Here at Last - The Art Deco Preservation Ball

Well, the day of the ball arrived and I was prepared! This year's theme was Death on The Nile (the Agatha Christie Murder Mystery) with a focus on Egyptian Revival of the Art Deco era.

Building a Miss Fisher Wardrobe

Have you seen Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries? It's an Australian TV show based on the Kerry Greenwood Novels. The series highlights the Honorable Miss Fryne Fisher, who is a lady detective in the 1920's, and is played by the brilliant actress, Essie Davis. TheFryne character is the epitome of the strong, sassy, smart woman that I would love to be. AND she has a fantastic wardrobe.....

Designing Vintage Gowns

The Making of a Hat - How I achieved my 1920's Miss Fisher Look

Having acquired all the materials - wool hat (a la Old Navy), millinery wire, ribbon aplenty and a beautiful feather rose, I was ready to make my hat for the Girl's Inc. Hat's off to Women Who Dare event. Yay! I love decorating hats and making them very special.....

Draping in Fashion Fabric - Progress on My Preservation Ball Gown

This blog post is about how I drape my gowns in the fashion fabric. This is only just the beginning. It will take me working on the dress in my spare time over the course of the next few weeks to get a final dress.

Designing my (Art Deco Preservation Ball) Gown

For me, it usually starts with Fabric. This time, I was lucky enough to be gifted two beautiful pieces of silk from my friend, assistant and fellow fabric-lover, Maria Chenut....

Hat's Off to Sewing Blogger Chuleenan Svetvilas of Csews.com

One of my Goals in my Vision for 2017 is making a Roaring 20's hat to wear to the "Hat's off" event which benefits Girl's Inc. With this in mind, I set out to talk to an expert, and the first person I thought of was the organizer of the Bay Area Sewist meet-up Group that I attend. In addition to facilitating our meet-up group she also runs the blog CSews and is a guest blogger for Britex Fabrics. She always wears such fabulous hats and I know that she makes some of them. Below is our conversation. I hope you find it as gripping as I did!

Working on my 1930's Foundation - Getting ready for the Art Deco Preservation Ball

I've embarked on creating a foundation for my dress that I'll wear to the Art Deco Preservation Ball at the End of April. I really want to create the right silhouette for my dress which will inspired by the late 1920's / Early 1930's. My figure, at age 47 doesn't quite fit naturally into that era, so I definitely want an undergarment that helps me re-create the look....

1920's Straight Coat and the Art Deco Member Party

Every year the Art Deco Society of California celebrates it's members with a cocktail party in January. This year, the party was held at Flora in downtown Oakland. It was a lovely event in a wonderful Art Deco building, gloriously restored to it's original beauty. There was a grand crowd all dressed up in cocktail attire from the era. Some are serious vintage collectors and some, like me, enjoy making their own creations from vintage inspiration...

Foundation Garments + a Giveaway

As a special treat this week, I'm giving away a fantastic book from my collection - Vintage Lingerie - 30 Patterns based on period garments plus finishing techniques. I'll pick one lucky reader from our email list, so you have to be a subscriber to win!