Sound of Music Bubble Skirt

I bet you never thought you'd hear "The Sound of Music" and "bubble skirt" in the same project title...

I had this fabric that I really loved, that totally reminded me of a fabric that Julie Andrews would have had a skirt or dress made out of in "The Sound of Music."

But I have tons of straight and a-line skirts, so I decided to try my hand at making a bubble skirt.  For more info on how I made the skirt as well as pictures, check out my blog:

Five Minutes More, Please!

Shannon :)





On My Cutting Table...

On my cutting table for next week. My June, June, & Junie Project is in high-gear!




See my blog for more details. What are you planning to sew this week?

Easter Dots

Remember the Polka Dot Paradise post?

Well, here's the final product:

And here's the blog post. I'm thinking I need to lengthen the older one's dress by about two inches. Hopefully I have enough of the turquoise fabric to make do... Who knew my 6 year old shorty would be taller than a 1930s 6 year old?

Polka Dot Paradise!

I scored an awesome vintage pattern from Lanetz Living about 18 months ago, I guess, and have been dying to make it into something *special* for the girls. You know how it is. You get the perfect pattern but the perfect fabric has yet to materialize (har har). I'd already bought the hairbows to go with. Chocolate brown and turquoise & chocolate brown and pink respectively. And still, no fabric. Until a late-night trip to the SuperWal-Mart. Fancy finding the exact shades of turquise and pink in dots on a chocolate brown background! Whoda thunk it? Anyhow, I spent way more than I should have for the fabric ($4/yard) but I was DETERMINED to make That Pattern into dresses with That Fabric.

Here is the project in progress:


Check out the hand-turned and sewn neck. I'm pretty proud of the work.

The fluffer makes all the difference

Remember my version of Vogue 2960? When I made it, I realized that it deserves a petticoat. (Petticoat? Crinoline? Whatever.) I'm all about the instant gratification, so I didn't make one, I bought it on eBay. It's two layers of ruffly netting, with a length of approximately 24 inches.

I like it much better with the petticoat! Don't you?

I wore the dress, with the fluffer, for a full day of shopping all over St. Louis. Wearing this atypical dress changes the way the public interacts with me. I wrote about the experience on my blog.

My favorite spring dress

This is Vogue 2960, a 1954 vintage pattern that was recently re-released. I used a home dec cotton with a fluffy cloud print. I also shortened the hem, used snaps instead of buttons, and added some elastic to fix a slouchy shoulder problem. This is a spectacular success for me, especially considering my pathetic last project!

Tons more details and pictures of the inside here, at Chronically Uncool.


Edited to add: I got a petticoat for this dress! You can see pictures on Sew Retro or on my blog.

Thank God It's Spring

Here's my "Thank God It's Spring" sundress. Nothing quite says "Spring" to me like a lovely white eyelet.

I didn't actually use the pattern pictured here. It was for sale at So Vintage Patterns for $35, but rather than purchase it I drafted a similar pattern with Pattern Master Software. When I drafted the pattern, I miscalculated the ease so I added to strips of grossgrain ribbon along the back which makes for an interesting and functional detail.

The dress is white cotton eyelet mounted on white cotton broadcloth. I think I may adjust the straps because the dress rides a little high right now and I think that if I increased the length of the straps it would hang better.

So ... Thank God It's Spring, even though it's about 35F outside right now.

-JennyM

Lemonade dress

This is my dress for the next season, although it screams "Summer" even louder than it screams "Spring". The most delightful thing to me is how loudly it screams - I choose far too much fabricand clothing based on it being obnoxiously bright. This is reprodepot fabric and a vintage pattern.

It is currently 40 degrees in NY, but a girl can dream...