Entry #11

Pro

1.  Outfit Design

For my submission for the 2014 Spring FDC "Meet Outfit" I decided to create an outfit for Nellie, Samantha's best friend.  I chose Nellie because I purchased her second-hand on Craigslist without any clothes.  I did some research online and found that Nellie's original Meet Outfit was a white party dress. I watched the movie "Samantha - An American Girl Holiday" and learned that Nellie is a poor immigrant girl from Ireland who has to work as a servant to help support her family.  I decided to try to duplicate the outfit she is wearing when we first meet her in the movie because a white party dress probably wasn't something Nellie would have owned at that time.

I also wanted to try to create an historical outfit from the Victorian era that was typical of every-day clothing for children of modest means.  While not as frilly and lacy as expensive dresses made by dressmakers and worn by more affluent girls like Samantha, I wanted to demonstrate that home sewn clothes in that era could also be attractive.

When Nellie first appears in the movie, she is wearing a printed dress with small leg of mutton sleeves, a calico apron and a straw hat.  

She's carrying a large carpet bag used for her suitcase.

From a distance her outfit looks a bit drab and faded but up close you can see the nicely sewn details and pretty fabrics.  

I'm assuming that Nellie's deceased mother had been an excellent seamstress and although she couldn't afford expensive fabrics, she made sure her daughters wore well-made clothing.

I'll search for fabrics similar in color and pattern to what Nellie wears in the movie.  I'll add my own details to what isn't seen in the photos, such as tucks and buttons on the dress under her apron. 

I will sew what would be typical underwear worn in that period, namely "combinations"

and a petticoat of white cotton.

I'll make black cotton socks and leather high top shoes typical of the era and I'll also try to make a straw hat with the same shape and style as Nellie's.  

An additional accessory will be a carpet bag similar to what she is carrying.

Inside the carpet bag will be her few belongings, including her nightgown and a hairbrush.  I'll make the nightgown plain and simple as shown, without lace or ruffles.

Later in the movie we see Nellie wearing a blue coat with black trim.  I'll assume Nellie's mother also made the coat out of affordable fabrics and will recreate the coat from an inexpensive flannel with a cotton lining.

2.  Outfit in the process of being created

With a cotton print as similar to her dress fabric as I could find, I modified a Primrose Lane pattern, adding leg of mutton sleeves and a high lace-trimmed collar. 

I added tucks in the bodice and button and loop closures to the bottom of the narrow sleeves. 

The back of her dress closes with buttons; neckline, back closure and armholes are finished with facings; seams are finished with an overcast stitch.

I made the apron from a pale green calico with box pleat tucks as seen in the movie.

Growth tucks were added to the bottom and the back closes with a button.

Once sewn, I tea-stained the apron to give it more of a vintage look.

Neckline, back closure and armholes are finished with facings; seams are finished with an overcast stitch.

For her underwear, I resized a pattern for Combinations and sewed them from white cotton batiste with cotton lace trim.

Sewing the "trap door" closure

I made her petticoat from cotton batiste with growth tucks and lace trim.

I bought a plain straw hat and tea-stained and reshaped it over a tin can to match her hat in the movie.

A black hatband and flowers provide the finishing touch.

Her socks are black cotton knit and her shoes are leather, 

created from a modified Liberty Jane pattern.

Her carpet bag is made from upholstery fabric and lined in a coordinating cotton print.

Leather from an old purse was re-purposed to make the straps and a purchased buckle was added.

I re-purposed a cotton shirt that is similar to her nightgown fabric.  The pattern is by Butterick.

Nellie's coat is made from a herringbone flannel with black flannel trim.  It is lined with a blue cotton tiny plaid.

I modified a Butterick coat pattern by widening the collar, adding a pleat in the back,

and adding a lining

Coat buttons are made from leather scraps.

3. Outfit completed and modeled by Nellie

Picking some flowers

Picking more flowers...

Indoor scenes

_________________

Voting for the 2014 Spring FDC 

Starts On May 28th, 2014.

Voting Ends June 11th, 2014.

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