Concentration Musings

     I've been having so much fun just thinking up the other dresses for my Concentration! Haven't decided them all yet, but here are some brainstorming bits:

This sorta is a good visual...I had this dream of a violet velvet 1930s dress with some fun sleeves.

 

 

I ordered some vintage 20s shoes on eBay that look a bit like these with the side details, except in ivory leather and a bit more elegantly shaped (maybe to wear with my Pretty Woods dress!)

 

And then I got really inspired by these gloves Amanda Seyfried wears in In Time.

They loose the hand part of them when she's on the run, to still cover her "timer".

I think they're leather or some kind of fabric, but I plan to make some ivory silk ones to go with my Pretty Woods. I love the way they bunch up at the wrists!

Concentration Dress #2: 1920s Pretty Woods

     The next dress on my list is inspired by a 1923 Robe de Style by Jean Lanvin titled "Pretty Woods". Lanvin designed some really lovely Robes de Style and I wanted to try my hand at making one. It's to be my senior prom dress and I'm very excited about it! Here's the dress:

I saw it in the Smithsonian Fashion: The Difinitive History of Costume and Style.
Mum got it for me for Christmas and I've fallen in love.
I turned the page to it, and was like, "Mum, I found my prom dress."

          There will be some changes. I'm not doing those tabs in the front and I'm thinking maybe cherry blossoms instead of, I think, peonies..? Might keep those, though. The silk might be a brighter teal, too. And perhaps a low V neck in back....all just thoughts. We'll see.

Concentration Dress #1: 1830s Periwinkle

     My first dress I am tackling for my AP Art Studio concentration (six pieces total!) is an early 1830s day dress. I'm using a lovely periwinkle medium-weight cotton and a white cotton for the lining. Here are some early inspiration photos:

via Behind the Tapestry blog

via Annie Leibovitz for Vogue

via pinterest

     And an early concept sketch on mine:

     As for a pattern, since I'm not the most skilled at draping yet, I'm using Truly Victorian's Early 1830s dress pattern with Gigot sleeves for daytime wear. The bodice is heavily altered, 1) because I didn't want a gathered bertha/neckline thing and 2) because I am petite, which entails a lot of alterations in fitting and 3) I wanted a laced back instead of a hook and eye closure.
     I traced my corsetted size from the bodice pattern on large tracing paper, sewed the mock-up, and pinned on the back and spent a while adjusting where the darts would be and fixing the shoulders and waist height to my shrimpy proportions. Mum was great help with pinning me into it. Once we had the right alterations, I ripped all the seams out and used the flat mock-up pieces as my new pattern to cut my fashion fabric and lining from. I sewed the fashion fabric pieces together, but got delayed sewing the lining, because I lost one of the pieces in my monstrously messy bedroom. I had plenty lining left, so I re-cut it later.
     Then, I set to stitching boning channels to the seam allowances inside the bodice. Still finishing that up:

Channels will be on every seam.

Close-up.

     That's as far as I've got on the bodice, but I picked out a lovely buckle and olive-grey velvet ribbon for the belt. Belts were a thing back then, right? I like it, anyhow:

The thread is some upholstery thread I'll be using for the cartridge pleats on the skirt.

And some new embroidery things. I'm trying my luck at hankerchief embroidery...

     That's all I got for now. Will post about the sleeves and skirt later. Till then...