The Singing Costumer

I just love this book! Borrowed it from the library this time, but I know that it will make it's way to me someday. There are probably 8 purses I wanted to make in this book. Better get started, yes? Image from Google I started with this purse named "Nancy". Pictured above with it's matching make-up bag. It's a '40s style purse, made of corduroy, with a rattan handle and felt flower appliques. I LOVE the lining fabric. It's this perfect little blue floral pattern and it matches the two shades of blue in the corduroy and felt perfectly. The instructions in the book were very easy to understand and had clear photographs to illustrate the construction of the purse. I highly reccomend this book for vintage fashion lovers! A dress in dark blue that would look great with this is on the list of projects to complete, so expect a photoshoot of that outfit.  

I want to keep a record of all vintage/vintage style accessories I have, so I can refer to this blog when the accessories are put away in the closet. Hopefully, this will reduce any forgetfulness of the "out of sight, out of mind" effect. I will also write want I plan to do with it, if any ideas exist. I found this cute hat at a antique mall in Wichita, KS. This vaguely vintage style dress was found at Ross. I love that place :-) I think it wants to be part of a Mary-Poppins-in-1950's costume. Now the movie was made in the 1964 and set in 1910, but I don't care. This could be SUPER cute. They had all kinds of cute suits in the '50s. Not really a suit, but something like the red dress?

    Anyone who has spent more than 3 minutes with me knows I'm obsessed with Disney. My three favorite movies are Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. So for Halloween 2011, I made a version of Ariel's blue dress. She wears during "Kiss the Girl" scene and when they are riding in the carriage around Eric's kingdom. . It was fairly easy to make. I used McCall's 4090 (View A), a simple skirt with a waistband. For the bodice/over corset, I used another McCall's, 4861 (view A). I didn't want side lacing, so I just traced each of the four pieces separately, then taped them together at the sides, overlapping the seam allowance. This left me with the back lacing only. When it was assembled, I roughly "eye-balled" the sweetheart-shaped neckline and cut it out. The shirt was made with Simplicity 3677. I just added cuffs to the sleeves instead of elastic. A couple things I lea...

The mock-up is finished. IT'S SO DARLING!!! I'm excited. Here is the front and the back, with (half) the flowers on the bustle I'll be making the final dress in July (probably) and will have plenty of pictures later!

I have completed several pieces of this costume and thought I could show them. :-) The inspiration Queen Jane Seymour (Wife of Henry VIII) I love the dark, rich, burgundy/rust color. Looks like velvet to me, you can almost reach out and touch it :-) Detail of the blackwork embroidery at the sleeves The shift The Corset The ensemble so far (with little pockets tied at the waist, which may not be right for this time, but I LOVE them. So there :-)  ) The mock-up of the bodice is almost done, just the sleeves have to be added. Simplicity 2589 was the basic pattern, but I didn't want lacing up the back, so I made the front to overlap and pin together. It should work pretty well.

My little sister Rachel is getting married!!! Her fiancé's neice is going to be her flower girl, and I'm making the dress :-) The dress we like is the one on the left The first version (made in muslin) is done except for figuring out the how the bustle works exactly.

 I finished something! Yes! Of course, what else do I have to do when the end of the world is here...again. (Snow is over-rated, in my opinion) This is my beautiful baby sister, Hannah, and she is modeling the Fantasy Fashion "Renaissance Maiden" bodice in eggplant-purple linen. I LOVE this color, it's so rich and vibrant. I caught her off-guard...  Smile! Close-up Adorable back pose The only problem I have is reading. No, really. I didn't read on the pattern that one is supposed to do a bit of drafting and add a specified width to the pattern on the line. So, it turned out too small. I grumbled, made a new back, and added it in. Therefore, those two seams are NOT supposed to be there at all. Oh well... it turned out cute and it's even a bit big, so she can grow into it for a little while. Usually, I cover silver eyelets with thread matching the fabric. But I was too lazy this time. Maybe at some point in the future. If I had read e...