On November 11th, I lost my beautiful and beloved dog, Orion, to an aggressive cancer that he was diagnosed with last May. One and half weeks later, my year and half old Lab, had major surgery due to a piece of rubber toy stuck in his small intestine. Good grief. And, I'd just cleared the counters of vet medicines, too. But, through it all, I've continued to sew and work in my studio. Just with lapses of time and concentration.
Still, I have to tell you that I don't stay down long. There's so much to enjoy and look forward to. Like the holidays.
So when Peggy Sue's Halloween costume had been gently folded into a cute box by FenderskirtsVintage on Etsy (do check them out!), I began her winter holiday fashions. I'd been wanting to do a swing dress for her, which was so 1950's.
I began looking up party dresses on Pinterest for girls in the 50's and became a bit dismayed. Take for example, this advertisement for "Christmas is Party Time". Do you see anything that remotely whispers Christmas to you? No. Me neither. And, because I like to create authentically, I was stumped. These didn't look much different from outfits I'd already created. So I tapped my history source, Jean Nordquist, who happened to be a teen during this time. She reminded me that most people couldn't afford a party dress for just one special occasion, so dresses were purchased or made that would suit any occasion. The idea of the Little Black Dress. Still, I fussed and scratched my head because Christmas to me is red-green-white, Santa Claus, and reindeer, and, well, Christmas tree colors.
I'm not even sure I had to add width at the sides, but I did use them as a proper sloper and cropped the tops, and cut off much of the length. Some of these dresses were made as Peggy Sue's, as an empire dress. You have the high waisted skirt, and you attach an empire bodice to it.
The fabric was perfect for this and appears both fancy and wonderfully retro.
I did have to make the bolero from scratch though. The bolero was designed without shoulder seams and I guess my longest effort was making sure there was enough sleeve on the pattern to work. At the bottom of this posting are three images that I worked from for the outfits in this set. I considered making Peggy Sue a pair of white gloves, but I simply was not feeling it. Her fingers are spread apart and she'd either end up with funny looking mittens, or I'd be in for the long haul, hand stitching fingered gloves from jersey that would probably fall apart the minute I put a needle in it.
I did hand sew the binding however, so I did put some concerted effort into this happy dress. Four little pink MOP buttons encased in brass are sewn down the front of the bolero, and Peggy Sue can remove it when she hits the dance floor.
I included a hair band with a bow attached in the fabric of the bolero. This dress will go from the diner, to shopping, to a Christmas tree trimming party.
I just happened to be looking on Ebay one night for sweaters for Little Darlings, when I came upon a Russian knitter that lives in California. I asked her if she ever took commission work, and when she told me she did, I asked her to make two sweaters for me. One in light pink and one in white. I sent her images of the sweaters I liked, and she did her best to make a couple of them up. She did put out the effort to embroider a "P" on the pink one for me, but it was too large. So I carefully pulled out the threads and did a smaller one myself. Below is the example I sent to her, and used myself.
One of Alice Leverette's patterns was for a circle skirt, and another for a beret. I envisioned a very Frenchy looking outfit that Peggy Sue could walk her poodle in, go to the library in, or simply be fashionable in for any after school activities.
I chose this burgundy and purple plaid and hoped it would work. I did not add a waistband to it. The skirts I looked up, including ones for Cissy, all had elastic bands for waists, and I stay away from elastic at all costs, because it doesn't stand the test of time. So I lined the skirt in silk. I remember I had a heck of a time figuring out how to do this and turn it inside out as I do with most things I fully line. I finally decided to simply hand hem at the waistline with a ladder stitch. However you get there...if you achieve the results you want, go for it.
Obviously the top, the sweater, was already made and my effort in this was the monogram and making the button holes smaller for the smaller buttons I exchanged out. Why people do not consider "scale" will nag at me forever.
And, the beret. I have to laugh because Alice's pattern made a cookie on top of Peggy Sue's head. So I had to enlarge that to make it work. I felt a little guilty at not putting out more effort for this one, but I did put enough into it. I like it. Classic!
This third little dress was all about aprons. Girls wore aprons and pinafores to keep their skirts tidy, but they were also a fashion statement. You will always see a properly dressed woman in the kitchen (her place in the 1950's), in a pretty white apron. It is never soiled either. You'll have to click on the photo to enlarge it to see the embroidery in the apron, but the white on white is of little houses with the words "Merry Christmas" embroidered in. I found these lovely trims at Farmhouse Fabrics and knew they'd make up darling aprons.
The "new" item in this dress, is the sweetheart neckline. It was very difficult to make it look "sweetheart" and I think I may have made the look disappear with the red bow beneath the point, but it was just too plain without embellishment.
One of the reasons this and next dress are so simple in design, is that the aprons are the focus. They are the "bodice" that often takes all the attention.
This retro fabric print by Riley Blake is called A Festive Collection - Wish. I purchased many examples like this back in September, and looking on Etsy today, all the prints are for Valentine's Day! I have to remember that people will buy to start something now, to have by the next event.
This retro fabric print by Riley Blake is called A Festive Collection - Wish. I purchased many examples like this back in September, and looking on Etsy today, all the prints are for Valentine's Day! I have to remember that people will buy to start something now, to have by the next event.
There would be no belt or pockets on this dress considering the apron, so I added the red bow mentioned earlier, then tiny red bows on the cuffs of the sleeves. She is wearing the red bow clip in her hair that I'd made earlier for one of the fall dresses.
Peggy Sue spent the afternoon wrapping Christmas gifts, and this one is in retro print that matches her dress very nicely. Peggy Sue will write Christmas cards in this outfit and help mother hang the festive swags, and write invitations to the annual Christmas party. The last outfit is a true little Christmas confection. This one I'm calling Baking Cookies. Earlier when I'd been pulling images of dresses off Pinterest for ideas, I ran across this green dress with rick rack and a red hat that reminded me of Gigi. I have to tell you though, that I really don't like rick rack. Its not that I don't think its fun on dresses, but its not my favorite trim.
However, I did like the dress for a longer sleeved winter dress. The image is below for reference. I chose a forest green with little black x's on it for the print. This doesn't mean one thing or another, it was simply a retro print with the right color I had in mind. I added a pointed collar and white cuffs as shown in the illustration of the original "Gigi" pattern below. I also struggled with the simplicity of the dress, but understood that the pinafore would be the focal point and the dress was just the landscape of the painting.
Along with the white embroidered lace trim I used for the apron, I found this Christmas tree lace at Farmhouse Fabrics. And, it had a corresponding insertion lace to go with it. This would be a fancy pinafore that Peggy Sue could dress up any frock with for the holidays.
It took me five days to figure this out the design of this pinafore and make it. This was when Brighton wasn't eating and finally went in for emergency surgery. I just shake my head. Now its not like I haven't made pinafores before, but my mind was on other things. What I did finally figure out, as a good way to do pinafores like this in the future, is to sew a finished belt (that is also the waistband), the upper bib, and skirt together. People probably do this all the time, but it was the first tine I tried it and the result was refreshing and tidy.
Peggy Sue holds a copy of a Family Circle from the 1950's that she found cookie recipes in.
I may be making one more party dress for Peggy Sue, as I bought her a Christmas tree that needs to be trimmed with mini ornaments I have on order. These fashions are for pre-Christmas activities, and out of necessity, the dresses can be worn on other occasions. After the holidays, I want to make her some real winter things, like a coat, and snow play outfit. I think you'll enjoy the cover of a 1950's issue of Story Parade. I'd never heard of this magazine before, but loved the cover and the magazine is full of stories only, for children.
Enjoy the last days of November. The Christmas season is upon us and I have a tree to trim in the living room today. And, and very stitched up dog to cuddle.
Love and good cheer,
Melissa
