Beckiejo's Kelly Green dress for Miss Pinup Victoria

Beckiejo presented me with a beautiful pair of emerald green shoes and asked me to design a dress around them.

She wanted something that could be worn with or without a petticoat/underskirt and something 'classic'.

I decided early on that I wanted to use a medium to heavyweight stretch satin and 10 colour samples were sent to Beckiejo.

Kelly Green was decided on (although my terrible iPhone photos do not reflect the true colour of the dress) and a toile was made in calico.

I used a darted boat neck bodice that had a high neckline - front & back, but as you will notice if you scroll down to the next blog post, I liked the 'v' in the back of Sheena's wedding dress and modified Beckiejo's design for the final toile.

The fabric is 97% Polyester/3% Spandex Satin and a dream to sew. I was nervous about sewing a full circle skirt in this fabric but it was not difficult at all.

I did not line this dress, which is uncharacteristic for me, but used a neck and armhole facing. I finished off the dress with a handmade belt with diamonte vintage style buckle.

Beckiejo was Miss Va Va Voom Victoria and Miss Classic Pinup Runner Up at the 2010 Miss Pinup Australia competition and handed her 'titles' to this year's winners.

Photo credit for photo of Beckiejo wearing her Miss Pinup sashes: Lizey Weber

The dressmaker in post-war Australian Society: ‘A Good Occupation for a Girl’ - via the Thread Den newsletter

Photo source: Sew Review

I read this on Thread Den's online newsletter and want to share it with you incase you can help:

Do you know someone who did dressmaking for people in the 1950’s or 1960’s?
Did they do dressmaking from their home?
Did they work for themselves?
Did they work for payment or exchange?

Jenny-Lynn Louise Potter is conducting oral history interviews for a research project on the history of women working as self-employed dressmakers in Australia in the 1950’s and 1960’s. This research will focus specifically on dressmakers using their home as the base for their work. The main aim of the research project is to investigate the personal experience of the dressmaker and what it meant to be a dressmaker in Australian society at this time.

Jenny is seeking women who fit the above criteria and who are willing to participate in this research project. Participation will involve one or two interviews at their home (or a preferred location). The interviews will take approximately 60 minutes. They will be asked questions about their own personal experience of working as a dressmaker and how they managed their work alongside of any family or domestic responsibilities.

This is an opportunity to contribute to expanding the body of knowledge about the social and cultural history of women, work and family in Post WW2 Australian society. Get behind the project by getting in touch with Jenny at jl2potter@students.latrobe.edu.au and letting her know about that special someone in your life that might want to share their story.

Limited edition 'Rocker Girl Jane' dress in Midnight Rose

How this dress came about has a cute story behind it. I bought a roll of this cotton sateen rose print fabric in November 2010. I did'nt get around to making the intended dresses as other work had to be done first.

So, the dress was going to have capped sleeves, a full skirt and boat neck bodice. My friend Joy, who also runs a vintage inspired clothing label and also happens to share my birthday, made the same dress using the same fabric and neither of us knew we had the same roll of fabric or our intentions for how we were going to use it.

Instead, I have turned the roll of beautiful fabric, which I have named the print Midnight Rose into 12 'Rocker Girl Jane' dresses.

They are fully lined using cream coloured lining and come with a fabric covered belt in black for a little contrast.

Available in size 10, 12 and 14 you can buy one from my online store, Darling Central in the ACT, Thread Den and I Dream A Highway in Victoria.

Photo credit: Helen McLean Photography

Styling and model: Candice DeVille