About a year and a half ago, I asked my mother to teach me the basics of sewing because I was laid up with a knee injury and was unable to work. I’ve been obsessed with vintage reproduction fashion for the past few years and I thought it would be fun to make my own clothing!

I made this dress with the help of Gretchen Hirsch’s Sew Retro online course on Craftsy.com. The black fabric is a satin backed silk that I purchased on Etsy.com. The accent turquoise fabric is dupioni silk that I purchased locally. The bodice is reinforced with spiral steel boning, and is underlined with black cotton. There is a grosgrain waist stay and zipper guard in the interior. I created the “Petal Bust” by trial and error with muslin, until I got the right look – fashioned after the gorgeous Whirling Turban dresses that I drool over regularly. For the skirt I made a box pleat at centre front, and then gathers for the rest. I used lace seam binding with a catch stitch on the hem, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

For the matching handbag, I used the cover pattern from the book “Making Vintage Bags” by Emma Brennan. I asolutely love her designs, and her instructions are easy to follow. For this handbag I used the same buckle as the one I used on the belt. My favourite part of this bag is the back zipper! 

I made a simple matching reversible bolero jacket. For this piece I drafted my own pattern, and created the look that I wanted. I have just inherited a beautiful pearl sweater guard that will go perfectly with this bolero.

P.S. The shoes I’m wearing are my tried and true Fluevogs 🙂

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