4:30am, or: Broken Promises

 A few weeks ago I participated in a 1914 dance performance, and we wore 1910s evening attire. It's been a while since there was a Ragtime ball to which I didn't just cheat and wear 20s, so I've never made a truly performance-acceptable Ragtime evening outfit. Well, this was the time...unfortunately, the performance fell on a week I was traveling for work and super busy, so I didn't have a lot of time to work on anything (despite my best intentions to not rush to deadlines).

As a result, I finished around 4:30am on the Saturday morning of the performance. Not my favorite way to sew! But I am really mostly happy with this project. I love the lace and brocade, and the colors are awesome. I did mess up a few things (namely the draped green piece over the closure on the front side seam) because I was sewing while exhausted, but they're fixable. All in all, this could have gone a lot worse and I will definitely keep this in the wardrobe (with some fixes)!

I also tried out a new technique (thanks to Emily!) to get iconic finger waves into my hair. While they are usually associated with flappers and the 1920s, they do show up earlier in softer forms. Here's an example:

fashion image, 1914

I attempted to copy the general style, and it worked pretty well! I think I need more practice and some tweaking to get the severe waves of the 20s, but my hair worked perfectly for 1914.

Here are a couple of quick progress pictures, and two of the finished product from the performance!

the whole crew for the performance

1950s Tulle Dresses

There is something really special about 1950s party dresses. They are fluffy and full and light and just so pretty. So when this event popped up, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out tulle for myself!

Turns out synthetic tulle is super easy to work with, and I did a lot of draping and playing around with different styles to match the originals I've seen. The features I landed on were a sweetheart neckline with ruching down the front of the bodice, a multi-colored skirt, a satin waistband, gathered tulle trim on the neckline, and a wrap made out of some of the extra tulle. Here are some of my favorites:

a prom shot from the 50s--check out those tulle overskirts and the wrap the girl at the far right is wearing

sweetheart bodice with gathering down the center front

gathered trim on the bust, satin waistband

single row trim

And as a bonus, my ponytail (instead of an up-do) was inspired by this picture from Life Magazine:

Tulle Princess

This weekend I went to another Greater Boston Vintage Society event, and I even had a new dress to wear without pulling an all-nighter. Yay!

As I mentioned in my last post, I started this dress (a 1950s tulle prom dress) at the beginning of the month, and with another a solid second Saturday afternoon I got it finished. The event was based on Back to the Future, and had the same "enchantment under the sea" theme as the prom Marty and his parents-as-teenagers attend in the movie. And just like the movie, the dance was in a cute little school gym with fish decorations and streamers. Perfect!

I have another post coming on tulle 1950s prom dresses (and some more construction dresses from this project!), but in the meantime here are a few snaps of the finished product!

not a particularly great photo, but you can see the dress! the waistband is attached and has a butt bow in the back

The glitter heels came out of my closet--I just happen to own ridiculous things...

I think this is my favorite picture from the set!

I don't have any pictures of it, unfortunately, but man did my skirt twirl! (I also changed shoes for dancing, so no twisted ankles occurred.)

And just for fun, a couple of doctored "1950s" shots:

BONUS! Here's the prom from the movie:

Climbing Out of the Ravine

Every so often I (like most crafters I know) end up in a bit of a rut. Well, this winter has turned into something of a sewing RAVINE for me. Between work and life it's been a crazy few months, and I didn't have a lot of time to sew. I did accomplish a couple of last-minute, rushed dresses for events, but I was dissatisfied with everything. I think part of it was just feeling exhausted (a pretty constant state these days), but a big part was feeling like a terrible seamstress--I never do things properly or well (and they rarely fit in a way I'm happy with) when I have to get a dress done in an evening/all-nighter. So I have a new goal: try to sew when I have time, and do it slowly. If I take the time to make something that makes me happy, it'll be so much better in the long run.

getting sewn in before a ball--this isn't me, but as none of my dresses currently have closures, it's a pretty accurate representation...

But really, I can wax poetic all I want about doing things well or not doing them at all...and the outcome is that I feel even less inspired to whip something together, and haven't sewn a stitch in months. I needed to break the dry spell, and this weekend I finally did. Yay!

Partially fate conspired to help me, and I ended up with a pretty light weekend, scheduling-wise--plus the weather was awful--but I also have a project on the list for an event in May that's half-way between sci-fi costume and historical dress, and the concept of playing with tulle was sparking some much-needed enthusiasm.

So I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon and a bit of Sunday morning working on a 1950s prom dress. It's not done, but so far it is well-constructed, planned in advance, and I'm a fairy princess ok?!

weekend progress: base cotton circle skirt (finished hem, but not attached at the waist yet), three layers of tulle gathered on and sewn down at the waist in the seam allowance, lining layer of the sweetheart bodice assembled for fitting before I cut the outer layer (same fabric as base)

The bodice needs to be fitted, the outer layer cut and assembled, and then the whole thing finished before I add the tulle to it (I'm hoping to get a bit of that started tonight), and then the waist will get attached to the skirt before I add a sash (butt bows are the best bows)...but the event isn't until the end of the month, so I've got plenty of time!

the very-much-in-progress bodice and close-up of the skirt top. You can see the three tulle layers a bit better here: two (bottom and top) are the same color as the base fabric, while the third (middle) is a lighter blue

just for color checking, the fabric for the sash tied around the waist

I'm feeling a lot better about sewing now, so hopefully I can use this momentum to get permanently out of the sewing ravine, back on flat land, and make some more fabulous things! (slowly and well, of course...)

A Weekend at Netherfield

There's something truly special about the Regency Intensive hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers in April (this was our second year of the event). Attendees spend all day in dance classes, followed by an evening dance for more practice, with more class on Sunday morning. By the time the grand ball rolls around on Sunday night, all that torture dancing has created a bond among the group, and it makes the evening feel like you're really in the Regency at a house party for the weekend.
This year was smaller than last year, and almost all of the attendees were there last year too, so it was quite the merry and energetic party! There were also some new faces, who were all lovely and a lot of fun to get to know.

waltzing at the Saturday evening dance

After all that class, it was especially fun to take a break on Sunday afternoon with some period card games, tea, and a theatrical! It also ended up being quite period in our gender segregation...there were historical swords on offer (being demonstrated, at least), so we ended up with almost all the ladies at tea and almost all the gents off other places. Totally accidental! Then everyone came back together to watch the more dramatically inclined perform scenes from The Rivals, by Richard Sheridan. Although the comedy premiered in 1775, it remained popular throughout the Regency period, and was later made into a 1930s musical and a 1950s movie.

watching a scene from The Rivals

 It was a truly wonderful (but totally exhausting!) weekend, and I'm glad I was able to be a part of it. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures, but only because I was too busy dancing! I am totally ok with that trade-off.

But here's what I did take!

Saturday Evening:

Sunday Afternoon:

French playing cards featuring Napoleon and Josephine

We played Commerce for most of the afternoon. Commerce is a regency-era card game where players take turns trying to create the best possible hand (with three of a kind being the highest) by trading cards from the three they hold with the "widow" (the set of cards face-up on the table). It's a lot of fun!

Sunday night reception and ball:

prepping refreshments

Hamilton Hall has a musicians' balcony--so cool!

obligatory artsy refreshments shot!