1940's Nautical Blouse - Making Wearing History 4001

Funny story. I bought Wearing History's Sailor Playsuit pattern, material, and notions two years ago. And they sat in my stash until about a month ago when I finally decided to make it.

After finally deciding to print out the pattern (I opted for the e-pattern, which was part of my procrastinating. I always have a difficult time getting them to print at the proper scale) and got to sewing. It came together rather quickly, and I'm in love!

I love vintage nautical fashions so I've wanted to make this for pretty much forever, I just never quite got around to it until now. But I'm obsessed and there will definitely be more nautical fashions in my future sewing.

The pattern itself is great and fit me perfectly without any modifications. I can't say much for the instructions though. I used the written instructions as more of a guideline and found them confusing, but I knew what I was doing for the most part and was able to work my way through with only referencing it throughout to make sure I was on the right track.

I made the shorts that goes with it too, but I don't have any photo's of those yet, but after moving in a few weeks I want to get some good photo's wearing the whole thing. I'm also planning on making the skirt soon as well.

The Making of Padme's Picnic Dress - Part 2 Hair Buns Tutorial+Crochet Pattern

Today's post is going to be all about how I made the head piece for Padme's Picnic Gown. If you missed part 1, you can find it here.

When I was making this part of the costume I made sure to keep notes on how I made it so I could make a tutorial out of it, because I wasn't able to find one already. So I hope this is helpful to anyone else making this costume.

I would like to note that the crochet pattern I used was written as I went and I have not tested. Hopefully it will make sense.

To get things started, let's go over the needed supplies

Materials:

-Yarn. I was able to find the perfect color with a strand of gold tinsel spun into the yarn. You can find it at Joann's by clinking here.
-Crochet hook, 1.5mm
-Wig hair (I used some extra wefts from an old wig I re-tracked)
-2 hair nets. You can find these in the hair section at stores like Target. I found mine at Fred Meyers.
-Green ribbon
-Green embroidery thread
-Elastic

The first step is to make the buns using the pattern below.

Crochet Pattern:

Ch 8 and join with sl st
Ch 6 and sc in center of loop x6
Ch 6, sc in loop, repeat until reaching next round and increase to 8ch, then 10
On the 5th row ch 6 and sc into loop then ch 6 and sc into same loop. Repeat for entire round
Ch 8 and sc into each loop
After 2 rows, decrease to 6 ch for 1 round
On next round, decrease to 5 ch for 3 rows
Ch 4 and sc into loop for one round
Finish off and weave in ends

Cut two pieces of yarn approximately 12" long and weave into outer edge. This will be used to pull it closed later.

Assembling the Buns:

Take the hair wefts and play with them until you get a good amount/shape.

Place them inside of the hair nets and pull the excess net towards the back. If you leave the hair attached to the weft's, try to arrange the hair so that that won't be seen.

Place the hair in the bun and make any adjustments necessary to make it look nice on the outside.

Once you're satisfied, pull the yarn closed and tie it off.

Making the headband:

I made the headband from ribbon and elastic. Measure around the widest part of your head and cut the ribbon to that size. I decided the easiest way to get it on and off would be to use elastic at the back.

It took a little bit of playing with it to get the sizing right, but after playing around for a while I cut an approximate 2" piece of elastic and sewed it to the center back, cutting off a bit of the ribbon.

After it was stitched I added three rows of embroidery along the edges and the center of the band. I used a twist embroidery stitch.

When that was finished I used the same process for the flowers as I did on the bodice, cutting them out of the curtain panel I used and stitching them on the band.

To keep everything secure, I stitched the buns to the headband and while I wore them I pinned them to my hair with bobby pins to keep everything in place.

And that's it!