• Red, White & Blue 1950s Separates •

My mom made this blouse for the 4th of July, and I found it utterly too fabulous not to share immediately.  ;)  

She found this nautical novelty print fabric at our favorite antique shop in La Crosse, Wisconsin (Antique Corner) for $0.50.  It is such a cute print, and the colors were perfect for a 4th-of-July-themed blouse!  The tiny polka dot fabric (JoAnn) was the perfect accent.

She is currently working on a dress made from a vintage 1950s pattern that Robin of Auntie Establishment on Etsy so kindly sent us, and this blouse is essentially the wearable mockup from that pattern.  It is always nice to be able to put your efforts into something wearable when making a mockup, rather than something that you can never wear.  

Robin sent another pattern for a stunning draped 1940s dress that I can not wait to get started on!  (What am I waiting for, that's the question.....!!)

She made tiny strips of binding out of the polka dot fabric to accent the sleeves.  It adds such a perfect nautical flair, don't you think?  

Her skirt is made from a 1950s pattern, but she altered it so much, it might as well be her own self-drafted pattern.  ;)  It is an eight-gore skirt, with in-seam pockets, incidentally, made from the most wonderful poly or poly-blend fabric from Hancock Fabrics.  I think a large *SOB* covers that subject pretty well.  

The waistband of the skirt, as well as the front, is accented by button tabs that act as belt loops when she wears a belt with it, but just make for pretty accents when she doesn't.  Gotta love that fun '50s flair!!

As always, she matched up the pattern *precisely*.  I think I shall hire her to do all my matching from now on.......... ;)

These cute little round buttons were the perfect accent for the blouse, and she sewed them on in groupings of three for added vintage flair.  I have the same buttons as well, and can. not. wait. to put them on *just* the right dress.

Her shoes are sadly hidden in most of these pictures, and I believe it is their first airing on the blog!  Sadness!!  They deserve a whole post to themselves, I think.  ;) 

They are the cutest shoes ever, inarguably, and she got them for an incredible price.  Miss L Fire "Betty" sandals, which retail for $165.  I happened to be browsing on Modcloth one day, and lo and behold, they had ONE pair of them left, in size 8.5, which is what she wears.  For $50.  Yep, you read that right.  Needless to say, they came our direction very shortly thereafter.  Now if I could just shrink my feet by approximately 30%, I could wear them too!!!  ;)

This blouse and skirt of mine are fairly new makes as well, but I wanted to save posting about them until they are paired with the right pieces.  This photo was too fun not to share though.  ;)

I recently added a clearance section to my Etsy shop, so do hop over and check it out!  Have a lovely week, and thanks for stopping by!  

• 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! :)