• 1930s Penny Rose Dress •

It feels *so* good to be back into sewing and a little bit of blogging again!!  Today I am sharing about this dress which I had mentioned in my last post - one that had been in the UFO bin for over a year!  My sweet mom gave me this fabulous Penny Rose fabric back in the day, and I commenced to designing my own 1930s dress. 

I used a couple of random patterns for a base for my skirt, bodice and sleeves, but altered them all to design the style that I wanted.  The fun part is that I *actually* made pattern pieces for the bows, sleeves, and pockets!  

The 1930s are famous for their fabulous asymmetrical designs, and I had fun playing on that theme with my bow and pockets.  I had just the right amount of orange buttons to set off all those little points!

I have several different pairs of shoes that match this dress, my favorite being the Royal Vintage Marilyns.  These are by far my favorite shoes I've ever had to date - they are the highest heels I've worn, but also the most comfortable dress shoes ever!  I have worn them all day long many times over, and never had a whisper of sore feet.

One of my favorite parts about this dress is what you see (or maybe don't see!) in the above picture!  The skirt is cut on the bias, so even with our modern-day 44" fabric, it would not fit on the fabric without piecing.  When I looked at the pattern, sure enough, they showed the layout with the skirt corners in a separate place.  Obviously back in the '30s, the fabric was only 35" or 39", so it would have required even more piecing!  I did my best to match up the pattern on this, and it worked pretty well!  And the fact that it's pieced - in true '30s fashion - makes my vintage heart happy!  ;)

This hat is definitely my favorite ever as well - I happened to see it draping sadly on a rack at a local antique shop, and grabbed it INSTANTLY, seeing it was definitely a '30s number!  The feathers just add fabulosity, and it's actually a size 23, which is my size!

These bow pieces were fun to draft, and they came out pretty much just how I had imagined!  Score!

Okay, time for THE most fabulous vintage piece I own.  AHHHH.  My mom and I ended up driving to a town about 25 miles away for a funeral, only to realize that the funeral was the following week, so we made the most of it and went antiquing!  Lo and behold, amongst the jadeite, vintage patterns, aprons, and other awesome things we found, there was a 1930s. velvet. hooded. fur. edged. CAPE.  In our size.  With fabulous details.  It was almost too good to be true!  And it's in near perfect condition, the hood fits perfectly, and it was something like $20.  WHEEE.  :D

So all in all, this was such a fun dress to make, and even more fun to wear!  I am definitely hooked on 1930s and 1940s styles these days for their functional yet fabulous details, and I am excited to continue making them!  I am wotking on a 1940s wrap dress right now, and the next project will probably be a little 1920s number! 

Thank you all for your sweet words and support, and for putting up with my sporadic blogging!  :)  Have a wonderful week and remainder of your January!