I'm a Model!

Recently, Lauren from Wearing History Patterns asked if I'd be willing to model for a new pattern release - the words were barely out of her mouth before I said YES! Of course I would - playing dress up is so much fun!

Palisades 1940's wrap dress pattern - available in multisize packs

This cute little wrap dress pattern is the newest addition to the Wearing History pattern line. The neat thing about it is how easy it is to sew - no sleeves, and because it wraps and ties, there are no buttons or zippers to deal with - perfect for a new sewist! And I want to mention that even though it has a low back, I'm wearing a normal bra - it crossed right above my braline, so there are no special undies required.

If you're a swing dancer and want to try making this pattern, I suggest adding a few hooks and eyes at the wrap opening, so that the opening stays shut!

And yes, those are my super comfy Aris Allen wedges.

We went to a local marina with our husbands in tow to shoot the photos - I think I'm making funny faces at them in most of the pictures, probably not the best idea. :)

Can't imagine why this one isn't the pattern cover. Hmm...

I'm no Bernie Dexter, but it sure was fun! :)

Make and Mend

It's been a rough couple weeks around here (just busy with work, etc.), but I've been trucking along with my make and mend projects when I get a chance. Most of my projects have been sitting in a pile for weeks or months (years? yes, even that. sheesh!) so I'm glad to be forced into working on them.

My first 3 mending projects have been fairly simple. One was tacking a hole in a sweater (just one little hole, but I didn't want to wear it and have it run), the second was restitching the zipper in a favorite dance skirt, and the third was cleaning up some Re-Mix shoes.

This skirt's actually green. But I wouldn't mind having a blue skirt!

The shoes are the most dramatic transformation. I've danced HARD in these shoes for the last couple years, and they still have some life left in them but they looked so gnarly I was embarrassed to wear them out. I had them reheeled a year ago and asked the guy to repaint them gold, but they didn't look any better afterward, so I decided to try it myself. First up, clean them and snip any loose threads.

Then I got a gold paint pen and went over them a couple times. I have no idea how long this will last, and if you try it on your expensive Re-Mix shoes and they get messed up for any reason, don't blame me! This was my last ditch effort to save them from the trash bin.

 

And voila! I'm pretty happy with them. They're slightly streaky if you look close, but the nicks and scuffs are gone. Chris polished them for me after I took these pictures and now they're a little less bling-y, but hopefully that keeps them from rubbing off on other people's shoes. Like his. ;)

Edwardian Corset Part 1

This weekend I got some help fitting my Edwardian Corset! I'm pretty good at fitting on myself, but not only is fitting a corset on yourself EXTREMELY hard, but I also needed an experienced eye for this one. Most of the reference images I'm finding are illustrations so stylized with miniscule waists and odd proportions, it's hard to know how the corset should realistically fit. When Lauren from Wearing History said she could come up for a visit over the weekend, I immediately planned to rope her into my Edwardian world.

This is my scaled up version of the 1901 Corset from Hunnisett's Period Costumes for Stage and Screen. I got lucky and the basic pattern is close to my size. This is actually my second mockup - the first one I took out from the bust and hips (not anything from the waist, boo!). Now I see I could have made more changes on the first go-round, but I didn't know what I was doing! There are no bones in this mockup, and the final version will have a center opening busk.

(Man, my shoulders are way crooked. That's all I can see when I look at these photos. Time for a massage!)

We shortened the body length about 1" total so that the top of the corset hits at or just slightly above my apex. I also needed a little more gap at the CB, so we decided to take that out of the hip gussets. We got tired and didn't pin out the total amount, that's why it's still too close at the bottom gap.

On the side view, you can see a little bit of the Edwardian "S" curve posture, where I'm tipped forward on top and backward on the bottom.

I think one more mockup for this guy, and then I'm gonna start on the real deal!