Saturday, December 5, 2009

We're Sewing a 50's Dress!!



Well my Mumma and I are making this...


Well Mum is teaching me how to do this while I frustrate the bjeebers out of her being so...meticulous shall we say.

That's the pretty fabric we're using instead of calico, because it was around the same price and I'm too impatient to make a "mock-up". That's Mum, she wouldn't let me put a photo of her because she's wearing a Charlie Brown t-shirt...so I've just told you haha! Here she is showing me how to put the pattern so that the fabric runs straight.There is so much fabric in a circle skirt, you can see they went nuts with fabric in the 50's after rations in the 40's.
During the war EVERYTHING was rationed, even fabric, as it was used in the military, so the skirts were much less "full" to accommodate it. You even mended your underpants and made new ones from all sorts of things.

"Why Betty what a fabulous dress you wearing", "Why thank you, it's the tablecloth we ate dinner on last week, the napkins have made the children underpants for the rest of the year, once these run there course I'll be plaiting them up for a mat in the bathroom":) Such a great concept I think!

There are many fantastic magazine articles from that era about mending.
My favourite showed you how to mend the worn front of a man's business shirt by cutting a replacement piece from the long bit at the back...now get this, you then mend the hole with any old fabric(as you can't see it once tucked in) then sew the matching fabric to replace the front and away you go...oh my I'd be muttering obscenities under my breath if I heard "Oh honey, I've worn out the front of my shirt again". Dead! DEAD!
The other I liked was how to make boys pyjamas, cut from the pants or top of "Father's pyjamas".
 
This is me pinning the pattern, excuse the face...I have pins in my mouth!


This is Mum's old cardboard cutty-outty thing(and our mess), you can't find these any more in shops, if you find one in your travels, give me the heads up, I REALLY want one! So yes we only got to the cutting stage, then had some wine and it was all over! We'll get back to it in the next couple of weeks!

I've got a pile of patterns I've been buying up...

This one from 1959, has all the pattern from the cover inside, all unmarked...remember people knew what they were doing back then :) Even this cover is oh so cute, the fabrics, the cute "Little Golden Book" looking boys and a carousel horse!


This one is from 1957, I bought this one because I'd been eyeing off a dress at the Retro Market very similar to this yellow dress but in the most amazing blue brocade...Mr in Wonderland said "That looks like it's going to fall to bits, can't you just make one like it", I huffed and mumbled something about it being beautiful vintage and irreplaceable...but then thought yeah he did have a good point. The seams were about to go and it wasn't really my size...well if breathing was going to be an option, and it was terribly expensive for the condition it was in. Aaahh but the brocade...there was no arguement, it was beautiful pale and deep blue, never to be found again...but I let it go and sulked all the way home. That was until I found this pattern on ebay...I called out to Mr in Wonderland "Babe, I just bought the pattern to that dress at the market"...he calls back "oh good on you, well done!"...ah he's a good egg! :)

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