Easy Alteration for a Vintage Dress

I found this fabulous vintage dress at the thrift store for $12!

 

 

The waist and length were perfect.  The bodice, well, not so much.

 

 

I think Jane Mansfield may have worn this!

 

(Please disregard the mess in the background ~ this is our basement.  What a mess!)

 

A quick alteration was in order...

 

First, I slipped it on, inside-out, and pinned it along each side, from the arm holes, down to the waist.  Then I took it off and with a water-soluble pen, marked a line to sew:

 

 

I'm not sure what the fabric is (it feels like cotton but must be some sort of blend), but since it doesn't really fray, with pinking shears I snipped along the edges where I sewed the new seams:

 

 

I love the tag!  Pat Perkins was a dress manufacturer during the 1950's and 1960's.

 

 

Daughterlypoo snapped these pictures of me arriving at the train station in NYC to visit her:

 

 

 I'm definitely treasuring this dress!

For Fancy Occassions

Getting ready for my son's wedding last month I realized I had nothing appropriate to wear!  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...doesn't everyone say this?!  But really, I didn't!  I do have several gorgeous warm-weather day dresses but nothing for cold weather.  I ended up making do with a sleevless wool dress that I had worn several years earlier to a corporate Christmas party.  After the wedding I resolved to find something for my next fancy, cold-weather occassion.

Score!  I came across a wonderful Etsy shop, Alice and Clara.  Jennie, the shop owner, made me this fabu dress from a 1954 Simplicity pattern - isn't it gorgeous?!

It's a light weight, all-weather, dove grey colored wool - perfect for Florida winters.

Jennie has always loved sewing and was an artist/animator early in her career.  As a stay at home mom of five girls (2 sets of twins!), she perfected her sewing and began concentratng on historic and kid costumes and wearable art.  As her children grew, Jennie got a job as costumer in a theater that had a museum-quality costume collection that gave her the opportunity to study, alter, remake, repair and recreate every decade of clothes, all the way back to the mid 1800's.

Now that her kids are all grown, Jennie's open for business on Etsy and says, "I gives me fun projects to sew in addition to my first career as a book illustrator."

Jennie altered the pattern to suit my specific requests and updated me with pictures of her progress.  She changed the skirt so that it is totally gathered:

And added three-quarter length sleeves (original pattern had capped sleeves):

I nagged her until she relented and sent me a picture of herself:)

(Just as pretty as she is talented!)

Thank you Jennie, I absolutely love my new retro dress!

Several of you have commented about wanting a retro dress in a modern size; well, AliceAndClara is the answer!  Contact Jennie and she'll accommodate your requests, keep you updated on specifics and sew you YOUR ultimate, dream retro dress!

Please leave a comment for a chance to win this month's giveaway:

My New "Vintage" Dress

Looky looky at my new dress!

This is my "Alice" dress from Kim at Time Machine Vintage.  It's a kitschy vintage reproduction wraparound dress from an original 1950's pattern.

I am in love with this dress because it's just so darling (dotted swiss fabric), very comfortable and especially because of the custom hand applique Kim did on the pocket:

How cute is this?!  My retro lady - yay!  Cannot wait to wear this dress to my upcoming fairs!

A little about Kim...

Kim's been providing custuming and creative design for local Vermont theaters for years while selling some of her vintage clothing collection on eBay.  Over time, she began hearing from women looking for vintage cotton day dresses in modern sizes (very difficult to find).  She seized the opportunity to use her skills, creativity, vintage patterns and fabric collection to launch Time Machine Vintage.  Great decision, Kim!  In just a few short weeks selling on Etsy, she's already sold 27 dresses - woo hoo!

I've got my eye on this one now:

(You choose the fabric and Kim fashions it from original vintage patterns)

(This is Kim, my favorite retro creationista!)

In addition to her fabu dresses, Kim's beginning to expand her product line to include vintage separates - skirts, blouses, slacks and even bathing suits (you've read about my obsession with vintage bathing suits!).

Please check out Kim's shop at Time Machine Vintage it's the place to find the perfect retro ensemble!

September blog giveaway: it's easy to enter for a chance to win this great book...

...Just leave a comment on any or all of my September blog posts and you're automatically entered to win.  I will draw the winner's name on September 30th.