A Foray into Men's Fashion

I got to foray into men's modern fashion a bit more a few years ago, making my brother's 3 piece suit for formal events. He took a break from being behind the camera, and submitted to being photographed so I could share that suit with all of you. :)

After scouring Pinterest for suit ideas, we kept running across this suit with the tail coat and really cool asymmetric vest. We both thought it was the perfect style for him, and only after we settled on making it did we realize we had picked a high formality white tie morning suit to emulate.

 

 

Photos were taken by me this time. ;) :P :D

Regency Christmas Ball Blues

  

It's that time of year again, Christmas is coming, life is busy, and usually I'm reveling in the fun of the annual Regency Christmas Ball I've been attending each year since 2012. Last year the event was sadly cancelled, and I was really hoping to make it this year after last year's deprivation. It's the first Regency Ball since 2012 I've been unable to attend. Nostalgia and event blues hit me as I sit awaiting the very near arrival of our little "heffalump" (as we've nick-named our little fellow, due oh so soon!). 

Since I couldn't go to the ball this year, I thought I'd instead finally finish editing the outfit photos from the LAST Christmas Ball I attended. (Hooray for 2 years of procrastination! 😏)

 

 

My white silk regency gown has served me extremely well since I made it 6 years ago. When I found this piece of white silk in the clearance section at Joann's, I knew I wanted to make a new regency gown with it. I loved the Grecian inspiration so prevalent in the regency era, and the delightful asymmetry of the wrap styles. Enter eking out a wrap regency dress from 3.5 yards of narrow silk fabric... 😬 I had to piece some poly taffeta underneath to accomplish the feat, but it was well worth the challenge to finally make my dream regency dress. :)

 

I found this delicate gold trim for the skirt, and the narrow edges worked perfectly for trimming the top. Just a few snips, and voila, a perfectly matched narrow trim for the neckline and sleeve details.

 

A Once in a Lifetime Project- Tales of a Wedding Gown

 

 

Life has been crazy, and busy, and exciting recently... in case you didn't gather that from the nature of this post. 😉

 

Between planning a wedding, moving to another state, and settling into a new phase of life I haven't had much time lately to devote to blogging.

 

When I went about designing my wedding gown I knew I wanted a few things... I wanted it to be fairly simple in lines, but not boring, and I wanted it to include linen somewhere if possible, symbolic of the bride of Christ clothed in pure white linen. What better era to choose than the 1930's with their penchant for simple but detailed designs!

With the help of my Matron of Honor, Brigid, from Brijee Patterns, I came up with this 1930's design, featuring a little bit of a modern twist in the back. Brigid is fabulous at pattern drafting and helped with the design-side of the gown immensely!

 

Originally I thought my linen element would have to be only in the lining and/or slip, but the fabric for the dress is actually a silk/linen blend, perfectly fitting my wish of a 30's looking fabric AND linen.

Though it looks basic, the cowl neck probably gave the MOST trouble during design and mock-up phase, but it decided to cooperate before I threw out the plan and started over. 😜 

This back design was one of the elements I KNEW I wanted from the start, I had seen back v-necks with leaf decals, and both loving fall and having a fall wedding I wanted to find a way to incorporate that. I meticulously cut out each leaf, and stitched them on with silk thread forming the leaf veins one by one... it took an agonizingly long time, but I loved every second as I watched it take shape.

I really question my judgement in deciding on this closure design... 27 custom buttons with hand done thread loops... approximately a million hours later... ok, more like 12, it was ready to finish hems and wear. 😊

 

 

You'll have to forgive the bulky wool socks... October in the north can be a bit frigid.

I had a teeny, tiny, itty, bitty, 4 inch train and STILL in the first five minutes out the door for pictures I managed to trip... 😨 It was fine though... no one noticed.😏

 

The wedding was fall themed, so the bridesmaids, decorations, and flowers were an array of fall colors. Seeing all the colors together for the first time was so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos are by my talented friend Sarah Burns. She was amazing to work with and her photographs are stellar!

1930's Evening Gown and Glorious Fall Foliage

When the unique opportunity to create a 1930's evening gown presented itself in the form of a vintage themed wedding of two very dear friends, I couldn't resist delving into the Haslam system of dress cutting for the first time!

Oh the excitement of planning and looking for the perfect fabric...

And then reality dawned once again... after all, who can expect there to be smooth sailing when learning a new technique... and why oh, WHY did I think a complicated formal gown was the best first project to choose?!

5 mock-ups, 4 weeks, and 65 sewing hours later...

I decided it was worth the hair pulling and aggravation.

Just before the first snowfall, and with nearly the last bit of fall foliage, I snuck in a quick photo shoot. The mixture of vibrant and dull colors made the perfect backdrop and I was ecstatic with how well my first attempt at finger waves turned out (at least on one side ;) :P) I think some hair spray would have tamed it sufficiently had I a working bottle on hand. :D

The diamond creates the shaping for the bodice, so there was no need for darts, which tickled me silly! :D Although the process to get it to do so was extensive and exasperating at times!

Our fist location didn't have nearly as much "fall" as we wished, but I still really like how the photos came out in this spot! Being on the upper slope of the hill from the camera made me look a little taller and give the more classic 30's vibe... I'm pretty sure the illustrators of the decade thought legs were a good 2 feet longer than humanly probable! :D

See my little bee "friend"? He must have thought I was a lone flower amongst the grassy fields. After quickly snapping this photo my brother moved him to a nearby dandelion.

Another favorite detail was the strap design, starting at the armscye seam in the front and crossing over in the back to form the edge of the v-neck.

 

The long row of fabric buttons and loops down the back were yet another favorite design aspect. I was pleased with how well it worked in function as well as design.

We spotted a new location across the yard with some delightful foliage remaining and had to snap a few more photos there. I'm so glad we did, though I was frigid and shivering by this point. 

My brother caught me waving my arms and laughing as I tried to warm up and relax so I wouldn't look stiff and icy for the photos. :D

 

I just love how the red dress looks framed by the yellow, orange, and brown of the leaves and brush.

I'm definitely planning to use the Haslam system again, but first I need to work out what is off about my base "sloper" draft to insure proper fit in future. Even just in book #15 there are several more styles I would love to make!

1950's Brown Silk Cocktail Dress

 

A few years ago while scrolling through Pinterest I stumbled across a picture of a yellow 1950's cocktail dress, and immediately knew I wanted to create a dress inspired by it.

I had bought brown silk for $5/yd. when Joann's was discontinuing it, and it sat in my stash awaiting the perfect project.

 

We were hosting a "Spring" themed ball and I desperately wanted to make the dress for the event... "but brown isn't spring!" I said, to which a witty family-member replied something to the like of, "yes it is, spring is muddy". So I jumped on the idea of letting my dress be "mud and butterflies" and found the most delightful blue butterflies and ribbon to accent the look.

Despite having to draft/drape nearly every aspect of this dress, it went surprisingly smoothly! I did my first (And so far only) hand pick-stitched zipper, and I love the results! Much less obvious than machine top-stitching! :)

Though I completed this outfit 3 years ago, I failed to take photos. *face-palm*

After the first wear, I made a few adjustments, and for a recent ball, I seized the opportunity to pull it from my wardrobe and finally photograph it!

My brother obligingly photographed for me, yielding to my whims of artistic, dramatic, whimsical, and practical by turn. Much laughter accompanied the process, and I'm delighted with the shots we obtained.

Below are a few artsy and dramatic outtakes.

Vintage mystery film pose.

 

My Brother and I waltzing at the ball. :)