I made this dress several weeks ago, strictly on a whim, inspired by a wee baby’s dress I found at a yard sale and a blouse spied on Pinterest (via Casey).  In my excitement and haste, I went about things rather haphazardly, throwing all caution to the wind.  It’s made in a typical 1920s fashion, the skirt is created from a series of squares and rectangles sewn in various ways, not wasting too much fabric.  2 rectangles for the front and back, 2 slits cut into each, and a triangle (half a square) set into each slit is all the skirt is, easy to do but looks extra nice.

While I love wearing silk georgette, I simply do not like sewing with it (see my other dress using this fabric).  The nude fabric inset’s seams are a bit wonky.  I think if I had planned better and not rushed, stabilized the fabric (or something) it would have turned nicer.  All I can say is the next time I do a fabric inset like this, it won’t be with georgette!  The bodice and hem are finished with a zigzag stitch and the back closes with a single vintage button (that I forgot to photograph).   I like to think it looks like an actual vintage garment and not something newly created.

But, despite the issues, I adore this dress.  Unlike many projects I have sewn, I wore this out and about–to the pet store of all places…ha!  Why wait for a fancy occasion to wear a fancy dress?  And the color is gorgeous.  I’m not sure how it looks on your monitor but I would describe it as salmon pink.

I have other sewing projects in the queue (as usual) that I hope to continue working on this weekend but I’m also going to start a knitting project, something I haven’t done in quite a while.  (And it’s all I can think about even though it was 98 degrees yesterday!)  I bought a skein of the prettiest mermaid green yarn that I’ll use to make this little scarflette.  I’m just going to ease into knitting slowly before I jump into anything more complicated!

Have a splendid weekend.

Don’t you love it when you are so inspired to do something that you have to do it RIGHT NOW?

Several weeks ago I saw these 1930s floral-pattern and metallic shoes on Pinterest (from the Thought Patterns blog):

Beautiful!  I immediately bookmarked this image, on Pinterest, and in my mind.  I knew there was a way to make/refashion similar shoes.  I had a starting base:

Very old, maybe 1920s or ’30s Mary Janes.  You can see me wearing them here.  I had been thinking about getting them professionally repainted/dyed a darker color for fall but had been putting it off for no particular reason.  (OMG, I just realized, looking at this photo, the perforations form a heart in the center!)

So I’ve been trying to figure out how I was going to get the roses on here.  Paint them?  (HA!)  Waterslide decals?  (Probably not suited to leather.)  Decoupage with Victorian clip art?  (Might be messy.)  I have a whole bunch of Victorian stickers on my stationery drawer that I haven’t used.  While decorating a package today (for a certain little fairy friend), I realized that the stickers were printed on thin, clear plastic.  Eep! Just the ticket.

I went to work straight away.  No, I don’t know how durable this is and what will happen when I actually wear them out and about.  But I didn’t care, I was having too much fun.

And they are not perfect, there is a wrinkle here and there but I think they look pretty good.  I’m going to wait a while to see if the stickers start to peel off; if so, I might put on a coat of satin clear acrylic paint over them.

To finish these off I painted the trim a pretty, faded gold (“Champagne Gold” metallic acrylic paint from DecorArt).  These are now the prettiest shoes I own!  OK, so where to wear them?

I have been checking my mailbox at least twice a day for the past 4 days, waiting for this to arrive.  (OK, not yesterday as it was Sunday–and Easter!–though I was thinking how I looked forward to Monday, of all days, to check the mailbox again.)  I don’t know, I just get that way about things sometimes.

PICTORIAL PRINTED PATTERNS (#5802).  Yes, it is quite small in size, even for me.  But I think I’ll just need to widen it in the bodice to make it work.  And yes, I can see it is a girls’ pattern, but I am young at heart, right?  This can totally translate into a pretty grown-up dress, even for a grown-up who has just discovered–just this morning, actually–even more grey hairs whilst tying up said hair in a ponytail.  (Yes, I have hair enough to do that now; with my bangs cut short it looks a little bit like the one sported by Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face–if you don’t mind me making such a comparison!)  Anyway, made up in some voile this dress would be so perfect for spring/summer.  And since it’s a ’20s-style dress (1925 to be exact), the construction should be relatively easy with no closures and such.  (Listed under notions: Thread–that’s it!  No zippers or snaps or buttons to mess with.  Yay!)

Oh, I have to share with you some of the text, one of my favorite things about vintage patterns.  The description reads as follows…

GIRLS’ AND JUNIORS’ FROCK.  A bouffant skirt, made in three horizontal, gathered sections, lends a party-like air to this frock.  [Goodie!  I like parties.]  It may be made sleeveless with the cape collar [!] or with puffed sleeves which carry out the quaint feeling.  [Hee hee.]  Ribbon is suggested for the neck bow and tie-belt.  [Okie-dokie, got it.]

Oh also, suggested materials is always a fun read…

MATERIALS SUITABLE

1.  Taffeta, Organdy, Batiste

2. Organdy, Taffeta, Dimity

3. Georgette, Cottons

Celanese, rayon, Bemberg or A.B.C. Fabrics in some of the above materials.

(I do believe the numbers are referencing the views, or versions, this pattern comes in.  I’m not entirely sure what the last line is referencing but I’ve included it nonetheless.)

You will not be surprised to learn this pattern has moved up in my queue of new frock to-dos!  I really hope this is a simple as it seems in my sewing fantasy.  Wouldn’t it be lovely in Georgette as well, perhaps with the bodice and first tier in one (light) color, then the second tier in a darker shade and the last tier even darker than that?  Sort of like faux-ombre, or perhaps like the gradual change in color that happens in the petals of a rose?

I meant to post this sooner but last week just flew by and then this weekend – eek!  Worked late Friday night, cleaned all day Saturday and Sunday was spent doing shop stuff which is fun but a lot of work all the same.  Which reminds me – I’ve sold out of Silhouette Holiday cards for this year!  Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.  Now I wish I had ordered more, I hate to turn away lovely customers.  I’ll plan to issue more holiday cards for next season.

Anyway, on to the fun stuff: this dress!  Don’t you LOVE the color?  The picture doesn’t do it justice, the color is so vibrant and rich.  Overall I’m really happy with it.  After years of sewing for myself I now seem to be getting the hang of choosing the right fabric and pattern combinations to make something I’d actually wear in public.

Before I forget, some outfit notes in case you’re wondering:

• Merino ribbed cardi: Banana Republic (probably from 10 years ago!)
• Butterfly brooch: Mama’s Little Babies
• Handbag: vintage (my favorite cozy weather bag)
• Tights: Hansel from Basel (Finally, I was able to afford these because they were on sale.  I spied them on the lovely Lost in the Forest blog [April's outfits are hugely inspiring and full of personality and fable]).
• Shoes: Operetta by Fluevog (They’ve had this style for years and years.  These were my “I’ll eat rice for a month so I can buy them” basic black heels.)

I actually wore this outfit the other night when husband and I went out for dinner.  The cardigan is a little snug for this loose 1920s style but I think it works for the most part.  I like the black with the green regardless.

This photo (above) probably best represents the color.  The silk georgette was pretty easy to sew, surprisingly, but not very fun to cut.  So very slippery. I’m sure if you were to lay the pattern pieces on what I cut out, they’d be way off.  Oh well.  Here is the pattern, Butterick #1223:

It’s a junior’s or girls’ dress.  These styles don’t have much shaping anyway so the fit was mostly good.  I followed the pattern except for the capelet.  I like the idea of a capelet but I wanted something less dramatic and created the ruffle from the same pattern piece.  At first I thought it might look clownish but it really works with the cardigan.  I also didn’t follow the directions exactly where it came to putting the front and back together; I couldn’t understand the instructions and winged it.

Oh and I did tweak the keyhole a bit too.  Initially it was just a slit that was to be covered up by the capelet but I rounded it out and extended it, to make it more like a regular keyhole.  I don’t know if it was this change or the pattern itself but there was a lot of weird blouseyness in the bust.  So I had to pick out the keyhole and gather the fabric, hoping that would solve ugly blouseyness and that I didn’t totally destroy the dress.

Lastly, here are the dozens of tucks along the front with the scalloped edge.  This was the best I could do with pressing, perhaps I need to use a cloth and try again.  I was afraid to get those shine marks but ironing too much.

The fabric is dark but very sheer as you can see and while I don’t have a green slip to make (and am too lazy to line my dresses properly) a little black slip did the trick!  And I didn’t freeze while wearing this wisp of a thing with the woolly layers.  Basically I’m stocked up on thick black tights and cardigans so I plan to wear more little dresses this winter.

I hope you enjoyed this dress parade – Happy Monday!