Stylin' at the Five 'n Dime - part 1

I finally hunkered down and got a lot done on my blouse and skirt set - and have something to show for it! The last two nights I sewed together the seams on the spotted skirt and ripped a few seams to make the lining (or my skirt muslin) fit inside the spotted skirt. I sewed them together at the back placket (where the skirt closes in the back, for those of you non-sewers) and then basted them together at the top (so they would stay together until I could get the waistband on. It looks really nice. All I have left to do is sew some closures in the back (snaps, hooks and eyes, skirt hooks, whathaveyou), sew on the waistband, and hem both skirts. One of the hems will have a length of crinoline or (plastic) horsehair braid to help keep its shape. I'm thinking it will be the lining so the spotted skirt will stand out nicely.

I also decided to use my muslin as an actual blouse (I put so much time into it anyway that I might as well use it) and mostly finished it last night. The sleeves and blouse edge are both hemmed, with the buttons sewn on, the only (REALLY MAJOR) thing I am missing is the button holes which will hold the blouse together. Kinda important. I've been trying to get the sewing machine to make the correct sized buttonholes for my 5/8" buttons, but it doesn't want to cooperate. I'm waiting for my mom to help me figure out the machine so I can have a beautifully finished blouse (that is, after I wash it to get rid of any wax paper marks or such). I'm really excited to have made a nice dent in both pieces, but I still have an entire skirt and blouse to go (yay for mix-and-match separates), which I hope to start before Reagle eats my summer away.

So drumroll please….

A sneak peek of the muslin blouse and partially finished shirt - it's lookin' good!

Also, some of you may recall my 30's hair and makeup post from last month. Well, I did a little playing around and created my own 1930's makeup look (mind you, I did this at night, so you'll have to bear with my hair that is modernly styled). Here's my best shot:

It looks pretty good, with the crisp wings on the eyes and pink cheeks. It would have normally had a brighter red lip, but I was gradually adding the red to prevent over load. You can't really see my eyelids, but they had sparkly white shadow spread over the lids up to the brow bone with a bit of brown shadow on the crease for contrast. I also darkened and extended my brows with an eye pencil (I would never pluck my eyebrows as thin as the photos, so this is the best I can do). I plan to vamp this up and have the girls wear a variation of this for Reefer Madness.

Stay tuned for more photos of a finished set in the next couple weeks!