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The 1930's is a fashion decade of great variety and significant firsts. In particular, women's wardrobe choices seemed limitless from new-fangled suits and sportswear to décolletage evening gowns. The 'official' street trouser and the natural waistline as we now know them were first established. This is a sewing pattern challenge to create men’s or women’s garments from 1930’s EvaDress patterns. Accessories (hats, bags, etc.) are not counted as an individual project, but may accompany garments in a submission. Participants may each enter more than one project for this challenge.Projects may not be started earlier than 12:01 a.m. EST on January 1,...

Emily at Pretty and the Kitsch was so kind to host an interview featuring my patterns.  Check it out!  

Think of the ever popular 1929 Evening Gown with Handkerchief Hem as origami in dressmaking. When sewing this design together, you will 'flip' the Lower Back and Side piece after joining it with the Front piece at notch '4'.  This ensures the piece will fold and drape to create sharp points in the hem as well as bring notch '6' in the upper edge of the Lower Back and Side piece to align with that on the Girdle.  Hopefully this paper mock-up demonstrates the point (pun intended):   Here is a creative twist put on this design as sewn by a...

This week’s pattern tour covers the Katharine Hepburn Ensemble pattern. It was 10 years ago I wrote the six-page article, ‘Working with Vintage Patterns’ for Threads Magazine focusing on this scarce pattern. It’s commemorative. So here is… Howard Greer designed the dress, jacket and hat ensemble Katharine Hepburn wore in her first starring role in RKO’s ‘Christopher Strong’ (1933). The costuming a great filmic narrative; in this case, she wears the kimono jacket with cut-away shoulders at the time she is really opening up with her love for Christopher. The dress underneath is a simple A-line yet touched with sophistication...

It was tough to evaluate the entries in the EvaDress Patterns Fabulous Forties Challenge because they were, well so fab! Lil from Oz took the finalist spot for her versatile ensemble of the 1945 high-waist trousers and 1945 beach tops! While she said she did not consider herself as a ‘1940s’, Lil sure pulled it off using a lovely combination of linen, wool and flowers! Extra meaningful, the trousers and braces are in lightweight wool from her mother’s cache of fabrics. She re-sized the trousers (currently a single-size pattern) to fit and added fun contrasting pockets. The inside scoop: plain...