My New Frontier: A1960’s cocktail dress: Part Two- Sewing a Wearable Muslin

Hi Everyone! 

Long overdue, its time for PART 2 of my 1960's cocktail dress pattern project!
Part 1 was posted almost a month ago. 

In an effort to use my valuable sewing time to its fullest, I created something called a  “wearable muslin”.   



The 1st cut of my size 10 pattern, graded up from an circa 1960 "size 14", wiich is a modern-day 4-6

 I do this as often as possible when developing or testing a pattern that is fairly simple (for me) and hard to mess up. 

Why did I do this instead of just the plain ol’ muslin mock-up fit process? 

For this dress, I feel confident it can be sewn it up as a real, wearable garment the first time around.  It may not fit 100% perfect, but it will still be adorable and very pretty. 

Keep in mind, if this was a corset project, or a weird bodice pattern I’m Frankenstien-ing, then HELL YES, there will be a plain muslin fitting!!  …. maybe 2 or 3 before the good stuff is cut! 

While creating this wearable muslin, I utilized my time to experiment with different things.  In this case, I made up the dress in funky stripe cotton, with a bias-cut silk waistband and my own construction/finishing techniques. 

Gutsy?!  Maybe. 

Fabric purchased on clearance (1/2 price!) at Stone Mountian & Daugher Fabrics, in Berkeley, CA

OK, here’s what I did:

The bodice is a single layer of the striped cotton, but I omitted the facings for the neck & armhole area included in the original pattern.  Instead, I used single fold bias facing to finish the inside of these areas, and finished by hand:

The zipper was hand-basted to the inside of the side seam, and stitched into the garment by hand.  Don’t be intimidated by this, folks!  In fact, hand-sewing a zipper does not take long at all!  Plus, if you don’t have a lot of experience sewing a zipper in by machine, this can be WAY less frustrating, less damaging to the fabric, and looks like a million bucks every time… even if you are not a super-star hand sewer!

For the waistband, I kind of walked away from the original design/construction. 

The original pattern was just for a single layer waistband of fashion fabric only (front and back with side seams), without any finishing/lining/interlining inside.  Weird?  I thought so too.

To mix things up a little, I created new, revised waistband patterns with center front and center back seams.  Here’s how I did it:

REVISED WB PATTERNS: I cut the bias pieces out of  a scrap of black dupioni (fashion fabric) and the straight-grain pieces out of black cotton (flatlining). 

*Backing or flatlining the bias silk pieces with cotton cut on the straight grain will add stability and strength.

ORIGINAL WB PATTERNS: I cut Waistband pieces as per the original pattern, on the fold, out of black cotton.   These pieces became a lining, which I added in order to “clean finish” the inside. 

I also flatlined the skirt part of the dress with black cotton for added body, and to minimize any VPL in the future ;)

Now the dress is ready to try on and have a fitting!

A little wrinkled: All the seams are sewn up except the shoulders and hem. 

Stay tuned for Part Three:  “Analyzing the fit” where I will be looking at the (almost) finished garment with a critical eye, checking overall balance, dart placement, and making notes of any other little fit tweaks that need to be made.

-Kathleen, In Oakland

100th Post!

That's right!! We've finally reached 100 and we don't look a day over 25.

But let's be honest being 100 is the new 40 and ain't it beautiful?!

Philip - In Brooklyn

Special Collections... INDEED!

            While trolling the "web" one evening I came across the Flickr account for the FIT Special Collections.  They turned out to be a treasure trove of fashion illustrations.  I had to just share them with you guys!  I hope you find them as inspiring as I do!

BALMAIN



DIOR

BALMAIN

MADAME GRES

Philip - In Brooklyn

Back to WOOORK!! - 2/14/11

            Well here it is "Monday" again.  This is a stupid day.  YOU HERE ME GODS!!  STUPID!  But on the bright side it is fashion week here in New York Cit-ay, and the air is electric with champagne, contradictory fashion double speak and model puke.  It's a magical season really. So in honor of fashion week this edition of WOOORK will be brought to you by the House of Dior, by John Galliano.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did and it helps you quickly forget today is "Monday" (insert dry heave noise).

Philip - In Brooklyn 

Paris Haute Couture - Ribbon Binding

           So I was browsing through the Paris Haute Couture shows for Spring 2011 and I came across Alexis Mabille's Collection.  Overall it was very beautiful and I recommend check check checking it out! 

           One thing that stood out, to me at least was his use of binding on a couple of his looks.  He may not have used Ribbon binding but you certainly could achieve the same look using that technique.  That's why I'm gratuitously reposting our instructional video on applying a ribbon binding. 

        
   Hope the rest of your French Fashion Week goes well!!!

Philip - In Brooklyn
          

Back to WOOORK!! 1-17-11

           As you can tell by this photo from 1874 these two gals, they would refer to them as "roommates" back then, are getting ready to head off to their high pressure jobs in finance.  You see Belinda, on the left, was just promoted to VP of Overseas Currency Exchanges; therefore she must look her best and exude an air of authority.  On the other hand her "Lady Friend", Marjorie has been the head of acquisitions for 2 years now and is very established as a leader in her field. Now that you've ogled these fine females and imagined them in compromising situation... GET BACK TO WOOORK!!

Philip - Brooklyn

Tiny projects = Huge satisfaction

Hey y’all!  I just finished a wee little project this morning….a lovely rosette made from novelty Halloween ribbon!

All hand-sewn, btw....

 

Peek-A-Boo!!

Over the last couple of years, I have made dozens and dozens of these flowers in various colors, trims and sizes.  Here’s a lil’ montage of a few styles that recently went up for sale at the Pin-up Parlor in Berkeley, CA:

Kathleen -In Oakand

Vintage Fashion Expo!!!!

Hey y'all!

This past Sunday, my friend Tracey and I attend the Vintage Fashion Expo in San Francisco! 

http://www.vintageexpo.com/

It was a large collection of vintage clothing vendors who turn the convention center into one giant thrift store.  There were all sorts of wonderful things to buy! 
Since I literally have NO ROOM for more clothes at this time, I took my camera along so I could snap pics for future project inspiration.
 

The Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco

 

various booths at the exhibition......



Bling Bling!!



Do-dads and Bakelite bracelets , as far as the eye can see!


Since I am more than a little obsessed with construction & detail, it was a treat to see & touch the REALLY OLD stuff up close.  (Victorian/Edwardian, ect...)
One vendor had a couple of lovely velvet jackets from the 1880's that we got to study.  Tracey and I ooed and ahhed over the details.  And the vendor had NO PROBLEM with us talking pics for our research and inspiration:

a "Real" late Victorian Jacket...probably 1880's, in a yummy black velvet.  The fabric quality is amazing and lush for being 120 years old!  And yes, those are hand-bound buttonholes!

A quick snap of the inside view:  Note all velvet pieces are flatlined in a tightly woven tan cotton.  Casings for boning have pinked edges, and are cat-stitched to unfinished (raw) seams that are clipped & pressed open.  The cat stitching is set over the 1/4" boning, which I'm pretty sure is whalebone, but there were no open casings to verify.

Well, that's it for now!  It was a fun day, and I look forward to going again when the Expo comes around next year (hopefully!)

-Kathleen in Oakland