Back to stitchin'

I am home from my business trip!  Artie was happy to see me return and greeted me with a chorus of "meow, meep, squeek, mieux!" which I will interpret as a grand tale of all the naps he took and treats he ate and soccer balls he chased. 

Tonight was the first chance I had to start working on my "Some like it Hot" dress.  I spent the evening finishing the paper pattern adjustments and I will hopefully get the muslin on the go tomorrow. 

 Adjustments made to Simplicity pattern 1882.

 Bodice back. Original pattern piece on the right, adjusted piece on the left.

Bodice front. Original pattern piece on the left, adjusted piece on the right.

First I drafted a more fitted skirt, the original Simplicity pattern called for an A-line.  Secondly I adjusted the back of the bodice.  I decided to make a v-neckline in the back, but i am still on the fence if the dress should have a side zip or a back zip.  I lowered the neckline on the centre front piece and adjusted the shoulder slightly.  The next step will be drafting a sleeve.  After much deliberation and the insistence of Welder Boyfriend, I have decided to make the sleeve to the wrist just as the original dress as opposed to the 3/4 length I was thinking of.  After discussing it with the Mombot, it seems as though I should do a dart in the sleeve at the elbow.  I have never drafted a long sleeve before, so that will be a challenge for tomorrow. 

I best be signing off for the evening, lots to do, lots to research and lots to make.  Thank you for reading!

 Fringe-ey goodness for the skirt!

Artie sleeping, taken from the Artie archives.

~Miss World

Out of town on business....

This week I am out of town on business, which makes me feel very grown up.  Unfortunately this means that I will be away from my sewing machine for a week!  A whole week without stitches (i may not make it!) and I even left my cross stitch at home on the way out the door.  Since I do not have a sewing project to share, I thought I might tell you of the trials and tribulations of packing for a business trip. 

Vintage Toronto

Air Travel is much different than it used to be, its all flip flops and yoga pants.  I understand that it is important to be comfortable, but good gravy, keep in mind that others still have to look at you.  Now I know that makes me sound like a bit of a snob, but I long for the days where comfortable and style went hand in hand. 

MM and David Wayne (How to Marry a Millionaire) looking both very comfortable and stylish for air travel.

I found packing for my trip to be quite a task.  My daylight slave job requires me to dress much more business-ey than I would like to, and in the evening I would require a balance of normal Miss World style clothing.  I decided the best thing to do would be to pack separates that would take me from work to play with the switch of a blouse or jacket. 

For the aeroplane I wore high waist, wide leg linen trousers (of my own making) and a red puffy sleeve top and flats (I know, what self respecting glamour girl wears flats? Answer: one who is in a new city and will most likely have to walk at lot after getting lost!)  It was an easy, comfortable, put together look. 

MM and Arthur Miller arriving in London to film "The Prince and the Showgirl"

Reproduction dress "My Week with Marilyn", one of the dresses on my to make list.

In a few days I will be back to stitching, in the meantime here is a photo of me at the top of the CN Tower.  I even stood on the glass floor (arg!). 

Brooches I purchased at a vintage store on Queen St, Tribal Rhythm.

Fitting room view in above mentioned store, tried a gorgeous black taffeta dress at an excellent price.  No dice too tiny in the hips!

It is also my birthday today, I am turning 21 for the 8th time.  I am heading out to meet some lovely friends who reside here in Toronto and hope to have some more great adventures while I am here!  Thank you for reading!



~Miss World

Sketchin' and Stitchin'

I have started altering and drafting a pattern for my..... Some like it Hot Dress!
Excitement! "Some Like it Hot" is one of my favourite Marilyn films and I am thrilled to have finally started this project (I sketched it out at least 6 months ago).  If you have not seen this film you should get yourself to the video store (am I dating myself, do video stores still exist?!)  Quick plot: Two struggling musicians (Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis) witness the Saint Valentines Day Massacre; they flee from the scene but are soon sought out by "Spats" Columbo (gangster).  To escape from him, they don dresses and take an out of town job with an all female band.  Cue Marilyn with her swaying hips.  The boys in dresses fall in love and fight for her attention, all the while they are trying to maintain their cover.  Confusion, romance, intrigue, gangsters, prohibition and a terrible new england accent (or perhaps it's a Cary Grant-esque accent).  Billy Wilder at his best!

Six month old sketch

I have decided to work off the bodice of Simplicity pattern 1882.  I have used this pattern before and I was really happy with the fit around the bust area as well as the panels at the waist.  The pattern has an A-line skirt, so I will scrap that and draft my own skinny pencil skirt. 

 The original dress as seen on PBS Antique Roadshow (I have never seen the episode, but Mom and Welder Boyfriend have told me about it)

 MM, Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis all rocking the prohibition frocks (is it wrong that I think Tony Curtis is extra dreamy in a dress?)



Fringe-y Awesomeness!  How can a girl not want to pick up a ukulele and sing.

This dress is deceptively simple looking in photographs, as the stills from the film were black and white.  MM's contract with the studio was that her films were all to be shot in colour.  Unfortunately Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis looked garish with all their makeup in colour, so "Some Like it Hot" was filmed B&W.  From what I can see, there are panels at the waist, princess seams and covered buttons down the front.  I am going to skip on the rusched area at the hips and I am thinking of 3/4 length sleeves instead of to the wrist. I am not sure if I will be able to recreate all the detail in the bodice due to lack of reference material and I will make it as fringe-y as possible. (But hey,"nobody's perfect"!)

But back to the drafting table for this project, I have a lot of sketchin' to do.

Artie being his usual helpful self!

I did manage to get one little side stitchin' project done this week. I had noticed a gap in my wardrobe in the peasant blouse department, so I whipped out New Look pattern 6892 and made a quick white cotton blouse with a ruffle collar. The collar on the pattern was a little small for my taste, so I made it 3 inches wider. I was in the mood for some rick-rack and added red and black to the collar as well as some black bias tape for the edges and elastic casing. I was thinking of adding a row of green as well (I have a tonne of green rick-rack which I inherited from Mom) but it looked a little bit too much like a fiesta. All in all, it turned out excellent and now I have a nice warm weather top to wear with some high waist shorts and my giant sun chapeau.





Cute!

Next post, I will get back to the "Some Like it Hot" pattern, I hope to get it drafted and to muslin stage this week.

~Miss World





Pants, Pants, Pants!

I was fortunate to participate in an amazing pants drafting class last summer, with mom, at Central Sewing in Edmonton by a stitchin' genius by the name of Trudy Jansen.  Trudy's pants class rocked my stripey socks.  I am not a pants wearing girl, i am most comfortable in skirts and dresses but now that I am capable of making pants that fit like no other and I am often seen wearing my wide leg "Hollywood trousers".  If you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Trudy, DO IT!

This brings me to my first Marilyn inspired garment, checkered pants!  She was photographed quite often in these pants, most notably in "Life Magazine".

MM rocking the checkered pants

It was an impromptu project one morning and I did not have any checkered fabric in my stash, so i made do with some black and white hounds tooth.  Not exactly the same but still getting the right effect.  I drafted the pattern from my basic pant block and with a few adjustments to the length and width of the leg I was on my way to a new pair of capri pants for the summer. 

Friday morning pants drafting

Good gravy Artie!

I drafted a high waist and decided to install a back zipper.  I am not a fan of zipper installation, though I am getting better the more I practice.  I think my problem with zippers, is that I never properly prepare for the installation procedure.  I think "ah, forget it Amanda, you don't need to hand baste, just go for it!" and the little voice in my head is always wrong.  When you don't prepare, out comes the seam ripper and you need to go through the zipper annoyance again! 

...ZIPPERS ARG!

Completed pants project

 Back zipper, turned out alright after stitching it in, and taking it out and stitching it in.

And finally I get to enjoy my new Marilyn-esque pants!

I am really happy with how this project turned out.  The fit is amazing, they are comfortable and I am able to wear them for work and for play.  For my next project, I am am going to try to draw inspiration from a more glamorous Marilyn look.  It's in sketch phase right now, which I will reveal for my next post. 

~Miss World  

And so it begins.....

I am a classic film geek, in love with the stories and the costumes and the characters.  As a little girl I would go to the library and check out the Fred and Ginger movies, go home a watch and dance and pretend that I was one of the glamorous characters.  On rainy Sundays, I would sit in the basement and watch the Thin Man movies on PBS. This started my love of vintage, of glamour and of dramatics. 

As a little girl I would sit on the sewing room floor, while my mother made dresses, costumes and play clothes for my sister and I.  She would let me play with the buttons, trim and ribbons.  As I got older I would take sewing lessons and take costuming courses in school, but soon sewing fell by the wayside.  I was working and living in an apartment where there was no room for a sewing table.  When I moved into my own home and had the space, I started to sew again.  It had been a few years, and I was a little rusty but it slowly came back to me.  Now I live for the moment I get home from my daylight slave job and can start stitching into the night. 

These two passions of mine are now combined in a project I call "Miss World's Project Marilyn".  I read an article in Vanity Fair http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2012/01/sketch-to-still-my-week-with-marilyn-vintage-undergarments-michelle-williams on the costuming of the film "My Week with Marilyn".  I was excited to read how the pieces were recreated from photographs and was inspired to recreated some of Marilyn's iconic looks myself.

My inspiration was further fuelled by a book purchased for me by my mum. "Dressing Marilyn" by Andrew Hansford with Karen Homer.  Its full of wonderful photographs, sketches and details on the garment construction.  After reading through this book I became determined to get to stitchin' and making some dresses.

 Book Cover photographed by myself

pg. 94 the pattern for the dahlia costume from "How to Marry a Millionaire"

Now with the encouragement of Welder Boyfriend and my trusty sewing assistant Artie, I am embarking on my own journey to recreate and draw inspiration from these iconic looks.  Not all the garments can be recreations (its just not practical for me to wear floor length gowns) but I hope to draw inspiration and embody the feel of the original garment.   

My trusty assistant Artie helping me make trousers

So bear with me whilst I figure out this blog thing and stay tuned for my interpretation of some of her recognisable costumes and items from Marilyn's personal wardrobe.

~Miss World