Pro
Meet Nancy Drew Circa 1930
I took my inspiration from the cover
illustration of Volume 1 “The Secret of the Old Clock”
This same outfit is on the cover of
Nancy Drew Paper Dolls illustrated by Darlene Jones so I felt pretty
confident that this might be considered a signature look for Nancy,
thus her “meet” outfit.
Here is an image of a similar suit.
I usually have much more success
finding the fabric I want by checking out the local thrift store and
again, I was not disappointed. I have included the navy blue cloche
hat in the picture. It was my color inspiration and one of 6 hats
that I re-fashioned from wool felt “adult” hats this past winter.
(Sorry no pictures of the process.)
First I tackled the pleated skirt
because I thought it would be easiest and was the bases of the suit.
It was fairly easy, but time consuming. Each pleat needed to be
basted by hand. This was a recommendation in the tutorial that I
found while looking for the vinegar/water formula that I needed to
set the pleats. Using 1 part vinegar and 2 parts water, I dipped the
pressing cloth and slightly wrung it out, covered the basted and
hemmed skirt fabric, pressed and repeated on the reverse side. I
allowed the fabric to dry in place.
Next I stitched down each pleat from
waist to hip level, closed the back seam and attached the waist band
and fastener.
Having been a pattern tester for Lee
and Pearl's pattern “Molly Waves Goodby”, I knew that it would be
a good pattern to adapt for my suit jacket. It was also the first
time I used a trick from a pattern maker that I discovered recently;
using paper toweling as pattern material. This is the pattern for
the blouse.
It worked really well. I decided to
make a mock up of the jacket before cutting into my fashion fabric.
Getting the collar right is always the biggest challenge.
Almost finished with the jacket facing
applied and the very important step of proper pressing.
Next came the blouse. Finding the
vintage blouse pattern image with a neckline similar to the
paper-doll illustration was a bonus.
Here is a picture of the front of the
blouse where the binding is being hand sewn in place.
I also made Nancy some “period
appropriate” flared panties.
Now that the sewing is done, there
needs to be accessories, a clock and a magnifying glass. Here are
the things I found to make a magnifying glass.
Getting the final coat of clear finish
after being stained. ( I forgot to take pictures of the original
wooden box that I found at Michaels and cut down to make the clock.)
Although my idea for the magnifying
glass seem fine, I just couldn't get the handle and glass to stay
connected. I was really blessed to find a perfectly sized glass at
Hobby Lobby at the 11th hour. Whew! Nancy really, really
needs a magnifying glass.
Getting dressed:
Ready to solve a mystery…….
Shoes are borrowed from Kit. Nancy has
some shoes coming, but they didn't arrive on time for the photo
shoot. "Nancy" is a modified TLC #21.
She needs blue eyes and will be getting them soon.
__________________
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