Wedding Guest Dress: Finalizing Details

Vogue 2745

Last week, I placed one important order and one free and fun order for fabric swatches. To be completely honest, of course both orders were fun...they were for FABRIC!!

I need to finalize fabric for my dress project, Vogue 2745, both view A and B are to be worn this coming June 10. View A will be in Mood Fabrics' Kelly Green silk crepe de chine (above), but the slip could be made from several different fabrics.

Side note, before moving on to Vogue 2745, I was considering making New Look 6244 but with a different slip (all pics of its slip made up looked shapeless and badly fitted, an obvious fault of the drafted pattern). Instead I was going to use Butterick 6031 from my stash, which I wanted to make regardless, but never could find the right fabric. From my last Emma One Sock swatch order I knew the venezia 4-way jersey lining was the ideal fabric but I was not willing to sew a $22 slip, which didn't already include the cost of several yards of two different widths of lace, elastic, and the strap hardware.

However, the pattern suggested tricot and a Google search brought me to Fabric.com and their selection of 40 and 70 denier tricots. While I have now switched to using Vogue 2745, the site provided me with some other suggested fabric possibilities so I ordered a yard of the 70 denier tricot in Oat (will use it for skirt lining) and swatches (8" square!) of a China silk in Silver, charmeuse in Cappuccino, stretch charmeuse in Silver, and a crepe de chine in Purple, all made of polyester.

Results: I love the tricot, the texture is exactly as I expected from the website image. I now wish I had ordered a less neutral color but I can immediately use this as lining for a current skirt. I will definitely order some for use with Butterick 6031 in the future.

70 denier tricky in Oat

The China silk I was sent would not work for the slinky slip I was envisioning but would make crisp garment linings. Both charmeuse swatches were lovely but I preferred the feel of the non-stretch one, the color was gorgeous, and it played off my skin tone very well.

Charmeuse and "China silk"

When ordering the polyester crepe de chine, I had secretly hoped I might use it instead of the far more expensive Mood silk but is not at all the same. This crepe de chine felt more like a simple crepe to me with that spongy pebbled feel, it was the same on both sides, it had no sheen, and was also not opaque. I am 90% sure I received the wrong fabric; however, as you can see above it is dated the day it was packaged and had three separate labels claiming it is crepe de chine. Regardless, it doesn't come in the desired green.

Crepe or crepe de chine, see what I mean?

From Emma One Sock, I ordered swatches of their Emerald silk crepe de chine (since the price is similar to that of Mood), an organic cotton double gauze in Cocoa Dots, a poly rayon sweater knit in Wine, a rayon blend ponte (no poly!) in Charcoal, and finally some 100% silk habotai (China silk) in Teal for comparison to the polyester one coming from Fabric.com.

The silk types in white, the colors both in CDC

Results: The Emma One Sock crepe de chine was nice but not the same as Moods in weight, drape, or sheen. Or perhaps I've just become very fond of my bedraggled little swatch. (It looks that way because I wanted to see how it would change if hand washed. The jury is still out on that.)

Their China silk (100% silk) is obviously superior to the poly one but still drastically different than what I expected. Its soft delicacy intimidated me, no way would I be attempting my slip in that since I have enough work coming with the main dress being silk. In addition, it's price along with fabric for the main dress would cost more than I have ever paid for a RTW dress!

Check out that shimmer!

The ponte was luscious (and will be tested for pilling), the sweater knit lush, and the double gauze not exactly what I expected. Perhaps I need to experience a larger swatch to understand all the web love for it?

UPDATE: After all that, I went a WHOLE other way! In my last post, I mentioned how the slip could be worn as a dress on it's own? Well, I layered my Mood swatch over the cappuccino charmeuse one and decided I didn't want two solid colored bias dresses that I would rarely wear; one because it was silk (duh!) and the other because the color though lovely wouldn't be that practical to wear. Once I started thinking of prints and something that could be worn under the green crepe de chine, two fabrics immediately sprung to mind, inexpensive, locally available, and both of which I could have bought months ago! Two multi-colored polyesters from, of all places, Jo-Ann Fabrics and designs I had been fantasizing over for months but couldn't justify with my existing stash and queue of projects. It just happened they were on sale and I came home with the one that worked with the main dress fabric the most, in a lovely mix of colors which will also influence my choice of accessories.

 

So, which one do you think I picked?

If you're interested in a peek at the fabrics, my inspirations for the final outfit styling, and the colored(!) shoe possibilities, check out my Wedding Guest Dress Pinterest board.

Links:
Surprise! Actually Buying Fabric With a Purpose!

A Change To The Wedding Guest Dress

Images: my own, Jo-Ann Stores, LLC

I Won A Giveaway!



Patternmaking by Dennic Chunman Lo

I can hardly believe it! I rarely win things and definitely not things that I really REALLY wanted. But this time, I did.

Thanks to the generous giveaway last month by Shams of Communing With Fabric, I won a fabulous copy of the above book, Patternmaking by Dennic Chunman Lo, the director of the Creative Pattern Cutting program at the London College of Fashion. He is also the designer of his own Lo and Cabon label.

The thing I love most about this book is that it provides a detailed step-by-step guide to creating the basic pattern blocks for a bodice, sleeve, skirt, dress, and pants along with information on how to create patterns above and beyond the rules, ex. the book's cover photo. This book looks at pattern making as it applies to the actual human body by giving written and photographic examples of  the body's range of motion and the considerations that must be drafted into a block to accommodate them. There are no complicated formulas to memorize and everything is created by using true body measurements. Although, the book uses a standard English size 12 in the examples all you need to do is replace those measurements with your own.

Patternmaking is part of the Portfolio Skills series of books for student designers (architecture, advertising, fashion, etc.) that are written by top professors at leading art and design schools. They are all published by Laurence King Publishing, Ltd.

For more information on his course, click on any of the links in this post. You will find more detailed reviews of the book on the Flossie Teacakes and Fashion Incubator blogs. In addition, you can also check out this video by Mr. Lo himself:


Pattern Cutting by Dennic Chunman Lo from Laurence King Publishing on Vimeo.

Vintage Sewing Books I Want!

I borrowed two great sewing books at my local library this year (multiple times).

All-around Sewing Reference


Note: Same book, different editions: 1961 and 1970 (they removed the tag-line). The 1970 edition was available in a metal binder version, see below.

Better homes & Gardens Sewing Book (1961)


What's I found cool inside:

The book shows five different ways to make a sheer overdress with an opaque inner slip that also formed its own foundation garment. The instructions included details on how to construct the inner corselet for each dress. The construction is a little different depending on how the outer sheer dress was to be attached to the inner slip.

Drafting and Patternmaking



Designing Your Own Dress Patterns (1951)
Designing Dress Patterns Third Ed. (1971) by Helen Nicol Tanous.

Check out some of the styles I could create from this book (more at the link above):



Examples of drafting projects

Her method of moving darts is probably no different than many other guides, but her variations are what I love. The book shows things that they did when designing clothes in the 1940-50s that they don't do anymore in home sewing patterns. Besides the Advanced Vogue designer patterns the goal nowadays is easy quick sewing, with a minimum of custom details.

I want my own copies. Onward...new mission!

Update: Just ordered them both from Alibris!!

Fashion In Film: Midnight in Paris Dress UPDATE

This pattern image is from a handout created by Bridget Bradley-Scaife for her course on making the One-Hour Frock, a simple 1920s dress.

When I wrote the original post about this dress I was sure that I had seen a pattern for that exact dress style and I wanted to direct you to it for your own use. Well, I had to search through my numerous "In The Future" aspirational files to find it. But find it, I did.


Unfortunately, I did not have permission to post this and for that I apologize to Ms. Bradley-Scaife, especially in light of it now being all over Pinterest. She has been extremely nice about this. Unfortunately, I can not retrieve each and every pin from those boards; therefore, she has provided me with another image that includes her copyright and has asked me to post this one instead.*This incident did alert her to the popularity of her pattern so...

She is offering the One-Hour Frock as a PDF pattern in her store on Etsy!!

You may purchase the pattern and its clever instructions here. So, go get it and show your appreciation!

* My first thought was to delete this post entirely, however, I will leave it up here so that if anyone is repinning this she will get credited each and every time.

Atonement Dress in Real Life

A while ago, I wrote about the green silk dress from the movie Atonement and how it was created. Well, Gemma commented that her wedding dress was inspired by that movie costume and that she had pictures. So, I emailed her back to send them and then also sent her a little questionnaire about how it all came about that she wore a version of Cece Tallis' dress on her own wedding day. Please enjoy her answers (and the gorgeous pictures!) below:

 Happy couple + Mr. Rory McCrory

I'm Gemma McCrory from Belfast, Northern Ireland but now living in London, England. I am a Deputy Head of a primary school in Hackney, east London. Any spare time that I have I love to shop! Depending on my mood I either like trawling through vintage shops and warehouses or searching on the high street for vintage styled pieces. I am not very good with my hands so am a bit hopeless at actually making my own, but what I am good at is finding vintage patterns and emailing them to my sister-in-law in Belfast to make for me. It was Marie, my sister-in-law and 1940s fanatic, who actually alerted me to Lisa's post about my wedding dress.

 Jacqueline Durran's design

Were you influenced by the movie Atonement in choosing your dress or was it a coincidence?

I watched Atonement and hated the movie but instantly fell in love with the dress, when my husband proposed I knew that I had to get that dress made. Being 6 feet tall I knew that any 'off-the-peg' dresses just would not do. Also being a lover of 1920s/30s clothing, the dress ticked all the boxes!

How did you find your dressmaker or did a family member/friend make it for you?

My dress maker was the wonderful Lucia Silver based in London. Believe it or not I just googled "1920 wedding dress maker" and up she popped! She has an amazing studio in Notting Hill which is dripping with vintage gowns, clothing and jewellery, as soon as I walked in I knew that she was the one for me. There was a hand made flapper dress hanging in every panel in the bay windows- stunning! When I arrived Lucia was just as excited as me when she saw the pictures I had brought with me as she was just about to start designing a dress similar- so I guess I was the guinea pig. She now uses the dress (a.k.a the goddess dress) on the main page of her web site, The State of Grace.

How difficult was it to make the dress? How long did it take?

From start to finish it took about 6 months to complete. Lucia and her team of pattern cutters made the dress from a block, they then used this to create a toile from cheap satin. After this they made adjustments to the toile and created the gorgeous finished article! It all seemed relatively straightforward to me -but I wasn't making it. Also the final costing had to be changed as so much fabric had to be used due to the length of my legs!

Gemma and the Jacqueline Durran sketch of the dress

Did they use that same Vogue pattern to make it or did they copy the dress from pictures? How many tries (muslins) were made before the final dress?

No, they made the dress from a block which they drew my measurements on. From this they were able to make one toile then finito! Experts!

What fabric is your dress made out of? It moved so beautifully in the wind.

It is made from pearl crepe-back silk satin bought from Morocco.

Did you buy or make the fascinator/headdress?

The hatlette was also made by the same team it is made from the same fabric as the dress with hand stitched silver seams. The feathers and veil were also hand attached. Lucia also made some vintage single drop rhinestone and pearl earrings which she gave me as a gift.

If given the choice, would you have worn the dress the same way that Keira did in the movie, with the long slit in the front of the skirt that was only revealed when she was walking?

No, I wouldn't have had the slit as the dress was backless and quite low-cut at the front, I think that the addition of a slit would have made it a bit less glamorous, would have been a bit OTT.

What did your intended/now husband think of the dress? Did he have an idea that you would be wearing it, had he seen it before that day?

He thought it was 'nice'-typical man! I think he was glad to see that it wasn't a meringue or something equally vile. He liked the 30s styling and hopefully thought I looked gorgeous, I think he was too nervous to notice the finer details! He hadn't seen it before but I had pictures of the Atonement dress everywhere around the house so unless he was completely stupid I am sure he could have guessed.....but then again maybe not!

And last, but not least, what is the name of that sweet ginger dog?

The sweet ginger dog is my sister-in-law's beautiful Mr. Rory McCrory, he came to visit us at the reception and I had to have a picture with him.

Thank you, Gemma for sharing your story!

Images: property of Gemma McCrory, Focus Features Films, State of Grace

As She Said...

A few months ago I discovered a sewer/sewist through the A Dress A Day site. After going over to her own blog, Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing, it seemed she (aka Gretchen) had found a vintage sewing book that I hadn't discovered yet, Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing from 1952. It was a companion piece to 14 pattern designs that Vogue Patterns released in the early 1950s. At some point she decided to attempt each and every project set out in the book. And I (along with many others) have become hooked to her almost-daily posts on vintage fashion and her projects. In fact, she has been responsible for getting me interested in my own projects again. So thank you G!

I hope you enjoy my little interview with her. If you want more, you can check her own back story post here, her progress up-to-date post here, and all fourteen projects that she will be completing here.

When did you start sewing and what was your very first project? Do you still have it? ; )

Well, I remember learning the basics from my mom at a fairly young age. I still hear her voice in my head sometimes, telling me which way to turn the flywheel and things like that. She ended up signing me up for a children's sewing class; I think I must have been around 10 at the time. We made the most god-awful elastic waist pants with matching vests. I remember that mine was in a blue stripe seersucker. I'm positive I didn't save that atrocity. I don't think I ever even wore it! My favorite thing about the class was having a little pink wicker sewing basket that I would carry back and forth.

How would you consider your sewing proficiency level, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced?

I'm going to go with intermediate. I feel like I've had some sort of sewing knowledge all my life, but it wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I committed to learning fashion sewing. I took a few classes, and read through back issues of Threads that I bought on eBay--years and years worth. But really just practicing has made me a much better sewist--I find I improve with every project.
How much of your wardrobe (in percentages) do you think you have made?

Maybe around 40%. But that number is definitely growing! I don't enjoy shopping the way I used to. Well, unless it's fabric shopping!

How much more fashion sewing had you done before you started your blog?

I was pretty involved at BurdaStyle, where I'd won a dress design contest. (See my design here.) I was also a finalist in the SewStylish Spring fashion contest, a bit of a notorious one actually. I liked being creative in my sewing pursuits, and I still do, but I'd say I'm much more committed to learning the craft and taking direction from patterns now.

What was the reason you started this blog?

I think I needed a sense of direction, in sewing and in life. I'd been unemployed for about four months, and I had a lot of uncertainty about my future. I'm a children's book editor, and publishing is really unstable right now. While I was out of work, I had tons of time to sew, but my sewing was kind of purposeless. Also, (and I only mention this because it feels like an important part of the story), I'd just quit drinking for various reasons, and I found I had a lot of free time and energy to use. I wanted to use it in productive ways.

I'd bought my copy of Vogue's New Book For Better Sewing (VoNBBS) last year, and it had just been sitting around. One day, I was flipping through it and the idea struck me--how cool would it be to commit to making every project in the book? And to write about it? It suddenly energized me in a way I hadn't felt about anything in a long time. I guess it's kind of the sewing version of Julie & Julia.

About a month after I started the blog, I got a fabulous job offer. I'm back at work now, and more committed to the blog than ever. I think it gives me a focus inside and outside of work, and a certain kind of balance in my life.

Where did you find your copy of Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing and how much did you pay for it?

I found it on Alibris.com, for $10.25, which is a great price. You'll see some very expensive* copies of this book out there, but I don't think it's an exceptionally rare book. Mine has a large coffee ring stain on the front, which is probably why it was priced so low. I think the stain gives it character!

Do the book instructions mirror the instructions sheet in the pattern; or how exactly does the book complement those instructions? Do you feel the book was necessary for the success of the garments or could that have been achieved with the pattern instructions alone?

The book is much more detailed. The instructions that come with each pattern are actually very sparse, so I think unless you had someone to help you, the book would have been necessary for an absolute beginner.

Do you think that this book concept if done today to go along with the Big 4's seasonal offerings (AND if financially feasible) would be a good thing or not?

Well, I think we have so many more resources today as sewists. If we're having a problem, we can post on Pattern Review or BurdaStyle, and get help almost immediately. Plus, it seems that styles from the Big Four are much more fickle these days. It would be hard to come up with a collection of 14 garments that will stay in style--and in print--for long enough to make a book like VoNBBS feasible.

VoNBBS claims it will make you a better dressmaker. However, that leaves you without their instructional help on making trousers. Will you be looking for a later date Vogue book for that advice?

Who knows what I'll be interested in after this whole project, but I'm guessing not. I don't have a huge interest in sewing pants, though I do love a good pair of 40's style trousers, so maybe!

In VoNBBS, are you going to make the little girl's dress too?

Yep! If it's in the book, I'm making it. I would love to have a little girl someday, so it's kind of wishful thinking too.

Please tell me you are going to make that ball gown. I think we all need a ball gown, if only to give us a reason to find an opportunity to wear it or to give us an excuse, NOT to turn down an opportunity to wear one.

Ha! I'm definitely going to make it, but I've been toying with the possibility of shortening it to knee length so it's more of a party dress. I think I'll put a poll up on the blog to let my readers decide! [Poll is here, 18 more days to vote]

What kind of sewing machine do you own? How long have you had it?

I have a Brother PC-420, which I bought about a year and a half ago. I like it a lot, though it probably wouldn't be the machine I'd choose today. My favorite feature on it is the automatic thread cutter!

If you bought another machine, what feature(s) would be most important when making that choice?

I'm actually in the process of buying a vintage machine. It's a 1952 Singer Featherweight, made the year that Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing was published. The more projects I make from the book, the more curious I am about what the actual 1952 sewing experience was like. Also, I like that the Featherweight is such a time-honored machine, and I know it will be a good investment. I found mine for a very good price on eBay.

What are the state of fabric stores in your neighborhood? How frequently do you find yourself buying fabric and notions online?

Well, I live a 20 minute subway ride from New York's garment district, so I'm lucky enough to have access to the best of the best. I do the majority of my shopping there, but I sometimes also order from Gorgeousfabrics.com, because I love the selection. I live in Queens, and there are a couple neighborhood fabric shops, but I don't like the selection at all--it's such a huge difference from the offerings in the garment district, despite the proximity. Lots of polyester, and I cannot stand polyester. One handy neighborhood shop is a sewing and vacuum repair that also sells notions, including zippers and Gutermann thread. It's nice to have that in walking distance.

Again, thanks for the inspiration, Gertie!

*It's still available here for $75 and I just it on Amazon for $111! Please, no one buy these copies, those prices are ridiculous.

Other Vintage Dressmaking Joys

As I was researching Ms. Mary Brooks Picken, I found that the entire contents of four of her instructional books, including The Mary Brooks Picken Method of Modern Dressmaking are available online at the Home Economics Archives at Cornell University. This archive, whose full name is actually Home Economics Archives: Research, Tradition, History (HEARTH) is a great resource, as many of the educational books created at WIDAS and many other vintage publications on home sewing are available there.

I tried a few search terms and here are some of the books I found that HEARTH has available:

Pattern making by Agnes K. Hanna, 1921.

The dressmaker: a complete book on all matters connected with sewing and dressmaking from the simplest stitches to the cutting, making altering, mending and caring for the clothes Butterick Publishing Company, 1916.

The elements of dress pattern-making: Magyar dress-cutting for technical classes, home workers & professionals by Amy J. Reeve, 1912.

The dress you wear and how to make it by Mary Jane Rhoe, 1918.

Note to Gertie: Don't think I wasn't secretly hoping that Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing was among these free downloadable books!!