Scrolling Along

I’m so excited because I’ve finally scrolled my cross stitch up on the frame! I wasn’t to the point where I exactly had to, but I couldn’t finish the flower I was working on unless I did. And it definitely makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something!



This is my first project on a scroll frame, so this is the first time I’ve ever done this! I'm so excited that I just had to share. :o)

Baby Dress Stash Busting

When I first started sewing pretty much all of my “dream projects” consisted of dresses for my dolls, so I bought three floral prints for my three dolls so I could make them matching dresses. However, I never actually got around to making the dresses, and have now been storing this fabric for… I don’t know how many years!

A use for this stashed fabric appeared when I made this baby dress a few months ago using a free pattern we found online. I really liked it, and it only took a few hours to make, so I thought it would fun fun to try again with different design elements. This time around, instead of ties I made a new bodice with buttons!




After I got started I realized I had enough fabric for two of them, so I made another the same day. The buttons are just for decoration as the dresses really close with Velcro that I sewed beneath on the underside of the straps. I had originally planned to use snaps, but Mom recommended Velcro since the dress is for newborns and she thought it might stay closed better.



I found some navy rickrack in our stash, which worked out perfectly for some details on both dresses. I had to buy the dark blue buttons, but other than that it was completely made of things we already had either in my closet and the sewing room. It's so nice to stash bust!



It’s hard to believe that a baby could actually fit into these because they are so small! When I walked downstairs after finishing the first one my mom thought it was for a doll! But it’s the version for a 9-11 lb baby, so hopefully it will fit on a newborn just fine. And a tiny newborn has to have cute clothes when she's born, right?

Lucienne’s Flying Ensemble

When Rawlings comes to take Lucienne flying she is wearing a red skirt, white blouse (from Meet Rawlings Outfit), and purple sweater. In the beginning of the scene, she’s holding her hat from the Counting Plane’s Outift.



You can see the hem of her petticoats underneath, and that she’s wearing black boots.





The skirt is a wrap-around with buttons all the way down. (What an amazing idea! Wrap-arounds can get awkward depending on the depth of the wrap, but buttons would completely solve the problem! They might inhibit walking a bit, though…) Lucienne’s buttons are in groups of three, and there are three groups of them. The skirt has a belt with a front clasp. In these pictures, you can also tell that the collar on Lucienne’s sweater is a different material from the ribbed sweater fabric.



Here you can see the buttons on the sweater, starting low because of the long collar. I believe there are at least three buttons, and the buttons may be fabric covered but you can never see them very well. There are two pockets on the sides of the sweater, with a fabric top like the collar, but I wasn’t able to get any good stills of them.



Here’s the best shot for the length of Lucienne’s skirt and sweater. You also get another peek at her petticoat’s hem.



The back of the sweater’s collar is a simple curve.



Above you can see more blouse details, and the ribbed fabric of her sweater…

Next Monday is Lucienne’s Rescue Ensemble.

50’s Fashion Pages

My mother gave me these delightful vintage clothing pages from my grandparents! The pages are fashion drawings from Paris designers, and almost all of the styles have small swatches of the fabrics attached to them.



I think I might get a couple of them framed to hang on my walls, because they are just so fun!

Lucienne’s Visit Ensemble

When Rawlings visits Lucienne’s home for the first time she is wearing her white blouse and yellow sweater from the Plane Counting Outfit, but this time she has paired it with a red a-line skirt with scallop detail above the hem. The scallop almost appears to be the hem of an overskirt, but I can't be exactly sure. Her skirt is ankle length, so you can see her little black heels and dark stockings.



Here you can see the sleeve edge details. There’s also something going vertically up the sleeve, maybe around the seam...



I love the details around the hem of her sweater, especially the drawstring with the balls on the ends! You can also see the discolored stains that I mentioned earlier pretty well. And does the skirt look orange-ish from this angle?



The skirt back is pleated, maybe with knife pleats. You can see the back of the blouse's sailor collar here and the decorative row of eyelets down the back of her sweater.





The last couple pictures are of the details in the front of the sweater. You can see the sleeves pretty well in these, too.

Look next Monday for Lucienne’s Flying Outfit!

Lucienne’s Gardening Apron

I realized last week that I almost skipped one of Lucienne’s costumes! But don’t worry, because it just happened to turn out that it fit in right here where we are in the movie! Funny how things work, isn’t it? :o)

When the planes return, Lucienne is working in her garden but stops to count how many of the planes have survived the battle. She is wearing her Plane Counting Outfit with a full coverage apron over it.



It’s not very shapely, but is very practical, made to protect her entire outfit from dirt. Lucienne’s clothes are pretty but practical. It seems the costume designer wanted to portray a realistic wardrobe, with staple pieces used multiple times. Various pieces of Lucienne’s outfits reappear in later scenes, and quite often they look slightly worn or stained as if she’s had them for a long time. The details are really fascinating, giving the feel of a country girl’s wardrobe during wartime.



I like the collar flap of the front neckline which gives the apron some detail. It looks like there might be a button holding the collar down.



Next week is Lucienne’s Visiting Ensemble!

Cross Stitch Update

Remember the Paula Vaughn cross stitch I posted about awhile back? Well, here’s a quick update on my progress so far!



I've been working more consistently on this now that I have a self-imposed deadline: New Years. I know it's the middle of summer and New Years seems far away, but this is a pretty large and intensive project! I'll give ya'll a couple updates as noticeable changes are made. Time to put in a movie and get some work done! :o)

P.S. Hope you all had a great 4th of July! Unfortunately I was sick, which is why I didn't put up a costume study... I'm feeling much better now, but as it is already Thursday, I think there just won't be a costume study this week. We'll pick it back up next Monday with Lucienne's Gardening Apron.