Changeling...

I had been wanting to see Changeling since it was out in theaters. I finally got around to it on DVD. It's a very very good film but I don't know if I could watch it again...so sad. Angelina Jolie deserved her Oscar nod. As Christine Collins she's submissive, soft-spoken and highly emotional (the epitome of what men viewed women to be back then). Amazing acting all the way. I'm glad she stuck it to the LAPD for being assholes. I do love Jeffrey Donovan in "Burn Notice" and it was nice to see him play the bad guy and trust me he's a very bad guy.

Oh and also, I want every single one of Jolie's dresses. (I just wish I could fins more pics where they weren't covered by coats or aprons!)

Hey waves, long time no see!

Pay no attention to the stray bangs. Naughty bangs!

If you could hear me squeal...

NEW PATTERNS!
Looka those bows on the side! Could you just die! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

The two pleated dresses...

And I'm done!The last one isn't supposed to be that long. The skirt is supposed to attach to an undress which seems superfluous to me so I just attached it to the top. The end result is the dress is quite long but it wasn't so bad when I put on the shoes so I think I'll keep it that way.

Movies...

I watched The Cat's Meow which is a supposition of the events which occurred on W.R. Hearst's boat. This movie is by no mean's a happy story. It's about jealously, infidelity, lies, sex and booze (or everything that made the 1920s possible). None of the costumes struck me except for Marion Davies's (Kirsten Dunst's) nautical outfit.

Though I find Dunst adorable she doesn't posses that old Hollywood glamour.


Next I rewatched Bullets Over Broadway. This is the movie that made me love Woody Allen. I pretty much want every costume in this movie. What sucks is there are zero net pictures of all their rehearsal dresses. I'll see what I can do to get some up here.

I bought this pattern:And I plan on making this with it:

In other sewing news, I started putting together the pleated dress I cut out. I hate hate hate pleats. Ugh. I washed that old ripped pink dress from my very early posts and bought some beautiful pink linen fabric to make it up. It's currently drying and then I can take it apart. I cut out the green bustle effect dress and didn't have enough fabric so I'm going back to the fabric store. I hope they still have it.

Stop...buying...shoes...

The listing says these are fuchsia. They look red to me so I guess we'll be taking them to the fabric store.

Update...

• I completed one dress this weekend.
• I made another version of the previous pattern.
• One dress is hanging and waiting to be hemmed, probably tomorrow.
• Once it's hemmed I will iron on the flower transfer for beading.
  
• I cut out the dragonfly coat (can't do it until I figure out Bernina).
• Cut out another damn pleated dress.
• Cut out a handkerchief hem dress.
• Bought fabric to make 2 dresses to go with the Re-mix shoes. I heart green.
  
• A lot of the black and red beading done (90% complete).

Since this week is a short week (thanks Presidents!) I have about a week and a half of non repeaters. So that means I don't really HAVE to make anything until next weekend. But will I? Who knows? I like to sew and I'm kicking butt on these 20s patterns!

Scallops...

I don't wanna talk about it.
P.S. - It's not crooked. I'm standing with one hip thrust up. Why? I don't know.

New news...

Remember this pattern?

Remember that beautiful fabric a couple posts back with embroidery and sequins?

I do love how this dress turned out. It's quite flattering for a 1920s dress!

In other news I bought this dragonfly brocade for the train coat with the tassels and the funktastic collar. You know I love this fabric so much I just might throw on the tassels! Also, I haven't bought them yet but JoAnn's has this Vintage button series. I found some great 1920s ones that I'm gonna buy for the coat. Ooh how exciting!


With this new fabric I have five dresses in the works! Yikes! I best get goin'! Now if only my shoes would get here!

Today...

I bet you can't tell this is the same dress from Monday! ;) This time even the shoes are from Target!

"Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well..."

Here's a better view and fun with skulls!

Today's outfit...

It's entirely from Target (save for the shoes which are from Wal-Mart). No kidding. I bought this dropped waist dress a few years back for a Gatsby party and the sweater last week. They call these "Boyfriend Cardigans." But damn if they don't look 1920s to me! I got one in black too but they have other colors as well.


I also bought some fabric on Sunday and I have reserved it for a pattern that's waiting for me at the post office.Sequins and embroidery! Win/win! (I wish it wasn't so hard to see. It is lovely.)

Catastrophe Update...

Dear dress,

I love you now that you don't suck!

Sincerely,
PinkI know that's not the best of poses. Maybe I'll take a better one tomorrow when I wear this (provided it's not hailing). At the advice of Nikki (thanks doll!) I made a belt which is attached at the side seams and only ties in the back as not to detract from the cool strip/buttons in the front. I also shortened the hem quite a bit and threw in some heels for posterity. ;)

Why I HATE this dress...

It's not odd of me to hate something I've made. I can't tell you how many projects have ended up in the trash. But the truth is I really do like this dress a whole lot; I just hate the length. I have shortened almost every 20s dress I make. Long dresses make me look frumpy since I'm a shorty (hence the always heeled shoe). Just look at where the hem falls! At my socks! This dress was a huge pain in the ass. I made soooooooooooo many mistakes. Here's a list:

1. Didn't buy enough buttons, had to go to 2 JoAnn's.
2. Cut the yoke off because I didn't think I needed it and that in turn made the sleeves and the collar wrong.
3. Once I figured out the yoke and sewed on the sleeves the pattern was facing the WRONG direction on one of the sleeves. Had to buy an extra yard of fabric to fix the sleeves.
4. TOO LONG!
5. Bought the wrong kind of ribbon for the belt! Had to sub white which I think looks terrible!

I can't write anymore! *sob*

Needless to say I'll be shortening this dress as well. Just not right now as I'm just cooling down from the Sears catastrophe and I'm also getting over a nasty sinus infection. I have one outfit to wear tomorrow that's not a repeater. Another when my shoes get here and two in the queue. I'll probably fix it Monday depending on how I feel being back at work. I'll keep you updated on this yuck.

Naughty...

Does tax season make anyone else naughty or is it just me? The sewing machine bit the dust again. This is the third time and it's been at the Sears repair shop twice. My mom thinks it may have run its course. It's older than me she says. Talk about the end of an era. So I guess its back to the Bernina which is a bugger because I haven't figured out how to get the zig-zag stitches back so I can do buttonholes. I have the manual. It's no help at all because I've done what they said and it's still not working. I guess it's fine if I don't need to do buttons.

Anyway, I came across this seller on eBay while doing the regular 20s searches. She makes modern reproductions of 20s dresses some with awesometastic beading. I can't at this juncture justify the $130 price tag for just one beaded dress. (That Rich Dad guy says you don't become rich by saving money.) Maybe another time as it's still on the old watch list. Right now I figured I'd get more wear out of the day dresses as I can wear those to work and don't have much occasion for evening wear. Sad huh?

This is what I bought:
Looka that big obnoxious flower on the side! Isn't it great!

One more shoe...

Just about anyone who wears vintage thinks that Re-Mix shoes are the quintessential vintage piece. I, however, cannot justify spending $150+ on a pair of shoes. This is coming from someone who has never owned a pair of Manolo Blahniks. Imagine my surprise when I find Re-Mix shoes on amazon.com for a fraction of the price. So I bought these:


They're described on their website as late 20s early 30s and they look like the shoes Catherine Zeta-Jones wears during "All That Jazz" in Chicago (albeit in silver). From the looks of it I got the last pair in my size as they only have the brown/black left which are slightly more. Anyway, I paid $45 which included shipping since Amazon does the free shipping! I can't wait to make something to go with 'em!

Beef...

I just saw the movie Leatherheads. It is set in 1925. I thought "Oh great new outfit ideas!" I thought wrong. I was quite disappointed with the costume choices for Renee Zellweger. There was only one outfit I felt that was period appropriate for her. This is quite boggling because she's been in another 1920s movie, Chicago, anyone? She was dressed period correct in that one. In Leatherheads, however, it seemed as if her character was from the future (the 1930s future) wearing extremely high waisted dresses, skirts and jackets. Her hats were great but her hair was too long and most of the time it was pinned back or tucked under her hats. What also strikes me as odd was that the women around her (extras) were all dressed in period appropriate attire. The movie was cute but I was mad at the costumer for most of the flick. Was it just the costumer's way of showing Renee's character was just way ahead of her time? Who knows?

The one I liked:

One more...

I'm starting to think the only surviving Butterick patterns in my size from the 20s are pleated dress patterns. Grr!

More patterns...

I've been dying to get my hands on these for some time:
My favorites are the bustle dress and the big foofy one. Yay new patterns!

SHOES!

I'm pretty sure I have a shoe fetish. Last time I counted I had over fifty pairs. And someone said to me the other day "You wear a different pair of shoes every day." To which I replied "So?"

Anyway, I just bought three pairs of 1920s style shoes:





The last two I bought in those funky colors on purpose. They had brown and black. (Can you imagine me making a face whilst typing this.) I bought blue and red so I would have to make new outfits to go with 'em! Sometimes I sew better if I have a shoe purpose in mind.

What makes me more sad?

The fact that this is $1200 or the fact that the bust is 4 inches too small?

New pattern...

I only had to outbid one person!

New pattern...

It's funky! And I think that's the reason no one outbid me on it. ;)


Aren't those sleeves tremendous?!?! Mine won't look exactly like the picture. First of all, I don't plan on having those silly tassels hanging from the sleeves. In addition, no pockets and no rope belt. Also, I may leave off the collar. All of those changes might make this wearable in public!

Too hot...

I swear it was too hot today for this one (75º in Phoenix). Close to the end of the day I was sweating. This is a homespun fabric which I think means "makes you sweat."
This is the most long waisted of all the 20s dresses I have. Looking at the pattern again I'm certain it's supposed to be this way. It just feels weird.

The repair...

This is the dress I showed you a few posts back. Remember it orginally had short sleeves. Well I finally got a longer slip today so I could at least model it for you. This is not the ideal slip if I were to wear this out. I'd want one more 20s styled. Anyway, see no weirdness on the sleeves.