Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Yay History! Dress

yankee

I got both of these fabrics at Hancock's the first time I went in to explore. At first I envisioned the Civil War print as a skirt but I figured it probably wasn't something I could pair with many tops so I decided on a dress instead. Lee and Grant are in cotton, and the top is navy blue rayon.

yankee

I used Simplicity 3408, from 1940. This was a chicken or the egg situation: I had the fabric before I ever knew what pattern I wanted to use! Thankfully I had enough of each, and some leftover.

It does button all the way up but I'll probably never wear it like that! The belt is from Goodwill: I really stink at making them and when I do they're not the eyelet type, so this one's much better and actually useful, which is nice.

yankee

The sleeves get their super poofy prowess from a sleeve stiffener! This is the first time I've ever had to do this for a pattern and it really was easy! I didn't have any scrap taffeta which was one thing the instructions recommended, so I used a red-and-white striped fabric (on purpose, just a secret for me to laugh about!) that was pretty stiff instead, and that worked fine!

And yes, I am a history nerd! I love seeing how many novelty dresses in the 1950s had fabrics with Egyptian hieroglyphs, or images of coins from Ancient Rome and things like that. Do you have a favorite novelty fabric motif?
posted at 4:14 PM
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24 comments:

  1. That dress is fabulous! Great job!
    I love history too. My favorite novelty print though would have to be animals...lol :o)

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  2. Oh my goodness--this is so amazingly cute! As a history geek I just adore the dress print. ;) lol.

    Also about sleeve stiffening (I need to do a tutorial on this!): I use fine net for mine and it holds up really well over time. :)

    Bravo on another stunning sewing project!

    ♥ Casey
    blog | elegantmusings.com

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  3. love this! Just sold a coin novelty print dress and have a "Picasso" soldier one now up in the shop. VERY cool!

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  4. Too, too cute! I love the history fabric! The whole dress is darling! And I love your hair too. I wish I could pull off short hair!

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  5. WOW. I am completely speechless! You've got talent, girl; this dress is absolutely stunning! I would have never thought to pair that electric blue with the brown hues of the history print but it works works works. So fantastic, I can't even tell you.

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  6. Cutest ever, you are so talented!

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  7. the wallpaper that lines my very old house is the same as that skirt, too funny~

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  8. with different patterns or fabrics for the bodice and skirts of the dress. i love that you used this history print for it. :) hmmm. i would have to say my fave prints for dresses are birds or anything very tiny. :) great job on the dress! :)

    -Zinnia

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  9. Oh, gosh, that is such an awesome dress!! I love it.
    -Andi x

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  10. Oh wow, such an amazing dress - LOVE it! I like prints with cats on, but Civil War print is in a totally different league!

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  12. Great dress, and I'm LOVING the historical print! I can't get enough of novelty prints - my favourite motif at the moment is parasols.

    Charlotte xx
    Tuppence Ha'penny

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  14. The skirt! Oh. My. God. Incredible. Can you make me one pretty please? I am so jealous!

    The top is lovely as well. Perfect! You really pull the dress off--I can't imagine anyone else wearing it so well! And your hair looks adorable

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  15. I actually can't get over how amazing this is. I am in awe, no exaggeration.

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  17. I adore your style, it's so unique and cute! This dress is incredible, I hope you'll have many more as beautiful as this one to show us :)

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  19. i love it! i like novelty prints too (though i can't think of a motif off the top of my head!) and this one is really unique - and i love the "nerd" bent to it. :)

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  20. I just discovered your blog from Casey's link - and so glad I did! This dress is awesome!!! I love the historical print. I am actually just embarking on my first attempt at dress-making at the moment after finding a really cute novelty print. I will post the results on my blog soon if it all works out! :)

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  22. Oh cool, what an innovative outfit to make!

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