Regency Gown #2

I've finished the bodice of my dress, which means that the whole thing is nearly done! The skirt is just a couple rectangles gathered into the bodice.

I lined the sleeves with my self fabric, and interlined with organza for extra poof. The right sleeve is misbehaving, I don't think I ironed it as well as the other side.

The bones still need to be cut - turns out the new dremel tool doesn't work on the bones, so we have to go to storage* and get the old dremel tool.

I'm really proud of the eyelets - I have an eyelet footplate attachment for my sewing machine, but they were still a lot of tedious work. I like the lacing much better than buttons though. Hope they hold up!

---------------------------------------------------------

*I'm not a fan of having a storage unit, and I'm hoping we can sell our house quickly so we can cram all that junk back in our closets! ;)

Stripey Socks

After reading a post on Swungover about the trend of young men wearing stripey socks, I thought I'd share some images of the girls!

Check out the stripeys on these girls! The question is, were the boys stealing from the girls, or the other way round?

I see a lot of solid contrasting socks on jitterbug girls, too.

Socks and sandals were normal...it was considered gross to not wear socks or stockings.

And don't forget to coordinate your socks and panties!

Buying Vintage Shoes Online - and a SALE!

I just came across this helpful chart from Vintage Martini for sizing vintage shoes. Perfect timing, because I was recently talking to a friend about how important sizing is when buying shoes vintage online (and how I learned this the hard way...) Every half size is only a change of 1/8" !!

The chart looks accurate to me - I wear a size 8, and 9 3/4" is the magic number I look for. The other crucial number is the width at the ball of the foot - measure a similar pair of shoes you already own to compare. (i.e. Don't measure sneakers if you're buying heels.)

Also, Vintage Martini is having a sale on their entire inventory, 50% off everything starting tomorrow through the end of the year! They don't have an online shopping cart, so you email them to place an order, but they have excellent and speedy customer service.

Regency Gown #1

I hope everyone had a great Christmas weekend! We visited with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and in between I've been working on both Chris's coat and my Regency dress.

I'm using the same pattern I used last year, the Sense and Sensibility pattern. I don't love it, but I'm already familiar with it. As much as I didn't want to bother, I needed some pattern adjustments from last year's version (the bust was too short). I did a mockup out of lining fabric, since I don't have enough self fabric to recut if the pattern was wrong.

Ginger helps choose lining fabric.

Whew! Glad I did a mockup - I did need more corrections - the straps were falling off, it would have been a disaster! Lining/Mockup #2 is good, thank goodness!

I'm planning to do spiral lacing up the back, my first time trying it. (Why can't I keep anything simple?)
Here's my lacing inspiration, from the Kyoto Costume Institute:

And here's the fab how-to online resource I found for Spiral Lacing: The Zen of Spiral Lacing

I'm having Chris cut down some steel bones for me with the new Dremel tool he got for Christmas. Yay for new tools! Hopefully the dress will come together this week. Yay for short work weeks!

Whistle-Blower Santa

This image deserves a caption contest...oh, 1940, were you really this naive?

Christmas Card, 1940

Merry Christmas!

I've been having fun with my first blogging experiment - Fashioning Beau Brummell - but since the projects I've been sewing for that blog will be winding down soon, I decided I want a blog that covers a wider range of topics. I'll still be updating my Beau Brummell blog with relevant posts, but here I'll be posting about my girly sewing projects, swing dancing, museum trips...all that other fun and nerdy stuff! :) It's going to take me a while to get the background and graphics just right, so bear with me on that.

And to get the Christmas weekend started off right, here's a Santa image that a dear friend sent to me and other sewing friends. Is he angling for someone to make him a new getup?