Vintage Wedding Dress and MonoChromaticism

Stiff tulle and shiny satin - first in white and now in black?



Anyone would think this was a production of the ballet Swan Lake. Which reminds me of an old joke ... Odette is the white swan - Odile is the black swan and then there is a grey swan called ... Oh Dear. erk!


But I digress - these are not tutus but their close relative - big petticoats for 50's frocks. Seems everyone wants one at the moment - even our cat!
The black is for a black circular skirt that I've altered for a client - the white was for my recent bride; that vintage dress make-over I've blogged about previously and now that her wedding has been - I can show you all that make-over involved.

BEFORE: dress from the early 1950s, nylon fabric with all-over embroidery of clover leaves over nasty acetate - the nylon was quite grey, the acetate had gone a slightly pink beige. The original frock had wide straps (tucked inside in that photo) a very strangely shaped bodice and huge circle ++ skirt - but no petticoat so sad and limp. And that bodice fitted not at all and nowhere!

AFTER: unfortunately I have no decent photos of the finished frock on the bride - just a quick click at a fitting

here it is on on the mannequin. After washing and much soaking I got the fabrics as white as possible - the nylon brightened considerably. I completely re-made the bodice, mounting the fragile nylon onto a new, very boned bodice of thick satin - this worked as a corset and achieved the 1950's figure.

We kept the original slightly dropped waistline, adding a black silk sash - with the zip being in the side seam that pussy-cat bow is permanent (lots of costumier's trickery here!) The bride wanted a massive bell-shaped skirt - and with 12m of stiff tulle ... that's what she got :-)












I also made her a veil - all frilly and fluted with lots of fishing line - again no photo on the bride - but at the front it fell to her shoulders, nearly reaching the bow on the dress at the back.
It all fell from a comb with a simple little tiara-ette I made from diamantes.

Sweet pretty things

White satin and stiff white tulle ...
has to be either a tutu OR something Bridal - and it is the latter. Am working on a vintage wedding dress - practically a complete re-make - and that is part of the petticoat. Petticoats are great things and they can work miracles - this one is helping to turn a sad old nylon frock into something very pretty and "ballerina". And the long Ballet costume would've been this frock's original inspiration. Another lesson in the importance of underpinnings!

I've also been knitting lots of head-wear of late - this beret for myself and made to match a micro-cardigan I'd made from the same yarns - Colinette yarns "Iona" and "Giotto" - my own pattern, the tip is a series of wedges using lots of short-rows.













Unfortunately, my daughter has adopted / acquired / stolen the micro cardigan ... well it did look great on her (big sigh!) so now I have the beret and nothing to wear it with. Does this sound like a good excuse to purchase more Colinette yarn so I can make myself another cardigan ?

Last week I found some inexpensive angora yarn in Lincraft - Amazing! angora is usually completely unaffordable which is sad as I have lots of lovely vintage knitting patterns for the soft fluffy bunny stuff ... so when I saw this reasonably priced angora - decent quality - limited range of colours except in purple (there were 3 shades of purple - fine by me!) well I pounced and as there has been a mini baby boom in our street with 2 new little girls in less than 3weeks ... Perfect.

Out came the vintage patterns and this one is done except for the ribbons -Excuse the yellow balloon - was the closest approximation to a baby's head I could find! The pattern says to knit it in plain ole' stocking stitch which is boring - so I used a lace stitch called "cloisters".
I do love a bonnet with a pie-crust flange at the back like that - makes them look very Victorian :-)






The 2nd bonnet is (so-far) following the pattern almost exactly ...