News — frock

I've been away from blogging for some time now, yet the pattern planning and implementation has been going full-steam! For a little background,the year's first multi-size pattern issued was the 1934 Evening Gown with optional Sash Train for sizes 30" to 46" bust.  This was one of the first original 1930's patterns I ever bought back in fall of 2001! For Spring, I finished the 1948 Originator Peplum Dress for sizes 32" to 46" bust.  The ruffles may be finished with lace, or left plain-edged.  This pattern was generously made available by a customer in St. Louis!   I have...

Think of the ever popular 1929 Evening Gown with Handkerchief Hem as origami in dressmaking. When sewing this design together, you will 'flip' the Lower Back and Side piece after joining it with the Front piece at notch '4'.  This ensures the piece will fold and drape to create sharp points in the hem as well as bring notch '6' in the upper edge of the Lower Back and Side piece to align with that on the Girdle.  Hopefully this paper mock-up demonstrates the point (pun intended):   Here is a creative twist put on this design as sewn by a...

This week’s pattern tour covers the Katharine Hepburn Ensemble pattern. It was 10 years ago I wrote the six-page article, ‘Working with Vintage Patterns’ for Threads Magazine focusing on this scarce pattern. It’s commemorative. So here is… Howard Greer designed the dress, jacket and hat ensemble Katharine Hepburn wore in her first starring role in RKO’s ‘Christopher Strong’ (1933). The costuming a great filmic narrative; in this case, she wears the kimono jacket with cut-away shoulders at the time she is really opening up with her love for Christopher. The dress underneath is a simple A-line yet touched with sophistication...

It was tough to evaluate the entries in the EvaDress Patterns Fabulous Forties Challenge because they were, well so fab! Lil from Oz took the finalist spot for her versatile ensemble of the 1945 high-waist trousers and 1945 beach tops! While she said she did not consider herself as a ‘1940s’, Lil sure pulled it off using a lovely combination of linen, wool and flowers! Extra meaningful, the trousers and braces are in lightweight wool from her mother’s cache of fabrics. She re-sized the trousers (currently a single-size pattern) to fit and added fun contrasting pockets. The inside scoop: plain...

Excuse my absence, been inundated with network issues and a dental procedure, as late.  As I touched on last week, it's often a better garment when cut on the bias versus the straight of grain.  This week, I demonstrate this in my improvement of a Big Four pattern, namely Vogue 8191 (OOP).  I cut the top front on the bias in two pieces, versus the one piece to avoid undesired asymmetry. Many may already know one side of a bias cut garment behaves differently than its opposite side.  Here, the armholes would have draped differently with the bodice cut in...