Mad Men Muslin #1: Giving Up on the "Wearable Muslin"?

Good: bodice not terribly ill-fitting. Bad: shoulders like, two inches too wide. Ugly: serious gapping problems, remedied here with carefully placed pins.

So here's my Joan Blue Bow Dress (previous posts here) bodice muslin for the Mad Men Challenge, with one sleeve. I made it up in a rayon/poly/lycra blend doubleknit I bought ages ago for $3.99 or something from Fabric.com--the fabric has almost identical stretch and recovery to my blue wool doubleknit (at least, I THINK/HOPE it does).

So, oh fitting Oracles--what sayeth these wrinkles? Will I be in business with a few simple alterations, or am I really in for it?

Here's my sketch again, if you're not completely sick of it by now:

Muslin back view:

Is that all that annoying wrinkling just swayback, or also because I'm shorter-waisted than the pattern? Or is it because the waist is too tight? Hmm....

Side view--what the heck is going on with these diagonal wrinkles? (Also, yes: I have NO BUTT. It is completely 2-dimensional back there.)

The shoulder and sleeve have issues (other issue: accidentally put sleeve seams on outside):

Gapping isn't so bad now that I've pinned up a bit of the bottom:

I really hate this part of sewing. I always doubt my ability to read the wrinkles, and I'm afraid I'll over or underfit, and sometimes I just get really, really confused as to what the actual fitting issues are and what are, say, poor posture issues or weird photo issues. That said, I adore a well-fitted garment (isn't that why I'm sewing, after all?), and I know this effort will be worth it.

So, the good:

• It's not way too small. I cut two-inch (I know!) seam allowances out of unfounded fear. The pattern is in a bust 34" (my high bust measurement), and my full bust is 38", but there was plenty of ease built in. Though I'm surprised the waist is even close to fitting--the pattern measures less than 26" in the waist, and my waist is a good 2 inches bigger than that. Hurrah for knits!
• The bust darts even seem to generally be in the right places. Shocking! Though perhaps they are a smidge to close to the "bust apex."
• This v-neck bodice is totally flattering, no?

The bad, and my tentative plan of alteration attack.

• The shoulders are ridiculously wide on me. I always have this problem with set-in-sleeve styles--I have super narrow shoulders.
  • The fix: a narrow shoulder adjustment. At least 1 inch...
• The waist is too long. It's at least an inch below my natural waist.
  • The fix: shortening the bodice by a bit.
• The sleeve is too loose. Probably as a result of being made up in a knit, albeit a stable one.
  • The fix: take in the sleeve at the underseam.
• The waist might be a smidge tight? There seems to be some pulling/wrinkles at the front overlap.
  • The fix: unbaste side seams and pin to fit?
• Something really awful and bunchy and wrinkly is going on at the back waist.
  • The fix: I don't know! Maybe this will go away when I shorten the bodice... but it might also be too tight? And I KNOW I have swayback, as all my RTW things bunch like this, so I probably need a swayback adjustment, too. Not that I've ever done one. Err...
• There are some weird diagonal wrinkles on the side.
  • The fix: ???
• Bust darts end too close to "apex"?
  • The fix: End a bit farther from "apex?"

At this point I think I'm going to give up on the wearable muslin concept. While I think I COULD easily alter this to fit, it would take up precious sewing time I don't have. Plus I think it'll be easier to adjust if I just give myself permission to draw all over this thing without fear. Most importantly, I have limited closet space, and a gray dress just isn't ME (or Joan, for that matter).

I think I'm also going to give up on altering the pattern to be more like the inspiration dress--I'm not sure that I want to invest time/energy in widening the V and drafting my own shawl collar here. I am going to make a bow belt instead of the plain belt, though. It is a bow dress after all! And I will lower the neckline on the dickey, too.

Bonus: my entire fancy muslin-wearing outfit (that's a RTW doubleknit pencil skirt from Target). Fairly certain Joan does NOT wear stripey wool knee socks with heels.

So what do you think? Is my assessment on-target? Any help with interpreting these photos is much appreciated.

P.S. One of the essential rules of fitting is wearing the same undergarments you plan to wear with the finished item. I don't normally do shapewear, but I know Joan always wears a long-line bra and girdle... so I tried to approximate that look with some weird Spanx thing that comes up to right below my bra. BUT I COULDN'T BREATHE. So half of these photos are with that thing, half are without. Oddly enough, the fit issues were mainly the same either way.

Sewing is FUN. IT IS.

Yes, sewing is ALWAYS a big old party of fun awesome magic happiness. And that is why I am completely NOT at all bothered that:

• The Mad Men Challenge Joan Bow Dress muslin photos I had hoped to share with you for advice are USELESS (see above) because although I did take the trouble to wear them with a pencil skirt and slip, I neglected to pin/baste the front overlap.
• Which is more evidence that I probably won't make the Mad Men Challenge end-of-month deadline, giving me flashbacks to the time I didn't finish my baby shower dress in time for my baby shower two years ago, despite frantic last-minute hand-sewing on the Amtrak.
• Two of the four inexpensive bright cheerful vintage bags I just bought on Etsy to try and broaden my handbag wardrobe turned out to be cracked and peeling pleather (the seller was very nice about it and will refund me, but BUMMER):
  
• All y'all are sewing like, 10 things a week and I'm still barely averaging 1 garment/month. My goal, as you recall, is 2 per month--one for me, one for Z. If we pretend I will finish my Mad Men dress on time, I've completed three for me and one for Z.
• I got re-bra-fitted at my local Brooklyn lingerie shop* yesterday and discovered I had dropped TWO cup sizes. I went because things were a bit loosey-goosey (toddler is still nursing, but maybe somewhat less?), but I wasn't expecting that drastic a drop. And although that means I am once again a 32E (hello WAY easier FBAs and better-fitting off-the-rack), much good that does me because in a fit of "my body will never be the same again" angst, I trashed all my expensive well-made pretty brightly colored 32E bra collection while pregnant. So I now own ONE really well-fitting 32E nursing bra, a lacy underwire Anita-brand number:
  

  Source: lindasonline.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

  ... and a host of giant loose unsupportive 32G, 32H and 32I bras. Plus a big stash of bra fabrics, patterns and notions I've been too busy to tackle. Hmmm...

But I'm not bothered, because:

• My Mad Men dress, late or not, is going to be awesome. And I think the muslin may even be wearable. I'll rephotograph it properly tonight once I attach one sleeve, but I think it needs very little tweaking--the shoulders are slightly too wide, the horizontal bust darts are too low, and there's some swayback action happening too... but overall, it's pretty close.
• While at the bra shop* I also got this awesome supportive Panache Claudette tankini with built-in underwire bra (available in D-K cup, FYI). I did want to sew a swimsuit, but I'm gong to be taking little Z for weekend swim classes at the Y that start very soon and there just wasn't time. It DOES show the stretch marks a bit if I raise my arms, but SERIOUSLY, I cannot be bothered to care, and no one should be inspecting my belly that closely:
  

  Source: panache-lingerie.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

• I'm sitting here (next to my sweet napping toddler) in my wide-legged corduroy Trousers of Triumph. I wear these things at least two or three times a week and they are SO comfortable and cute. Which goes to show that slow, careful sewing can really pay off. I can't wait to make another version in linen with sailor-style buttons for summer!
• After buying four or five fabrics that didn't quite work for the dickey of my Joan dress (too polyester, too stretchy, not quite right color, not-quite-right print)--and after super awesome reader Jen B. (do you have a website? let me know) even mailed me some fabric she found that was really really close but didn't end up working with my blue doubleknit... I finally sucked it up and braved the Project Runway-inspired hordes at Mood. And there, amidst a teetering pile of just-in $14/yard silk print closeouts, was my Perfect Silk Print:
  

  The cutter accidentally gave me 1 yard (I had asked for 1 1/2 to be safe), and it's got runs/cuts in one end, but I really just need the 1/2 yard. I think I'll underline it with some blue silk charmeuse I have for opacity.

So yes. NOT worried/bothered by anything at all. Sewing is all fun. Whee!

How's your sewing awesome fun party going this weekend? No worries at all, right?

*Iris Lingerie on 366 Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn, featuring Iris Clarke, the BEST bra fitter ever. She even converts regular bras to nursing bras and she has a great basket of toys for keeping toddlers occupied.

5 Magic Awesome Reasons to Sew With Wool! (+ 2 Ways to Wash It)

Wool: sexy, hypnotic and magical! Don't be scared!

So last night I was leisurely handwashing the soft, blue and luscious Christian Dior doubleknit wool fabric I'm using for my Mad Men Challenge dress in a basin of tepid water and Eucalan...

And as I squeezed it very gently with my hands, that delicious lanolin smell wafted up to my nostrils and I thought: "Wow! I can't believe I ever was afraid of wool!"

In fact, before I started knitting with better-quality soft merino wools (thanks to the inspiring words of Elizabeth Zimmerman and The Yarn Harlot), I not only feared handwashing wool garments, I thought I was actually allergic to the stuff.* I even sought out acrylic and cotton yarns OVER wool. For real!

So in case you are still struggling with wool-o-phobia, I present (in random, arbitrary, unscientific fashion):

5 Reasons I Love Working With Wool

1. It keeps you warm but lets your skin breathe.
2. It resists odors, stains and bacteria, and rarely needs cleaning.
3. Wool kicks water to the curb and keeps you toasty and dry, absorbing up to 30 percent of its weight in water before even feeling wet. This is why I wear wool socks almost every day (except in the summer).
   
4. It comes in gazillions of beautiful colors and weights and styles to suit any taste. Slinky sexy soft merino wool jerseys, nubbly gorgeous sturdy tweeds and plaids, thin tropical wools, flattering drapey crepes...
5. It has amazing springiness and recovery and takes fabulously to pressing and steaming and shaping and fitting and tailoring (see Joan photo at top--do you think cotton can do that? I don't think so!)

Bonus Reasons For Crafty Mamas to Love Wool

1. Wool makes baby pee vanish. Like magic! Wool diaper soakers make the best cloth diaper covers because the lanolin in the wool does some weird tricky thing that actually just makes the urine go away as it dries. Really! (Not that I'm going to let Z pee on my Mad Men dress, mind you.) When Z was a newborn, I used the awesome and quick Sheepy Soaker pattern to make the below:
   
2. Wool fights embarrassing breastmilk leaks. I ONLY wear merino wool nursing pads (which I could have made easily, but bought--mine are LanaCare and OnGuard brands). I have a few pairs, and one dries while the other is in use. They are soft, warm, absorbent and dry, fight bacteria and don't feel cold and clammy, and can be easily handwashed as necessary.

2 Ways to Wash Wool

1. Handwash with gentle wool wash and tepid water. I use this method for all handknits and all my wool sweaters and wool knit tops. It's SO easy. Seriously. Just: fill a basin with tepid water, add a dash of wool wash (the real gentle lanolin-containing kind, like Eucalan, not Woolite or any harsh chemical ones) gently squeeze through, let soak 15 minutes, roll gently in a towel to remove excess water, lay flat to dry. DONE. No rinsing required!
2. Pam's Dry-Clean-free Fast & Easy pre-treatment method. I haven't tried this yet, but many sewists swear by it, and I love that no dry cleaner is required! Though I'm not clear on whether occasional dry-cleaning would still be required once a garment is actually worn--my guess is yes.

And as they used to say on Reading Rainbow, don't just take my word for it!

Nothing beats wool. It's an extraordinary material—annually renewable and recyclable—with infinite potential. It can be wispy and sensual when it wants to be, it can be gruff and powerful, it can put out fires and keep families warm at night, it can be stepped on, sat under, rained on, and wrapped up in again and again.
--Clara Parkes, author of The Knitter's Book of Wool

So: do you fear--or embrace--wool? And why? What's your favorite source for buying wool fabric?

*Mohair, on the other hand--that stuff turns my skin bright red in SECONDS. Yowch!

You Can Sew It—But Can You Accessorize It? (The Joan Accessory Hunt)

Mad Men's Joan Holloway: Not a woman with accessory problems. (And yes, I know she wears pointier shoes than that, but those are shoes I actually own, so: close enough.)

So, tell me: am I the only sewist who is excellent at coordinating colors and textures and prints to produce an adorable outfit... and woefully uninspired when it comes to accessorizing said adorable outfit?

Which is a problem, since accessories can take your look to a whole other level of awesome... or totally destroy it.

Especially with something like my Mad Men challenge dress. Joan is not a slapdash accessorizer--unlike me, she is all about a total, polished look. So the above is a rough sketch of how I plan to achieve...

The classic Joan accessories:

1. A gold-tone pen necklace. Found easily via 1928 jewelry.
2. An elegant gold-tone brooch. I considered one very similar to hers, but this lovely Corocraft double leaf brooch I saw at the Today's Vintage booth at the Brooklyn Flea market yesterday just called out to me. And it was $10. Sold! (And now the first and only brooch I own).
   
3. Elegant earrings. I believe she's wearing pearl studs in the above. I already have a pair (wore them for my wedding and job interviews), so DONE.
4. A classic frame-style handbag. I couldn't find any on Polyvore (and they don't let you clip from Etsy or Flickr), but here's one from Etsy that is very Joan...
   

   Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

   
   ... though I'm not actually going to buy this particular one. I may just go with a structured eggplant-colored leather tote I already own (from DSW clearance years ago) as "close enough."
5. Pointy-toed pumps. Authentic or not, I just do not DO pointy toes or spiky heels. The above shoes--Tsubo Eeini pumps in "nude" with a sturdy low heel--are the closest I get.
6. A self-fabric belt. I'm making a self-fabric bow belt to go with my dress, so DONE. (or will be done).

But anyway: back to my usual accessory struggles. It's really rather sad. I'll spend twenty minutes carefully composing a coordinated clash of dots and stripes... and a moment or less on choosing a scarf or a bag to set it off. I don't even own a properly fitting sunhat (and I'm corpse-pale enough to REALLY REALLY need one). And when it comes to coordinating bags and shoes? And mixing or not mixing black and brown leather and gold and silver tone jewelry or... ARGH.

As Exhibit A, I present...

The boring accessories I wore EVERY DAY in college, even with dresses:

• Earrings: A pair of sterling silver hoop earrings from the ear-piercing store. (I'm still wearing these. Almost every day. Could I have more boring ears?!)
• Necklace: A thin barely noticeable delicate-looking necklace with a charm on it.
• Scarf: None ever. (not counting winter scarves, obviously).
• Belt: Also none ever.
• Shoes: Doc Martens boots. With a steel toe. (I got into this habit while working in a shipping hub at UPS in order to protect my toes. It wasn't until I stopped wearing these constantly that I realized how freaking HEAVY they were. Ouch!)
• Bag: A backpack. The day hiking kind, not the fancy kind.
• Watch: Digital. The running kind. Except I wasn't a runner. (It's hard in steel-toed boots).
• Hats, brooches, pins, hair accessories, other miscellanea: Ha ha ha ha.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are some...

Accessories I totally GET now:

• Glasses. I love my glasses. I have two pairs that fit--one brown, one bright green--and I should probably match them to my outfits better, but whatever. Hurrah for cute spectacles! My current favorites are these cat-eye Bevel brand glasses, mine are bright green:
  

  Source: contactsandspecs.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

• Shoes. Over the past seven years I have carefully curated a very small collection of comfortable yet cute retro-influenced flats, heels, boots and sandals with round toes and sturdy, low heels (if any). Go me! I do need to clean out some shoes I have worn past all repair, but it's generally in good shape. These Miz Mooz lovelies (which I'm wearing today) are a good example:
  
  
  
  Miz Mooz pumps
• Necklaces. The brighter the better:
  

  I keep mine on a set of pegs on the wall and admire them daily. And I'm trying to gradually replace the cheap bright plastic Forever 21 costume jewelry necklaces like the above with equally inexpensive but much fancier looking bright vintage costume jewelry necklaces.

But there are many more...

Accessories on which I continue to be clueless:

• Scarves. Own a bunch, even some vintage silk ones, but no idea when/how to add or how to tie them. I need to play with this. Somehow I always feel like instead of making things more fun, they make me look frumpier/older.
• Belts. Considering how much I love working the whole hourglass silhouette, I own/wear hardly any, mostly the cheapo pleather kind with the big round buckle.
• Hats. I have a huge head and finding hats that fit--never mind hats I actually like--is a challenge. So I have one ugly sunhat that pinches my head. Maybe I could make some (at least the breezy simple cotton kind). The only winter hats I have are self-knit.
• Bags. My husband frequently asks me when I'm going to stop lugging around a gigantic bag that can swallow the universe, because he worries I am hurting my back. He has a point. My mom got me a giant Brooklyn Industries bag--similar to this one:
  

  ...but brighter with a magenta print--when I needed to carry a breast pump to and fro from work. I hung up the pump horns months ago, but I'm still lugging the bag (now with the sweater I'm knitting inside), and I don't have a smaller bag for more casual occasions or running about on the weekends. I literally carry this suitcase-sized bag EVERYWHERE. It makes no sense and I must stop.

• Earrings. Yeah, still wearing the tiny hoops I got from the ear-piercing studio. In 1990-something. Every day. Ok then!
• Watches. I wear the same casual black leather-strapped watch. Every day. But it least it has a traditional, not digital, face, and nice typography.
• Rings. I wear my wedding ring. That's it!
• Brooches/Hatpins/Hair Accessories/Misc.. Er...

But whatever. There's no time like the present to start playing around with and exploring these things, and this Mad Men challenge is a great opportunity for that!

So, readers: are you an accessorizing superhero, or a accessorizing slacker? Are you better with some items than others? And is all this stressing over accessories just totally unnecessary and far too much work? Please confess!

P.S. Also--what do you think of my Joan accessory plans? Is the pen necklace fun, or too cliched/costume-y/obvious?

Mad Men: Joan Hair How To (+ How Done Up Do You Get for Garment Photos?)

Teased-up 1960s hair: Yay or nay? (P.S. Yes, no amount of bobby pins could keep my hair from escaping this French twist)(P.P.S. No, I didn't sew this--it's just a vaguely 60s-ish contemporary doubleknit dress I thrifted recently)

Fellow sewists, some questions for you:

• Does vintage sewing require vintage hairstyling? Do 60s hair and 60s dresses pair like a fine wine and cheese--or a Halloween costume?
• How done up do you get for finished garment photos? Do you fancy yourself up with coordinating hair, makeup and accessories before staging an elaborate photo shoot on a weather-beaten bridge? Or do you throw your garment on fresh from the sewing table and snap a few quick pix with your camera phone, styling and scenery be damned?
• Can you explain to me why what I thought was quite a chic and sophisticated vintage-style updo caused my husband to burst out laughing and use words like "outdated," "older" and "like my elementary school principal"? [Edited to add: Also, "Marge Simpson."]

Last time I attempted to learn to vintage up my hair, the underwhelming results (see "Wet Set Woes") so traumatized me that it took me two years to get up the courage to try again.

But I have finally regained my hair experimentation bravery, with the help of some of the Youtube video tutorials by Lisa Fremont-Street, Strawberry Koi Vintage and more that my readers so kindly recommended at the time.

I finally achieved curling success with a combo of LottaBody, water and overnight pillow curlers--I styled the results into a 1940s pageboy (which my husband LOVED, fyi) that lasted several days.

But I digress!

OK all you wiggly-dressed Mad Men Challenge-ers, here's...

How to Get a Joan Holloway-ish Updo Look:

The tools

1. Rat-tail comb.
2. Bobby pins in mind-boggling quantities.
3. Hair pins—a lifetime's supply.
4. Hair spray with a death grip hold.

The steps

1. Use rat-tail comb to tease all hair from ends to roots, starting at the crown of the head, and working in small sections--result should resemble demented hair haystack.
2. Smooth outside layer and begin shaping, pulling over to side back of head and securing with---
3. Oh who am I kidding?
4. Cry in frustration because you have no idea what you're doing, give up and ask an expert hairstylist for help.

Anyway, yeah. This was way beyond my rudimentary skill level. So I went to see Ricky at Avalon Salon on 112 Christopher St. He's awesome, and has been doing my hair (when I remember to drag myself into the salon every 3-4 months) since 2004.

He did show me how to do it step by step, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it right when I complete my dress.

As for me, re: getting done up or fancy.. I started out photographing my sewing projects for Pattern Review bathroom-mirror style, as you can see with this lovely wool skirt circa 2005...

And now I have a tripod and self-timer, and try to at least brush my hair and put on makeup and cute shoes and cheap costume jewelry. I'll admit that the exciting photographic antics of the Sew Weekly crowd (I'm looking at you, Oona and Kazzthespazz) sometimes make me feel ashamed of my boring apartment wall backgrounds.

But in my defense--I've got a toddler who can't be trusted not to run amuck while I'm messing with a tripod in a park.

So--what's your take? 60s hair yay or nay? Basic garment pix or fancy photo shoots?

P.S. To recap--here's the sketch:

Mad Men Sketch + Bias Slip Woes

Is it just me, or do I look a bit goofy in 60s hair? I think I'll skip that when I photograph my completed challenge.

So here's the sketch. I'm not sure what I think--I'm not as in love with the drawing as I expected to be, but I think it's the hair and the fact that I couldn't figure out how the dress would work on my narrow shoulders--which is why I didn't draw in the brooch. Maybe I need to convert it from the set-in sleeve of the pattern to the kimono sleeve of the real Joan dress?

And I'm still frustrated in my dickey fabric search. As you can see above, I got some random cheap poly chiffon that sorta works--but Joan just strikes me as a genuine silk charmeuse kind of woman.

On another note... Thank you all again for the kind comments on my corduroy trousers! I'm sad to say that although they started out perfectly fitted they've continued to grow with wear and are now at least an inch or more too loose even in the elastic waistband. I'll see if they shrink up decently in the wash--if not, I'll take them in. Either way, they still fit better than all my other pants. So there, pants!

But that's what sewing's all about, right? Always something new to learn.

For example, tonight I learned I hate sewing on the bias. Or cutting silk on the bias anyway. I wanted to make some silk half and full slips to wear under unlined skirts or dresses:

I attempted cutting out the simple rectangular pieces of my bias half-slip pattern (from Karen Morris's Sewing Lingerie That Fits) tonight while half-watching a sci-fi movie with my husband, and as the pieces slipped and slid all over the place, I was led to several deep questions:

• How is it that so many of you watch television/movies while sewing? I pretty much missed the whole thing since I wanted to focus on not slicing off my fingers.
• I know full slips are usually on the bias, but why would a half-slip need to be on the bias? Will all my suffering be worth it?
• Do you think anyone will notice that the two rectangles I attempted to cut out look like parallelograms that have been chewed on by Cookie Monster? I swear those things would NOT square up, even with the help of the helpful woven-in dots on the fabric and a veritable army of rulers and T-squares.
• I've never worn a half slip, but since they're all bunchy and gathered around the waist--is that going to show under my super-tight Joan dress? But conversely, would the full Ruby Slip--which has something of an A-line skirt--look weird/visible under a pencil-skirted dress? I'm curious--I've only ever owned slips of the unbreathable nylon variety.

And yes, a few of you pointed out that my croquis is now a bit larger than I am, since I drew her before an unintentional random weight loss (my food/movement habits haven't changed, so I believe it's due to my toddler nursing a lot during a recent growth spurt)... but I was too much in a rush to redraw her just for this.

Mad Men Challenge: I'm In! (With a Joan Dress. And a Bow.)

Source: google.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

A royal blue figure-hugging V-neck Joan dress with cuffs? And a bow? Oh, yes, please.

Please don't laugh. I know full well I've posted only one finished object this year, but I SWEAR I have been sewing like a madwoman and will soon be assaulting you with a mountain of finished object awesomeness. Including my wide-legged trousers, which now fit PERFECTLY but just need a proper hemming and pressing. And even something made out of polar fleece (but don't get too concerned now--it was for a costume for a comedy sketch video).

But let's get back to the magnificence that is Joan, shall we? I was so excited to read about Julia Bobbin's Mad Men Challenge, because a Joanie dress has been on my epic to-sew list for EONS now. I actually missed the entire last season (I blame my awesome toddler for being way more fun than watching even a really excellent show) but no matter. Also: I used to work on Madison Avenue! (In marketing design, not advertising, but still).

I did spend AGES on What Would Joan Wear? combing through all of her perfectly-fitting and brightly colored curve-adoring dresses, but in the end I kept coming back to this one.

I rewatched the episode on Netflix Instant Watch and took a lot of screen shots, and I'm fairly sure that it's a dickey dress (an item of which I was unaware until I started pattern hunting for one) with a faux-blouse underneath.

Here's the "dickey dress" 1960s pattern I picked up on Etsy (on its way to me now!), McCall's 5737--no bow, and no collar, but it has the right shape and the detachable dickey and cuffs--I can alter the other details to my liking:

Source: etsy.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

And although I'm guessing that the original Joan fabric was probably a lightweight wool crepe, I've already picked up fabric, too--a gorgeous soft stretchy but stable blue wool Christian Dior doubleknit, on sale at Paron's for less than $16/yard. I got a bit over 2 yards, which might be a squeeze, but I'll make it happen:

I'm still working on the blouse fabric--I'm struggling to find a silk charmeuse with an even vaguely similar or 60s-appropriate print. Except this awesome printed silk remnant on the Denver Fabrics site, but they are only selling it as one big 8 1/2 yard piece, and I need like, 1/2 a yard:

Source: fashionfabricsclub.com via Mikhaela on Pinterest

I'm also making a modified Ruby Slip to wear under it, in blue silk charmeuse.

Sketch soon!

So: are you in? What dress are you making? SO EXCITING.