Listening: Swallowtail, Flights of Fancy (1984?).
So . . . this totally didn't go where I thought it would go.
Well, it kind of did, but a lot of stuff got changed. I still haven't found Advance 4158 and I felt like I needed to get a move on, so I chose Advance 4858 (1947) as a stand-in.
I will readily admit that I wasn't a very diligent seamstress this weekend but I managed to get the pattern lengthened and traced, a first-run peplum drafted (the skirt on the pattern is just gathered rectangles, and that's not what I wanted for the blouse. Too bulky over the hips); and even a very rough, first-run, test muslin made.
Backtracking: I went to Joann's for something else and decided while I was there--I'd actually been mulling this for awhile but hadn't made a decision--that the fabric I chose originally, in addition to being really tight yardage (out of print; can't get any more) was kind of . . . funereal.
I mean, I adore it, but it does kind of look like someone died:
I could only get a yard and a quarter, which isn't enough for a circular peplum. It will have to be a different blouse.
Joann's had this print instead, which is in the same series as the funereal one but is lighter even though it's the same colorway:
There were a lot of non-primary colors going around in the later 1940's, and some prints that had a "paint-y" feel (these splashy daisies, for instance) so, while this definitely isn't a retro print, it's not completely out of the park for a 1940's pattern.
It's busy, though, so I decided to skip the sweetheart neckline. I have a thing about too much fabric detain + too many design details = overkill. Maybe not really, in this case, but I just wasn't feeling it.
It's busy, though, so I decided to skip the sweetheart neckline. I have a thing about too much fabric detain + too many design details = overkill. Maybe not really, in this case, but I just wasn't feeling it.
Advance patterns seem to agree with me. I added a bit too much length but, basically, it's totally wearable.
The finished pattern will have Joan Crawford-scale shoulder pads, which, in combination with taking out a bit of body length, will fix the sagging back problem. It appears that the pattern is intended to be a little bit blousy, too, so I don't want to take out all the, um, sag. It's a one-piece front with waist darts but no bust darts and a two-piece back (two vertical halves) with sewn-in box pleats at the waist. That's it. The entire top would take about an hour to assemble and finish if I didn't own an interfering cat.
And
The final neckline will be in between the high neck and boat neck options on the original. The boat neck is too wide but I don't want to add the bow tie so I don't need the neck to be quite that closed.
The peplum is basically a tiny circle skirt:
Front:
And back:
Yes, I made those by slashing and spreading rectangles. It totally worked. I cut through the seam allowance to the seam line, and then up through the pattern to the seam line, but not quite through it, spread (overlapping the seam allowance), and taped. The pieces fit the bodice beautifully.
I'll wear it with a belt:
and my plain black A-line skirt:
I am so getting back-seam stockings for this!
and Bass Dinah peep-toes:
The original was meant to button up the front and/or zip up the side, but I'm putting a button placket in the back (I need to find some big, slightly flashy, purple buttons).
Yeah, I know I don't look anything like this, but the general idea:
This original 1940's dress is a very similar idea. This is probably about 1945-1946 with the shorter skirt held over from wartime styles but bigger, more extravagant, shoulders and a relatively long, full, fabric-wasting peplum.
Yeah, I know I don't look anything like this, but the general idea:
This original 1940's dress is a very similar idea. This is probably about 1945-1946 with the shorter skirt held over from wartime styles but bigger, more extravagant, shoulders and a relatively long, full, fabric-wasting peplum.
Other than that: I cooked, as usual, and watched the rest of A Streetcar Named Desire (Netflix sent a new DVD); disc 1 of season 2 of "Dead Like Me"; and Little Shop of Horrors, of which I remembered far too much. How many times did I see that in 1986, anyway? And walked.
Saturday, I went with one of Mom's friends to Texas Art Supply to see if Procion dye works better than Rit (it does, a bit. I don't think I totally did it right, even). I need to learn more about dyeing, though.
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