I Made a Dress For Absolutely No Reason

* Disclaimer - this is a re-post of an older post that was completely messed up graphics wise. So apologies if you've seen this before!

Hello! Long time no see. I've been a bit lazy about blogging because of the quick hit provided but Instagram and the like. With blogging, it feels like I have to have a long involved background story to each project when sometimes I just don't.

So I'm not going to lie - I made this dress just because I felt like it. I didn't need it, it was probably a bit too late in the summer for it - but who cares! This was the pattern:   

Butterick 5281 from 1946

I made view B in a Robert Kauffman quilting cotton which I picked up a few months ago in Manchester. And here it is:

I made this dress once before here, and even though I really like it, I was a little uncomfortable with the fit. I jigged around with the pattern again, and the result is a much better fitting dress.

It's kind of hard to see in this busy pattern, but the bodice has some asymmetrical draping with pleats at the right shoulder, and gathering on the left side seam.

With this version, I also made the effort to make a matching belt, using a little clasp from I found years ago in a charity shop:

I'm late posting about this dress - it was finished about 6 weeks ago - but the re-vamped fit has made it so comfortable that I wore it nearly every week until it got cold.

And that's it - see you soon!

'Pass the Peas' Dress - A Vintage Pledge Mash-Up

Hello! I've just come back from adventures in Los Angeles and Hollywood, where besides visiting Disneyland, eating a lot of Japanese food, and drinking a lot of cocktails, I also managed to do some fabric shopping. For some reason, it didn't occur to me to visit Mood's Los Angeles outpost; instead, I was excited about seeing Islands Fabrics, which is a whole store devoted to Hawaiian and Tropical fabric!

Just a smidgen of what they have on offer!

I was very restrained and only bought one piece, which is the barkcloth-weight leaves in the picture below, bottom right: 

The rest was picked up in the surrounding shops, and there were so many more than expected:

Most of them are earmarked for shirts for Mr Needles, would you believe, but I managed to sneak in one more for myself, the little garden peas print cotton. It was sitting unloved on a pavement at the bargain price of only $2 per yard (had to go back to Imperial for this visit; metric never really did take off in the US), so I felt sorry for it and bought a couple of yards.

At first I saw it as a blouse - it seemed like too much pattern for a dress - but this beauty had been playing on my mind:

This was part of my prize from Vintage Pattern Pledge for 2015, run by Kerry at Kestrel Makes and Marie at a Stitching Odyssey. It seems apt to use the pattern won from 2015's pledge as part of 2016's pledge, so I went for it!

Just one hitch - buying without a specific project in mind had backfired, and 2 yards wasn't going to be enough to accommodate the flared skirt. Solution - use a straight skirt from another favourite pattern, Butterick 8571:

I've used this pattern twice before, once as illustrated here, and once just as the skirt here and it worked out fine both times.

I had planned to take some pretty photos in my garden, doing some gentle weeding or something, but the recent gales we experienced here in the UK have turned my neglected garden into a bit of a mess. But I carried on regardless - here's the new dress in action:

I don't think the change in skirt makes too much difference - it still looks 40'ish. besides the skirt, I also had to adapt the sleeves to a shorter length in order to fit them in. But I gave them a little scalloped detail just as a reference to the original ruched shape:

Inside of sleeve with facing

Speaking of sleeves, I decided to insert the sleeve before the side seams were attached, on the flat, as it were. This was much easier and less fiddly than the usual technique of closing the side and underarm seam first, and the sleeve head came out pretty smooth:

The neckline is the main feature on this dress, being made up of 2 draped and pleated panels which then attach at the centre front and are covered with a little tab:

Before attachment to the bodice...

...and after

I wasn't quite sure how to finish this seam so that it was neat and attractive, and the instructions give you no guidance. I finally decided to bind it with bias cut from the same fabric as the lining:

The hem was also finished with matching bias strips:

I rarely line a dress fully - I get too hot! - and this was no exception. I used a gold poly to line the skirt, which you can see at the kick pleat at the back:

And finally it all gets closed up with a zip at the centre back, which is again a necessary departure from the pattern which saved fabric. But I did stay old-school and put the zip in by hand, with a little hook and eye at the top:

And that's pretty much it. I'm off to learn how to drive this thing!

See you soon!

It's Always More Fun Playing the Bad Guy (or Girl)

I happened to catch this film a few months ago on BBC2 - 'The Falcon in San Francisco' (1945). 

 I wasn't previously aware of it, but it seems to have been part of a series of 'Falcon' movies, starring Tom Conway (brother of George Sanders) as the Falcon, a private detective who gets into hot water, usually involving a girl in peril who he has to save from some baddies. This particular episode was also directed by Joseph H. Lewis, of 'Gun Crazy' and 'The Big Combo' fame.

I was attracted to this one because it was set in my beloved San Francisco, but also because the hair and costumes were great. The villain of the piece - Doreen Temple as played by Fay Helm (thank you, IMDB!) - had some fabulous outfits: 

Total badass!(source)

 In particular, I became obsessed with the neckline on this dress:

Source

 I love its unusual shape, the way it's deep yet narrow, then rises at the neck. Also, notice the way the fullness of the bust is folded into the neckline - so unusual! I could not stop thinking about this neckline and resolved to re-create it. I figured if I combined this pattern:

With part of the neckline of this one:

I'd come up with something similar.

And here it is!

The neckline isn't exactly the same, but it's a pretty good attempt; if I made it again, I'd bring it closer together at the front and tighter around the neck. The fabric is a lightweight rayon with a soft feel and drape, like a washed silk.

 I added the black cord around the neck to give more emphasis to the shape and add a touch of 1940's detailing:

And to add an extra touch of 1940's, I've worn it with my new Miss LFire shoes, a lovely Christmas present from Mr Needles:

'Bonnie' shoes by Miss L Fire

 And that was my Christmas sewing - a dress inspired by a villain. I'm off to hatch some dastardly plans......