• 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!

• A Day in the Year 1812 •

I think I have officially set a new record in the area of blog neglect!  It has been a crazy, wild, stressful, eventful, heartbreaking, amazing 10 months or so.  Since I last posted (in March!!), I changed jobs from being a home seamstress for a local historical reproduction company to being a customer service rep at a local pharmacy/home medical provider.  Needless to say, working full time definitely cuts into sewing time, but I'm looking forward to sewing up some great winter separates as I have time, and hopefully will be able to blog about them too!

In any case, today I'm sharing some pictures from an 1812 event we went to back in October.  It was an absolute blast, and the amount of reenactors that were there was incredible!

There was lovely period music being played all over the place.  Sounded delightful!

One gentleman had the most incredible carved gourds for sale.  The artwork was just amazing!

So many ladies in beautiful outfits!!!  :) 

I kind of wanted all of these hats, but unfortunately didn't get any of them.  Great inspiration though for "someday"!

That little number on the left with the pheasant feathers reminds me of Miss Pole in Cranford!  :) 

The battle is beginning!!

There were SO MANY soldiers, it was crazy.  The battle was noisy and glorious!

Later in the day there was another battle on the river.

All the mommas with their little babies melted my heart <3

My mom whipped up her first regency dress the week of the event, and it came out so good!  She looked absolutely gorgeous.

I helped her out by trimming her bonnet for her.  I used a picture of an extant 1810s bonnet for inspiration.

I love the little bow detail on the back of the bonnet.

She used Simplicity 4055 as a base for her dress, and modified it to fit her liking.  It closes in the back with drawstrings, and we just pinned it shut for the time being, since we did not have time to sew on the hooks and eyes.

I had plans to make a new regency ensemble, but didn't have time, so just wore my trusty calico regency gown, this time without the undersleeves, since it was HOT out.  

I had purchased a pretty block-printed scarf at the same event a couple of years ago, so paired it with my dress for a slightly different look.  

I had drafted this post about a month and a half ago (LOL!), and just now am getting around to posting it.  I'm excited to report that over this past weekend, I dove right into sewing a UFO 1930s dress that I've had sitting around in a sad pile for over a YEAR, finished it, and started into several other projects!  I had been in a major sewing funk for 3-4 months, and got to the point of having thoughts of selling my fabric and just giving up on the whole idea of sewing.  I just could not get into the mood, or make up my mind what to make or anything, but I FINALLY got over that, and it feels AMAZING.  I'm super excited to sew up all sorts of fun things for not just myself but family and friends as well!  I'm feeling very encouraged about the new year and what it may be bringing.  Lots of sewing, becoming an "adopted" aunt to two precious new babies, and whatever else the Lord brings my way.  Happy New Year to all of you!  <3