· Venturing into the late 1930s ·

Oh goodness.  I hate coming up with post titles.  How can such a simple thing be so difficult?  Consequently... here we are with yet another un-inspired title.  Let's just say that it's a good thing I have photos- no one would click on my posts without other inducements.  Maybe I should take a page out of BuzzFeed's book.

On the other hand, this dress was such a delightful project to work on!  Sewing garments is so much simpler than inventing post titles.

This dress is the result of my collaboration with Penny Rose Fabrics and you can read my guest post with my inspiration for this dress on their blog today!

I've liked the looks of Simplicity 8050 since it was first released, and this seemed like a great opportunity to use it!  I raised the neckline a fair bit and ended up shortening the sleeves by about 2" so they'd be a more flattering length- I liked them on the cover, but either my arm length or my fabric rendered them rather awkward looking....

Also, since this is a late 1930s dress, shoulder pads were a must!  My little sloping shoulders definitely need a bit of help to look proportional. ;-)  It's kind of funny what a difference just a bit will do to the overall look, though! (yay for not looking dumpy anymore!)

A huge thank you goes to my mom for her help in fitting this!  I truly avoid set-in sleeves because of fitting issues, but she helped me through the rough bits!  I took a hint from this video and raised the bottom of the bodice armhole by 5/8" and bottom of the sleeve armhole by 1" to add range of motion.  It worked well and I'll definitely keep using that method. :-)

"Woohoo! Let's pick an extremely acute angle to accent with ric-rac! That would be brilliant and so fun!"

Sometimes I truly do wonder if I am conspiring for my own ruin when I come up with grand ideas.  It's a good thing I love a challenge! (and it's a good thing it worked so well. that's all that really matters. ;-))

I used a lapped seam method to attach the princess seam/waistline seam since the acute angle rendered that a highly-historically-probable method of construction.  Aaaand, since there was ric-rac application involved as well, I jumped on the chance. ;-)  Sure-fire way to make sure the trim ends up exactly where I want it?  Sign me up!

Seamed stockings!!  Squee!  I know- I'm long overdue for getting these.... but now I no longer need to be ashamed of the backs of my legs in pre-1940s attire. ;-)

As an aside, there's a great article on seamed stockings on Tuppence Ha'penny's blog here.

I went through the process of writing about how I'm a bit conflicted with how off-center this method made my buttons and how I wasn't sure how to fix it.... but then apparently that's just what I needed to process the fact that I need to redo those loops to be the more "C" shaped loops.  I think.  That would end up bringing in the buttons closer to the true center.

Anyone have any advice?  I'm thinking the only issue I might run into would be gaping between the buttons- but would that really be a problem if it isn't already?

These buttons were a wonderfully timely find at an estate sale just a few days before I needed them!  We, ahem, may not *technically* need more buttons, but when there are matching vintage sets, how can you walk away?  There were 10 total in this set so I felt a little bad using only 8 of them, but I'm sure I'll find a use for the others. :-)

This purse is part of our growing hoard of vintage purses. ;-)  This would be one thing we've found in spades on our estate saling adventures!  This is a black "corde" style, frequently seen throughout the mid-20th century.

This is what I affectionately refer to as my Quirky Nurse hat.  It's just so ridiculously 30s!  I picked it up at an antique mall last spring- it was a very serendipitous trip that resulted in 2 1940s hats and this 1930s hat!  I rarely, rarely find hats earlier than the 1950s but somehow happened upon 3 hats at once!  Hooray!!

These gloves.  I just love them so much.

I used to think I had very average hands but I have more trouble finding gloves than I ever expected (apparently I have long fingers? who knew?), so my collection of gloves that are "passable" is rather smaller than I'd like.  My collection of gloves that are "comfortable" is only 1-2 pairs.  These are a nigh-perfect fit, and I couldn't be more thrilled that they just so happen to be the kid leather, amazing cutouts, gauntlet length pair. :-)

· Photos- the inimitable and amenable Kathryn! ·