a dress for my niece’s birthday

a few moths ago I was on etsy looking at vintage patterns, just browsing not really intending on buying anything, when I came across this pattern, DuBarry 2132B. my niece was over so I showed it to her and she freaked out. it was so cute! I asked her if she wanted me to make it for her birthday. she excitedly told me yes, and so I ordered the pattern. then came the finding of the perfect fabric.

I first bought a solid color fabric in a teal color a bit lighter then the green dress on the pattern, but that fabric didn’t work out. when I pre-washed it I didn’t like the way it reacted, to the washing and drying . the fabric wrinkled badly and was really staticy. meaning it would need to be ironed and rolled every time it was washed something I knew would not happen. so I ditched that fabric idea (I’m going to use it in something else.) and decided to try to find something else.
at the fabric store I searched for the perfect fabric but couldn’t decide what to get I had pretty much decided, when I put it back afraid it would be something she didn’t like. my niece is getting older which means she’s not quite as easy to shop for, bubblegum pink just doesn’t do it anymore. so I asked her mom if they could meet me at the fabric store. the best thing is when they got there after spending probably an hour looking at all the fabric she chose the one I chosen. I do know my niece! yea!

now to the cutting and sewing.
I got an extra half yard of fabric then what it said. I tend to buy a little extra fabric so I don’t have to worry about it. turns out that was a good idea, I needed the extra fabric for the back bow. the pattern assumed that the fabric would be same right side and wrong side, which modern fabric is usually not that way. I wonder if the fabric from the thirties was generally the same on either side. I ended up doubling the fabric on the bow so it would be the same colors on both sides for a nicer finish when tied.

the pattern called for purchased frilling, but, yeah in order for the ruffles to match I made my own.
the ruffles were not bad at all to make. I have a ruffle foot and can I just say I love it! I had to make four yards of ruffle which means I needed eight yards of straight fabric to be ruffled. and anyone who has had to make that much ruffle knows it can be a pain.
I also put the ruffles on different then they said too. they wanted me to sew them on facing up, then press it down to cover the raw edges. I thought doing it that way would probably cause the ruffles to stick back up every time the dress was worn, and again the pressing thing, so I opted to sew them the way I wanted them to face then added the ribbon detail to cover the raw edges,plus it gives that extra little pop of detail.

the main part of the dress I put together just the way they told me to.





the sleeves I did slightly different only because its easier to serge on the binding at the bottom of the sleeve rather then the folding the bias over the raw edges, I always mess that up. I also added the ribbon to the sleeves for a pop.

the bows I did completely different. they had me make strips then they wanted me to actually tie them! I’m not the best at tying, so after some trial and error, that had to do with math, I figured out how much shorter the strips needed to be to make a different kind of bow. its basically sewing at the center, pressing then making a little tab to wrap around it. pretty easy but takes a while simply because of the small size of them.


the fabric we chose was wonderful to sew with, there is something to be said about buying the higher quality fabrics they really do sew nicer. as I was sewing the dress I decided I was totally jealous of my niece and when I was finished and looked at the dress I was still jealous. I love the way it turned out. I loved the puffed sleeves and the big bow in the back, I love the shape of the dress and I want one too. too bad I’m not good enough to rework a child’s pattern to fit me.

and the best part is my niece loved it! she kept twirling and giggling once she put it on. she told me she loved it even more then she thought it would, it just turned out so good.!
there is nothing better then when people love what you spent so much time making them.



* This blog is not to be used for training AI*

a velvet short sleeved hoodie.

this is my newest creation. someone at sometime posted a hoodie from the 1930’s on their blog, and I loved it so of course I saved the pics and decided one day I will have a hoddie like that!
my obsession with hoodies dates back to being a small child. I had this striped hoddie that I absolutely adored. it was the hood I loved about it, always the hood. and as a child I would wear the hoodie backwards so I could see the hood I held such an adoration for. I was three, and my mom let me wear it that way. she tried to tell me the proper way to wear it, but I would have nothing to do with that so she relented and I wore it like that till I out grew it.

now that I am grown up, I no longer wear my hoddies backwards. I enjoy them properly worn with the hood in the back. actually I’m not really sure why I like hoddies so much as I very rarely put the hood up. I guess I just like the way a hood looks hanging down.

now on to the construction

here is the hoddie from 1939 that I fell in love with. one night I was looking at my stash and I thought oh my god I totally have velvet, and that silky matryoshka doll fabric would look so cute as the collar.
I dug out patterns choosing three of them to get me started. obviously I wasn’t going to have anything quite like the original. I have looked around online for collared hoddies both to buy and patterns to make. but they seem to be a fashion from the 1930’s that has gotten lost over the years.

I chose McCalls 6614 obviously for the hood. which is the only piece I used from the pattern. McCalls 5093 for the front top bust. and newlook 6675 for the sleeves and the back, which I extended . in length by I think 10”.
the bottom front I drafted on my own. and then there was the making of the collar. I had no idea how to do this. somehow I had to attach the hood to a collar but only on the lining. I realized from the pics of my inspiration that velvet part of the hood is separate from the collar, but the lining piece it was not.
getting this right was not easy. and took two tries. I thought I had it the first time. it looked like it would work but then when I had the whole thing put together I realized I was shy by like 2” in width, so the collar didn’t fold right. and that is when I just kind of threw the whole thing in the corner and left it there for days.

here's the one I had to tear apart, see how the lining is too short and the wrong side of the green fabric is showing.
after a week or so though I went ahead and tore the lining out. once I did that I made a new pattern piece this one extended by four inches just to make sure. I had thought about just piecing the missing 2” but then there would have been a weird seam that I just couldn’t wrap my brain around. I had plenty of fabric so I went ahead and cut an entirely new lining part of the hood. it then went fairly quickly. but it was turning out a bit shorter then I wanted so I added the cuff at the bottom which I drafted myself, and yea! it was finally done.



* This blog is not to be used for training AI*