Claire Kennedy Design

Christina

It's hard to keep quiet and hold tight after I've finished a gown till the wedding, but it's been my habit not to show or talk about the gown (with anyone but the family - I have to talk to them!!!), before the wedding so that the bride gets to make a "wow" entrance.  This is not my normal way - I'm usually so excited about the gown it's hard to keep shut - and then after they've done down the isle - I get to show them!!!

And nothing is more fun than the heirloom bridal gown. This gown was the bride's maternal grandmother-in-law's bridal gown, probably from the 40's. Knowing the design (see my blog about pre WWII blog about the use of fabric), it was more like after the war.  Dresses of this period had intricate detail and beautiful beading.

The upper bodice was a cut out net, backed with an organza with the cut-out design trimmed in pearls. There were buttons on the sleeves that fit tightly around the wrist and lower arms.  As is common in these designs there is a puff in the sleeve even if it is small.  The sleeve also has a lot of ease in the elbow. These are the kinds of design fitting techniques that were common before the era of stretch. The gown also had a front inset piece that was the length of the dress, which meant that the length had to be fit from top to bottom - no waist line to fit or use as an alteration. Brides today require a close fit as most of the girls are used to knits, spandex, lycra and all the stretch that is available in fashion today.

This dress was not fit that way. Back in the 50's there were very few stretch fabrics - mostly knits - and designers actually fit "real" women's bodies. (The film "The Women"  was a testament to the different shapes of women's bodies that were fit all beautifully and all by Edith Head).

Understanding what the designer had originally intended and knowing what the girls like today, it was fairly easy to see where this bride wanted to go with this dress as she walks down the isle. The main thing to remember when altering heirloom gowns is that they are not only delicate due to the age of the fabric and threads, but the client usually likes the basic design and fit.  Some structural alterations that didn't destroy the design of the dress as well as a few fitting darts, made this a perfect gown for this bride.

It was a lot of fun to work with this lovely bride and this heirloom gown.

Scuba Doo Rag re-doo - Still a Freebie

After some work with this pattern there are a few tweaks that are in order.  Here's the new re-doo of the SDR.  I confess, that when I use a pattern for the first time, I've done it for so long, that I know where the standard notches and markings should be and so I don't mark all that may be on the pattern - only the ones that mean anything to me.  So I depend upon my students and first-timers to remind me of the basics of pattern markings.

Here then is a "re-doo" of the Scuba Doo Rag or SDR from the original version.

This is much the same with better markings and better instructions, hopefully, and again I depend upon my newbies to help make this an even easier pattern to use.

There are a number of solutions here:

1. The tie piece has been reversed for a better flow on the headband piece
2. The markings for the curved head piece and the top piece are new
3. These new markings match the already existing "side seam" markings which are newly labeled.
4. The new pdf file also has a very simple layout and assemblage diagram on p. 5.

This brings up a number of inherent problems with the scuba cap and a couple of number of suggestions for improvement.

• The natural layout of the center top piece means that either the front piece or the back tail will be upside down.  This new pattern has a seam allowance on the front piece, if you so desire to match this so that the front is right side up and the tail is right side up.

A couple of additions from users of the cap:

• The ties should be longer so that it is easier to tie - possibly in a bow
• The tail should be extended so that girls with long hair have a pocket to carry it.

Syndi - here are some suggestion on the SDR.  I've done some extra markings on there that will help, but if you make it a different size, you really can't reduce the pattern evenly.  You have to grade it.  What I would do is do 1/2" seams when you sew the the curve cap side pieces to the top cap piece, and sew the darts at a 1/2" seam....then attach the headband piece to the tie piece at 3/8" seam, then attach that headband/tie piece to the cap pieces at 3/8" seam...turn seams at 3/8" and finish it off.

Here's a pict of how to finish this off if it helps:
It's easier if you turn up the seam between the ties & tail, then turn the tail, then turn the inside tie, bottom of tie and then last the outside tie piece.  Hopefully this makes sense...if not post here and I'll answer best I can.

Other than these, the new pattern can be followed exactly like the old one.  In addition to the new pattern here, here is also a file for assemblage which can be printed out and used.

Enjoy