I certainly didn’t want to duplicate those football sleeves on Samantha’s earlier dress, so I was trying to figure out how I was going to finish off the bottom half. I have a couple of 1905 McCall’s Fashion magazines with the illustrations of lots of children’s dress patterns in them, so I turned to them for help… These are a couple of ideas I saw…
I decided I was going to make them narrow at the wrist area with a pretty long cuff. I’ve never made them close like this, but I sort of copied the way I think American Girl does theirs… snag free and soft Velcro is attached to one half and then the other half is sewn to the other side. I think you can tell what I did. It makes for a really neat and tidy cuff that is easier to close than snaps would have been. They were decorated with my last 2 ivory buttons and more vintage lace.
There are just a few tiny gathers in the front part of Samantha’s dress which is then attached to the midriff band. My light wasn’t positioned right so you could see the little bit of pouf at the waist, but I’ll show you in the next post…
Nyssa is still giving Samantha some “looks” and I think it’s all because Samantha is “up staging” her… She still looks pretty sitting there in the background. Don’t forget, her listing ends Sunday evening… You can see it HERE.
Since you’re looking…Caroline’s dress ends Sunday evening too, and you can see it HERE.
Well, that’s all I managed to get done, sewing wise!
Have a wonderful weekend.
See you Monday,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, Jeanne, those sleeves will be perfect, well, they already are! I don’t think a bit of that “tamer” Velcro is bad at all, and yes, they make the sleeves fit and look better than snaps would. That is the perfect solution for those kinds of sleeves to get rid of the so called”football shoulders”! This dress is going to be so pretty! I can just see Samantha sitting prettily at a table having dainty pieces of watermelon and sipping lemonade, while fanning herself with a lace fan!
As far as finding the picture of me in my Gunne Sax dress, I have yet to find the time. But tomorrow I may well be able to since we are going to have snow overnight and into tomorrow, like you probably will too. I’ll be stuck inside for sure! We will be going to church this afternoon, instead of tomorrow, since a lot of churches will cancel services. What a winter we have had!
Hi Linda,
When you mentioned “watermelon” I realized, the color probably could be called that… watermelon. That is a very good color to call it…
I had tons of Gunne Saxe dresses back when I wore them. I wish I had more pictures of me in them. I LOVED their styles. I wish they’d come back in style…I’d like to wear one again.
I hope you find your picture. If not, you’ll have fun going down memory lane looking for it!?
I hope the snow passes over us both this time!
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
Can’t wait to see the finished dress, so pretty. Do you think the width of the bodice shoulders make a difference? The Edwardian mutton sleeves like Gibson girls usually seem to have narrower shoulderstop seams but pouf from the very top of the shoulder unlike the dropped shoulder of earlier styles. If only I sewed as much as I look at pictures, lol. Can’t wait for the next post.
Hi Dorothy,
I looked at lots of pictures of Edwardian dresses and then turned to my magazines..I saw a little of both bodice widths…I did, in the end, move my shoulder seam over about 1/4″ to make the bodice slightly more narrow. I think the next dress I do like this, I’ll move it maybe another 1/4″ and see how that looks.
I added the sleeve header to lift the gathers up, but because they were farther out on her shoulder. It didn’t work exactly as I had hoped.
Since my lace and buttons were already sewn on, I decided to move on.
Maybe I should remove te sleeve headers and stuff them with tulle… they’d be lighter weight and maybe stand up more…hmm…something to think about…
Thanks for getting me thinking, Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne
I can’t believe that it poured all night yet again. They just opened up the flooded river area yesterday so people could start cleaning up the silt. Won’t make it any easier for them.
The overhanging waist vintage photos remind me of Pollyanna. 🙂 The dress is jumping right along. Cute. Interesting comment from Dorothy about the shoulder seams.
To comment from yesterday, Susette lives in southern CA. I’m in northern CA, an hour north of San Francisco. I would suspect at least 8 hours or so apart through traffic and a possible snow covered Grapevine pass. Maybe 450 miles?
Hope you and Linda don’t get too much snow. Must be getting old. 🙂
Hi Joy,
Boy, everyone’s weather is a bit crazy right now. I’m so sorry for all the flooding…snow melts and goes away. Water ruins…
I just answered Dorothy…you’ll have to read my comments. I might have to do a little changeup!!
It’s too bad you and Susette are so far away from each other…
I like Linda’s comment below…?
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
And I’m even older. Going to have a very old birthday next month. Bah…..
Waaaaaaa!!!
Yes, Joy, I am getting old! Not so sure about Jeanne, though!
Hi Linda,
I’m getting old too AND the snow is getting old too!!
~Jeanne
Love all the sleeve pictures! As Dorothy said, I need to sew more than I look at pictures. The vintage pictures are so inspirational and really get the ideas percolating. Samantha’s sleeves look great with the wide cuffs.
Well, no snow here, but I’m totally tired of the rain. The dogs and I did a 5k “Doggy Dash” this morning, and I was so happy it was clear. A little foggy, but not raining.
Hi Carolyn
I’m glad you enjoyed seeing some pictures from my 1905 magazine. I got to looking at it and found a chocolate candy recipe that looked really delicious!
Congrats!! on running your 5K this morning! Good for you!! Hope the snow stays away!
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you, you very generous people for your compliments yesterday. Which brings me to OLD. There is a time to every purpose (unto heaven) – let’s be glad for what we still have and can do.
I loved the photo of Jeanne’s Rebecca in the Antique Store I bet she dropped straight down, and jumped right up again too. We’ve all been there and done that and now we can’t. Rebecca’s hair is thick and a glorious colour, ours isn’t anymore. You have a great day of rejoicing on your big birthday Joy.
The watermelon dress sleeves are looking good, cuffs are beautiful. Dorothy hit the nail on the head with with the suggestion about the sleeve beginning mid shoulder. Too late for this dress but something to think about another time.
Enjoy your day, whatever the weather.
Hi Jane
I received an email from someone complimenting “me” on how nice I looked in 1975…oops…guess they should have read it more closely!!
I AM very thankful for what I can do these days! Not as limber a Rebecca, for sure, but still okay!!
I think you’ll be surprised at how sweet the dress looks with the waist cinched in…its looking very nice!! Samantha is smiling…
They say we as re supposed to get snow late tonight and into tomorrow morning, but I’m hoping they are wrong… :o)
Thanks Jane,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
I’m loving the start of this dress. The sleeve’s are perfection! Everything matches up perfectly, certainly no easy task. Nyssa’s dress is darling, I’m so happy to see someone has already bid on it.
Ladies we are all getting old(er). All the yucky weather we are all getting needs to just go away! I for one am ready for spring and summer to come our way. Unfortunately more snow in the forecast for Western New York.
Enjoy your Saturday evening and Sunday everyone.
Hugs
Ingrid
Hi Ingrid,
I’ve been missing you…glad to see you back!
Thank you for your kind compliments on the dresses I’ve made…I wish sometimes that my life would let me be in my sewing room more often, but I’ll just take any time I can get!!
I hope your snow doesn’t get TOO deep!!
Thanks Ingrid,
Blessings, Jeanne