Gold Member.... ok ok... just a Gold Dress

I made this dress back in 2010 when my sewing skills were still, um, being worked on. (I still have so much to learn, but I have come so far from learning off of YouTube). I love the material but the inside and slit of the dress was a bit of a mess. For our Christmas vacation I decided to fix it up and take the lovely dress for another spin. I love the simple lines and the little cape! I first wrote about it here.


Fabric: Christmas fabric (if you would believe it) for $1.50 a yard.
Pattern: Butterick 5032
Year: circa 1952 but it is a pattern reprint.
Changes: I remember the skirt from the waist down being VERY wide. I took it in a few inches. What lady wants their waist to look like a bubble?? On my revisit to this dress I shortened the slit. It was a bit too long for my liking.

I fixed all the seams on the revisit as well!  Sewing with this fabric taught me to always finish off your seams be it with peeking shears or serging. The first time I work it the little embroidery threads tickled the heck out of me!

I do not have any pictures with me WEARING the cape. Just fashionably over my shoulder! I wore a pair of Hollywood stilettos with the dress and my gold confetti Lucite purse.

Bra Top and Skirt

I love the look of PUG's bra tops but was not OK with spending $60 on one item of clothing. So I decided to make one. I also had some super cute new clip on earings that I wanted to match up with an outfit. So my stripy creation was born!


Bra Top-

I wanted it to look something like this: (not in polka dots)

And I got something that looked like this: (What do you think?)

The Facts
Fabric: Kona heavy cotton. $7 a yard.
Lining- Same as the outter construction.
Pattern: McCalls 6350. I love this pattern because you can select your cup size. Why haven't other companies picked up on this??
Year: modern pattern.
Notions: zipper that separates, boning, bias tape (I had to use some because I got in a jam with the hem).
Changes: Well, I did not make it dress :) and added thicker straps. I followed the manufacturers details pretty much to the T. I added about 3 inches to the length of the bodice. The added 3 inches was still not enough. Therefore I added the bias tape to hem the bottom of the top. When it came to adding the zipper I made a mistake and already understiched the very top of the, well top. So the zipper needed some magic (some shoving and pinning). It ended up just fine. The zipper top pokes me a little, but I am working on softening it up.

The Skirt-

The Facts
Fabric: Joann's discount bin $2 a yard juvenile cotton.
Lining- none. Red petticoat.
Pattern: Simplicity 3748
Year: circa mid 1950s (reprint of a pattern)
Notions: zipper (I am finally using some of my vintage metal zippers!) and interfacing.
Changes: Made the waist band wider.

The pleats took forever in this skirt. You hem it before you do the pleats. I think next time I would actually make this skirt a shorter. I wasn't sure if I liked the proportions of the skirt. Not sure if the fabric pattern threw off the proportions or what.

Bruce and Louise's trailer. Love it.

My accessories that inspired this outfit and inside the trailer.

The Reborn Tiki NIghtmare Dress!

This has been the most popular dress I have made. It is a very wanted pattern, but it a serious PAIN to make! After wearing it the first time I changed some things to it. I added some of the boning back at the sides and added a hook and eye. To read the facts about the dress click here to go to the older post.

After looking at some hot Shaheens from back in the day (and gaining a little weight) I was looking for a new thing to do with the long straps at the front and this is what I came up with. I tied the straps into a knot by the bust and then made it a halter. I preferred wearing the dress this way, it felt more secure.

I also got some cute new accessories to wear with it :)

Rich got me this super cute purse in Long Beach and I picked up the bamboo bangles at a local thrift shop. Shoes are carved leather wedges. I made the hair clips :)

I hope this picture shows more clearly how I did the halter top.

Orange Summer Dress

This dress was my second dress I had ever made. I made some serious errors in the waist band and was super embarrassed to wear it. I unpicked the waist and fixed the gathering issues, tried it on, and fell in love with it again. I am still not super in love with this pattern. I just recently reused the top (pictures to come later) to make a different dress and I do not like how it sits. It is loose fitting and not the 50s clean cut look I like. Plus, you have to put elastic in the back and I HATE that!

Some of the facts are lost on this project seeing it was made about 4 years ago. Sorry I do not have any other tips for this dress, but it was just too cute to not share!

The Facts
Fabric: A type of nylon satin.
Lining- None... I wore a petticoat I "made" (chopped in 1/2) from a wedding petticoat I found at a local thrift shop.
Pattern: Butterick 4513.
Year: circa 1957 (pattern reprint)
Notions: Four Packages of 1/2" Double Fold Bias Tape (I used more to bring down the color to the hem), hooks and eye (I made my own belt).
Changes: The pattern calls for elastic, but I did not put it in. I hate how elastic looks in the waist of dresses so I am not going to lie I shimmy and shake to get into this dress! I added the bias tape to the bottom to bring down the color and added more bias tape to the tie straps for a more full bow.

Excuse the goofy faces :) The skirt is REALLY full. I had a petticoat on and that is how the dress sat.

I made a matching flower hair clip to match! I have Remix Daras on in soft gold. BEST SHOES EVER!

Rich and I at the Charles Phoenix Show at VLV.

1950s Wedding DIY

I feel like I have been in a whirlwind this year. We are finally getting married in 20 days, 57 minutes, 45 seconds (I have a count down timer). We made ALL of our own centerpieces, decorations, invitations, save the date cards, food, and music. Man, am I exhausted. Here is a little sneak peak of our decor! The venue is a hall built in the 40s. I will post pictures of the dress, his suit, the hall, the car, the honeymoon etc. when the chaos is all over. I have managed to sew some over these past 10 months, but could not find the time to post. I will be posting the projects when I am done sharing all the wedding goodies. 

Our theme is, obviously, 1950s large wedding. I am convinced we are a HUGE fire hazard with all the crepe paper.

Bubbles. We will have rice/confetti as well but who does not want bubbles? I glued little daisies and leaves atop 60 little bottles.

Our centerpieces. Made from cupcake stands with pastel pink, yellow, blue, and purple flowers. I glued matching ribbon around each cake round. Each center piece has a different vintage cake topper. The open seating will be typed, it was my trial run :) On the shelves below will be our favors, and of course, Jordan almonds in matching pastel colored bags.

Our invites. Each are double sided and backed with glittery pastel paper. Not one invite grouping is the same (RSVP card, ceremony card). Each has 24 hand glued stars on the corners. The envelopes were pastel. There's Rich in what we started calling the Wedding Sweat Shop.

Menu Cards. The colored background matches our wedding invitations. My Mum made the kissing bride/groom. She was determined to make the groom have a pomp, but it ended up more like an afro :) still super cute.

Ignore the Elvis poster and pictures hanging. They were from my shower. We made 48 of these. They will be hanging over each table.

Close up. Each pom-pom has a different petal design.

Me celebrating it is all done! Now we wait until the day before to go and decorate the hall.