt so I added the vertical gathers with strips of elastic.  The swag at the top is really just a ruffle with a fabric flower sewn in the center front.  All in all in was a pretty simple dress to make and Emily is pleased.  It feels a little like a cop out since I’m sure there are going to be some truly incredible grown up creations this week.  Oh well next week will be something for me.

The Facts

⁃ Fabric: 1 yard yellow rayon knit $6.00 and 1 yard poly knit $2.00
⁃ Pattern: Peasant dress from Little Girls Big Style
⁃ Year: 2010
⁃ Notions: elastic
⁃ Time to complete: not that long probably 3 hours
⁃ First worn: Feb 10th
⁃ Wear again? Of course!  She’s 4 and this is a princess dress.
⁃ Total price: $8.00

The Facts
Fabric: 2.5 yards “medieval blue” stretch twill from JoAnn, about $18; 2 yards brown organic cotton french terry from fabric.com, $26
Pattern: Colette Clover, Version 1 and Sewaholic Renfrew, View C
Year: contemporary
Notions: invisible zip and homemade bias tape for Clover
Time to complete: about 7 hours for Clover and 3 hours for Renfrew
First worn: for the photos
Wear again: absolutely, but not together
Total cost: about $46

My inspiration was the 1957 film Funny Face, starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire and nominated for four Oscars, including Edith Head and Hubert de Givenchy for Costume Design.  If you haven’t seen the movie, which is pretty silly, not Fred Astaire’s best performance, you might remember a key dance scene from a Gap commercial some years back.  I channeled Audrey’s beatnik look in that scene– black cigarette pants and black turtleneck.  In other scenes she wears a camel colored trench over the outfit.

Like most of Audrey’s iconic looks, this one is simple, classic, chic, and, in my opinion, a little boring.  However, I figured aspiring to Audrey’s simple chic would gain me two versatile pieces.  Having seen all the lovely Clovers here at SW, I’ve been meaning to make a pair, and, more recently, Renfrew as well.  Perfect.  I rarely buy black anything, so I raided the stash for the darkest colors I could find.

I expected Clover to be Adventures in Fitting Part 2 (Part 1 was fitting a bodice three weeks ago), and I wasn’t disappointed.  All the books and tutorials make fitting adjustments look so clear-cut, but, yeah, that is not my experience.  I’m getting used to the process, though, and starting to trust my judgement.  And I won!  I love the fit.

Flat-felled seams are awesome.  If you’ve never tried them, and I hadn’t, they’re easy.  Here’s what I wish I had known: 1) No special presser foot?  No problem.  I used my blind hem foot for the second line of stitching (the topstitching) and that worked great.  2) You can only do them on the inner legs.  Once you sew those together, it’s impossible to do that line of topstitching on the outer legs, so you have to finish the outer leg seams a different way.  3) Make sure to press the inner leg seams in the same direction.  I didn’t, oops.

Renfrew came together easily, even though I wish the instructions were a bit more hand-holding and informational.  I’m in the target market of “people who dislike sewing with knits,” after all.  I serged the whole thing, not completely successfully, but with more success than anything I’ve serged heretofore.  Next time I’ll use a zig-zag stitch on my regular machine and finish the seams with the serger, so that I actually have a seam allowance (=safety).  The french terry is thick and luxurious, maybe a little too thick for the collar, which is two layers of fabric.  I like the cut of this top a lot and see several more in my future.  Perhaps the serger and I will finally become friends.

Quick, hide it from the kids. Okay, so these photos are far from racy. But still, I kinda cringe at putting half-dressed versions of myself out there. Here goes…

Fabric: poly charmeuse, $4

Pattern: Colette Nutmeg, stash

Year: 2010?

Notions: lingerie elastic, ribbon, both from stash

Time to complete: not sure

First worn: laying on the bed on a Sunday afternoon

Wear again? yes

Total price: $4

I went about this project a bit backwards. Despite being a huge film freak, I don’t really watch awards shows. So instead, I looked to my sewing queue, then hopped on the Academy Awards website to see if any upcoming projects would suit a nominated film. Of course, I then became quite distracted by beloved films, and now have a growing inspiration list (Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Thin Man, Amarcord, Coalminer’s Daughter, Annie Hall, Bonnie & Clyde… outfits I will get to someday).

Nutmeg is a pattern I’ve had in my stash for quite a while, and last month it got bumped up in the queue for two reasons. One was an amazing leopard print silk dress I found at Goodwill. Two was the fact that I finally ordered a bra pattern & kit, and thought the Nutmeg would be a nice version of lingerie light sewing. Mrs. Robinson’s leopard print goodness sealed the deal. Okay, okay, so I didn’t make a coat. And being a cougar isn’t on my list of things to try. But who doesn’t want leopard print underthings?

The bra supplies have yet to arrive, and the lovely pure silk dress will have to wait for a different project. There is a lot of fabric, but unfortunately not enough for the bias cuts this pattern requires. So, I broke my non-buying streak with this leopard print replacement. I couldn’t find anything in silk in a pinch, so it’s a poly charmeuse. I’m totally fine with that, though the silk print is decidedly classier than this version. But it’s loungewear, people, if ya know what I mean ;)

The Nutmeg is ridiculously easy to sew, and I used French seams to keep everything nice and neat. I ended up instinctively sizing down quite a bit in the knickers (I’m learning, dear Colette), but I think next time I’ll have to do the same with the bralette. I measured properly, came up with my usual bra size, but sad to say I feel like I simply don’t fill this out very well. (Also sad? The lame anklet I got at 17.)

The Facts

Fabric: all scraps from my stash and leftovers from previous projects (mostly cotton, some silk pieces)
Patterns: Butterick 4686 (2nd time using)
Year: Contemporary
Notions: Value pack of Steam-A-Seam 2 $4.99 (but only 4 sheets used), a sheet of HP Iron On transfers (had a pack from a few years back), white baby rikrak from previous project, old Boy Scout badges found in a thrift store for $2
Time to complete: 5 hours
First worn: 20th February 2012
Wear again? Yes, but not together.

Total price: About $6

Film inspiration provided by: Up

The challenge: “In anticipation for next Sunday’s Academy Award ceremony, we’re using past Oscar winners and nominees as inspiration for our creations”.

This week was, as my eldest puts it a “meh” week. I’d like to feel a little excited about my Up skirt (which I’m sure is going to make some people who google “up skirt photo” very disappointed when they see me wearing a skirt inspired by a Pixar movie not anything anymore exciting). I don’t. I feel a bit “meh”.

Last week I finally got up the courage to sign up with a dentist here in the USA. It’s not that I don’t like dentists, I just have extreme social anxiety and hate going to new places and meeting new people. Great for someone who upped sticks and left the life she knew behind her in the UK to move to America. But as they say in Up – adventure is out there!

So I booked an appointment as a new patient at the dentist and went along expecting everything to be routine. It wasn’t. Here in America they take about 20 x-rays of the whole of your mouth for any new patient (in the UK we use x-rays more sparingly, only using them when they are needed for some treatment). The x-rays showed that a root canal I’d had years ago had failed and I now had the “largest tooth infection” they’d ever seen in their practice.

So long story short, I was told to book an emergency appointment to have the molar removed, the infection scraped out and dealt with. It was extraordinarily painful and I had to take the super-strength vicodin to deal with the large hole for a few days afterwards….and am still on advil now…..I don’t like vicodin, it makes me feel spaced out, out of control and my sewing is appalling when using it. Yes, I know now that I probably shouldn’t have been using a sewing machine under its influence but I wasn’t thinking straight and was trying to make a skirt for which I’d started the week with such high hopes for.

Anyway, that’s why I feel “meh” about the week and unfortunately the skirt.

But you don’t want to know all that do you? You want to know the details about the skirt.

OK, my inspiration was the Pixar/Disney movie Up. It won 2 Oscars in 2010 (Best Original Score and Best Animated Feature) but was nominated for 5 in all (the others being Best Motion Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Sound Editing).

Up means a lot to our family. It was one of the movies that was showing on the airplane when we flew to the USA to move here. I firmly hold with Ellie’s beliefs that life in itself is an adventure and should be lived to the full. You don’t need to go to Paradise Falls to find it….it can be right on your doorstep if you just keep your eyes open. But your mouth tightly closed for this week.

I found a pic of the Up house on the internet that I liked and printed it on HP Iron On Transfer paper. Using these instructions I ironed this onto some spare white cotton and put the house to one side for a bit.

I drew a template shape of a balloon and cut out multiple balloon shapes out of lots of scraps of fabric in my stash. I then placed these on one of the tacky sides of the Steam-a-Seam 2 sheets.

As you can see, some of the shapes I just used crescents instead of the complete balloon shape as I wanted to minimise the weight on the skirt. I then peeled off the paper backings of the balloons/crescents and placed them on the skirt and moved them about (they are tacky but don’t stick until you iron them) until I was happy with the shape.

I ironed them onto the skirt in rows, and before adding the final few balloons, cut lengths of white baby rikrak to be secured underneath them. I also put a rogue, floating away balloon and ‘string’ on the front and back of the skirt for added ‘whimsy’.

Pinning the other end of the ‘balloon strings’ under the chimney of the Up house transfer, I used a zigzag stitch that was very thin and very short with blue thread to match the skirt to sew the top half of the house onto the skirt. I wanted some of the house to dangle off the edge of the skirt’s hem.

For the purposes of the photoshoot, but probably not to wear out in public…..unless perhaps for Halloween…..I made an orange neckscarf out of fabric from my stash and a brown sash from an old pillowcase. On one of my regular thrift store treasure hunting expeditions I’d spotted some old Boy Scout patches and badges, a job lot for just $2 and these couldn’t be more perfect to sew onto the sash. Where I didn’t quite have enough I made extras out of felt.

And so there’s my Oscar inspired (using) Up (my scraps) skirt. Made in between trips to the dentist, oral & maxillofacial surgeon, under the influence of vicodin, and having to entertain the kids on Presidents Day. Here’s Melchett teaching me how to climb up a ladder whilst Goth Child took the photos. Haha.

Hey, do you want to know one of my favourite lines from Up?

Dug: “Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, “I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead.” Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead”.

Yep, that about sums up my week. Roll on next week and probably more madness.

The Facts
Fabric: “Silky” Poly-blend, 2 yards–$20
Pattern: Simplicity 2588–$1 (!)
Year: 2012
Notions: Technically a zipper, but have omitted for now. If I re-do the (stupid, stupid, stupid) yoke/collar, I may insert the zipper.
Time to Complete: 14 hours
First Worn: February 2012
Wear Again: Yes, if I can fix the collar so it’s more  chic and less Flying Nun. Currently–and you can’t see this because I purposefully put my hair over the damn thing–the collar is all wavy around the edges.
Total Cost: $21 (fabric, pattern, and zipper)

While I was excited for the Oscar Outfits Challenge, I was also at a bit of a loss as to what to create with such a wide net of inspiration. Oscar night dresses, movie costumes, music, scenery… Oh my!  The more I Googled, the more my eyes started to cross and my brain to freeze.

And then, tucked demurely away among all the big name’s in the 82nd (aired in 2010) Oscar Nomination List–we’re talking the year of Avatar, The Hurt Locker (winner of six awards including Best Picture), Sandra Bullock (winner Best Actress), Inglorious Basterds (for which Christoph Waltz deservedly won Best Supporting Actor), and Kathryn Bigelow’s triumphant Best Director win over her former hubby James Cameron–were two nominations for An Education. One for Best Movie and another for Best Actress for the immensely talented Carey Mulligan.

In my humble opinion, this little gem of a movie most likely  got lost in the brouhaha surrounding the SPFX monster that was Avatar 3D. An Education is a coming of age story set in 1961 London. Jenny (played by Carey Mulligan) is a precocious sixteen-year old school girl on track to enroll it prestigious Oxford University. Her life is, admittedly, a bit humdrum. That all changes, however, when she meets charming and worldly older man (emphasis on man) David Goldman. He pursues her romantically and lavishly–the two frequently dine out, go to clubs, attend concerts, etc. David easily charms Jenny’s parents as well. David whisks Jenny off to Paris–her dream vacation–and the two nearly become *intimate*. Jenny asks that they wait until she turns seventeen.  Jenny eventually learns that David has a few skeletons in his closet, one of which becomes a deal-breaker of sorts.

I really liked this movie for two reasons: it was very real in terms of the romance (as in it was so sappy it made my teeth hurt) and the clothing. Oh the clothing!  Jenny’s progression from girl to woman is so very adeptly depicted in her clothing (for more on this, see my blog, Down the Retro Rabbit Hole, for a Sew Weekly Post).

All of Jenny’s “grown up dresses” are so very lovely. However, a lot of them are not practical for every day wear–as in wearing to the office (as if I actually get out of my PJs and go to an office! HA!) or just mucking about. This one below, however, kinda does.

Don't you love the collar detail? And the colors??!

To me, this dress screams versatility. one could throw a sweater or blazer over it for work in the winter/fall, or tie a white scarf around your head for sailing in the summer. Mostly, it just makes me want to go on a really long European vacation.

Here’s my version:

]]> http://www.sewweekly.com/2012/02/the-an-education-dress/feed/ 17 http://www.sewweekly.com/2012/02/shosannas-killin-natzis-dress/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=shosannas-killin-natzis-dress http://www.sewweekly.com/2012/02/shosannas-killin-natzis-dress/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:38:34 +0000 Cheryl http://www.sewweekly.com/?p=18084 [...]]]>

The Facts

Fabric: 5 yards wool crepe suiting in red
Pattern: McCalls M2401
Year: Contemporary
Notions: Nothing but thread.
Time to complete: 4 hours.
First worn: Sunday for pictures.
Wear again? Probably not.
Total price: approximately $25.00

I know what you’re thinking…Cheryl, didn’t you say last week that you hate red?  Yah, I did. And still do. For the most part.  But my friends, this time it’s different. Because this time it’s the Oscars challenge and my movie inspiration was Inglorious Basterds (2009). This has got to be one of my top favorite modern movies of all time.  Not only is it a great war movie with beautiful clothing throughout, it is a revisionist look at WWII where Hitler and the Nazi Party big-wigs meet their much earlier and twisted demise.  It’s a Tarantino film all the way, and that means some pretty fabulous characters.  I won’t shy away from saying that I wish I had me some Aldo Raine in real life. Mmmmmmm, Brad Pitt.

Anyways, I originally thought I would sew Bridget von Hammersmark’s fantastic suit since there is a vintage inspired pattern available. Then I wanted to make her movie premier dress that was so long and drapy and sparkly. Both were shaping up to take a lot of time and I knew that I might not have that time available. I was hemming and hawing over what I should do when I saw, Shosanna’s movie premier dress in all it’s red glory.  That was it.  Simple, fitted, long sleeves, and those wavy bits on the front that I learned later are called a peplum.

Since I didn’t really have a pattern for this one I decided to wing it (did I mention I was worried about time, hehe).  I used the McCalls pattern for the basic structure and then just spent most of my Friday night thinking about how those peplum things worked.  On Saturday morning I sewed a muslin (kind of) before I moved on to the red fabric and got things really moving.  The McCalls pattern is super easy to put together so I didn’t bother with the instructions, I just went to work on the basic parts and then began to work out the best shape of my peplums.  It was only after I had sewn the back pieces together wrong and finished their seems (eek!), picked out the seems and resewed things back together, that I realized my mistake.  I never sewed the facings on in the first place. Inglorious Basterds! *shakes fist in the air*  Luckily I had to take a break for a fancy night out with the man and some good friends at the Violet Hour.  I drowned my sorrows in a handcrafted cocktail called a Tattooed Seaman.  It was a great cure.

It wasn’t until Monday that I went back to work finishing the dress.  Since my facings issue was virtually impossible to fix, I decided that bias tape was going to be the proper way to go. I didn’t have any ready-made bias tape that matched, so I tried my hand at making my own.  I’m glad I did since it was easy and it really looks nice.

I got all dolled up: red lips, red nails, DIY hat with mesh–and made my way with J to the train with our local independent theater–The Davis–in mind for the destination.  For fun, we took some pictures on the train and I am damn glad we did.  J didn’t even make it to 15 pictures and the camera died.  Inglorious Basterds! *shakes fist in the air again*  We quick got off the train before it left the station and headed home.  I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see the whole vision through, but in the end I learned a valuable lesson about making sure my camera is fully charged.

Ultimately I do not think I’ll wear this dress again in its current form.  I had decided to only do two peplums and when looking at the pictures, I think that three would have been a better choice.  I like the dropped waist, but I’m not shaped like a stick so my curves don’t really work with that style.  If When I remake this dress I am going to add another peplum at the natural waist line so that it will compliment my figure better.  I will also probably install the zipper as well so that I can get a better fit and make it easier to get in and out of the dang thing.

And finally, folks, I am not ashamed to say…I think might I like red after all.

The Facts

Fabric: 2 metres of some synthetic lightweight woven plaid from my stash, ~$8
Pattern: Simplicity 7049
Year: 1975
Notions: 20cm invisible zip, ~$4, two vintage hooks and eyes
Time to complete: 5 hours
First worn: to work, Feb 21
Wear again? yep
Total price: ~$12

When you’re given the theme of any movie that’s ever been nominated for an Oscar to work with, you immediately think of ‘Braveheart’, right? (No?!?)

If I could have, I would have made a kilt. After all, few things could be more Braveheart-inspired than a kilt. But it turns out they a) take ages, b) take heaps of fabric, and c) take years of training to make. Hence, no me-made kilt. Not this week, anyway.

Hunting through my stash, I uncovered this brown and cream lightweight synthetic blend plaid. I have no idea what the fabric composition is, but it’s the sort of fabric that can really only be a dress. I figure it’s quite Braveheart-inspired, being plaid and muddy browns.

(Have you seen Braveheart? It came out when I was living overseas for a year. It was one of the few films showing in English where I was living, so I went to see it probably about three times at the movies and I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for it ever since. Even if it is starring Mel Gibson, but hey, not every movie can be perfect, right?)

I decided to branch out from my usual 1940′s or 1950′s style this week and dabble a bit in the 1970′s. 1975, to be precise. This pattern came from my mother’s pattern stash – I’m going to have to find out what she used it for next time I see her. I figured with the gathers and the drape, it was as close to the flow of a kilt that I was going to get this week.

My original plan was to make up the view without the tie belt, but you know what? It looks like a complete sack without that belt. Sure, the blonde model on the pattern illustration makes it look all cute and flirty, but from the side or the back, there is nothing but sack-like resemblance. Gotta love tie belts in those cases.

It’s not my usual style at all, and I think it’ll take a bit of getting used to wearing it, but it’s rather comfortable and it turns out that after I made myself wear it for a full day as a road-test, I actually quite like it. I’m even thinking of making it up in a soft jersey knit fabric at some stage, I think it would drape quite nicely that way.

Trying to get into character.

The Facts
Fabric: Poly/Rayon for the top, stretch Bengaline suiting for the pants, felt for the shoe clips
Pattern: Simplicity 2892, view D and Colette Clovers
Year: current
Notions: invisible zip for the pants, thread and shoe clips
Time to complete: oh my, probably 10 hours or so over the course of the week
First worn:  Today for pictures
Wear again? Yes, separately and after I sew up the hole in the derrière
Total price: $15

After much deliberation and much lost sleep thinking of ideas, I finally settled on Kevin the bird from UP as my inspiration.  We don’t buy many movies, but we do have this one because my husband and I both enjoyed it so much.  There is so much to love, but I think my favorite character, hands down, is Kevin.  She’s a mom, so we have a lot in common right there.

I took her amazing feathers as my inspiration and decided to kill two birds with one stone (er, maybe that turn of phrase isn’t the best choice at the moment) and use fabric from my stash AND stick with my goal of re-using patterns to get the most for my money.  I’ve made another view of this top and I’ve made a wearable muslin in the pants.  These are my favorite creations from  these patterns thus far.

My husband was not around, so we get "artistically" cropped pictures because the camera was on a chair.

Both the pants and the top are very comfortable and both were straightforward to sew.  I particularly enjoyed how fast the Clovers went together since it was my second time sewing a pair.

I did take in the side seams of the blouse because it was just too sack-like for my taste and was totally lacking in shape.

I also altered my backside piece for the pants and did an even fuller butt adjustment than I did for my muslin. These Clovers are not skin tight like my first and I like them this way.  Apparently I needed the Extra Full Butt Adjustment (and I found out the center seam still needs reinforcement thanks to the shoot today.

Once again, I try to measure my sewing success by whether or not someone will ask “Where did you get that?”  I want my duds to look like I got them from a store, but hopefully a very unique, fun store.  I feel like I accomplished that with these pieces, so I’m very happy.

And this would be when I heard threads popping. There will be some mending before I wear the pants again.

The Facts

Fabric: South Sea Imports 100% cotton from Korea
Pattern:  Du Barry 5435
Year: 1942
Notions: invisible zipper
Time to complete: 7-8 hours- over the weekend.
First worn: February 20, 2012
Wear again? Yes!
Total price: about 6 dollars for contrast fabric, zipper and thrifted belt buckle

My Oscar Winning inspiration this week comes from the movie “Marty”, which won best picture in 1955. I chose to channel “Virginia” played by Karen Steele. She had a small guest appearance in the movie as Marty’s cousin’s wife. I have a personal connection to this character because I played the part of Virginia in a small onstage production of “Marty” many years ago. It was great fun, butterflies and all. My husband and my mother-in-law came to see me opening night. Now my mother-in-law lives with us and has just turned 93. I’m not like Virginia though, and my mother-in-law is nothing like Tommy’s. We reside together rather peacefully.

(wikipedia) Karen Steele was born March 20 1931 and died at age 56. Her first critically acclaimed film was Marty (1955). She played Virginia and got the part because the director, Delbert Mann, confused her with an actress from New York who he and writer Paddy Chayevsky had intended to play it.

Here are a few of Virginia’s pleading lines.

VIRGINIA

Aunt Theresa, you got this big house here. I mean, you got this big house just for you and Marty. And I thought maybe Tommy’s mother could come here  and live with you and Marty.

MRS. PILLETTI

Well…

VIRGINIA

Because I called up Tommy’s brother Joe, and I said, “Joe, she’s driving me crazy. Why don’t you take her for a couple of years?” And he said, “Oh no!” I know I sound like a terrible  woman…

About the dress. This was so much fun to plan and then finally put together. My daughter gave me a bolt of floral cotton, so I purchased a yard of contrasting solid to break up the flowers a bit. I decided to use Du Barry 5435 because it had that shirt dress look with buttons in the front and a belt. This pattern is 70 years old and originally costs 15 cents! I know it’s not quite 50’s like the movie “Marty”, but perhaps Virginia’s mother made it for her from her wartime pattern collection. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I made the belt by doubling very stiff interfacing together and then I made the casing from the solid fabric and slipped it on. I covered a belt buckle using the existing belt buckle fabric as a pattern. I used a lot of glue and then I hid the  back of the buckle by gluing in a piece of seam binding. The pattern pieces did not have any printed markings, only hole punches and small nicks for lining things up. The one page of directions were very understandable, and I managed to cut and sew without too many mishaps. Instead of a side-zipper, it called for snaps. I used a zipper. I wonder why that was suggested? Was the metal for zippers one of those things needed to make guns and ammunition during war time?

I adore this look and I can imagine it in more contemporary fabrics in my wardrobe.

Well, except for the blond hair, the cute little hat, and the fact that she was about 22 when she landed this part, here I am as “Virginia”.