Aaaaand I'm back... again...with a Cocktail Dress!

Hello my lovelies. I'm sitting here with a cup of tea in hand and kicking myself. I haven't posted to A Few Threads Loose since November! Bad Blogger, bad! Time really got away from me this winter. Between work (busier than ever) and the exhaustion that follows chronic pain like a big, wet, rain cloud, I've been hiding under a rock for months. To top it off, all of my friends moved away. All of them. Living at a military post can get rough and having all of your friends move away comes with the territory, but I've never quite gotten used to it. Being a military wife can be a lonely job, let me tell you.
But I'm back, out from under my rock, and trying. Trying to focus on what I love, which is this vintage/sewing/blogging/ pattern drafting world of mine, and not on the loneliness, pain, and exhaustion I've been stuck with these last few months. As my late mother's favorite and mortifying saying goes, "I'm putting my big girl panties on and getting over it.". Oy, still mortifying... some things never change.

I only worked on one sewing project while I was away. It was something that I told myself I didn't even need to blog about - it would be just for me, it wouldn't be work, it wouldn't be a sew-along or a tutorial and I didn't have to try. But it felt so good to get something so right that I just had to share. No tutorials, just a pretty, pretty dress.

The pattern is a massive adaptation of my #3015 French Cocktail Dress Pattern.

In fact, I re-drafted much of the back of the dress (for fit) and some of the front to get the look I was going for, so the only thing that's the same is all of the pleating and draping at the front! The dress was for our holiday party in December. My husband came home and gave me a month's advanced warning (bless him) instead of the usual week I get if I'm lucky to plan an outfit for these things. It was time to sew!

And please pardon my photos, thanks to El Niño, my studio is the darkest room in the land. But hey, I'm not complaining or anything. I love the rain!

The bodice has these great pleats that get stitched in place and then joined to a sleeve piece pleated to match. I pulled out all the stops, using every couture technique in the book to make this baby luxurious, and just as pretty on the inside.

The hip at one side features a really interesting pleat detail where the pleats are first made horizontally, a couple more are added vertically and then they are sewn together to simulate a side seam.

Now on Lusty Lulu the back zipper had a strange pucker at the top that I couldn't seem to sort out. But luckily, when I was wearing it went away and fit like a glove. Literally, like a glove, and I think I might have made it a bit too fitted in the hips because sitting was a tricky affair, even with the vent at the back hem.

The side that doesn't have pleat details instead has a v-shaped inset, which was cool enough in print but would look really neat in a contrasting solid on another dress.

The dress was completely interlined (meaning each pattern piece was lined and basted together to form one layer, changing the stiffness and drape of my original cotton).
I think from now on I might underline every dress I ever make again. It was a bit time consuming but hand-basting everything together was so relaxing, and having my pleats perfectly marked out on my lining pieces made the process so much easier than trying to find markings on all that print.
I also added a silk taffeta waist-stay which took some of the pressure off of the zipper and made for an even better fit.

Ultimately, I was absolutely thrilled with how it fit, no one at our holiday party was wearing anything like it and I felt like a million bucks in this dress! My husband was really amazing too. I worked for weeks on this dress, making 6 test muslins before I got the pattern perfect (ugh, so much muslin!) and to make sure that he "looked good enough to be seen next to a killer couture dress" (his exact words) he went out and bought a suit and had it tailored. I was next to 6 feet and 3 inches of James Bond in a black suit all night and was really touched by his gesture. He is NOT a suit man, and buying a suit was his way of saying "I love you."
Also, he's insanely gorgeous so that helps :)
He's shy so I don't usually blog about him much, but in case you're curious, he was sweet enough to model my flight cap pattern a few years ago... sigh... I'm crazy about that man.

But enough about me. What have you all been doing since we last chatted? Have you been sewing? Cooked anything good lately? I miss you guys!

Happy sewing,

The Perfect Christmas Party Dress

It's now that time of year. The time of year when I start thinking about Christmas (I like to get an early start) and what I'll sew to wear at the annual Christmas party. I have a tradition of always either wearing something vintage or something that I've sewn.

I like this tradition. I'm always dressed a bit more uniquely than the other ladies (who also look quite lovely themselves) and it presents the challenge of balance.

As a vintage lover and seamstress, the balance between unique and flat out DIFFERENT is always a fun line for me to walk. As much as I love vintage, I never try to replicate an era completely. I always look for that subtle blend of vintage and timeless, mixing eras, accessories and hairstyles.

Take last Christmas, for example. I wore an amazing 1950's lace dress with a pink petticoat underneath, but paired it with a modern red belt and current hairstyle:

This year I think my sewing plans will lean more towards the cocktail dress, both vintage AND handmade.
I give you, dear readers, my Christmas party cocktail dress:

I just recently finished digitizing, translating and generally improving the vintage original so that the average English-speaking seamstress could enjoy it too. I put the finishing touches on the graphics for this gem and thought... I have to wear this!
How convenient that it was Christmas inspired over 50 years ago, just so that I could rock vintage at the next party?

French Cocktail Dress Digital Pattern for Instant Download.

The pattern calls for velvet, but let's face it, the sky is the limit! What fabric do you think I should choose?

A Christmas Party Dress

Well I have been waiting about a week now for the sun to come out long enough for me to take decent pictures of the finished Pauline Slip. You wouldn't believe how dark it gets here in the winter, and how impossible it is to take pictures in the "energy efficient" low lighting in most Norwegian homes.
It's frustrating. And I'm still waiting for the sun.

In other news, we went to our squadron Christmas party last night and I had a blast! I wore the most amazing vintage 1950's lace dress my excellent mother gave me a few years ago.

Thanks Mom! To make the full gathered skirt stand out more a la June Cleaver, I wore a great pastel pink crinoline underneath. It was scratchy, but boy was it fun to wear!

The kitty thought it was great fun and was doing everything in his power to play with the net ruffles every chance he got.

The dress had two labels, one reading "Townley" and the other "Montaldos". I felt like the bell of the ball in this dress. First I was worried about staying within the fine line of vintage, but updated. I got over it after the first few dozen compliments. I love to add vintage to my wardrobe, but I don't like to have my whole outfit to be from the same decade.
Does that make any sense?

Do any of you have grand outfits planned for Christmas parties?