The Singing Costumer

I decided to wear mid-1850s underpinnings with my future Princess gowns. These have to be complete before I can fit my new gown to myself, as these proper underpinnings change your shape significantly. First layer is a chemise. A thrift store soft cotton dress fills this role admirably. The cut of the neckline just falling off the shoulders is very accurate to this time. I especially love the flower print and the lace trim along the neckline. The second layer is the corset. I have made a few corsets in the past, but they were more like a bodice, not meant for waist reduction. And my skills are not quite up to the task yet. So I bought a Timeless Trends corset from their Nude Corset Collection,  The Hourglass Nude in Vanilla.  (  https://timeless-trends.com/ )  I love this collection because it has a whole range of colors to fit different skin tones. It comes in latte, crème, caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, cinn...

Thrift stores are a wealth of treasures, waiting to be found. True, you have to dig deep sometimes, but these gems do exist. Take for example, this wonderful Walt Disney World sweatshirt. The bold, gorgeous blue! The adorable embroidery of Minnie Mouse! And in brand new condition, too! Love it. I would've worn it proudly, but it was an XL. Which I am not. It never was worn and eventually, I just put it away. It sadly languished in my fabric stash for way too long. Recently, I was reorganizing my fabric stash and I really wanted to do a quick project to get my creative juices flowing. And then I recalled seeing free patterns for fleece warm winter accessories on recent favorite patterns websites; Patterns for Pirates and Made for Mermaids. The two are sister companies, both literally and figuratively :-) One sister owns one, and another owns the other. I love it. I made a neck warmer. https://www.madeformermaids.com/product/neckwarmer/ Some sweet littl...

This ensemble is my most-worn self-made items ever. I lived in it most nights (allowing for washing, obviously) for weeks and weeks the winter I finished it. So soft, so warm, and so comfy. I came across this fabulous Elsa Schiaparelli sweater while surfing the web years ago. Schiaparelli was a famous fashion designer during the early and middle part of the 20th century. She was well known for her use of "Shocking Pink".  I liked it a lot.   I am too lazy to knit such a complicated sweater, but if I ever see one like it, I'll probably buy it. I bought this cotton flannel during the Black Friday Sale 2013 at Joann's Fabrics only because it reminded me of this sweater. Almost immediately, I decided to make a traditional pajama set with it. I used McCall’s 6659, long sleeves top and long straight pants. (The pattern also includes options for shorts sleeves top and tapered pants or shorts, plus a short or medium length robe. Very usef...