1940's robe in satin and lace

Over the past 3 years I have regularly pulled this fabric out of a plastic bag, looked at it, despaired, and put it away again. It's an insanely slippery satin which feels like silk and I knew it would be a complete pain to cut out and sew.

Last weekend, inspiration finally hit.

 The pattern is Butterick 5152

 

The fabric is not exactly 1948-appropriate, but I think it works pretty well!1970's does 40's??

I didn't have quite enough fabric for the length, so I used some black lace for the yoke detail and for a band around the lower edge of the skirt. Apart from that I made no alterations.

These close up photos show the colour most accurately - it's quite a magenta/purple tone and not as pink as it looks in some of these photos.

I LOVE these sleeves. They're incredibly full and billow around like mad. They remind me of a wizard's cape/cloak.

 

The lace is stretchy and adds a lot of weight - perfect for twirling about and sweeping dramatically up and down the hallway (or anywhere really)

Oh! And my hair is purple! I spent two days bleaching the black out of it, dyeing it a permanent purple colour, banging my head against the wall because it didn't work, and then covering up the lot with Paintbox Purple Haze. Success! 

My hair is now quite fluffy because of the bleach but I like being fluffy.

 

The End.

 

Mending

Lately I've been wanting to sew, but I have little energy for crawling around and cutting things out. So I finally decided to tackle my pile of stuff to mend. Some of it is years old (and has moved house with me, twice).

First up, this purple coat. Started it about 3 1/2 years ago.

You know what it's needed that whole time? A button and a button hole. SUCH hard work, no wonder I put it off for so long.

This is the same pattern as the pink coat seen here

As soon as I had finished said button and button hole, I discovered two other button holes I have apparently added some time in the past. Why are they there? And why all the way off to the side? Was I planning to mummify myself in this coat?

Here is what it looks like buttoned up with the side button holes. Looks much the same to me, maybe a bit more fitted but otherwise unremarkable.

 I remember making this coat with the idea that it would be loose and rough looking so I don't know why the button holes are all the way over to the side. Anyway, in order to achieve the rough look, the pieces are all sewed by overlapping them onto each other, instead of using regular seams. The fabric is un-hemmed but I did hem the lining.

 

The lining is pure silk... just a small  indulgence (I think I found it on sale)

 There is no belt with the pattern but I made one for this particular coat.

Next we have this attractive baggy dress

 

Hot, huh?

 It's tagged as Topshop but I'm thinking this might have been an experimental design that hopefully never actually hit the dress racks. I found it in an opshop.

 I find it kind of ugly, yet for some reason I like it

I chopped about 4 inches off the length, and took the side seams in by about an inch each

Much better.

This snakeskin dress has been wanting a zip for about a year. Again, it's clear why I left this strenuous and demanding task for so long.

I actually don't know what pattern this is, but I have a feeling it's a mix of 2 patterns... top from one, skirt from another

This purple dress, previously seen here, has been chopped.

Unfortunately there wasn't enough of the purple to make a stole or a wrap, but I think I can use it for a small bag or purse of some kind.

Another opshop find. This little yellow thing is not quite a top, not quite a dress. What the heck-a-roony is it Mrs Glick?? (And who am I quoting?)

It's waaaay too short to wear out in public as a dress, and as a top it's too long to go with any of my skirts. Maybe with jeans, but my stomach still says No to jeans.

So it got chopped too.

 

As you can see I'm now quite in love with it.

As I am with my little tulle skirt, which is becoming a new favourite item as well.

Oh, gratuitousness where would I be without you?

All these photos were taken in my little sewing corner... my sewing machine and various bits and pieces can be seen behind me.

As a side note, I haven't forgotten about my monthly calendar cakes... baking is about as appealing as sewing right now, so the cakes ARE coming!! They'll just be slightly delayed. (The fact that I have zero tolerance for cake right now is also putting me off).

Hope a happy weekend has been had by all.

:)

Socks & shoes

Dilemma: wearing heels without hurting my feet or wearing 50 bandaids on each foot.

Solution:

Socks - Dangerfield
Snakeskin heels - Unique Shoes
Black t-strap heels - Target
Red heels - Modcloth
Black patent heels - no idea
Black suede heels - Target
Blue sandals - Modcloth