Maroon Forties Blouse, Cloche Hat, & One From the Vaults

It feels like I've made this blouse a million times, but really it's only been three.  The first is blogged here; the second I haven't gotten around to photographing properly yet; and behold the third:

(Forgive the picture; I think Dear Partner said something funny and then the camera went off halfway into my laugh.)

But that's not all that's new.  To whit:

Blouse: long-sleeved button up with saddle yoke, convertible collar, winged lapels (that's what I'm calling them anyway), and moderate bishop sleeves.

Hat: wool cloche hat, lined in cotton lawn, with vintage lace trim.

Skirt: five-gored skirt in wool, with godets at the hem and a back zip.

Okay, okay, the skirt's not really new--I made it back in January before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye.  I've been sewing since my mid-teens, drafting my own patterns all the way, but this was the first project I tackled with adequate preparation--reading sewing books on the now (it seems) dearly departed vintagesewing.info (still available via the wayback machine!), collecting inspirational images from blogs, taking accurate measurements.

As for the hat, I had a whim to make a cloche hat, since it's getting cool up here in the wilds of central New York, so I dug up some leftover wool from the skirt and went to town.  I'm indebted to this tutorial, though I didn't use the patterns as-is--I drafted my own, fitted and adjusted, and wound up with something I'm broadly fond of:

The trim is some vintage lace from an antique store in Paducah, KY.  I picked it up on that trip to visit my parents.  (In retrospect, it amuses me that I was so excited about sleeves and buttons.  I've just committed an Act of Millinery--no challenge is too large for me now!)  I just tied two short lengths into bows and tacked them down one on top of the other for a kind of messy lace-spray effect.  We'll see how it fares in the inevitable Syracuse rainstorm.

And finally, the blouse I've mostly covered already--my only issue with it is that, being quilting cotton, it doesn't drape all that well.  I'll have to pick up some nicer shirting and give this pattern a spin on the quality stuff.  The white topstitching looks lovely, though.  You win, you lose.

Until next time--