• Spring 1950s Separates •

Whew, it has been a crazy couple of months, or weeks, or whatever it has been since I last blogged!  :-O  Time is flying by, life is somewhat crazy, sorrows and emotions come on at the strangest moments, but all in all the Lord is good.  He continues to uphold us and carry us through in a miraculous way.

Now for today's post; we have had downright glorious weather here of late, so the other day we finally broke down and went out for some photos!  It was wonderful to be in short sleeves and *sandals* and be just the right temperature!  And I can't say I was unhappy about the clouds - they prevented me from having to be clothed in sunglasses the whole time.  ;P

I made this outfit almost a year ago, but it never found its way into a photo shoot until just this past week.  The skirt is made from some glorious fabric we bought at Hancock ages ago - it is a perfect weight for skirts, and doesn't wrinkle much at all.  I used Vogue 9000 to make it, this time making it as full as the pattern showed, unlike my polka dot dress.  I really like that pattern for a skirt, and when you have 60" wide fabric, it doesn't eat it up quite so viciously like it definitely does on 45" fabric.

As for the blouse, well, it was quite an experience!  I started out wanting to do a wacky '50s stand-up collar like this, only with the "V" in front instead of back.  So, basically, making it backwards.  Needless to say, that plan didn't work out so well....at all, so I was left to come up with a new plan for my freshly cut-up blouse.  Finally I decided to try drafting my own collar - I don't really know where I came up with the idea for the shape, but I followed this tutorial for how to draft it, and found it to be extremely helpful!  I did the partial roll version, and it lays quite nicely.

I used a '30s Playtime print for the bodice of the blouse, and some pink polka dot from the Windham McCall's collection, I believe it was, for the contrast.

If the truth were known, almost every '50s garment would probably be better with winged cuffs, so I had lots of fun putting them on this blouse.  ;)  I used the cuff from Butterick 6018 as a guide, altering the shape a little bit.

  I really like these particular cuffs because they actually stay stiff and pointed on their own, even after repeated washings, without having to be tacked together.

I can't remember for sure which pattern I used for the bodice of the blouse, but I believe it may have been Simplicity 2154, with added kimono sleeves and a different neckline, of course.  

Since the greenery outside is not exactly green these days, and we found our favorite wall at the train station turned into a parking lot for the day, we decided to try a good old-fashioned train track photo shoot.  ;)  No trains came by while we were at it (thankfully....haha!), so I think we can call it a success.

This hat is a favorite of mine, even if it isn't in the greatest condition - we found it at a local antique shop last year for a song, and it is just a lot of fun to wear!  Plus it stayed on all day long on a windy day, so now I like it even more!  ;)

Thanks for stopping by and putting up with my irregular blogging schedule!  ;)  Have a lovely weekend!

• 1950s Lemon Print Birthday Dress •

Since I missed posting for two(!) weeks in a row, I thought an early post was in order for this week. Between cleaning, having a grand old time and sewing like crazy with my dear friend Sarah, and taking a 1200 mile road trip, it has been a busy couple of weeks!! :) 

Starting next week, I'll be posting about our Civil War dresses in several installments, but since yesterday was my birthday, I thought I'd share my birthday dress with you first. I originally planned on making a polka-dot birthday dress, but for various reasons decided not to, and picked this lemony fabric for this purpose instead. I wanted it to be a different style than any of my other dresses, so I chose to replicate this 1950s pattern: 

I fell in love with the collar design, so decided to give it a whirl. I used Vogue V9000 as a base for the bodice, Butterick 6055 for the skirt, and self-drafted the collar and cuff patterns.

The collar is made of nothing more than angled-edged bias pieces, so it wasn't hard to make at all, once I got the right measurements. It was a definite miracle and answer to prayer that it came out right, however, since I didn't make a mockup. :) Yay!!!

The neckline is cut slightly narrower at the shoulders, flaring out to be a little bit wider at the bottom of the front neckline. The collar lays very well in the front and sides, and curves around the shoulder to the back just as it was supposed to. Phew! I love the style so much, I'm planning a more formal dress in this same design as my next sewing project! Maybe it's because I've been watching the Burns and Allen show recently that I love this dress so much, but in any case, it reminds me very much of something Gracie would have worn!

The green buckle is borrowed from my peppermint dot dress. The yellow dotty ribbon from my navy polka dot dress makes a nice belt as well, if I want a different look. 

One of the gifts my parents got me is this gorgeous vintage yellow beret. I absolutely love it, and it matches so many of my garments! Since I didn't have a hat to wear with this dress, I got to open this particular present early. ;) Berets seemed to be a popular style all the way from the 1930s-50s, so it is very much the ideal hat, and fills a very large color gap in my hat wardrobe.

My mom has a lighter blue version of this fabric that she is planning on sewing up soon! It is going to be so gorgeous, I just can't wait to see it sewn together! The style, though also from the 1950s, is totally different than this dress, and perfectly suited for the fabric.

Perhaps we need to do another photo shoot with this dress, with a glass of lemonade as a prop. ;)

I officially *almost* have my vegetable gardens all in! All that remains to be done is planting green beans, a few pinto beans, and a few green onions. Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers (bell and hot), black beans, onions, carrots and peas are all officially planted. :) 

Lord willing, we'll have a bountiful harvest this year!

Since my Etsy shop just turned a year old on May 16th, and I just celebrated my birthday, there is a sale going on in the shop! Save 20% off with the coupon code BIRTHDAYSALE, through May 31st. 

Thanks for stopping by! :)