To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3

Friday, July 29, 2016

Mama's 1898 Hat and the Beginnings of Her Bodice!


Good Friday to you all!  I hope you all are having a great start to your weekend, and I hope all of my costuming friends who are currently at Costume College are having a blast!!  I soooooooo cannot wait to see all the pictures of all of your wonderful outfits!

As I am in a holding pattern with my dress, I have started on my portion of Mama's "Mother of the Bride" dress.  She is making her skirt, I am making her bodice and have completed her chapeaux!  I am so very giddy with delight with Mom's dress and the fabric that was found on eBay!  There is quite a bit left, so I may have to swipe if from her and make something for me!  Bwahahahahaha....

Below are images of her new hat.  I have had the faaaabulous feathers for years and we used them as ball/evening gown hair adornment for many events, but the call to use them for this hat was very strong.  I had found a 1950/60s hat at an antique store a while back that was covered with the exact same color blue as the fabric for Mom's dress so it was dismantled for this 1890s hat.  I also had in my stash a blue ribbon in the same color family, but a wee bit darker.  It was left over from when I made the first round of Royal Family Orders back in 2014.  (See?  My vow to become a tidy hoarder is paying off already!!)  The vintage straw hat was also in my stash and just needed a new steaming and shaping on the brim.  Voila!  Mother of the Bride hat was born!!!  

Inspiration for the hat came from several sources.  The ribbon treatment came from Charmaine Zoe's Marvelous Melange flickr account.  I loved how the ribbon was softly folded on itself over and over again.  So, I went ahead and did just that!



A reminder of the inspiration for Mom's dress.  Instead of the 5 rows of lace on the skirt, we are doing only 3.  As mom says, "If I do all 5 rows, that top row will reach my arm pits!"  hahahahahahaha!!!  Ok, here's the inside joke...Mom is only 5' 2"!  Soooooo....only 3 rows it will be!  Oh, and I did a reversal of colors on the hat, because Mom said (and I quote), "Are you going to put those stupid orange colored flowers on my hat?"  She doesn't much like orange.  Like, not at all and blue is her favorite color.  So as to please Mama, blue flowers it was!




I LOVED all the blue carnations that were on the vintage hat!  There were so very many!



Sweet ruffled, tipped up back!  That was a very long process to do, but I think it was worth it!





Those feathers make me so happy!



I love using true vintage silk flowers.  They are soft and flow-y and not hard like our modern made flowers....



The beginning of the bodice.

Mom and I went to JoAnn's yesterday to find some lovely lace to do the yoke and lower sleeves and were rewarded with just what we were looking for!


I so cannot wait to see this on my Mama!!!



This is some of the nicest lace I have ever seen at JoAnn's.  It looks very much like Chantilly lace.  It is a very soft white overlaid onto an ivory matte satin. 


For the collar, belt and bows, we found a nice bridal weight satin with a wee bit of shine!



The two dresses chatting away in my room!  I can't wait for them to be worn!!

For the torso part of Mom's bodice, I'm altering Butterick 5970 to make it less Edwardian and more 1898!

Ok, now to wait for Mom to come for a fitting tomorrow.  Let's hope all goes well!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend my friends!

Be Blessed!

g

11 comments:

  1. Okay, I don't know how it can be possible, but each post about the wedding outfits gets better and better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D That hat is absolutely gorgeous, and I can just see it on your mom! It will be so perfect for her. And that dress?!?!!!!! Good night, is it beautiful!!!!! The lace yoke is sooo pretty (I love that lace too, and actually also have a plan for something 1890s to make with it!), and the blue floral is scrumptious. Oh my, I can't wait to see the whole dress, three ruffles and all!! ;)
    Have fun sewing and fitting! I just love that you and your mom both love historical fashions and sewing. It is so much fun to see!! :)

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    1. Ooooooh!!! I can't wait to see your 1890s outfit! What fun! I cut my costuming teeth on the '90s and they will always have a special place in my heart! Thank you so much for your lovely compliments! They are so very much appreciated! And guess what? Mom has gone ahead and put all 5 ruffles on the skirt! Hilarious! Today she comes over for her final fitting and hopefully a photo shoot! Huzzah!
      Blessings!
      g

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  2. I'll just second everything Esther said! That will make my comment short and sweet. :) Love, love, love it all, Gina! Why do you have to be all the way out west when I'm in MN?!?! ;)

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    1. Thank you so very much Sarah! It has been quite a long haul for this project and I'm happy to be almost at the end! We need to come up with a worm hole so we can visit each other and other places!
      Blessings!
      g

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  3. Hi! Your bridal project looks better and better in every post, cna't wait to see you both all dressed up :) Now, about the details, as a beginner costumer, could you make a post in the future about how you shirred so puffily the yoke of the bridal gown? And how you treated the straw hat's back that flouncily? (If the original wasn't flouncy at all and you did it, looks great!) Greetings from Hungary, have a nice weekend :)

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    1. Thank you so much Melinda! It has been quite the long, drawn out project and I'm happy it's almost over! When everything is all over with, I will do a tutorial on the shirring of the chiffon for you! If I haven't gotten around to it in a timely manner, will you please remind me to do so? Have a wonderful week!
      Blessings!
      g

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  4. What gorgeous feathers, Gina! I want them!!! :) 90s hats are so silly and fun!

    Best,
    Quinn

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    1. Aren't they wonderful! I need more fabulous feathers....And yes, those hats of the 90s were quite silly!
      Blessings!
      g

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  5. Beautiful colors and extraordinary shaping on the hat! Perfection!!

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    1. Thank you so very much Jeanette! I hope you are doing well!
      Blessings!
      g

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  6. Those red feathers are to die for! And perfect for pulling out the color in her dress.
    Can I be your Barbie doll?
    Val

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