On a 1950's take on...Shakespeare?

This spring I choose to take a Shakespeare course and as our final we had to choose a passage from one of his plays to recite complete with costume. For my presentation, I ended up choosing part of Helena's closing passage of act 1, scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

We were given the option to interpret what we chose to recite in any way we wanted and while originally I was going to wear a dress with a much more traditional Grecian look to it, I decided I would go for a 1950's interpretation.

Because my passage was about love and Cupid was mentioned, I thought my Valentine's heart skirt and blouse from last year would be the perfect choice of costume. It was quite nippy and knowing it'd be even more so by the time I left, I dug out some red tights I'd had for ages. I'd had them so long that it turned out they didn't fit any more (how a pair of bright red tights stayed in the back of the drawer for so long without me noticing, I don't know), so I ended up cutting the top part off and wearing them as stockings. This was a really good reminder that I should buy some colored tights because I love the way they look!  

To add to this, and as a way to incorporate the original Athenian aspect of the play, I also made myself a flower garland wreath for my hair.

I didn't remember to grab it for these photos, but in order to hide the paper with my lines on it (which was allowed) I ended up bringing a flat silver clutch and it worked just perfectly! 

By the time I presented I was quite nervous and while I can't say I recited without a hitch, when I had to explain my choice of costume afterward I felt like I had made the perfect choice!

♥ ♥ ♥

On What I Wore For Valentine’s Day

It’s a week late, but I still wanted to do a post on the skirt I made for Valentine’s Day. 

Much like my Christmas skirt, it was a last minute decision (a week before to be exact) to make a skirt I could wear for Valentine’s Day. I choose a Simplicity circle skirt pattern and then for a change I thought I’d try for a new type of fabric, which was much weightier than I was used to. Well, as beautiful as the fabric was and as quick as I was in getting the skirt constructed, it turned out to be too heavy for my petticoat and had too much of a drape to put the appliqués on and not have them get lost in the folds.

I was so determined to have a skirt in time for the holiday, I went and bought more fabric, black broadcloth this time, pulled out my go-to pattern Simplicity 3773 (used here, here, and here,—I’m sure everyone is getting tired of it by now), and started on skirt number two. This was Monday the 10th.

I finished the skirt quickly, went to try it on only to find it was a fraction of an inch too small, and I thought I could fix it easily. It was NOT easy to fix! Because I used a triple zig-zag stitch on the edge to prevent fraying, my attempt to sew a little further into the seam allowance meant the zig-zag stitching showed on the right side and, of course, I chose to use the other stitch that works pretty much the same way the stitch on a serger does, so ripping it out became a huge ordeal. By the time I got it unstitched (Thursday morning), I decided I would just completely replace the panel. I spent the entire day sewing and by the time I went to bed the skirt was ready to be worn for Valentine’s Day!

Paired with my red blouse I made in December, a sweater that has a retro look, my Valentine pin, and a red ribbon in my hair, I felt I had the perfect outfit for the day!

I really love how the appliqué hearts turned out and how the metallic thread looks. (sorry for the poor quality of these photos)


The only thing I didn’t get to finish in time was embroidering more arrows along the hem (I learned that metallic embroidery thread is not particularly fun to work with), but I had enough done for the day and will definitely be adding more later. And, despite making it specifically for Valentine’s, this is one skirt I’ll be wearing year round! ♥

On a Heart Pin to Make for Valentine’s Day

I’ve been thinking about heart pins for awhile and look as I might I never seem to find one, vintage or otherwise, I absolutely love enough to buy. As a result, in a moment of frustration, lack of fabric for another project, and a great desire to make something, I decided I was going to remedy my lack of a heart pin by making my own and wanted to share it with you!

Supplies

♥ Felt
♥ A pipe cleaner
♥ Darning needle/something that will poke a small hole
♥ Thread in a matching color
♥ A pin backing or safety pin

*The finished pin is about 2 ¼ inches long

Instructions

1. Cut out two hearts from the felt about 1 inch by 1 inch in size.

2. Now to make the hearts thicker. Take the two hearts you just cut out and sew them to the larger piece of felt making an attempt to stay as close to the edge of the cut out hearts as possible. Cut them out again.

3. Overlap the hearts slightly and sew them together by hand or machine.

4. Cut off a 3 ½ inch piece of the pipe cleaner.

 

5. Remove all but ½ inch of the fuzz by pulling it off. (You could also trim it as short as possible if you don’t mind your arrow being a bit fuzzy- both methods are equally a tedious.)

 

6. Decide on the two points you want the arrow to go through. Use the darning needle to poke through just enough (not too much or else you’ll have a large hole!) to create a hole for the pipe cleaner to go through. This may take a few tries since the end of the pipe cleaner gets stuck on the felt. 

The back...and, yes, I took this picture after step 7. 

7. Fold the non-fuzzy end so it looks like this and squeeze it into shape. You especially want to be careful the end is folded in because you don't want it to catch on whatever you pin it to.

 

8. Sew your pin backing or safety pin to the back. Be careful not to sew through to the front!

Try to sew it more towards the center or else the pin will show.

9. Pin it to your sweater, cardigan, bag, or hat!

While I’m not giving up my search for the perfect heart pin or brooch, I must say I’m enamored with this one and am happy to have made it just in time for Valentine’s Day! ♥♥♥