Finished: Vogue V8811

My sister is what I like to call a Vintage Enthusiast. Cassidy's area of interest is the 1940's, specifically the war years. Her hair, makeup, clothing (hell, even most of her undergarments) are either period specific reproductions or vintage pieces. Needless to say, she gets a lot of "looks". People follow her around taking pictures of her with their cell phones. It's pretty funny, and we've all grown used to it. Since my sister is so period specific, her clothing- as you can imagine -is pretty dang expensive. It's hard to find affordable repro pieces, and to top it all off...she has the biggest boobs I've ever seen. Yeah, I said it and I don't think she'll mind me telling you. I mean...it's obvious. They're ginormous. And since she wears a period correct bullet bra, they look even bigger. Really. I'm sure some of the glances she receives are because of those puppies. Anyhoo, her chest makes it hard to fit. She has ordered many beautiful custom made pieces from etsy and they always come back huge on her. When I asked her specifically what info she sent them, I found she was just sending bust, waist and hips. Well, her bust is huge but the rest of her isn't. As I've become more and more knowledgable about pattern fitting I realized why nothing fit her right and I offered to make her a dress myself to prove I knew what I was talking about.  The pattern my sister picked out is Vogue V8811. A beautiful dress dated from 1940.

 Cassidy found a fabric she loved (gee, can you tell we were inspired by the pattern envelope?) but there wasn't enough on the bolt for me to match the plaids. Given the option between choosing something different and dealing with the unmatching plaid, my sister decided to go crazy and let the plaid ::gasp:: NOT LINE UP! With that, I began fitting. Her bust measurement would have required larger than a sz 18 but her high bust was a perfect 16. I cut a straight 16. I wish I had taken a picture of the muslin for the bodice. It was a disaster. Somehow I figured out how to do a 1" FBA (kimono sleeves, and french darts? I think that's what I was working with). And guess what? It worked!

The dress itself was a piece of cake to sew up. I finished up in a day but that put it on the back burner for a while because I was dreading the boredom that would ensue from sewing that hem. I blame my ADD. It has pattern pieces for shoulder pads and a custom belt but screw that. I took the easy way out and purchased shoulder pads and used a belt I already had. I blame my ADD for that as well. Ha!

Needless to say, Cassidy is super pleased and I have now been asked to sew up the A-line skirt I promised her. For all this free labor, I told her she owes me some Chipotle or something ;)

The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave dress

   I love Independence Day. Even though it is almost always scorching hot in Northern Virginia, I can not wait to sit outside, sweating my ass off all day. I'm not sure why this holiday affects me so, but as a not normally very patriotic person, I can't help but to feel incredibly grateful for the country I call home.

   Something about the 1940's and the 1950's evokes the most feelings of patriotism. No doubt it has to do with WWII and the fable "Golden Era" that followed. When I think of dressing up to show pride in my country my mind wanders to victory rolls, red lipstick and winged eyeliner. It was with that frame of mind that I chose my dress for our annual 4th of July festivities this year. I was yearning for something wearable yet vintage inspired and maybe even a bit on the campy side. Enter my red, white and blue Colette Lily. Since, as I've already mentioned, I'm going to be hot as you-know-what on the Fourth, I got dressed up for a special photo session with my girls today. As dressed up as I could. I wasn't going to curl my hair or anything. psh. I will look nowhere near as put together this Wednesday.

 This dress was so much fun to make. It is made entirely of cotton poplin. While constructing those pockets I was almost giddy with excitement. As an advanced beginner (can I call myself intermediate yet?) it was very rewarding to put this together.

 As for the sizing....since my last two Colette patterns turned out so big, I decided to re-measure myself. Lo and behold, I dropped from a size 10 to a size 8. I can't lie...I was a bit shocked. I cut a straight size 8 but old me got the better of...um...me and I reduced the seam allowances while I was sewing up the skirt. Not a good idea, because when I had it all constructed I tried it on and found it about a half an inch to large. I had to go back and re-sew the correct SA. Moral of the story? Trust your measurements.

  This dress marked the first time I used an invisible zipper foot. What the hell took me so long?! This zipper was a freakin piece of cake to sew and for the first time (despite numerous attempts) my waist seams line up perfectly. As for embelishments, I didn't get a good picture, but there are little star buttons on the pocket flaps.

Pure narcissism. Sorry. ;)

All in all, I am super pleased with this dress. It delivers the perfect dose of "I <3 America" that I wanted and is still cute and fun.