1940's Wedding Dress Repro

 Months ago I agreed to make a reproduction of a client's mother's 1940's wedding dress.  I even completed a muslin of it before being sidelined.  Now that I'm feeling almost human again, I finished it a week ago.  Thank you for your patience, Margaret!  The original dress was likely rayon but we agreed to use a silk charmeuse instead.  The scalloped neckline was suggested using a small trim.   

Now that I have all my required sewing done, I'll be trying out some of the new patterns I've drawn in the last few months.  Drafting patterns was something I could still do on days when I could barely get off the couch.  I keep a wooden lap desk, rulers, mechanical pencils and a roll of exam table paper nearby.  And erasers.  Lots of erasers.  😄  There are at least a dozen new designs.  I made one up this week and will try to get pics done tomorrow.  It's so cute!  And sci-fi related.  I'll explain tomorrow.  

This is a pic of the original dress.  

 

Where have I been?

 It's a long story but, in short, after being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease over 40 years ago, I finally had to have an ileostomy on April 13.  If you don't know what that is--and many people don't--Google it.  I won't go into the gory details here. 😒 Before I had the surgery I had agreed to make up some samples of Madame Gres designs for Sandra Stillwell's Peaches and Panache event in June because the lady at her factory in Korea who usually does it was off....having surgery.  I got two prototypes done before April 13. 

 

My mistake was thinking that I would bounce right back like I did after my last three surgeries, forgetting that I was a lot younger then.  I ended up being readmitted to the hospital a week after my first discharge due to dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and kidneys not working right. After I got out again, my blood pressure was still too low and my heart rate too high so my doctor and I agreed that I needed in home IV hydration.  After her nurse spent hours on the phone unsuccessfully trying to find someone to do it, I had to take matters into my own hands and hire a private company, Mid-Michigan RevIVe and Restore, paying for it out of my pocket.  They were wonderful.  After eight days I was feeling better.  Then someone brought me a stomach flu bug.  After a day and night of vomiting and diarrhea, I was back to square one.  R&R came to the rescue again and kept me out of the hospital again.  Five more days of IVs followed.  But when I subtract what it would have cost me to board my dogs, the cost seems much less painful.  So it took a couple of months for my blood pressure to get over 100 and my heart rate to get under 100.  But I still had to get those two samples made from Sandra's fabrics in time for the convention.  I was only able to manage a couple of hours a day at the sewing machine but I completed these in the nick of time.  

 Sandra liked the green prototype of the dress so she bought that one.  I still have the red velvet coat if anyone is interested.  There were some changes made to it for the final version.  I won't be reproducing any of these.  If they are available, they will be listed on Sandra's website.  These are the photos of the Madame Gres originals.  Did I get close?  

Mashru Silk Evening Gown for Gene

 

SOLD Working in two to four hour increments, I got one thing done this week.  The gown is constructed of a beautiful mashru silk from India that is embroidered in silver.  It is also sequined although they're hard to see in the photos.  The bodice is detailed with a drape of silk tissue taffeta that gathers into a strap attached to the back.  It was then adorned with a big bow.  The gown in fully lined in grey silk/cotton and closes with snaps in the back.  Since the fabric is a little bit heavy, I constructed a petticoat of organza with a wide tulle ruffle at the bottom to fill the skirt out.  The petticoat closes with thin Velcro to reduce bulk near the waist.  

This dress and petticoat are available for $155.00 plus $6.00 shipping in the US.  Email me at nwickman@chartermi.net if interested.  

Green Mashru Silk and Cheetah for Gene or Poppy

 

SOLD  Thank you!  I confess I haven't felt much like sewing of late.  A chronic illness has had me feeling pretty wretched. I'm seeing a surgeon next week so looking forward to better days.  But I had a couple of days when I felt halfway decent so did I use the time to catch up on housework or laundry?  Heck, no.  I did this instead.  The fabric is called mashru silk and it's made of silk and cotton yarns.  The weight of the fabric made it necessary to make a pencil skirt but I really like this new dress pattern I came up with.  The coat has a shawl collar and cuffs of animal print minky.  There is a little rhinestone brooch attached to the coat collar.  Love the color combination of jade green with cheetah print.  The dress is fully lined in light green silk habotai.  The coat is fully lined in a matching rayon batiste.  This also fits Poppy Parker or Tulabelle dolls.  

Coat and dress are available for $145.00 plus $6.00 shipping in the US.  Email me at nwickman@chartermi.net.  

OOAK Iridescent Silk Ballgown for Gene

 

SOLD  Thanks!  This is what I've spent the previous four days working on but this beautiful fabric deserved something labor intensive.   This hand embroidered iridescent silk organza is from Farmhouse Fabrics.  I had this fabric on my wishlist for some time but held off because it was expensive.  Eventually in a weak moment I couldn't resist it anymore.  One thing I love about Farmhouse Fabrics is they let you buy quantities of less than a yard which makes it easier for me to acquire these fine fabrics.   After hand basting the bodice pieces to petal pink silk charmeuse,  many tweaks to the bodice were made to get a perfect fit, and get the band right.   The underskirt and bow are the pink silk satin, and a pink tulle petticoat underneath gives it fullness.  The belt with bow is attached to the back opening and closes in the front with a snap.  The gown is lined in nude silk/cotton and closes with snaps in the back.  This will be a one of a kind gown as I don't have enough fabric (or desire) to make another.  

Gown is available for $250 including shipping to the US.  Email me at nwickman@chartermi.net. 

 

Blue Polka Dot Silk Blend Dress for Gene

 

SOLD  Thanks!  After last week's fail, I made a muslin of this pattern before cutting the actual dress out of this gorgeous silk/cotton blend sky blue polka dot fabric from Farmhouse Fabrics.  I was thrilled that it only needed one teeny tiny adjustment to get a perfect fit.  This  was inspired by a vintage design and you can scroll to the end to see the pic.  The dress is fully lined in white silk/cotton and closes with snaps in the back.  The belt is white faux leather with a buckle that I painted to match with enamel.  The little bandeau hat is white cotton with blue silk ribbon.  

Outfit is available for $110 plus $6 shipping to US.  Email me at nwickman@chartermi.net.  

Yellow Silk Brocade Cocktail for Gene

 

Sold.  Thanks!

I'm not even sure which Gene this is as I bought her nude because I really liked her hair.  So I dressed her in fine silks for cocktails.  The sheath dress is yellow silk charmeuse with a self belt with a sparkly rhinestone buckle.  The coat is a reproduction of a vintage design of gorgeous silk brocade fabric from Frenchfashions.net and also features rhinestone buttons.  The coat does close with a hook and thread loop if desired.  The dress has a snap back closure.  All are fully lined in silk/cotton.  I made a little turquoise lambskin envelope clutch with a rhinestone embellishment just to give it a pop of color.  The outfit also fits Poppy Parker and Tulabelle dolls.  I just acquired my first Tulabelle so she was able to model for me.  The set is available for $140.00 plus $6.00 shipping in the US.  Email nwickman@chartermi.net.