Thursday, May 22, 2014

A Vintage Recreation for Jodie

I was contacted by Jodie waaaaaaaay back in January.  She wanted a custom dress to wear to the Cooly Rocks On festival in Coolangatta that runs from the 30th of May to the 2nd of June this year (and around abouts the same time every other year).  Of course I said I would love to make her a dress, and we started chatting from there.

Jodie wanted a dress with a full circle skirt, a sweetheart neckline, and bracelet length sleeves or something covering her arms, made from a bright stretch cotton sateen.  We went backwards and forth for a while tossing around ideas and eventually settled on recreating a vintage dress from my collection - this Kamehameha (who was a Hawaiian king don't cha know!)


The sweetheart neckline is actually a straight cut that is turned into a sweetheart neckline by the tie - meaning you can have it as daring or not-so-daring as you like!


And the full circle skirt is embellished by (only one, sadly) amazing patch pocket that is reminiscent of the bust.


I decided to make Jodie a bolero to wear with her dress.  This would give her the sleeves she wants, but also make the dress more versatile, as she can wear it without the bolero, or with a different jacket or cardigan!


So I set about pattern making and cutting out all the fabric required - the cotton sateen and a contrasting cotton, and a whole bunch of bias strips.  This took me much longer than I thought it would!

I got caught up and forgot to take photos of the fabric before I started... oops!

Then I started construction - otherwise known as the fun bit!  The bodice went together very easily, even with all the fiddly details like the piping, pleated straps, and bodice tie.

Isn't the fabric she chose fabulous!  More of a mustard in person, but so bright!

The skirt and the fabulous pockets also went together really easily.  Actually the pockets were fun!  I love copying things - it really appeals to the problem solving side of me!

oops - thats a bit blurry... sorry!

Then before I knew it the dress was all done!


So it was on to the bolero.

I decided to make it double sided so that Jodie could decide to wear it pattern side out or plain side out.  But not just that, I decided to have a stripe running around the bottom of the bolero in the opposite fabric.

I love to make my life more interesting by adding LOTS of detail!

The bolero isn't finished yet, but here is the patterned side.


And here is the plain side.


Which way around do you think she should wear it???

This weekend I will be putting the finishing touches on the bolero, as well as starting on my next suit - a lovely bright olive green that I am adding an embellished vintage fur collar to.


Before I go I just want to apologise for this being my only blog post in a while.  I've been struck down by a cold / flu thing and its taken me a week and a half to get over it.  It seems that when I get these things now, I get much sicker than I did before I became a coeliac...

Anyway!

Have you done any  vintage recreations?  If you could recreate a vintage dress, which one would you choose?

Beccie
xxx

18 comments:

  1. It's not my usual decade of style, but recently I very nearly had a change to recreate YSL's le smoking look from 1966, but sewing a tuxedo by the event date was a bit too much for my schedule. (It's been postponed until things start to cool a bit here, but will be done at some point this year!) Researching le smoking was fun, since it isn't a dress, and I got to ogle lots of Bianca Jagger and Marlene Dietrich too!

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  2. This is just uh-mazing! And I love the pockets! A recent reissue Vintage Vogue pattern had similar ones, I think I'm going to use them for one of my summer dresses :)

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    1. I think they are fabulous and I'm going to be putting them on a skirt for myself in the near future!

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  3. Arrgh, I LURVE this! The fabric is gorgeous. And I love the bolero as a plain color the best. Please start making to sell, I want one!

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    1. This one has been made custom for Jodie, who contacted me - she isn't an existing friend of mine (like you are). I PM you on facebook :)

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  4. I'm not so keen on pockets that are that wide, makes me wider around the hips than I am anyway, but it looks so beautiful, each and every detail of this dress! I particularly like the reversible bolero. And how you managed to match the print of the fabric, so the withe long stripe (flower stem?) runs down the bodice and the whole skirt - amazing! This is certainly a fabulous dress and an excellent recreation.
    Unfortunately, I have no true vintage dresses to copy, I newer find the lovely ones that are still affordable. Fur such a Hawaiian dress I would probably do anything...!

    Good to see you back and well again, take care. Doris

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    1. Hi Doris!

      I think they look enormous because they are lined in a darker fabric - the same contrasting fabric I have used all over the dress. If they were lined in white they would pretty much disappear I think.

      Oh, and the matching of the tree/flower stem/thingy at the front was a TOTAL FLUKE!!! Gotta love when things just happen like that!

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  5. this dress is really great...if she has a wild night just wear the pattern-side of the bolera and when she's a bit more calm, wear the blue side..hahaha, both are really good!! Well done...love the pattern...i want it , i want it...:-)
    grtl irene

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    1. Thats what I like about making the bolero reversible - it is so much more versatile!

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  6. Wow, that is gorgeous, and I love hear about the events that are happening in your part of the world. Coolengatta sounds like the groovy place on the moon!
    I love vintage re-creations, and just finished a skirt from a 50s pattern by Charles James, then wore it to the Charles James exhibit in New York. At this age (late 50s) I've decided that the only way to time-travel is to sew vintage!

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    1. Oh! I would LOVE to go to that exhibition!!! And I'm coming to New York in August/September... I wonder if it will still be on...

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  7. wow so cute! I love the fabric. its so bright and yellow and the print is so cute. the embellishments an details really make it. love the pockets too, they give it so much character.

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    1. Thanks Lizzard - I am totally in love with those pockets! And the colour (while not my colour at all) is so bright and lovely! It will look gorgeous in the sunshine at Cooly!

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  8. Amazing!! I want to buy one!

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    1. Contact me on my facebook page Shermy - I'd be happy to make you one :)

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