1940s Dress • Violet and Chocolate

Today I'm sharing my mom's gorgeous dress that she wore to our friend's wedding last week!

We had both originally planned on making 1930s dresses, but with the time squeeze we had, and the seeming difficulty of the patterns, we decided to change plans and come up with something different!

She decided to use this gorgeous purple fabric, called "Violet and Chocolate," incidentally, to make Butterick 5281. Since she only had 3 1/3 yards of it, it was a trick to fit all the pieces on, but in the end she was able to get the whole dress out of it. The fabric is so soft and drapey, it looks beautiful in this pattern!

I love the details of this pattern, not the least of which is the beautiful drape of the bodice. It's so elegant!

Incidentally, I love this belt buckle! :) It's made of gray shell, but matches the purple *perfectly*. It was still on the card when we bought it, which adds to the neatness factor! ;)

These buttons. Don't they look just like candy?! I just love them! She bought them not knowing what they would match, but to our great surprise and excitement, they matched this fabric beautifully. And they're just the right size to be the perfect accent. I just love it when that happens!

This little brooch was an inexpensive find at an antique shop, but so worth it! It looks like something Queen Elizabeth would wear! :)

Our (of course planned color-coordinating) outfits did in fact end up coordinating quite well, I'm happy to say! :)

All in all, I just love this dress! It's perfect for all seasons, depending on how she accessorizes it, and it looks just gorgeous on her. :)

Meanwhile, I might just be sharing our latest antique finds this week! We had a scrumptious time antiquing this past weekend, and found some amazing stuff. Buckles, buttons, patterns, magazines....just so many goodies! Eeek!! :)

And I'll go ahead and let the cat out of the bag; we're working on colonial outfits! It's about time, right?! We randomly decided that it would be fun to wear them for Thanksgiving, so that's what we're shooting for. We'll see how it goes, and hopefully have an update post or two! :)

• Black and Purple 1940s •

It's so nice to have a new way to wear my black dress! A friend of mine got married this past weekend, and I needed a special outfit to wear. I had started a dark teal rayon 1930s dress, but I just wasn't having fun with it at all, so I decided to go with something easier. 

I bought this purple fabric (polyester satin-backed shantung) probably a year ago, with the intention of making it into a regency ball gown. Yeah. Yikes. Even I, who am not a fabric snob by any means, just couldn't do such an abominable thing. Using it for a 1940s garment is still rather unethical, but at least it's a little more appropriate. 

In any case, after searching high and low for something remotely appropriate to make, and seemingly ruling out everything I came across, I finally decided to make a bolero! I used Simplicity 1578, a pattern from 1945.

I made a mockup of it first out of some cotton I had in the stash, but never really expected it to fit. I was already planning on listing it in my Etsy shop. Well, to my great surprise and happiness, the Etsy shop did not and is not going to get a glimpse of it! It fit beautifully, and I just loved it. Unfortunately, I haven't a thing to wear it with, but I'm still quite content to hang onto it until I do. 

Meanwhile, I could get to work on the real bolero!

I really didn't feel like facing the bodice all the way around, so I decided to line it instead. And rather than having the same fabric showing on the revers, I used the back (satin) side of the fabric. It gives it a really neat look; just different enough to be contrasting, but not blatantly shiny. And, it was a breeze to sew it together! The hardest part about the whole bolero is clipping all those curves!

I had two buttons leftover from my 1950s Floral Dress that were perfect to accent the revers. Plus, I can take them off and switch them out with something more "fun" when I make a dress out of the remaining 3+ yards of this purple fabric! Yay! 

This rhinestone necklace is my new favorite. I had gazed at it for probably a year and a half, every time we went to the local antique shop, but never felt like asking to get in the cabinet to actually look at it. I finally did last week, however, and I am so glad!! It fits perfectly, looks beautiful, and only cost $6. 

Since my bolero is lined with the reverse side of the same fabric, I thought it qualified rather well for this month's HSM!

The Challenge: #10 - Sewing Secrets

Fabric: 1 3/4 yards of polyester satin-backed shantung

Pattern: Vintage Simplicity 1578

Year: 1945

Notions: Thread and buttons

How historically accurate is it? 50%, if that, because of the polyester fabric. But the lining, the pattern used and the bias-faced sleeves make it a little more acceptable. ;)

Hours to complete: 4-5

First worn: Last Friday, to a wedding.

Total cost: I can't for the life of me remember how much the fabric was...so, I have no idea! 

because you just *have* to be silly sometimes....

This purse is also one of my favorites! It's such a neat size and shape, and that satiny stripe on the front is gorgeous. One can never have too many vintage purses!! :)

It was a lovely wedding! It was wonderful to see Hannah and Josh get married, AND I caught the bouquet, so...it was a VERY good day. ;)

• New Vintage Patterns in the Shop •

Well, "New Vintage" might just be an oxymoron. But in any case, I just added 13 vintage patterns to the shop, so be sure to take a look! There are lovely 1950s patterns for anything from blouses to housedresses to coats....

...as well as some very lovely 1960s patterns! Several of them are quite rare.

The sizes range from 34" to 38" bust measurement, so there's something for everyone! :) Stop by the shop to check them out.

• 1812 Reenactment •

Hurrah! I'm back, with a refreshed eagerness for blogging, and in a much better mood! :) Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers!!

This past Friday I went to my very first historical reenactment! It was an amazing time!

The reenactment was held on a huge site along a pretty little river, with tents set up everywhere. There were enough tents set up to make your head spin!! There were something like 140 merchants, plus a whole village of Indians, soldiers, and all the reenactors.

Unfortunately for me, the battle took place while I was wandering around in the wilderness looking for my car. It was scheduled to be at 1:00, but they ended up doing it at 12:00, unannounced, so I got back just in time for them to walk off the battlefield. Very exciting. :|

It was still a lot of fun though! There were more merchants than you could shake a stick at, including this lady, who was weaving fabric for towels. She was explaining how it was done, and talking about her dress, which she had made from her own woven fabric. She made that fabric on a 45" loom, which takes about 8 or 9 hours per yard to weave. And her dress took 5 yards! Whew! It sounds like fun though!

Another lady spinning wool.

I was surprised to see that there were no other people in period clothing that were not reenactors! I wasn't a reenactor, but I would have felt pretty funny wearing (in my case) a 1950s dress! ;)

This lady was the proprietress of Regency Remembered. She had on the most exquisite outfit! Her hat was amazing.

There was a "schoolroom" set up in one area! I loved seeing the Bible verse on the chalkboard! There were TONS of schoolkids there since it was field day for them, so it was quite the zoo for a while.

Watching little boys try to split great big logs. :) So cute!!

Now for the reallllllllly good part. The fabric stores!! The first one I came to was Wm. Booth Draper! I was very happily surprised to see a "big-time" company there! They had a ton of gorgeous fabrics; I could have spent SO much money. But somehow I only came out with velvet, which you'll see in the pictures later on.

The fabrics in this picture are available on their website. I just about died over that red and blue block print.

More fabrics.

These gorgeous block prints were for sale at Regency Remembered. I alllllmost bought that one at the top center. To me, $50 for 5 yards seemed quite reasonable!

My sweet friends Bekah and Jolene, who invited me! (Oh, and Sake, the dog). ;)

They were both wearing lovely dresses that Jolene made.

And now for the loot! :)

I bought this gorgeous scarf/fichu/shawl/neckerchief from one of the merchants. I just loved the pattern and the colors! I almost went for the all-blue pattern, but decided to be bold and try some other colors instead.

Nicely enough, it's 44" square, so it can be worn as a fichu or a shawl!

Ahhh. I bought 2 yards of this gorgeous velvet from Wm. Booth Draper. It was only $10 per yard, which seemed like quite the good price for a very good quality cotton velvet. And it's 60" wide!

To my very great happiness, I found when I got home that it matches one of my regency dress fabrics perfectly. I'm already plotting my spencer jacket!! :)

I wore my calico regency gown, which I revamped a bit beforehand. I'm happy to say, my new undersleeves worked perfectly! Thanks for the tips, Lily!!

I removed the original sleevebands and made them much more fitted and wider. I'm so excited that I finally have undersleeves!! :)

I bought my bonnet from Regency Austentation on Etsy. I really like it! It's very well made, and you can decorate it up in a variety of ways. Since I was going for a working-class look and not a promenading-in-Bath look, I decided to just do a simple ribbon decoration instead of silk, feathers and flowers.

When I originally made this dress, I assumed that it would somehow magically stay closed in the back with just a drawstring at the neck and waist, but for some reason it didn't! I wonder why! Ha!

Needless to say, I added some much-needed hooks-and-eyes, and now it really does stay closed. Hurrah!

And now for the good part; I made garters, and they held my socks up the entire day!! I didn't have to pull them up once. :) Now that is a good thing!!

My stockings are from Jas. Townsend.

Wait!!! I forgot my reticule!

I started this reticule ages ago, and it had even ended up in the drawer of shame (aka UFO drawer). I got it out in anticipation of this reenactment, however, and actually finished it! I really love it; it looks small, but it holds an amazing amount of stuff!

Unfortunately, I can't find the embroidery pattern I used, but I'm pretty sure it was from Needle 'N' Thread.

I lined my reticule with some gorgeous reproduction cotton (an 1860s reproduction, incidentally, but who's counting?!). It is the same fabric I used for my garters.

All in all, it was a very fun time, and I can't wait for next year!! :)