Vogue 1172 - the toile

I cut out the toile in size 10.  According to the pattern envelope I should be a size 14 with my measurements.

No immediate fitting dramas with this one.  I should get more 1957 reissues - they built them for my shape!


For more information and a couple of extra photos you can visit me here at sewredhot.

lore
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To refresh your memory, this is the pattern picture. 

Vintage patterns and me

Hi everyone.  My name is Melanie Conomikes, I live in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, and this is my first post on Sew Retro.  I have been wearing vintage clothes since I was about 15 (a few years back - the 80's) but just started sewing two years ago.  I was looking for someone to alter a couple of vintage dress finds and decided to learn how to do it myself.  I thought it would just be a good practical skill to have, but I'm hooked!  

This was one of the first things I made in a beginner's sewing class with Lisa at The Dancing Queen fabric store in Richmond.  I made number '3', the green one with top stitching. Unfortunately, the style made me look huge and I've never worn it.  Must alter it someday...

I LOVE this pattern below!  The mid 60's...the era of women with concave spines on pattern illustrations.  What's up with that?  The handbag is described on the back as a 'Burmese Fishing Basket' (obviously pre-military regime and zero human rights in Burma).  And you can turn the hat upside down and it doubles as a salad bowl!  I made view 'A', pants with CUFFLINKS!

My finished version below made with Italian seersucker from Astratex.  I wear these alot in the summertime, even though John calls them my 'clown pants'.  I LOVE wearing something I made that nobody else has!  Did I mention I love these pants?

Next, I made a 3/4 sleeve cowl neck (view '3' the pink one) with a very groovy red, grey and black stretch viscose from The Dancing Queen.  Will take photo and upload.  The cowl neck was a real bugger to get right.  It sat in the 'to do' pile for a few months before I tackled it.

In progress:

1930's Day Dress from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library.  This dress looks almost exactly like my favorite but very worn out stretchy dress from Jeans West.  Classic, wearable feminine styles never fade.  I'm making a modified version without the cape (unless I decide to become a sewing and organic veggie planting super-hero).  Last year when I was in the U.S. I dragged myself to the Vintage Fashion Expo at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium the day after I got off the plane from Melbourne.  Vintage overload and bliss!  Did you know there's a group that gets together once a month and dresses up in vintage clothes and practices vintage makeup, hair, etc.?! Only in L.A. (I would love to attend one of their soirees)!  I found a 1930's rayon that I'm going to use for the dress when I get the toile right.  I do have a good hat to wear with it but I think I'll skip the gloves.

Here's the toile in progress:

Front

Back

Please visit me at my blog: Turnips and Toile 

Mel

From the Reel Screen to Real Life

A while ago, I wrote about the green silk dress from the movie Atonement and how it was created. Well, Gemma commented here and on my personal blog that her wedding dress was inspired by that movie costume and that she had pictures. So, of course I emailed her to send those pictures to me. After I saw them I knew I wanted to ask her some questions on why that dress and how. Here are some gorgeous pictures of her completed dress and please enjoy the rest of her answers on my blog.

I'm Gemma McCrory from Belfast, Northern Ireland but now living in London, England. Any spare time that I have I love to shop! Depending on my mood I either like trawling through vintage shops and warehouses or searching on the high street for vintage styled pieces. I am not very good with my hands so am a bit hopeless at actually making my own, but what I am good at is finding vintage patterns and emailing them to my sister-in-law in Belfast to make for me. It was Marie, my sister-in-law and 1940s fanatic, who actually alerted me to Lsaspacey's post about my wedding dress.

Were you influenced by the movie Atonement in choosing your dress or was it a coincidence?

I watched Atonement and hated the movie but instantly fell in love with the dress, when my husband proposed I knew that I had to get that dress made. Being 6 feet tall I knew that any 'off-the-peg' dresses just would not do. Also being a lover of 1920s/30s clothing, the dress ticked all the boxes!

How did you find your dressmaker or did a family member/friend make it for you?

My dress maker was the wonderful Lucia Silver based in London. Believe it or not I just googled "1920 wedding dress maker" and up she popped! She has an amazing studio in Notting Hill which is dripping with vintage gowns, clothing and jewellery, as soon as I walked in I knew that she was the one for me. There was a hand made flapper dress hanging in every panel in the bay windows- stunning! When I arrived Lucia was just as excited as me when she saw the pictures I had brought with me as she was just about to start designing a dress similar- so I guess I was the guinea pig. She now uses the dress (a.k.a the goddess dress) on the main page of her web site, The State of Grace.

Did they use that same Vogue pattern to make it or did they copy the dress from pictures? How many tries (muslins) were made before the final dress?

No, they made the dress from a block which they drew my measurements on. From this they were able to make one toile then finito! Experts!

What fabric is your dress made out of? It moved so beautifully in the wind.
It is made from pearl crepe-back silk satin bought from Morocco.

Did you buy or make the fascinator/headdress?

The hatlette was also made by the same team it is made from the same fabric as the dress with hand stitched silver seams. The feathers and veil were also hand attached. Lucia also made some vintage single drop rhinestone and pearl earrings which she gave me as a gift.

The happy couple!

Join me in wishing the McCrorys the best in their life together and thank you, Gemma for sharing your story!

Images: property of Gemma McCrory, Focus Features Films, State of Grace