Time Traveling to 1895

Hi Readers! I'm happy to share my latest historical costume with you.  This one takes us back to about 1895, complete with huge puffed sleeves, ribbons and rosettes.  This isn't my first foray into Late Victorian sewing, but it is the first time that I went with bold sleeves and a historically accurate flat lining and bodice boning. To start with, I used Laughing Moon #103, an 1890's waist with four bodice ...

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You Can Hack It, Costume Edition

Well, I know the title gave it away, but I have a rather different type of outfit for you today. You see apparently, when you move to Atlanta with someone who loved comics and superheros as a kid, attending an event called DragonCon is inevitable haha. And when you attend this event in the clothing I commonly wear, as we did last year, you stand out. So this year, we decided costumes were ...

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Playing with Pleather – The Freedom in Costume Sewing

It’s time for Halloween sewing! Costume sewing is a perfect way to get out of your comfort zone because you can always fall back on “well, it’s just a costume” that will only be worn for a short time and probably not closely inspected. And, for costumes, hot-glue is totally fair game if you find yourself in over your head or need to fix any boo-boos! My daughter and I got ...

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Tips for Sewing Character Inspired Outfits

Hi guys! So this year, instead of sewing for Halloween, I've sewn for Disney Dapper Day! Dapper Day is just a few days after Halloween and so I wanted to use my time and creative juices wisely. Dapper Day is NOT a costume event, instead it's where guests celebrate sophisticated style drawing inspiration from the 1950's  feel of Disneyland. I love vintage style clothing, and welcomed the opportunity to sew something ...

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The Making of a Wedding Dress pt. 1

Let me start this post with saying that I am not engaged - I just wanted to try making a very fancy dress that I might actually be able to wear someday. If I lived in the UK, I would have tackled an evening gown instead for the Dressmaker's Ball, but since I don't, I ended up with these lovelies on my cutting table. Meanwhile, the boyfriend has been helping ...

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Three Fabrics, One Pattern

One of the things I love most about sewing is you can totally change the look and feel of a piece of clothing depending on the fabric you choose. I decided to have a bit of an experiment with the True Bias Ogden Cami and some very different fabrics from Cali Fabrics. Let's take a look! 1. Silk Ogden Cami (AKA Dreamy Cami) 1 This was my first time working with real silk and ...

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Pantone Color of the Year-Greenery

I always love to see what Pantone comes up with each year as the hot and trending colors.  This year's color of the year is Greenery- a vibrant shade of green, somewhere between lime and olive.  I'm a huge fan of all things green and was excited to incorporate this color in our wardrobes.  My daughter was the lucky winner of the first piece in this gorgeous color. I used this ...

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Recreating Lady Sybil’s Harem Pants or How Not to Make a 1920s Costume

When setting out to make a costume for an event, be sure to plan your entire design around a tiny piece a fabric that you found in your grandmother’s stash. Bonus points if it is falling apart and tremendously difficult to sew with. Don’t even think about using a ready-made pattern! Why make it easy on yourself?! If you want to make harem pants, it is logical to start ...

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Brushstroke Branches

A while back, Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow was handing out challenges and I put up my hand, shouting " Me! Me! Give me a sewing challenge!". My challenge....silk. I thought sewing silk would be quite the challenge...slippery, slinky fabric trying to run away from me with every stitch.... but it seems that the real challenge was finding some nice silk to purchase... After checking out my local store... with no ...

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Sleeveless Grainline Archer Hybrid in Silk Habotai

You guys, I finally checked off one of my sewing bucket list projects.  I've been wanting a sleeveless silk popover for years! Years! I am so, so glad I finally took the plunge! I LOVE this shirt.  The style is exactly what I wanted and the fabric feels absolutely dreamy to wear.  Seriously, multiple times while wearing it, I blurted out pure admiration for it.  It was over 90F and yet, ...

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