Thistle Blossom Princess--A Western Dress (KwikSew 4133)

This was my first ever KwikSew pattern, and I guess the name of the company should have been an omen, as poor spelling and overuse of the letter "K" mean a slower route to success and this pattern took me over a year to make. JUST KIDDING it wasn't their fault--this pattern had a few weird fitting issues, but was otherwise really nice to work with! The reason it took me so dang long is because I was trying to do my appliques and embroidery on the yokes by hand, and it wasn't turning out quite how I imagined it so the project was abandoned for a while until I cheated and bought these pre-made appliques on Etsy.

Construction Notes

Kwik Sew 4133: The neck on this pattern is LARGE. I had to take 4 inches out of the back of the pattern to get the collar close to fitting. I know it's technically supposed to be a slouchy collar, but shouldn't a button down look nice... buttoned? 

Another button woe was snapping these pearl snaps onto this dress. It's a process that requires a special tool, and either I bought the wrong tool, or I'M the tool, because I had the damnedest time getting them where I wanted them. 

Otherwise, the pattern went together easily--this is only my second-ever project with a collar, so it was a fun adventure. I hand-sewed down the bottom edges of the yoke along with the fringe so I could get the fringe exactly where I wanted it, and I glued on the rhinestones. I've thought about adding more sprinklings of rhinestones around the flowers... maybe someday. 

My only regret is that I wish I had angled the yokes on the back so it didn't look like a sailor dress situation back there. 

Butterick 5556: My old faithful didn't let me down on this one. I knew the pocket placement would be perfect for some piping and arrows, and it's just such a cute lil skirt. 

To add the piping, I just laid those bad boys 5/8 inch in along the edges of the pockets, then sewed them to the sides of the skirt (with the piping in the middle.) The triangle appliques cover the ends of the piping nicely! BUT I recently saw a time-lapse video of how to hand-embroider the arrow appliques, which I think I'll be doing next time! You can see that video here on Jukebox Mama's Instagram, for those following along at home. 

Styling and Shoot

Shoes: B.A.I.T. Footwear 
Fabric: Online somewhere? Hand-dyed by me with a potion of two or three shades of RIT dye

Photos by Hattie Clark, at Homemaker's Bar in Cincinnati, OH and also on a random street corner. 

Tall Glass of Water Film Noir Dress

I love drapey dresses. I've been feeling inspired by Greco-Roman looks lately, and found this beautiful, sturdy-yet-drapey fabric that would be gorgeous for a slinky film-noir look. The light play on the fabric makes it gorgeous on black and white film!

Construction Notes

Lady Marlowe Patterns--Vogue 5892

Patterns By Gertie--Butterick 5814 

Regrets: I probably should have added a waist stay so that the invisible zipper didn't get a little gape-ey around the waist. And ironed the darts in the back a little better. 

Pattern Notes: 

Butterick: I've made this Butterick pattern before, for my Valentine's day dress. This time around, I opted out of the sleeves and made spaghetti straps instead. I also added an inch of length to the waist, and made the bodice in a size 8 instead of a 10 (for reference, I have a 34 inch bust and 25 inch waist and a small ribcage.) It worked out pretty perfectly! Some finagling was required to make the inside self-lining, but it was very much worth it as this satin I used tends to fray. I added a second, smaller dart in the back to make the waist cinch a little more. 

Vogue: Finding Lady Marlowe Patterns on Etsy was like opening a dang treasure chest. She has rounded up some of the most BEAUTIFUL patterns I have ever seen, and the quality of her pattern reproductions is top-notch. This one in particular went together without much fuss! I French-seamed the long side seams, and added an extra dart in the back to cinch the waist a bit more. I want to make this skirt in like 85 million different fabrics.

Styling and Shoot

Necklace: TJ Maxx

Dress Fabric: JoAnn Fabrics Silky Solids MYK blue solid textured stretch satin

Dress Lining: JoAnn Fabrics LUXE cotton sateen
Shoes: Repeat Boutique 

Photos by my Dyann Diercks  at the Old Elk Distillery in Fort Collins, CO. A perfect place to drink a martini and sashay around pretending to be a brooding film noir dame.

Diggin' the Denim Queen

I've never been much into denim as a "look," but both parts of this outfit are made from stretch denim! SO SNEAKY! I'm basically wearing a Canadian tuxedo!

Construction Notes

The skirt is just a shortened version of Butterick 5556 with a waistband and back zip. I made it from some denim I found at Walmart years ago... it used to be a purply black color but has faded into this nice burgundy/brown (I made it in 2013 or so.) I love that the pockets are in the side-front seams! (And that the lavender pockets match the lavender flowers on the blouse...) 

On the blouse, I cut off the long ties, tucked in the ends and stitched the opening shut, put in hooks and eyes, then added some lavender buttons on the outside of the closure. 

Regrets: This stretch denim was definitely a little heavy for making this top. It made the wrap segment pretty much unusable because the finished bow was so bulky and just not cute! But the fabric was so dang cute... I'm happy with the finished product, but some changes were necessary. 

Pattern Thoughts: Oh, Vogue. You're so good at making stuff needlessly complicated. Instead of making binding for every seam, I just went ahead and made French seams. The size Small is a little big (I have a 34" bust for reference) so I took the top in under the arms. It's still a pretty roomy fit, bosom-wise. I even have on a push-up bra under there and we're still lookin' a little flat. 

 

Styling and Shoot

Photos, as always, by Dyann Diercks !

Blouse fabric from JoAnn's spring collection, skirt fabric from Walmart.
Shoes are Mariana by GOLC, bought at Shoegasm in Chinatown. 

Glasses are one of two pairs I got online from Zenni Optical! These things were $19 with prescription lenses and all!!

Hair Flower by Alyson Thiel, a fabulous artist from Louisville, KY!

I Dream of Jeanie

High-waisted harem pants check a lot of boxes for me. Are they fun? Yes. Are they comfy? SO comfy, it's like you're not even wearing pants! Do they make me feel simultaneously like Princess Jasmine and a 1940s slacks-wearing movie starlet? Heck yeah they do.

The feel of the outfit was inspired by a character made by one of my favorite artists, Sarah of Curious Pip! The character's name is Percy (short for Persephone) and she is a very glamorous bohemian lady with a penchant for plants and wide-legged pants. (Read all about her here!) I even have a compass tattoo like this babe, but it's on the side of my ribcage and the top covers it!

Construction Notes

Luckily, I am the owner of the World's Best Harem Pants Pattern! It's from the 30s or 40s and is labelled Gazian's Theatrical Goods--I think I got it on Etsy! This pair I started in this stripey knit back in 2015 and I've been carting them around half-finished in my fabric box in my many moves since then. This summer was Unfinished Projects Time and these were up there on the list! All they needed was the waistband, and voila!
But, when you finish a fabulous stripey pair of pants, you need a cute crop top to go with them. Enter Simplicity 1426 with all its cute crop top options (this one is Option B), and this cute orange cotton from JoAnn fabrics.

Regrets: Dangit if I don't have trouble with corners! It's hard to tell with this fabric, but the waistband comes down to a little point in front and I have the worst trouble making it smooth. it's got a tiny little bubble that doesn't really show, but I know it's there and it bugs me, haha.

Pattern Thoughts: The top I'm pretty happy with, you can easily go braless with it (but I put in one of those little strapless, backless bra numbers because this thing is a little flattening.) You could easily pop some bra inserts in between the fabric and the lining if you wanted it to be more of a bra top. I shortened the straps by a good 2 inches or so, so there's easy adjustment for bigger or smaller-chested ladies. The pattern whips up easily and is lovely and fully lined!

Styling and Shoot

My beloved Dyann Diercks came to visit me in Kentucky took these!

The sunglasses are from K-Mart, the sandals are from TJ Maxx, and all the fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics. The earrings are from a trip I took to Peru! 

Breakfast at Tiffa-Trees Black Eyelet Dress

I have been hunting for black eyelet fabric for a dress for aaaages. I didn't have a specific plan for the dress, but luckily, after I found the fabric (well, after my mom found it and passed along a good chunk of remnants,) I came across Simplicity's 8051 rockabilly dress pattern and with its peek-a-boo back, it seemed like the perfect little number for the eyelet's fabulous scalloped edges.

Construction Notes 

This dress was extra breezy to make because I didn't have to worry about hemming or finishing the edges of the peekaboo cutout! I only used the bodice of the pattern and then made a basic little dirndl skirt (with pockets!) to take advantage of the scalloped edge of the fabric at the bottom. 

Summation

Regrets: I wish I had made the curve of the neckline a little more smooth--a few more snips along the seam would probably have helped. I also wish I had fitted the waist a bit more. 

Pattern Thoughts: I LOVED how beautifully Simplicity 8051 goes together. Everything fits together very satisfyingly and is just a simple and lovely sew. 

I love the peekaboo in the back, although I think I could maybe have gone a size down with the bodice as it gapes a bit--I don't mind, though, because even gaping looks pretty with eyelet scallops! 

The peekaboo is also a little finicky with bras (and even more so with the eyelet fabric because going braless is a little breezy! Next time I might line the shelf bust and just put cups in the dress itself. 

Styling & Shoot

Dyann Diercks Photography and Colorado's springtime magic worked together on these! 

The fabric came from a small fabric store in Queens, the earrings and bracelet are hand-me-downs.

(Also, I feel that I should point out that my styling of this dress is inspired by Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly and that is the reason for the really stupid title of this blog post.)