Hello There! It’s been a while. My mother had been very ill and then passed away in March. That is the reason for my absence here. It’s been a time for both grieving as well as endless amounts of sorting and figuring out of #allthethings in relation to my mom’s transition. Thank you for your patience!
These are the last photos my mom took of me, and of my projects. It was in early January. I had intended for this to be a Christmas Tea outfit, and then a New Years outfit. But alas, neither ended up working out. So goes life! Some times are less sparkly than others….
We had fun on this photo shoot, as we always did. She was always up for taking photos and hanging out. For that I will be eternally grateful. We had so many fun memories together.
The outfit was fun to put together from pieces reimagined, previously owned and quickly whipped up. The Jacket was given to me by my neighbor a few years back. I replaced the lining which was pretty dirty and in disrepair (it is from the 1930’s after all) with a bright pink silk lining. You can read about that here.
The trousers were made from donated black silk charmeuse with a crepe de chine lining using an adapted version of the Wearing History Smooth Sailing Trousers pattern. You can read about that adaptation here.
Now the top has a storied past of its own. I’m speculating that because it seems to have been upcycled already by the time it came to me. There are photos below of the garment when I received it from my dear friend Angie, who thankfully had the foresight to save it for me. Angie, I love you! I think the fabric was originally from a 1920’s coat with a beaded swan design. It’s silk velvet and quite intricately beaded.
It was turned into a chiffon lined halter top with thin and very short velvet ribbon straps. There were padded crinoline bust pads (which I removed) tacked to the inside. The top wraps around the body and snaps closed in the back. There is also a long drape attached to the end near the bird’s backside. This drape could either hang down or wrap around to the front and snap in place. An awkward design to say the least.
In the photos above you can see how the back drape could swing over the shoulder to the front and snap in place. This was not easily worn. My solution was to stitch the drape in place along the front shoulder/neckline and then wrap the end of the drape to the back side and stitch in place to the drape along the back inside edge, thus creating a “sleeve” on one side.
The back snaps were then adjusted to fit my size. Moving and restitching snaps is a pretty quick and easy fix.
Next up was to change the straps. I removed the ribbon pieces an gathering on the top edges of the halter neck.
After the straps were removed, I folded the top edge of each side in half (velvet on inside) and made a pleat down the middle to reduce the width. This gave a cleaner finish than the gathering.
I wanted the straps to be more dramatic as well as more functional. I had just enough silk charmeuse left over from my trousers to create long tapering straps. They were cut about 24” long , 5” wide at the bottom and 3 1/2” at the top. I sewed down the side and bottom end and then turned them right side out. Instant Glamour!
The straps were then sewn to the the top with the pleats pressed to create a box pleat. I sewed right sides together, leaving enough of the strap to tuck inside and cover the seam allowance. This was then stitched in place.
I really LOVE this outfit and feel sure that 2022 will give me another opportunity to wear it. Until then, I have lots of other projects in mind that I can’t wait to share with you. I have a bit of a learning curve ahead of me since my mom was such a willing and capable photographer. I am so lucky!
Until next time, Happy Sewing!
xo Jennifer
