I deviated a bit from my usual fabric choices in this outfit in that I used rayon and linen blends.  But that's still authentic as rayon, which is made from wood pulp, was invented over a hundred years ago and was commonly used for clothing earlier in the 20th century.  The inspiration for this dress came from a picture in an old pattern drafting book converted to PDF by Glass of Fashion on Etsy.  Lots of inspiration in her shop if you love vintage fashions.  The darling shoes are from Facets Boutique

Ruched 50's Wiggle Dress

 SOLD Pink wiggle dress made from soft silk shantung from French Fashions with matching pillbox hat.  The brooch was created from a little metal jewelry finding from the craft store.  I clipped the end loops off and sewed a rhinestone and little pearls onto it with beading filament.  The three strand bracelet presented a challenge as to how to do the ends.  I ended up creating three small loops with wire--one side having a tiny hook built into it--that I was able to attach the strings of pearls to.  You've seen the handbag before.  It was based on a pattern from Classicdolldesigns.blogspot.com.  

And, finally, here is the inspiration for this dress.  

Glamourous Lilac Gown and Stole

SOLD  I think I saved the best for last.  Diana Prince is pure glamour in a lilac silk dupioni and silk charmeuse dress with matching faux fur trimmed stole.  The dress hugs her curves and is embellished with sew-on rhinestone buttons.  I'll post the inspiration photo at the end.  I think I got pretty close to it.  

Vintage Fur Trimmed Suit

Only one more post after this, I promise.  It's just that I caught up on taking pictures today and, if I don't do it now, I might not get around to it.  Inspired by a vintage suit, this one is made from a fine wool fabric from French Fashions with cuffs and a hat of faux fur.  The bag is lambskin and based on a pattern by Diane Wagner.  I have purchased a few of Diane's patterns that I haven't made up yet but her tips on working with faux fur were invaluable when putting together this suit.  The hat is a simple pillbox shape with a little embellishment.  

 

Romantic Party Dress

A pretty little dress with draped bodice made from silk georgette and lined with china silk.  The belt and little fascinator hat are made with silk shantung.  

 

Sexy 50's Sundress

Another dress inspired by a vintage pattern.  This is made from Robert Kaufman cotton lawn.  I used parts of snap clasps for the big hoops earrings and made the bangle from brass wire.  The bag is one I made a couple of years ago and was inspired by one I saw on Anthropologie's website.  I used cotton thread and crocheted around brass rings for the handles.  

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Vintage Holiday Cocktail Dress

 

I have a lot to catch up on so I'll just post some quick pics.  This is my version of a vintage pattern that looks very festive in red silk jacquard with a red silk overskirt.  

Gray Sophisticate

 

SOLD  I really love this coat which I recreated from a vintage pattern from the 50's.  It's made from a gray silk jacquard with a pebble texture, and it was my first time attempting a covered button.  The shift dress is Liberty of London Tana lawn.  The bag and belt were fashioned from red lambskin.  And, of course, I had to make a hat with flowers on it, although I do think I exercised some restraint this time with the flowers.  

Imaginary Garden

Imaginary Garden is the name of this beautiful print designed by Tea With Xanthe on Spoonflower.  Spoonflower now offers a cotton lawn and I loved this design so much I bought it in several different colors when fat quarters were on sale.  The coat is made from coral silk faille.  Both the dress and coat are reproductions of 50's vintage fashion.  And, of course, I had to put an entire flower garden on the hat which is trimmed in periwinkle silk dupioni to match the lambskin bag.  I just can't seem to settle for a simple pillbox hat.    

 

More 50's Inspiration

 Tyler is a lovely lady from the 50's in a cotton lawn shelf bust dress and green raw silk day coat. Of course, she has to have her matching hat and bag, and a simple strand of pearls.  

 

The hat was fun to make.  I used aida cloth for this one.  It was stiffened with Spray N Bond fabric stiffener and the pieces were molded over two different sizes of styrofoam balls.  It's trimmed with the same fabric I used to line the coat.  

"The Color of Love"

 That's the name of the pattern that I used for this confection.  I've had this sheer fabric with yellow roses on it for a couple of years and was lucky to find some old yellow silk charmeuse in my stash that matched.  I had no idea what I was going to do with them until I ran across this pattern by Marsha Olsen of Perfect Patterns.  She describes it as a reproduction of a 1946 Vogue pattern and it was perfect for this fabric.  I would only use silk for this because it allowed me to pin and steam the pannier into nice folds and the charmeuse allows the bow to drape nicely.  

The pattern was designed to fit Gene dolls so I did use a bustier pattern that I had used for Tyler in the past.  For some reason it turned out big in the waist this time so I decided to try it on Grace and it worked!   She looks so elegant with her "diamond" necklace from Lovegirlstore on Ebay.  Thanks for the pattern, Marsha!

50's Date Outfit

 In my mind, this is the kind of outfit a lady of the fifties might wear for a lunch date or a shopping trip with her friends.  

The dress and jacket are made from cotton lawn.  For the bodice, I used a pattern by DB Doll Patterns.  I shortened it to waist length and added a full skirt.  The jacket is human pattern that I shrunk down and enlarged the bust dart to get a better fit.  The hat is my own concoction as is the little faux leather clutch.  The hat has a white floral wire inside the edge trim to shape it to her head.  Little white gloves and a simple strand of pearls complete the look.  

40's Inspired Linen Suit

 

Switching decades, Tyler is wearing a blue handkerchief linen fitted suit.  This one strained my brain trying to think of way to do the cuffs with minimal hand sewing and the least amount of bulk possible which is something you always have to thing about when sewing in this scale.  The little tabs in the front were the most challenging and I really only got a perfect point on one of them.  I've since reworked the pattern.  In spite of the fact that I measured and measured and measured, the jacket still turned out somewhat shortwaisted and not as long as the original design.  Adding wearing ease to these little patterns is still something I'm figuring out.  Then I had to recut the skirt and lining after I had already sewed the eight darts in it because I forgot to add the seam allowances.  (Forehead smack).  But it's cute and I'm happy with the fit overall.  

The little bag is inspired by the one in the pattern illustration and is basically made from faux leather, cardboard, matt board and glue.  

The hat is made from navy aida cloth is same manner as the one with the rose coat and floral dress and decorated with silk blossoms, mulberry flowers and stamens.  

And the inspiration for this outfit.  I didn't make the skirt flared in the back because I didn't think it would hang right in this scale although I did do the flare at the back of the jacket.  I like the pencil skirts pegged at the bottom a bit instead of straight to get that hourglass look.