#fauxlero

[mossomness]

Legion FX Week @legionfxweek - Day Three: Favorite Song Used: Tie between Fauxlero and Behind Blue Eyes

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· Fairly Fluffy Fifties ·

Wow.  This title is lame.  Titles are always difficult for me.... and, well, what can I say.  I have reached the bottom of the bucket.

Embrace the lame titles!! ;-)

This outfit is one of those fun happen-stances: the supplies were entirely free!  Ok, I think I bought the zippers...  But otherwise, it was free!

I got the lovely semi-sheer border print from the same older lady who had the brown polka dot I made into my first 1940s dress.  The blouse fabric came to me shortly after- I found it in the "free room" at church, and it was a pillowcase.  I couldn't believe how well it coordinated!  Using a pillowcase doesn't allow for many design options, but I was able to squeeze this blouse on!  I pieced the lower portion, but no one sees that part anyway since it's always tucked in. :-)

I deliberated over the fabrics for a few years before making them into a blouse and skirt.  I didn't want to make them into a dress because I thought it would be weird to have 2 different fabrics.  Well, everyone compliments me on my "dress" now.... so I guess it's not too weird. ;-)  I do intend to wear them separately as well, and the final push to make it came this spring when I was bemoaning my lot.

"Woe is me.  I have no fabric to make into a lovely spring skirt.  Absolutely none, I tell you!"

*And*, I had just made a resolution to severely cut down on new fabric purchases so my hands were tied! (a resolution which I might add.... is going to be hard to maintain after my spending habits this summer. oh well... it was a nice thought.)

Well.... yeah.  My stash is large.  And would you look at that! I had a wonderful spring skirt's worth of fabric just waiting.  All that melodrama for nothing. ;-)

I got this silly little necklace over 10 years ago at Claire's.  I say silly because at the time, I had no inkling that I would get so much use out of it.  I agonize over every single purchase I make or gift I receive, and at the time I didn't even have anything that it went with!  I've come very close to donating it to Goodwill on numerous occasions, but it seems like every year or 2, some new outfit comes up that matches it perfectly!

This green ribbon was originally for accessorizing our historical clothing, but hey! it matched! :-)  I've experimented with a few different accessorizing color schemes lately, and I'm shocked by how much we have that works well!  Yay! Options!

I found these gloves at an estate sale recently, and I loooooove them.  I've been looking for pearl-beaded gloves for a while, and at estate sale prices.... it's meant to be. :-)  They also fit my hands remarkably well!  Actually, the fingers are even (shocker!!) on the long side, so I'd like to alter them at some point.  But you know what? somehow altering gloves never ends up on my to-do list. :-P

Anyone else need motivation to do a little upkeep with their glove collection?  I keep thinking I should set aside a week or so to take care of the little odds and ends that could use attention.

I was gifted a marvelously large supply of vintage ric-rac last fall (thanks again Emily!  I LOVE that stuff!!!), and I had plenty of pointy white ric-rac to embellish to my heart's content!  Lovely!

I'm in need of some light-colored shoes, don't you agree?  In the meantime, these classic mary janes keep me happy year-round!

This hat was from the first estate sale we went to this year, and I love how it pairs so perfectly with this outfit!  It's very much a "hair down" sort of hat though, so I have to plan accordingly. :-)

I was rather pleased with this pocket- it's set into the same seam as the invisible zipper. :-)

Well, now you can see how I'm coping with my hair endeavors this summer!  Last September, I got my hair cut with the intention of wearing it down.  It had been a very long time since I'd worn it down, and I was hesitant about such a big commitment!

Well, I was pretty pleased with the result (a 1940s "middy plus"), and got it trimmed a few months later to straighten it rather than the U shape it was previously.  I was more happy with the second iteration and I haven't trimmed it since.  It's now quite long as you can see!

I get warm rather easily in the summer; heat and hair are the 2 factors that make me stressed and irritable the fastest.  Sooo, in the interest of the well-being of humanity, I thought growing out my hair enough to wear it up would make everyone happier. ;-)  Also, my hair is much more cooperative with the curling game when it's dry out and.... I live in Humidity Central.  Getting my hair to curl well would require a perm and I wasn't ready to make the plunge if I might end up wearing it up all summer anyway.  So!  Maybe next year I'll be brave enough to try a summer hair experiment. :-)

This skirt also marks a momentous moment in my sewing journey- I have (almost) reconciled myself to the blind-hemming stitch on the machine!  Yes, I know that would usually be considered a step backwards- after all, it's not really the nicest way to finish off a garment!

About 10 years ago, I got fed up with fighting with that stitch.  It always shows!  And I hate the way it looks.  It would stress me out to sew a hem with it, so I gave myself permission to never use it again.  I reasoned that I actually wasn't spending much more time sewing hems by hand, and it was much more relaxing!  I also top-stitched hems if that was appropriate for the era and aesthetic.  When it came to this skirt though, I decided that a blind-hem stitch would actually look the best.  On lightweight fabrics like this, I can frequently get too tight of tension while hand-sewing it, so there was potential of it being noticeable.  Top-stitching would break up the lovely border print.  And... well, it was a wide skirt.  And I wanted to wear it the next day.  So quick machine sewing it was!  I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. :-)  Yes, the stitches are visible if you look for them, but they hide so well in the print!  I'm probably close to being World's Most Particular Hem Examiner (at least for my own work), so if I'm happy, I think no one else will mind. ;-)

And really, it was sooooo fast..... I'm still a far cry from being a convert, but I will actually give this stitch the dignity of consideration from now on. ;-)

Hey look!  It's another fauxlero bodice! ;-)  Yes, I'm rather addicted to this pattern (self-drafted) lately...  I'm much more happy with how my "50 States" dress turned out, so I might end up tweaking this one a bit.  Does anyone else make endless changes to their garments?  It seems like I can never make myself stop the endless tweaking!  Or... maybe I'm just obsessive.

Yeah.  There's that.

This skirt is a simple dirndl (rectangle) in order to utilize the border-print best.  I always love a good opportunity for pleats!  I decided to make double box-pleats all the way around the skirt for this.

Wow, I am feeling SO wordy today.  If you managed to slog through all of that, congratulations!  If not.... I don't think I would have, either. ;-)

· Photos by the, as ever, fabulous Kathryn (thanks!!) ·

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· Just My Kind of Patriotic Dress ·

I hope all of my stateside readers had a nice 4th of July weekend!  Our weather was wonderful and for the first time in years, I had an occasion-appropriate dress!  I tend to steer clear of red, white, and blue as I don't like looking so patriotic on a daily basis.  This dress certainly doesn't fit the patriotic color scheme, but thematically it's just about perfect. ;-)

I've always thought this 50 states fabric from Hobby Lobby was fun and quirky, but it wasn't until making another outlandish novelty print dress (the BBQ dress) that I realized how much I really needed this addition to my wardrobe.

Summer just begs for wacky novelty prints, and well.... I'm happy to oblige. ;-)

After making my "fauxlero" (faux bolero) cow dress earlier this year, I was eager to use the pattern (custom-drafted by me) again!  I love the way it turned out, and I think it's a great design for this fabric.  I had so many options for different colored ric-rac that would have been perfect, but Plain Old Black ended up being the best accent.  The large size ended up worked perfectly and showed up best against the busy print; I'm glad I had it on hand, as it's not normally a staple!

This purse is from Tatyana (bonus- it's on sale right now!), and it's a big favorite of mine!  It's hard to beat the price, and so far it's held up really well.  It's more roomy than most "real-vintage" purses I've found, but still looks small. :-)

With a print this busy, I decided to break it up just a bit with decorative pockets.  Like most 1950s dresses, I wanted to echo the design element of the fauxlero bodice so I chose to design my own gently stair-stepped, scalloped pockets.

Of course, the pockets begged to feature specific states.  Only problem was, I was at a loss as to which states to feature!  I've been to too many states to put those on the pockets.  I've been to too few to feature the ones left on the list to see.  There are too many states on my current Bucket List.  There are too many that I've lived in.  There are too many I'm visiting this year.

Eventually I decided to pick the states that correspond to my trips sandwiching the making of this dress.  I went on a trip to Texas in May....

.... and I'm going to Maine this month!  Now, I'll grant you that Texas was much more conducive to highlighting... but I don't mind. ;-)  Now I'll always be able to remember exactly when this dress was made!  Yes, it's entirely un-noticeable to the casual observer, but that just adds to the appeal I think. ;-)

Did any of you make a patriotic outfit this year too?

· Photography by Kathryn ·

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· Literary Ball! ·

Back in February, our family decided to host a ball of our own!  We've been attending quite a lot over the past couple years, and it seemed like high time to host some festivities for everyone else!

Years ago, we hosted a few "Twelfth Night" parties and requested everyone to dress as a literary character.  It was always great fun, and worked well for large groups!  We don't know tons of people who have extensive historical wardrobes, so have a non-era-specific theme allows for everyone to have something already in their closet that's appropriate. :-)

We were able to rent a local historic building for the dance, and it was so charming inside and out!

We'll definitely have to host another event here! :-)

We asked everyone to bring a copy of the book they were representing- we had a group of 70, and had everything from Shakespeare to E.B. White to Charles Dickens to modern fantasy authors!  It was so fun to see the creativity and vast variety!

My sister came as Alice in Wonderland, 1930s style.  She already had a dress in the perfect shade of blue and the striped stockings- it was just too perfect to pass up!

We danced a variety of English and Scottish Country Dances through the evening that reference classic literature- "Alice", "Great Expectations", "Once Upon a Time", "Felicity", etc. 

After coming as various historical characters over the years, I felt like it was time to break out of the expected and embrace my more quirky side. ;-)

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type has been a family favorite for years, and somehow it just seemed like a great option!  Apparently, cow fabric is a Hobby Lobby standby, so it seemed like it was meant to be.  I took the opportunity to make a fauxlero (faux bolero) dress like I've been wanting for years, and it ended up being a very easy design to draft on my own!

The dress went together so well and it will end up being handy for "Dress Like a Cow Day" at Chick-fil-A and, you know... all those other reasons I'll want to (literally) look like a cow...

I happened upon a cow bell at Hobby Lobby the week before the ball, and it seemed like the perfect touch!  Well, it was.  Except for the fact that alllll through the bouncy Scottish Country Dancing, I was, ahem, clanging rather loudly.

I must say, for someone who doesn't like to be the center of attention, I have quite a propensity for picking rather loud (sometimes literally...) and attention-grabbing outfits.

Kathryn and I- the Farmyard Girls!

Which is hilarious, considering we aren't really the farm-y type....  Kathryn wore her gingham dress and came as Fern Arable from Charlotte's Web

OK, so I feel a bit bad about posting another picture of just me.... but is my blog, and I was having such a great hair day!! ;-)

My friend Susan (on the left) has been a dear friend for years, and I just have to point out her wonderful dress!  She came as Agnes Wakefield from David Copperfield and made a wonderful 1840s gown.  She inspires me with all she's able to accomplish, and her ambition to tackle big, crazy things I would be too scared by!

We had guests from 5 different states, and it was so wonderful to catch up with so many of them! :-)

· Photos by Brandon and Kathryn- thank you both for taking time out of the evening to capture it so well! ·