The Singing Costumer

To slightly paraphrase Miranda Priestly from the classic film The Devil Wears Prada, “Faux fur? For winter? How groundbreaking.” But nothing beats fur for warmth and beauty. There is a reason it's a classic every year. This gorgeous purple fur was a gift from a friend. She was clearing out her fabric stash and invited me to take some pieces. I was very excited to find this particular piece. It is an incredibly thick and soft faux fur in a deep, rich shade of purple. Purple is my favorite color, so it had to come home with me. It wasn't a very big piece, so I knew it needed to become something very special. I found this New Look “Fun with Fur” pattern on Etsy and loved it. I loved the collar and cuff set and also the scarf, but I didn't have enough to make both. I went back and forth for several days, weighing my options. Finally, I decided that a scarf would be more practical, and I would be more likely to actually wear a scarf rather then a collar and cuf...

Onward to the last few pieces of my 1920's project; a simple slip and a pair of elastic garters. The slip was the first piece I actually finished for my #unmentionablesthroughthedecades project. I would like to formally thank past Sarah from 2012 for saving so carefully this little bit of gorgeous lace. It was originally purchased to sew a pattern test for my first foray into historic costuming; Elizabeth Turner from the first Pirates film. This length of lace was just the right color to add to this slip. It is basically a tube with straps. It was very easy to complete in afternoon. I started with an old self-drafting tutorial from The American Duchess blog, and added a couple center pleats, as I have seen on some period examples. This is just to pull in the neckline a little bit and adds a bit of interest. But the lace covers the pleats, so they aren't seen anyway. C'est le vie. You live and learn. One item that could and perhaps should have been ...

In my Pinterest board for 1920's, I have many examples of period sewing instructions. These are from popular Women's magazines of the time. They showcase new trimming ideas for a dinner dress, or perhaps an easy one-hour afternoon dress (VERY popular, judging from the number I found). These were meant to keep the home sewist well-informed as to the latest fashion. Many of these instructions seemed to emphasize the ease of their directions and ideas.  This lingerie set was inspired by a dinner dress instruction page (detail of that page shown below). In particular, it had directions to bead a beautiful bow on a formal dress with tiny seed beads. The finished effect is rather like a necklace. I loved the shape of the bow, but of course I didn't want to weigh down my delicate fabric with lots of beads. And beads on undergarments is not exactly practical. So instead, I made “ribbon” from my fabric by sewing a 3/8 th inch seam, trimming the allowance, and then...