Retrophile

If I had one piece of advice to aspiring costume makers, it would be BUY PATTERNS!!  Doesn't matter if you think you will use it anytime soon or not.  If you like it and can afford it buy it.  My compulsion to buy patterns is really working in my favor right now.  I am a self taught seamstress and have had no formal sewing, draping or pattern making lessons.  This being the case I depend on my patterns. This has allowed me to piece things together, alter existing patterns and just some just for their general shape. This is what I have been doing the last couple of days.  I found my perfect Dicken's fair inspiration dress. http://www.antique-frock.com/earlyvictorian/products/dress102.html I am in love this dress.  It is an acutal 1860 gown and being such, there is no specific pattern for this dress.  So, this is where my pattern collection comes in to play.  I am using 2 different patterns to piece together and create this dress. ...

I was paroosing the net this morning and stumbled upon this little webpage with some goodies about vintage/ historical hairstyles. A couple points of interests are Victorian Hair and The Bob They just give you a brief history and outlook of the time period when it comes to hair.  I found it quite entertaining.  Take a gander at it. The Main page is http://www.hairarchives.com/private/mainnew.htm Enjoy!

So, the other day I went pattern shopping! You have to love Hancock's dollar pattern sales. I actually found some non-costume patterns this time. For one I was actually looking for some work clothes patterns and two I pretty much have all of the costume patterns that are worth having right now (from butterick, simplicity and mccall's). Yes I might have an addiction. But my reasoning is, patterns go out of print and you will never know when you will need it. So, its nice to have it on hand already. This week simplicity patterns were on sale. I found a few good ones that I am gonna use for work clothes. Simplicity 3684 I really like the front detailing on this shirt. I don't know about the puffy lower sleeves. We will see how it turns out. Simplicity 2338 Now, you are gonna laugh at why I got this pattern. If you have every seen Julie and Julia, this dress (view B) looks just like the dress that Julia and her sister wear to a party. I absolutely l...

Hello All, I couldn't wait till a decent hour to post my latest almost finished object (FO). Tonight my time has been consumed by my 1947 dress I started last week. I had cut out the pieces and but had been procrastinating on actually starting the sewing. I am glad I did because it only took me one night to sew! I have to say this was one of the easier dresses I have made in a while and it fits PERFECTLY. Below are some pictures of it on my dress form. I still need to hem the bottom, but you can see what it looks like still. The pattern I used was Butterick's Retro 1947 dress pattern B5209 It is a great pattern. It is wonderful for both those of us with more chest than necessary, and those who wish they had a bit more. The whole pattern consists of about 10 or 11 pieces total! The construction is pretty self explanatory. Just pay attention to the order you sew them together. I have a habit of getting ahead of myself and messing up steps. On this dre...

So I am gonna start a weekly post called Nix Pix. It will be a collection of links, videos, blogs whatever I find in my while browsing the net that have to do with costuming, retro/ vintage fashion or things that relate. Here is this weeks list. Bobby pin blog : ever wonder how to get those vintage hair styles, well this chick breaks it down for you Casey's Musing : an inspiration, she shows her own retro style both with vintage pieces and vintage inspired pieces, as well as weekly inspiration! so that is it for now, sorry that the list is so short. I will have more for you next week. If you have any suggestions or great links send them my way!

Recently I have a lot of time on my hands. Work is out till Jan. 5th and I have found myself watching reruns of project runway and Tim Gunn's Guide to style. Both of these have inspired me to revamp my whole wardrobe. However rather than going out and buying a million things and spending way to much, I wanna make a new wardrobe. To start off, according to Tim Gunn and his other fashionista flunkies, there some crucial pieces that every wardrobe needs to have to be complete. You know, I am inclined to agree. These pieces include: 1. Classic Dress pant 2. A good pair of jeans 3. A basic black dress 4. A well fitting white button down 5. Trench Coat 6. Basic Skirt (A line or pencil depending on your shape) 7. Blazer 8. Day Dress 9. Belt 10.Track Suit Alternative 11.Cashmere Sweater I myself have a few of these pieces, and got a nice black dress for Christmas. However, with my new dress form I am setting the challenge for myself to make what missing pieces I can a...