Gowns of the Past - My History as a Couturier

When I was younger, I used to go to a formal affair every year. This was also around the time I was in school studying fashion design, so I would make a new dress for myself for the events. Now that I'm doing a grand purge of all my belongings I've come across all those dresses again and have decided to get rid of them. Some of them were really beautiful and I thought I'd share them with you here.

This one of the first ones I made. It's white silk taffeta and it's trimmed at the bust and back waist with artificial flowers of every color and description.

This one is a big wedding cake of a dress. The bodice is pastel plaid silk taffeta and the skirt is a huge 6 layers of different colored pink netting and tulle. It was not easy to maneuver in, but was stunning to look at!

This one is quite dramatic. It was made as an homage to Charles James, who I was quite taken with at the time. It's made of red silk taffeta and features a midnight blue tulle skirt. I love the asymmetrical bodice and taffeta drape at the waist. It's trimmed with rich red roses.

This one was made from a vintage 1960's pattern and features a bell shaped silhouette. It's made of a really lovely pink and gold lamé fabric with a floral print - lots of metal in that lame, it's very heavy.

This one, though not a gown, was my final project at FIT. It's a wedding suit with very curvy 50's styling to the waist and hips. The top of the jacket stands away from the body and is filled in with peach and pale yellow roses - giving the effect of the bride being the centerpiece of her own bridal bouquet.

I hope this little trip down my memory lane was fun. If you're interested in any of these little numbers they're all available this week on eBay. Have a look!

Faded Faux Finery - Vintage Artificial Flowers

I've always been enchanted by vintage artificial flowers. They have a subtle, faded beauty to them that has a very nostalgic quality.

These beautiful roses are made of cotton tinted pink. They have fuzzy chenille stems! These and the other that I have are called millinery flowers. They're made of paper or fabric, have flexible stems that were wire or bias tubing and were sold in dime stores for use in hat making and other crafts.

I was very lucky to run across a large stash of them years ago at a thrift shop. I snatched them up and stored them away for future use and we found the perfect opportunity for them in the Shower episode of my show.

We used them to create a charming party room for the fictional guest of honor for our shower.

The art department created a nosegays like these...

...to use for trimming the banquet table and decorating gifts.

They also trimmed up some darling decorative umbrella frames I had found at a thrift shop as well to use as a centerpiece.

These lovely little decorative objects can be found on eBay and Etsy. Search for "millinery flowers" and all sorts of options come up. Right after the war they were made in occupied Japan and some of the ones I have still bear that label. They're not outrageously expensive and are perfect for little accents in your craft projects. You can even find them new at floral supply houses, though I don't think they're quite as charming. Do you use artificial flowers in your crafting? If so, how do you use them? I'd love to see some pictures!

Sartorial Splendor for the Mile High City

Hi People! You may remember my mentioning that I'll be going to Denver to do a demonstration for the Denver Public Library - a Tassel and Pompon-a-Thon. I'm really looking forward to it! Tickets go on sale tomorrow, for those of you who are in the area. Be sure and join me!

For the trip, I want to make myself a new suit. It's important to always look your best! I found a fun vintage hat a while back on Etsy and when it came I was inspired by it to put this outfit together.

The hat has a very peculiar texture to it. Here's a close up of it:

It reminded me of silk noil. Noil is a fabric that was popular in the 70's and 80's. It's made of the ends and scraps of silk fiber left over from making other types of silk and has a rough, nubbly texture and in the natural color, it has some flecks of brown in it.

It's a very nice weight for a suit and has a casual quality while still looking smart. I decided to use noil for my suit. Now this choice is "forward thinking" for the 1960's style I have selected to make to go with the hat, noil wasn't used regularly until the mid 70's, but that's fine. I've always been a trailblazer... I had some trouble finding silk noil in the market today. It's fallen out of fashion, I'm afraid. None of my favorite stores in the garment district stocked it in the colors I wanted. So, I turned to the internet. I eventually found it at a silk importer called Thai Silks. They have a wide variety of silk fabrics, and a nice collection of noils. They also have a 1/2 yard minimum, and their prices are very competitive. If you're looking for silk, it's a good source. (This is a genuine review of the company. I paid for my fabric purchase there)

The style I decided to make is a smart, boxy 60's suit. The jacket will be cut with a kimono sleeve. I looked for this pattern for quite a while. A kimono sleeve is cut in one with the body of the jacket, and I wanted a pattern that was fitted to the body with princess seams and an underarm seam. I eventually found it on eBay. I was lucky enough to find a pattern with the trimming detail I was looking for, so I didn't have to create it myself. The jacket will be cut in the natural color and trimmed with contrast piping in one of the colors. The sleeveless blouse will be made of the other color and trimmed in the natural. The skirt will be a simple straight skirt in the same natural as the jacket.

My first step is to make a muslin of the jacket, to make sure the pattern fits me well. Then I can cut and sew the fashion fabric. I'll be sure and check in with you to show you my progress in the coming weeks, and you'll see the final effect at my appearance in Denver - in person if you're in town, if not then in the subsequent video we shoot out there!

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