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.  

50's Spring Coat and Wiggle Dress

 

The outfit Tyler is wearing represents a look that was popular in the 1950's, dresses with matching coats for spring.  The coat is rose silk dupioni lined with the dress fabric which is Liberty of London Tana lawn.  I love working with both of these gorgeous fabrics.  And who doesn't love florals for spring.  When it comes to 50's fashion (as well as other decades) Vintage Dancer is a super useful website full of fashion history, photos, and inspiration.  

I made this hat from aida cloth, which is used for doing cross stitch.  I sprayed the crown with Spray n Bond Fabric Stiffener, shaped it over a 2" styrofoam ball, secured it with a rubber band and let it dry overnight.  This stiffener worked really well.  It dried clear and didn't leave a shiny surface like some are prone to do.  I think a 1 1/2" ball might have been a little better fit but it all depends on the hairstyle of the doll.  The lambskin leather bag is the one I used with the Patou suit in a previous post.  

50's Evening Glamouor

 

This was a tough one to photograph because the fabric is a rose and silver color change silk taffeta that wouldn't come across in the pictures.  I combined it with an old piece of maroon cotton velveteen from my stash.  I didn't particularly care for the shrug/shawl in the original photo so I replaced it with a bolero.  I started with a pattern from Matisse doll fashions because I thought the neckline would suit this dress.  But I did change the sleeves from set-in to dolman to more closely resemble the original.  

The jewelry is from LovelyGirl on Ebay although I removed the magnetic clasp from the necklace and replaced it with a hook to reduce bulk.  

And here is the inspiration for this look. 

Vintage Two Piece Peplum Dress

 

I'm actually happy with the way this one turned out even though I took it apart to change the collar a bit.  Maybe some day I'll get to the point where something comes together right the first time.  The fabric is a gorgeous vine print silk jacquard again from French Fashions.  I was committed to using a piece of olive green faux leather that was in my stash for the handbag but didn't have anything for a matching hat, and ladies of the 50's were nothing if not matchy-matchy.  I tried making one out of white crinoline then painting it with acrylic paint to match the bag.  It looked horrible.  So the Boston Terrors and I piled in the car and headed to Joann where I found something that was a reasonable match even though it is (GASP) polyester.  

I really loaded this hat up with flowers.  Is it too much?  

And, finally, the inspiration for this outfit.  

Vintage Inspired Silk Brocade Cocktail Dress

I had this beautiful piece of silk brocade from French Fashions that I thought would lend itself to this vintage cocktail dress.  So I set about working on a pattern.  This one didn't come off without a hitch.  

The original skirt doesn't have a center front seam but I picked out a pattern for a circle skirt that I had made for a previous design and cut it out before remembering that the previous skirt had a couple pleats in it.  Oops.  I didn't have enough fabric to recut it so the only way to keep the circle shape was to take the extra fabric out of the center front.  Not a tragedy.  I kept fitting the bodice as I was putting it together and still somehow ended up short at the center back.  Another oops.  So I was able to add a placket to the right side and get it to close but the center back isn't quite, uh, centered.  My carpenter friend always says measure twice, cut once.  Good words of advice.  But I still think I got close to the inspiration picture and it looks so pretty on Sydney.  

Beaded Silk Taffeta Gown

 I'm way behind in posting mostly because I don't take photos after every outfit is finished.  Setting up for photos in my small living room is a pain.  This gown is made from silk taffeta and lined with china silk.  I really like how the beading turned out but I'm not 100% happy with the fit of the bodice and that's because I did something I would tell anyone else not to do--I cut the front on the fold.  I generally never do that.  I always make a full bodice pattern piece on tissue paper because even an 1/8" can create a difference in the fit.  I would have liked the back drape a little fuller but, since this isn't tissue taffeta, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to gather the fullness into the waist.  

The earrings are by Lovelygirl on Ebay and I made the necklace and bracelet from rhinestone chain.  You can buy little clamp-on ends with loops to finish the ends of this kind of chain.  

And finally, here is the inspiration photo for this vintage gown.