Taking a Break

As much as I hate to do it, I'm going to be taking a break from blogging for the summer. I likely won't be posting much on my Instagram either during this time.

But why, you might ask? Well, between my part time job and my internship (which starts tonight - yay!) I'll be working full time, and on top of that I have some health issues I'm dealing with. Lately I've also been feeling the need to get off the internet (social media in particular) and focus on my sewing skills on a more technical level without the distraction of everything on internet-land.

I really enjoy blogging, but it's just another thing I have to keep up with and as I mentioned above, I'm gonna be pretty busy. That's not to say I won't be posting at all during this time. If I have the time and feel like it I'll still post here and there, but it probably won't be very regular.

I'm planning on returning to my regular blogging in September, which will be after my crazy summer is over and I'll actually have the time to dedicate to blogging again.

Until then, have a great summer everyone!

1930's Aviatrix | Costume Photo's

Paine Field Aviation Day

May 20th, 2017

Earlier this year I posted some of my inspiration of women's aviation wear from the early 20th century. Since then I've put together a 1930's Aviatrix ensemble consisting of a pair of jodhpurs, leather flight helmet, and knee high lace up boots, which I premiered at Paine Field Aviation Day in May. This outfit was really popular and it was so comfortable. 

Usually this event has terrible weather. It's always rainy, windy and freezing, so I was excited to finally have an outfit I could wear that would be warm and still fit the era. However, this was the first time I think in the history of this event that it was actually warm. Go figure. But this outfit was still surprisingly comfortable, even in the warm weather.

The event itself was fun, as usual, and it was a great day of volunteering and hanging out. At the end of the day I was able to get some pictures with one of the biplanes. The sun was really bright, so I'm squinting in most of the pictures, but they still turned out pretty nice.

I had a lot of people tell me I looked like Amelia Earhart throughout the day. As I walked by parents would point to me and tell their kids "look, there's Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot!" She wasn't the first, but she's one of the most famous. It was fun being Amelia for a day though.

Details about this costume:

• The jodhpurs/pants - made by me using Butterick pattern B6340. This pattern fit right out of the bag (which never happens), but it was a beast to put together. The instructions were so confusing and it has a lot of pieces and pockets. The mockup nearly drove me insane.
• The helmet and goggles - these are authentic British issued from WWII that I found at a local antique store. It was a great find and it even came with a picture and name of the man who originally owned them.
• The jacket - this is a modern jacket I found in a lucky stop at my local Goodwill.
• The boots - the boots are modern, purchased from Amazon and I love them!
• The rest of the items are modern pieces I either found at local stores or purchased from ThredUp. I was very specific in the modern pieces I used because I wanted to make sure they looked authentic. The piece I was most specific with was the sweater though. It was a little challenging to find something with the right knitted pattern and neckline that fit the vintage look I needed.

My plan is to replace most if not all of the modern pieces with authentic vintage pieces as I'm able to find them. But for now I'm happy with what I have.

Hangin' with Grumpy, the B-25 Bomber.

Not the greatest photo, but it's the only one I have without the helmet on.

I'm so proud of my hair. I set it in foam curlers the night before and that morning when I was trying to style it I just couldn't get it to look good, so I put in in a low ponytail and tucked it up underneath to create a faux-bob and it actually worked. It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, and I got a ton of compliments on it.

Making an 18th Century Inspired Dress Part 4 | Making the Petticoat/Skirt

Today I'm wrapping up my Making Of posts for my 18th Century Inspired Dress, talking about how I made the petticoat/skirt. In the 18th century skirts were usually separate from the bodice and were referred to as petticoats, or "outer petticoats".

The petticoat is made from 2 large rectangular pieces of fabric, approximately 50 inches wide each for a total circumference of approximately 100 inches. Once my pieces were cut I stitched the sides together with a 5/8 inch seam allowance, leaving the top 8 inches open for the side openings. 

I folded the edges of the opening over once, then again to hide the raw edges, pressed, then hand stitched to hem the opening.

After this I pleated the skirt (which unfortunately I don't have any photo's of at this stage). I originally wanted to do cartridge pleats on the skirt but when I did a quick test I found that I didn't have enough fabric and I ended up with my backup plan of knife pleats.

Next, the waistband. The waistband is created from two separate rectangular pieces. The shorter piece is for the front and the longer is for the back.

Folding the waistband in half lengthwise I pressed, then opened it up and folded the top edge under half an inch. This is for after I attached it to the skirt and to hid the raw edges of the waistband later.

I also folded and pressed the ends in by half an inch.

Opening the waistband, I placed it right sides together to the skirt and machine stitched.

I then folded the waistband over, covering the raw edges of the skirt with the folded edge of the waistband and hand stitched it closed. You'll notice that the edge of the waistband is longer on this part of the skirt. It's like this on the front waistband, but the waistband for the back sits flush with the width of the skirt. This is because I opted to go for a button closure, which isn't historically accurate from anything I've seen. I chose to do this because I liked the look and since I wasn't going for complete historical accuracy.

After attaching the back waistband the same way, I machine stitched button holes on the front waistband and stitched a couple of vintage mother of pearl buttons onto the back. And voila! The waistband was done.

Lastly I had to hem the skirt. Because of the bum pad worn under the petticoats the straight edge of the skirt was higher in the back (right). I had to cut the skirt so it was even all the way around before hemming, which I did by hand.

And that's it! I still haven't gotten any photo's of this dress worn, but hopefully I will soon.

If you haven't already, be sure to read:
Part 1 - Drafting the Bodice
Part 2 - Making the Bodice
Part 3 - Making the Stomacher

June Updates

It feels like I haven't posted in forever. I've had a lot of things going on in my life recently that unfortunately have been keeping me from doing much sewing and I've been procrastinating on writing up blog posts because, frankly, I've just been too tired and lazy to get it done.

So finally, I'm writing something up. Today's post is going to be a catch up post so I can share a few things that have been going on, some costume related, some not so much. Here we go...

Last month was Aviation Day and I premiered my 1930's aviatrix outfit. I want to do an official post about it soon, but for now here's a few details.

While I'm really with how this looks, most of the pieces are modern clothing items. The helmet and goggles are authentic WWII British, which I found at a local antique store. I made the jodhpurs myself, but the rest is all modern. I plan on replacing these with authentic pieces as I find them, but for now they fit the part.

This was a really fun and really comfortable outfit to wear and people responded really well to it. Most people thought I was dressed up as Amelia Earhart, however it's not intended to be anyone in particular but rather to represent all women pilots (known as Aviatrix at the time) from the era.


May the Fourth came and went, and I'm still not close to done with P19. I got most of the bodice embroidery done, but I got tired of all the embroidery and had to put it down. It's sitting in my UFO pile, but I want to get back to it soon.

I didn't end up having any special Star Wars day party like I usually try to do, but I did celebrate by watching a few of the movies with my siblings. We had a bit of a thunderstorm that night which made it an interesting night.

I landed my first Costume Design Internship! I'm interning for the Village Theatre's Summer Stock production of Beauty and the Beast and I'm so excited! I'll be meeting with the cast and crew at the end of this month and production goes through August.

Not costume related, but I got my wisdom teeth pulled. I was pretty much incapacitated for 4 days, but I'm back to normal now.


Well, that's about it. I'm planning on getting back to my regular blogging routine and should have the last post about the Grey Gown up soon.