“More Love” Patrick Kelly’s Heart Bustier Dress

     The overall theme to the entire life of the “American in Paris” designer Patrick Kelly was one of boundless vibrancy of life, hopeful positivity, and more love.  This welcoming, joyful spirit extended into every portion of his life, but is especially visible through each item he made throughout his all-too-short career.   However, being a black man growing up in the 1950s and 60s of the southern states of America, he was by no means immune from being the target of hate, prejudice, marginalization, and dismissive behavior.  In return, his loving attitude towards life in all its facets is what made him so especially respected by everyone who he met…because love is the best kind of contagion!  Perhaps it was a result of his taking to heart the words of the great Martin Luther King Jr., “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  He always began every runway show by spray painting a giant red heart on the wall which showed his name.  How can you not fall for a designer so centered on the cultivating the basic needs of life – love and happiness?!

     Thus, I feel that a dress from Patrick Kelly’s “More Love” collection (of Fall/Winter 1988-1989) is most appropriate to share here for Valentine’s Day.  Do you see the “sweetheart” shaping front and center on my dress?  After all, he is one of my favorite designers – and not just because we share the same name – besides being my current muse and inspiration.  Even with this post having a ‘love’ theme, highlighting this designer will not be exclusive just to Valentine’s Day.  I have plenty more of his designs to showcase here on my blog yet to come.  May Patrick Kelly’s influence through my sewing his fashion fill your life with a little “More Love” through the entire year!

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  “Peach Cable Knit Athleisure Fabric” from my local JoAnn Fabrics store.  It is 49% Rayon, 29% Polyester, 19% Nylon.

PATTERN:  Vogue ‘Individualist’ pattern #2165, year 1988, an original from my personal collection

NOTIONS NEEDED:  one long 22” invisible zipper and lots of thread; I added a button to close the neck

TIME TO COMPLETE:  This was made in about 15 hours and finished in December 2022.

THE INSIDES:  The fabric does not unravel or fray so the inner edges are left raw and unfinished

TOTAL COST:  Two yards of the knit fabric cost me $25 and the heart buttons and zipper brought my total up to just over $30.

     This is not the first time I have channeled Patrick Kelly, but rather the third.  My first look (posted here) was inspired by his trademark “buttons” dress.  Go read through that post of mine to learn an overview of his life and the why and what I admire so much about him.  Then, for the “Designin’ December” annual sewing challenge, my entry used an authentic Patrick Kelly sewing pattern to channel a year 1988 dress with his second prevailing theme of bows.  My post about that dress can be found here, and was a blast to make and wear for Christmas. 

     This post is about another 1988 design, also sewn using a trademarked Patrick Kelly pattern.  The “More Love” collection of winter of 1988 is wonderful because he dedicated it solely to a love theme.  All the symbols so frequently associated to love, especially around Valentine’s Day (such as a heart, the color red, kiss prints, and roses), were often subtly worked into almost every collection.  However, this post’s dress unabashedly embraces the theme with no distractions.  It was convenient that the “More Love” collection came on the heels of two “Salute to the Heart Strings” AIDS awareness charity events in July (at Atlanta, Georgia) and then in October of 1988 (at the Louvre).  Patrick Kelly recycled some of the same designs he produced for those two AIDS charity shows to use in his “More Love” collection for the runways of Paris because he saw love as being just that – unconditional and non-judgmental.  My pattern’s original dress design can be spotted in a classic black and red combo on the woman at the far left (partial collection seen in picture at right).

     I normally gravitate towards softer colors for Valentine’s Day and avoid a bold red unless it is Christmas or I am wearing an Agent Peggy Carter outfit.  Therefore, as much as I did want to make a version of that was identical to the model, I also wanted to stay true to myself…and that is the best way to show love to yourself!  When I found this soft pinkish cable knit, it just instantly struck me as being “the right one” for my heart bustier Patrick Kelly pattern.  Using this modern novelty knit is meant to be a reference to 1985 to 1986 when he freelanced under the Italian brand “Touche” in conjunction with another of my top favorite designers – Enrico Coveri. He also specialized in knitwear couture that had a quirky spirit of fun.  (I posted here about his life when I sewed a suit set using some Alta Moda Coveri wool)  Kelly and Coveri had a similar exuberant approach to both life and fashion.  Both men died in the year 1990 at a young age (their mid-30s) from AIDS.  Kelly’s preliminary collection of 1984 was a reworking of designer Kenzo pieces while Coveri had been dubbed the “Italian Kenzo” since his pioneer collection, circa 1979.  Both also used similar Italian fabric manufacturing firms to source the knitwear for their collections and both were branded for their clingy, body-hugging fashions, as well.  The two of them had a significant amount in common, more than I have room here to recount!  Coveri however favored pastels or Kelly’s use of primary colors so maybe the former’s influence won out more than I first realized.

     My dual designer reference is so niche that no one but me would ever know, but that is just how I like it.  This is the ultimate benefit to the fact that patterns with a famous designer source are made available to the public.  True fans behind designer sponsored patterns can geek out and help spread appreciation to that namesake.  However, even the casual sewist just looking for something different still renders a designer’s pattern successful.  However, designer patterns are the perfect opportunity for the casual sewist to inform oneself.  Maybe your next new favorite designer can have its beginning with merely being curious over the name on an envelope cover!

     This is a “party in the front, business in the back” kind of design looking at the line drawing only, but really is a dress that only comes to life on a body.  I love my swayed, curvy back more than I normally do in this dress.  It makes me love my curves!  A designer who can give a woman clothing that helps her love the skin she is in has to be a real winner.  At the same time as feeling smoking with confidence, I am also warm and cozy…what a wonderful combination for winter that is hard to find in ready-to-wear!  The neck band is petite and loose fitting so that it is much less confining than a turtleneck and not that noticeable.  The mock bustier makes the covered up neckline become interesting and sultry – not at all boring or unassertive.  I have so many ideas for making other versions of this pattern, such as Patrick Kelly’s classic button covered version as well as a summer-worthy bold color blocked version, but my first go at this pattern was a tame yet nonetheless rousing success.

     I found some slight quirks to the pattern’s fit along the way to completion.  The shoulder line was extended and generous, seemingly intended for substantial shoulder padding to fill in the shape from inside.  It was definitely channeling the classic 80s “power dressing” look with such strong shoulders.  I pared it down to suit both my taste and my smaller frame.  The sleeves also turned out very long in length, not just because of the extended shoulder line.  I needed to do a 2 ½ inch hem.  Then, somehow the bottom hemline ended up much shorter in the back than in the front.  I do not think it was entirely due to the give of the stretchy sweater knit.  I think the pattern does not account for a full sized booty!  I had to even out the hemline by trimming off the front, which was tricky to do as the knit is very soft and bouncy.  My choppy cutting job only made it more challenging to hem the dress for an even fall on my body.  Hand stitching the hemming – after many try-ons in between pinning up the length – took almost half the total time I spent making the entire dress.  So it goes in sewing…sometimes the process of doing the final finishing details can be so tedious!

     Other than these small tweaks to the shaping, the general fit was spot on and the assembly was fantastic.  The design was simple but also complex at the same time.  Sure, most of the dress looked pretty basic and straightforward and was for most of the time. Then, the front bustier midriff section turns into the most challenging part to the entire dress.  I had to take my time to do that section perfectly because it is the highlight of the dress, after all!  The curved seams – and one sharp point where the V of the bustier dips – when combined with my chosen stretchy, thick knit fabric made for a tricky situation.  However, there are also applied contrast bands which are tucked into the bustier seams.  The bands are shaped the same as the bustier, and double faced for a clean finish, but made the seams a total of four layers to sew.  I hand stitched the outer (loose) edges of the bustier bands down to the dress because I wanted the thread to be invisible.

     I hope you noticed that I used the “wrong” side of the fabric for the middle bustier section and its seam bands.  The underside of the fabric is smooth without the cable texture and was a great way to make the most out of the design while going with one solid color tone.  It subtly emphasizes the fact that the midriff is a whole separate section.  I don’t expect everyone to see the difference at first or even grasp what little thing I did to change that panel up.  Yet, I’m not complaining because I also enjoy the way the dress doesn’t scream about the care and attention put into it.  I’m seeing it as my own designer’s secret (because yes, everyone who makes their own clothes is their own designer, I believe.)  I love the way a great garment can have a complexity which keeps getting better the more you look at it.  This is one of the things I love about couture, and wanted to emulate here in some small degree.

     No true Patrick Kelly garment, even if homemade, would be complete without his favorite button pins.  As Kelly considered 3 to be his lucky number, I went with that many buttons pins.  These are not true originals, but merely buttons from my local fabric store that I hot glued pin backs onto.  True vintage Patrick Kelly buttons that have his logo on them can go for a spectacular selling price. 

The big round red button is closest to his “classic” button pin look, where there are four holes that have black thread sewn in an X across the middle.  The other two buttons of a heart and of red lips are a direct reference to the “More Love” collection, which was rife with all the common visual symbols related to love.  Lip buttons, lip shoe clips, and even a lip shaped hat all can be found in his collections from the last two years of his career, but the red heart was perhaps his dearest symbol.  A red heart (and his brand’s controversial logo) is on his grave in Paris, France along with the words “Nothing is Impossible”.  I added a giant red heart button to close up the back neckline of the dress so that there would permanently be a clear, classic Patrick Kelly symbol affixed to this dress. 

     Patrick Kelly’s incessant expressions of outward love were unique in the way he worked such efforts towards transforming hate into appreciation.  The main example of this is the way he projected stereotypical images and items of black American folklore in a way that tries to re-appropriate them into a celebration for heritage and tradition.  He made it as plainly obvious as he could that he was a black American designer in a culture that was painfully not yet fully accepting of that fact.  For as outgoing as he was, his friends said he was personally a very private person, so his use of outward representations for love (no matter if others did not see things his way) became his means of being vocal about his race, his family, his passions, his creativity, and his hopefulness for a better future.  It wasn’t just about crafting a brand for himself – it was about being unapologetically himself so he could spread to others the same welcoming, respectful, joyful connection with his people that he himself felt.  He wanted to help create a better reality that he did not yet see existing in the world.  To me, all this is what adds so much beauty to each of his designs.  The language of love comes in many different forms, and through Patrick Kelly it can be universally understood via fashion.  Let’s have a little “More Love” of a different kind this Valentine’s Day!

I Am the Present

I have had enough of an overly commercialized, gift-focused, money-grabbing kind of holiday.  I am craving a peaceful, reverent, family-focused Christmas where my physical presence is enough of a present to bring wherever I go for whatever space I inhabit.  I will wrap myself up or just deck myself out in bows, if need be, to show just how serious I am about this intention.  Yet, true to myself, I have found a fashionable way – using a designer pattern – to make myself look like a walking holiday present for every party, function, or social event we are called to attend this holiday.  Who really “needs” excess ‘stuff’ just for the sake of gifting, after all, when we all could use intangible gifts such as a great conversation, a shared meal, a gesture of kindness, or a fun activity that will leave fantastic memories to enjoy on for years to come?!  Let me be the present…I can come dressed the part!

Sometimes the best gifts are not only intangible but also the ones you don’t ask for or don’t even see coming.  For me, diving into the world of the 1980s designer Patrick Kelly was a good as receiving a gift.  My post back in October this year on the designer Patrick Kelly was not for nothing – neither was it a “once and done” experiment.  That first Patrick Kelly dress, where I channeled his unmistakable use of buttons, fed my fangirl-type of fascination over his life and work in a way that left me wanting.  I only found myself driven to read more about anything and everything related to him, sew more of his designs, and publicaly share more love for Patrick Kelly. 

After being quite sick Covid this summer, catching the joy that radiates from exploring his life and his works had given me energy to sew again, renewing my creative spark and excitement for fashion…just what I was needing.  Thus, I saw it fitting to change up my earlier plans for the annual “Designin’ December” sewing challenge into something that would be dedicated to Patrick Kelly.   Linda at the blog “Nice dress! Thanks, I made it!!” is again running this fantastic contest.  I want to use this challenge to help him be appreciated and understood by those who see my interpretations of his creations and read my posts on them.  Although my enthusiasm for Patrick Kelly will not be waning anytime soon, he is my designer of 2022. 

I am celebrating the gift of Patrick Kelly’s too short but nonetheless amazing life by having him as my chosen designer to imitate for the “Designin’ December” challenge.  Not only about discovering people’s favorite designers, the challenge however is meant to encourage sewists to discover their inner talents to make their own version of a name brand garment at an accessible and affordable way.  I loved creating and subsequently wearing this dress merely because of Patrick Kelly’s legacy, yet didn’t mind the added benefit that my garment was such a deal.  Original Patrick Kelly dresses are sold solely second-hand since the brand officially lasted for a few years and ended when he died on New Year’s Day in 1990.  They are rarer than other designer brands and often priced over $1,000!  I even splurged on the top-of-the-line velvet to make sure my dress was on par with 1980s Paris runway standards.  Even still, my dress turned out cheaper and better quality than any nice dress that is remotely comparable at our local department stores.  Thanks to Patrick Kelly, I garner so many compliments wherever I wear this!  Anyone with the name of Kelly has to know what works for another Kelly…me!

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  a premium quality, matte finish, heavyweight, stretch poly velvet from “Blue Moon Fabrics”

PATTERN:  Vogue #2078, a year 1988 original from my personal sewing stash

NOTIONS NEEDED:  nothing but thread and 29” of ¼“ wide elastic

TIME TO COMPLETE:  This dress took me in total about 10 hours to trace the pattern, re-size it, then sew the dress altogether.  It was finished on December 8, 2022.

THE INSIDES:  This velvet does not fray – more on this later – so the inner edges are left raw

TOTAL COST:  The 5” clip-on velvet bows were ordered pre-made separately from “Jojo Boutique Bows” and were an additional $15 on top of the $40 spent for the fabric.  The notions I needed came from on hand already – thus counted as free.  My total cost is about $55. 

The exact design of this Vogue #2078 pattern is part of Patrick Kelly’s “Mississippi in Paris” spring/summer 1988 collection (as can be seen in the beginning of this YouTube video of the runway show).  The flounced dress was made in a bright turquoise jersey knit to complement the rest of the collection which was in assorted bright, fresh, summer solids.  Although dated to 1988, if the design was stripped of its flounces it would make a great base for many of the various open-shouldered dress designs Patrick Kelly offered throughout his career.  He himself reused this style for many other dresses.  A bright red version of my pattern’s design can be seen with only the shoulder flounce in his Fall/Winter 1989–1990 ad campaign (see left picture).  Fully flounce-free versions were gratuitously used in Patrick Kelly’s Spring/Summer 1989 collection where the plainness of the dress design became the backdrop for being covered in buttons, made using a glittery fabric, or embellished with flowers. 

My dress next to Patrick Kelly’s Fall 1988 collection, photo- Oliviero Toscani, image- Dazed Digital.

At first sight, I gravitated towards the open shouldered wiggle dresses that had their open neckline decorated with bows.  Bows can be overly sweet for adult women and be relegated to children but I love how Patrick Kelly uses bows in way that reinvents them to be classy and feminine for grown up girls.  His 1986 ad in Seventeen magazine has a Jamaican model wearing a bright red dress with small jewel toned satin clip-on bows while his Fall/Winter 1988-1989 collection has another red version with oversized bright yellow bows (seen 9 seconds into the video). 

My favorite version is the one I interpreted for myself – a black velvet open-shoulder sheath dress that has big white bows clustered around the neckline from Fall-Winter 1988-1989 collection.  I did keep one bottom hem flounce (which I will address further on in the post) in a departure from the original inspiration dress.  However, I felt something click when I discovered a closer image of the dress was featured in the December 1988 edition of Vogue magazine (seen at right).  When you can see yourself in the place of a model in a fashion image, wearing the item that she is…that is totally a sign not only is there good advertising but that the garment is meant for you!  I do think Patrick Kelly would approve of my customizing his design to make it suit my taste if that means it gives me that smiling face and sense of joy which he wanted all of his clothes to convey.

There were several prominent designers who, after Patrick’s death, seemed to take their own spin on this particular design – see Victor Costa’s Vogue #2588 sewing pattern and Chanel’s ad in British Vogue magazine, both from November 1990.  Both competitor’s had their designs structured (couture-style interiors) with boning but Patrick Kelly’s version is the leader in my opinion for two immediate reasons.  It was not only first released (1988) but is the easiest to both wear and sew since it is just a closure-free, slip on, stretchy and easy-to-wear dress.  The media jokingly dubbed him “the king of cling”, after all!  He kept his designs avant-garde but also sensible in the way that they were also versatile, with clip on bows and convertible designs.  His ability to marry all of these separate elements into such functional artistry is the genius of his fashions.  Engineering – whether it’s for machinery or for a dress – is best when it is kept simple but that doesn’t mean a design has to be any less creatively assembled. 

The dress was deceptive mix of both easy and challenging to make.  There isn’t much room for error when the dress is so simple.  Any mistake in construction or fitting is easy to see when you have a basic design with a stretch fit that has a specific way of laying on the body.  This is why it is almost ‘easier’ in the end to make strapless designs when there is an inner corset and boning, as Chanel or Victor Costa did.  There is security in over-engineering a strapless or open-shouldered dress, but that does not necessarily equate to joyful freedom of movement.  It is tricky to offer an open-shouldered dress with all the ease of pajamas.  The fun, swishy comfort of a Patrick Kelly gown – stripped down from the harsh confines of couture tailoring – helps me understand why his models always looked so happy dancing and swirling around on the runways. 

I liked to wear my dress slightly over the curve of my shoulder out of preference, yet would have no problem in either fit or appearance of the dress if I did pull the dress down off my shoulders.  I got the overall body fit to be snug enough to pull the fabric in on me but not too tight as to cause wrinkles.  This way the dress does not feel like it is going anywhere on me when I pull the neckline off my shoulders.  The dense quality of the velvet of course helps the situation as does the fact here is a secret elastic casing in the neckline.  Either way, the idea is that there is versatility in this dress, and it is no less staying in place for being unconventional in construction.  This is possibly the quickest designer sewing project yet!

I did have a slight issue with the fit of the sleeves.  There were darts in the top of the sleeve caps on the pattern piece that made me weirdly suspicious from the start.  If this is an off the shoulder design why would there the darts in that spot?  Their presence positioned there meant that the sleeves would curve over the shoulder edge, and yet I sewed it together as it was just in case Patrick Kelly knew what he was doing, after all.  Turns out – I was right…those darts needed to be gone.  I unpicked most of the neckline to trim the darts off the sleeve caps and redo the casing for the elastic.  Oh well – at least I know I have a decent sewist’s intuition even if I didn’t listen to it! 

One way that I needed to trust Patrick Kelly’s original design was when it came to the skirt flounces.  Originally I had planned on not having any skirt flounces and just keeping this a mini length.  When I traced out the pattern onto medical paper (since it needed to be sized up), I added the panel that originally went in between the two skirt flounces to the dress’ main body at the hemline.  Just to be safe, I also added about 3 inches more in hem length.  I quickly realized at the first try-on that a mini length look does not do any favors for my thighs or borderline petite height.  Secondly, I realized that without the flounces, the dress immediately crept up to my panty line with every move I made.  No thanks!  No wonder the hemlines were so snug around the thighs of the models wearing Patrick’s mini dresses – it was to keep them from traveling up the body! 

A hem flounce was needed here to help this dress both compliment my body as well as hang correctly.  I really like the dress all the better for the flounce.  I love the fun it adds to the design.  It is a powerful dose of dopamine to swish the flounce just the way the Patrick Kelly models do on the runway presentations of his collections.  It was nothing more than a circle skirt so it is not groundbreaking.  Even still, how the hem flounce looks and the energy it adds to this dress is everything.  Patrick Kelly wanted every woman to feel beautiful in his designs, and energy and body positivity I had wearing my version of his 1988 design did not disappoint.

The velvet is so nice – it doesn’t fray or roll – I left the hem raw!

The velvet I used needs its own write up, though.  It literally is the most fantastic velvet I have ever worked with.  Not to brag but I have tried just about all varieties that are out there – silk velvet, crushed panne, poly velvet, cotton velveteen, and rayon velvet.  This Blue Moon premium matte velvet did not shed at all.  It is a miracle, especially since I seem allergic to velvet fuzz!  There was maybe some slight shedding on my scissor after cutting out a whole dress but that is it.  I am in awe. The feel of this velvet may even be better than my silk velvet and it has the most amazing combination of dense stretch with a perfect mid-weight loftiness.  I especially noticed that wearing my dress in the winter cold temperatures did not create any static cling, as every other poly velvet does.  The inside of a super soft knit while the plush side has a lovely low shine that prevents it from looking cheap even though it is a steal at $16 per yard.  Do pick up some for yourself and try it.  If you have never worked with velvet before or have had some bad experiences with it, I highly doubt you will be disappointed with this premium matte finish velvet.  This is not a sponsored positive review.  It is just an honest sharing of an opinion from a happy customer.

Last but not least are the decorative bows that transform this dress from plain to packing a punch.  I knew I didn’t want the bows to be permanently in lace but clip-on, just as Patrick Kelly often did for ornamentation.  This gives a versatility that is unmatched.  For example, through most of the party I wore my dress to, I had one single bow to keep things low-key, but after the party…out from my purse came the rest of the bows so I could sport the full look!  I ordered several more extra bows than what was needed to decorate the front from shoulder to shoulder (only 5 bows).  Maybe in the future I can dye the rest of the bows different colors in for another variance to my dress!  I did notice that the original model has bows that are crisp as if made of a taffeta or wedding satin.  Nevertheless, I went with my personal preference to choose velvet bows because I not only wanted an overall unanimous fiber theme but I wanted a softer edge.  I gave myself a big break by ordering the bows pre-made.  My time – especially around the holidays – is precious and in limited supply so I was thrilled to find these bows which were just what I needed and in great quality at an awesome price.  They are about 5 inches wide which seems to be about the proper size to remotely match my inspiration image. 

I hope this post puts you in the proper festive mood!  After seeing so many bows in my pictures maybe you are just thinking of Christmas morning presents, though.  I think the bows make this the perfect little black dress for the holiday.  This also is the most I have worn bows since I was probably 8 years old!  Just wait until you see the rest of the Patrick Kelly creations I have in line to show up on this blog in the next few months.  I have a fabulous mini collection that I am so thrilled about because it will help me continue the cause of spreading love for and awareness of Patrick Kelly, the American designer in Paris.

Remember to be the present with your presence.  Take time to appreciate those around you, those you care for, and all those who you meet!  This can be a wonderful time of cheer and happiness for many, but it also can be a very challenging time of loneliness and pain or others, so your presence can truly be the best present of all to those of whom no physical gift can help their situation.  Have the best of Holidays from my household to yours!  I wish you a healthy, safe, contended day with all the blessings which can come your way.  It’s hard to believe that in one more week it will be 2023!

Ceiling Paint Splatter

1986 was an interesting year with many definitive events that I am sure anyone who experienced in some degree will not forget.  There was the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the arrival of Hailey’s comet.  There was the Chernobyl accident and the Iran–Contra affair.  There was the debut of both the Oprah Winfrey show as well as the stage musical “Phantom of the Opera”.  Wow, right?! There are recognizable parallels to 1986 recently, between the popularity of a new Top Gun movie (gosh, Tom Cruise has barely aged) and the current Russian aggression (evocative in some ways of the Cold War’s nuclear brinksmanship).  Reminiscing along this vein, I finally bit the bullet and sewed up a crazy print dress tied to that definitive year, using a pattern from a largely unknown designer.  This is one project I have long wanted to make, and I am thrilled over my resulting dress.  It is so enjoyable, cute, and comfortable!

My dress was inspired by another event of 1986, one that was momentous to the entertainment industry – the music video to Lionel Richie’s song “Dancing on the Ceiling”.  Out of all the music videos out there, this is one that I absolutely wish I could go back in time and be a part of.  I am an absolute Lionel Richie fan the way it is, but I even more so adore the energy and craziness to this specific song and its accompanying video.  It reportedly cost somewhere around $400,000 for only 4 days of shooting, making it the most expensive short form music video production at the time.  

The music video was directed by the great Stanley Donen, whose most celebrated works include Hollywood’s classic films such as Singin’ in the Rain, Royal Wedding, and Funny Face.  The director Donen said that Richie actually adapted easier and quicker to the rotating room used in the video than Astaire did while shooting similar scenes in his 1951 film Royal Wedding.  It is an energy release for me to even just listen (but also dance) to when I indeed feel like I need to crawl the ceiling from being so cooped up inside with nothing of great fun to do. 

The combination of colors and crazy prints that the party-goers in the music video are wearing inspired me to gravitate to a multicolored cotton that is a riot of color.  Lionel Richie is the bold color focus while the band and extras are black and white (or silver) tones, so my dress is the general scheme in one package.  To me it is a print inspiring energy and absolute elation, exuding a feeling which seemed so appropriate for a dress inspired by the music video to “Dancing on the Ceiling”.  If you paint on the ceiling, it is bound to splatter, right?  And if you had a party on the ceiling, it would definitely need to be repainted, right?  So goes my fanciful way of thinking. 

Sewing my own garments may be more like creating a dream or interpreting my own art, I suppose, when I realize how imaginative I approach some of my projects, such as this one.  I hope you enjoy this wild throwback dress, and it’s even crazier photo backdrop location – the Museum of Illusions in Chicago, Illinois.  This place had an exhibition which gave me the opportunity to actually live out my dream of dancing on a ceiling, even if it is just an illusion!

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  a 100% cotton lawn in a Lady McElroy “Artistic Vibrance” multicolored print lined with a bleached cotton muslin

PATTERN:  Butterick #3854, year 1986, a Kathryn Conover pattern from my personal stash

NOTIONS NEEDED:  two 7/8” black ball buttons, lots of thread, and two packs of ¼” wide double fold bias tape

TIME TO COMPLETE:  This dress was a 10 hour project and was finished on May 24, 2022

THE INSIDES:  the waistline is bias covered but side seams are left raw

TOTAL COST:  The Lady McElroy fabric alone cost me about $25 and the muslin lining was $5

This 1985 sports set is in a print very similar to my dress’ fabric!

This dress immediately helps me remember that the trippy color craze of the early 90’s was really a result of the late 1980s.  Coming before the age of the internet, it used to take a while for trends to catch up and turn mainstream!  Think of the titular intro screens to the television series Rugrats, which came out in 1991, and you can see the similarities with my dress’ 80’s inspired print.  The cotton lawn was slightly sheer, and being in a white, it needed a lining, for sure.  The bright white bleached muslin I used as lining seems to help the colors in the print pop by brightening the white background.  

I actually toned down some of the bold contrast and overall busyness to this design by switching up a few design details.  I also simplified the already easy-to-made dress.  There is no facing needed or complicated finishing here but only binding along all the entire neckline, which continues into the waistline seam.  For this purpose, I chose a thinner bias edge binding rather than ½” wide as the pattern wanted, as well as using pre-made packaged notions rather than cutting the needed strips myself.  Smaller edging makes the dress more delicate than clunky so that it is like controlled chaos.  I wanted this to be a wildly fun 80’s dress, but didn’t need it to turn into an immediate eyesore. 

This sediment is only another reason I switched to a clean and tailored pleated skirt rather than a mere overall gathered seam.  Especially as I was fully lining the skirt, pleats were necessary anyway to tame any bulk.  I enjoy the kind of math that sewing calls, for and rather enjoyed figuring out the depth and amount of pleats much more than if I would have set in gathers.  I always like to customize at least something from every pattern’s design!  I suppose I’m merely flattering myself to feel as though I improve upon patterns with some of my changes.  Yet, I think such is definitely the case with this design…sorry, Ms. Conover!

Kathryn Conover is the designer listed on this pattern, and she released a good number of dresses through Butterick for several years in the 1980s.  As she has a history of offering her fashionable designs for the last 50 years, it is a shame her name is not more widely recognized.   I can totally relate to her Midwestern practicality and upbringing, being a Midwesterner myself!  Her designing focus was centered on dresses that should “withstand the seasonal vicissitudes of fashion, in fabrics that endure and retain their luster.  However her primary aim,” she insisted in the interview, “is for a woman to put on one of my dresses and feel better about herself.”   Read her full interview in April 1983 with the New York Times (link here, from which comes the previous quotes) to understand the price points, ideology, and status of her brand in the early 1980s. 

She was a dressmaker in a literal sense of the word – no suits, separates, or anything else!  Her love of sewing began as a hobby, but she then worked her way through the University of Minneapolis by collecting clothes from thrift shops, restyling them and selling them. (I have a soft spot for refashions, so she seems like my kind of gal.)  Her own line of clothing was founded sometime in late 70’s, with her first collection immediately gaining the attention of specialty stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Niemen Marcus, and Lord & Taylor.  She sold her ready-to-wear through these stores and others until her line was ended in 1992.  Conover served as design director for the Liz Claiborne dress division from 1991 to 1993, where she introduced some of her collections through Perry Ellis.  She cited overly trendy fads and the liberal use of denim through the decade of the 90’s for a lack of popularity for the kind of dresses that she wanted to offer, what Conover refers to as having ”a strong classic undertone.” 

I respect the way that Conover was unlike many designers who adapted with the changing times.  She stayed true to her own tastes and desires to the point that she was not afraid to stop what she was doing to try something new in her career.  Conover brought back a line of dresses through the company Ronni Nicole for a short period of time in 2007 and the year after.  She began her own bridal consulting in 2003, which morphed into her working as a couture wedding gown creator for “The Knot”.  She is 74 years old this year!

I can’t help but wonder if my interpretation of her pattern is enough on brand to be true to Ms. Conover’s idealology.  I do have a Pinterest board created (see link here) for you to see a sample variety of her work from the 1970s through 90’s.  My dress’s print is no less full of 80’s obnoxiousness than any other Kathryn Conover dresses from that era, as can be seen in my Pinterest board.  The dropped waist is classic style point of the 1980s, when the era bought back modern versions of French heeled shoes and straight-lined flapper dresses, both inspired by the 1920s.  Many of her designs of the mid 80s seemed to integrate a dropped waistline, with or without some curve emphasis.  I think she would be pleased with my replacing the gathers with pleats as she did this for similar designs such as Butterick #3019 (those bows across that open back bodice are simply fantastic).  To complete my outfit, I’m wearing true vintage 80s heels, crafted with real snakeskin toes which have the primary colors plus green on them.  I then paired the dress with my grandmother’s 80s clip-on earrings.  The funny thing is, since I was going full 80s, even the fact I had an unexpectedly crazy curly hair day became a styling point to match.

There are a handful of copies of my dress’ pattern, Butterick #3854, out to be found for sale, and I definitely recommend it if you find yourself remotely interested in this design.  It is so easy to make, with no facings or zipper needed, and is a step-in dress, for ease in dressing.  Two buttons in the front are the simple closure in this double breasted style!  One word of warning – this dress is proportioned for very tall body.  Even if you are of average height, you will need to do the petite alteration as shown on the pattern pieces.  The bodice was the correct length for my 5’ 3” frame.  Even still, the skirt was really long.  I did the petite alteration to the dress and the skirt still came to my ankles, so I had to do a deep hem.  This ended up in my favor because a thick hem nicely, but gently weighed down the skirt (so I didn’t have a Marilyn Monroe moment walking along Downtown Chicago) and keeps the fabric opaque.  The arm opening is comfortably generous and adds to the general loose and breezy classy air of the dress. 

Do not be dismayed if you try this dress out for yourself and discover that it has a roomy ease amount.  If you look at the model image on the cover and the version I made for myself, it is fitted but not snug, tailored but still generous – and that is the beauty of a good design, the trademark of a designer creation.  Not everything has to be skin-tight to look good…that is a modern mentality and inaccurate.  Slip into all the good points about the 1980s.  You may just find, like I did, that a tailored fit on the higher end of wearing ease can be a gloriously exhilarating experience which doesn’t have to mean frumpy.  Rocking the 80’s doesn’t have to mean something gaudy to wear when it is coming from the hands of lesser-known, but no less talented, United States designer Kathryn Conover.     

Conover’s self-named line of clothing might not have lasted all that long yet I am very glad I tried out a taste of it for myself through the hands-on means of a sewing pattern.

A Blouse to Match with My Grandmother’s Jumper

Grandma Emma May, late 1940s

One of the many tough things about 2021 was losing the last grandparent I had left.  Now I am an orphaned granddaughter, as I see it.  My maternal Grandmother passed away last spring.  Despite the heartache, I have been blessed by having the family pass down to me a handful of items that were left from her belongings, particularly her vintage clothing.  The several items from her post WWII wedding period and before are too incredibly tiny for me to wear (22” waist) and will be preserved as family heirlooms.  They will also be the basis for me to recreate them from scratch in my size, but that’s for a future project.  However, I was also given my maternal Grandmother’s 1950s woolen tweed jumper which that does just fit me.  Of course I had the perfect matching fabric on hand that was just pleading to be sewn into a blouse to match!  I am proud to dress like my Grandma! 

This is Grandma’s Singer 457 ‘Stylist’ of 1969

Let me point out that while the only me-made part of this post will be my bow-neck blouse, my Grandmother’s woolen jumper is also handmade…by her!  She had worked for many years at a major North American department store nearby (no longer around) but shopping there, nevertheless, was reserved for Easter, Christmas, and a special occasion.  All else was sewn at home by her, and by my mom and her sisters as they got old enough.  Funny enough, I was also bestowed her sewing machine, the “newest” one she bought when my mom was older so she could have the zig-zag stitch – but that is a story in itself which I will not dive into here. 

I’ve always heard that my two Grandmothers were very proficient, capable seamstresses and I have seen proof of that with my dad’s mom, but now I have seen it firsthand for my mom’s mom.  This jumper is very well made with a Bamberg rayon lining, perfectly matching thread for the seams, a hand-stitched hem covered on the inside in rayon tape, and overall finished in every way the same as I would aspire to do.  It makes me want to cry.  I guess sewing truly runs in my blood but to find exactly how alike this affinity is with my Grandmother after all these years of not knowing…I’m at a loss for words for this but it is something very special to discover. 

THE FACTS:

FABRIC:  1 ½ yards of a dated 80’s polyester satin

PATTERN:  Simplicity #9559, from the year 1980

NOTIONS NEEDED:  nothing but lots of thread, a handful of buttons, and some interfacing scraps

TIME TO COMPLETE:  I whipped this blouse up in about 10 hours, and finished on May 21, 2021

THE INSIDES:  Pristine in clean French seaming with hem tape along the bottom edge

TOTAL COST:  The material was a remnant from a rummage sale bin that I paid a few dollars for, so this is as good as free.  The buttons came from the notions stash of my husband’s Grandmother.

Grandma Emma May would have been in her early 30’s when she made this jumper, based on how the design lines are so very similar to this 1956 pattern which I have sewn from already.  My chosen blouse pattern matches with the era of the dated fabric I chose for it – 1980s – but the style is very classic and aligns perfectly with the popularity of sweet collars in the 1950s and 1960s.  Polka dots never go out of style, but this blouse – being in a gaudy 80’s satin – has a polka dotted shine woven in for double the texture, double the print!  Too bad someone has to get into my personal space bubble to actually notice such a detail on me in person.  Sometimes the best details are for my special enjoyment only, much like my favorite technique of French seam finishing to the edges inside.

The bow neckline may look simple here and the envelope cover plainly basic but the finished garment is subtly crafted to be an elevated tweak on the style.  The trick here is how the tie neckline is not a straight cut piece, but a tailored, curvy one which is cut on the bias and left free of interfacing.  This concoction makes it hang so nicely, effortlessly, smoothly against the body, and tie so softly.  I would love Simplicity #9559 for this reason alone, but it also happens to fit me precisely and was easy to make.  I will definitely be coming back to sew another iteration.  Of all the tie necklined garments I have sewn, I think this one may be my favorite.  It is right up there next to this 1946 black crepe tie neck blouse, which I just posted earlier this month.  The width of the ties, the open but still conservative neckline, as well as the practical seaming in to main body is what wins me over.  If you find this pattern online to buy, do pick it up for yourself.  It is super cheap everywhere I see it for sale, but that is only because it is a hidden gem.

My sleeves have a deep hem so that I have the option of wearing them like a longer short style or roll them up to a cuff, as the pattern intended.  I have not tacked the cuffs down because I like the versatility to decide to change up the look.  The blouse’s overall length turned out rather long, which is fine because it blouses out whenever I wear it tucked in a skirt so the generous length is helpful to keep this silky blouse tucked in.  The silkiness of the polyester is much more appreciated than normally – Grandma’s jumper is quite itchy and the smoother the layers underneath means the raw wool might not work its way to tickling my skin!

The case for the historical accuracy of 22” center back zippers is again put to rest her with my Grandmother’s jumper.  It has a long metal zip down the back for ease of dressing.  My Grandmother was a practical and sensible woman, and seeing this feature makes me laugh because it is totally her.  As they are not commonly seen, though, so I am supposing that 22” metal zippers must have been a bit more expensive than the ‘normal’ side zip.  Grandma was super sensible with money especially, but I could see her justifying the purchase because of the ease a center back zipper offered.  She was a busy working mom with a handful of girls to take care of – Grandpa was a busy man himself at that time with two jobs. 

Anyways, to get back on topic, I have talked about the issue of the long, full length vintage center back zipper in old (primarily 1940s and 50’s) dresses, jumpers, and house frocks in this post.  Agent Carter’s trademark red and navy blue dress from Season one of the television show was true vintage and it had a center back zipper, as does this blue late 40’s vintage dress in my wardrobe.  I cannot vouch for the Agent Carter dress, but my vintage blue late 40’s dress has all the features of being handmade, just the same as Grandma’s jumper.  If anyone has seen a center back zipper on a vintage garment as well, come join with me in this discussion and let’s de-bunk a popular myth of old clothes only having those difficult side zippers!

The rest of my Grandmother’s clothes are so fancy, they would not have been as wearable as this jumper even if they did fit me.  They include her velvet wedding dress from 1947, what we surmise to be her bridesmaid’s dress from her brother’s wedding the year after, and some sort of fancy late 1930s or early 1940s fancy semi-sheer silk dress from when she was an older teenager. See picture below. 

The best part about Grandma’s collared peach moiré bridesmaid’s dress is that she must have used the same pattern as was used for the bridesmaid’s dresses for her own wedding – it’s the same style.  For further proof that my Grandmother is ever the practical one, as I said above, there were two different sleeves which she made and kept with the dress, which is sleeveless.  There were long, full length gloves to mimic long sleeves and short sleeves ready to fit into the dress, both made of the same moiré fabric!  I am happy have recently found a late 1940 Advance brand sewing pattern which will be perfect to help me sew my own copy of this dress, as I mentioned above. 

The silk dress from her teen years is so amazing in quality and details, as is her wedding dress, that they deserve their own post, so I will only add here that they also seem to be handmade.  They were probably by Grandma Emma May herself, since her mom – my Slovak Great Grandma we called “Baba” who happily was alive until I was 10 – enjoyed more cooking, quilting, and artistic ventures than complex apparel sewing.  (I know this from the many visits and good meals she offered us at her house.)  To have one’s family stories be able to be recounted through the lens of just a few inheritance garments places of whole level of gravity upon something as basic as clothing. 

I’m sorry (but not really sorry) if these family tales make this post a bit uninteresting or at least confusing to be such a different approach than my ‘normal’ bog offerings.  However, it does me good to write about such things – it helps me remember, is therapeutic to share, and hopefully helps you connect with your own past as well as with me.  Do you also happen to have any family stories which are tied up with a garment which has been passed down to you?  What are your best tips for preserving a velvet wedding gown that has been turning an ivory-toned brown?  Is there anyone else you know who has had the opportunity to personally experience their older generations like a Great Grandparent, or even a Grandparent, or am I that much of a rarity?  Drop me a comment, and let’s talk about Grandmas and old clothes, please!