Retro Ice Cream Fun!

Yesterday was the DFW Costumers' Guild 20th c. Vintage Ice Cream Social.  I'm starting to sound like a broken record after every event, but once again, I had a blast!!!  We had a really great group of people come out for some sweets, shopping, and socializing, and everybody looked fabulous in their retro outfits.  You can find all of my photos from the afternoon on flickr.

For my costume, I decided to make my first foray into 1930's fashions.  I used one of my recent lucky pattern finds - a mid-30's Anne Adams day dress.  I used some vintage rayon that I had in my stash for the dress, and I bought some silk noil for the contrasting sections.  The button and buckle are vintage mother-of-pearl.  This dress was a dream to put together, and I didn't even have to do any alterations other than lengthening the bodice by an inch.

And I am happy to report that my second version of the hat tuned out much better than my first.  It is made out of heavy linen and I used the brim pattern from the first hat and the crown pattern from the second hat in these directions.  I interlined the brim with heavy interfacing, and I wet the whole hat and let it dry while stretched over a hat block to make it nice and smooth.  I'm so glad I stuck with it - I think the hat is my favorite part of this outfit!

So after my first time wearing 1930's fashions, I must say that I'm hooked! It was such a fun dress to wear, and I felt both glamorous and relaxed at the same time. I'll definitely be making more outfits from this era in the future!

reality bites

The costume guild has a 20th c. retro ice cream social coming up next weekend, and I decided to make a mid-30's outfit to wear to it.  The dress is coming along nicely, but finding a suitable hat has been a challenge.  I have a number late 30's hats already, but hat styles change drastically at this time, so nothing I have is really "right" for a dress from earlier in the decade.  Plus, I'm picky, and I really want something white, which makes the hunt even harder.

So brilliant me - I decide to make a hat!  I found this fun pattern on one of my favorite sewing blogs, Sewing Vintage.  It only took 2 hours to make, but sadly... reality is not nearly as charming as the picture.  *sigh*

Of course, this happens a lot when working from vintage patterns.  The reality of what the pattern looks like when made up is never as perfect as the idealized illustration.  I could try to shorten the crown so it isn't so puffy, but I doubt the little slit parts will ever stay neatly closed like you see in the original picture.  Maybe I just made the cuts come up too high or made the selvage too big thanks to the vague instructions.  If anything, I'll probably switch out the slit crown for the solid one in the second view from this pattern... or maybe I'll ditch it and try something else entirely.

It was still fun to try though, and I LOVE experimenting with hats, so it was a fun little project even if it wasn't a complete success.