Tuesday 5 June 2012

Dance lessons for my grandmother

A few years ago, my grandmother gave me a bag with the words “Here, some old clothes. Cut them up and use them as fabrics!” Being impatient as ever, I immediately looked through it. The majority of items were already taken apart. There was a cocktail dress made from a very heavy black silk, a blue and gold type of jacket, a few other pieces I have forgotten about, a Sari and, at the very bottom, a light cotton dress. Watching me pull it out, my grandmother remarked “Oh, I had forgotten about that. I wore that to my dance lessons when I was a young girl.” Considering that she is over eighty now, this must have been somewhere around 1950.

Later, I carefully tried the dress on. It is in very good condition, considering my grandmother is over eighty years old, but just about too small for me. That’s not surprising, I’m almost a head taller than my grandmother. Ever since, I have kept the dress planning to make myself a version of it some day. I think now might be a good time.

Grandma dress

The dress is made from a very thin cotton in “misty rose” (according to Wikipedia). The fabric is decorated with little black flowers, consisting of three embroidered dots each. The material is quite sheer so there must have been a second dress worn underneath. That one was unfortunately not passed on to me so I will have to improvise.

Grandma dress 1

The dress is fitted loosely, except around the waist, has ruffled sleeves and I think it is meant to reach  the middle of the calf (tea length). It’s only knee length on me but then I am distinctly too tall for it anyway.

Grandma dress 2

So, the plan is to make a copy of the pattern (WITHOUT destroying the dress of course), then enlarging it and making myself a copy. I will try to keep as many of the details as possible. I think finding a matching fabric might be the first real challenge. This is going to be somewhat of a long term project but then, the one thing I definitely have at the moment is plenty of time.

12 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful project, good luck with it and keep us updated!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a neat gift from your grandmother! Love that dress, good luck! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know. I'm so surprised she kept it for years and then gave it to me to cut it up and use it for something else. Very strange.

      Delete
  3. I love it especially the fabric and that light colour! I hope your plan works out !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too. I have always avoided rose colours ( I'm not sure they go with my hair) but I'm willing to make an excpetion for this.

      Delete
  4. Love the history behind the dress. That will definitely make this project memorable & special, which are my favorite kinds of projects. Good luck! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I've been looking forward to doing this for ages but somehow never got round to it. I'm glad I have officially started it now.

      Delete
  5. Ooh la la, beautiful! I'm looking forward to seeing your creation!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is wonderful! I can't wait to see what your dress will look like.

    If you can't find any fabric like that you could perhaps get some in the same color and material and handstamp the same pattern on.

    blueeyednightowl.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds like a good idea. Thanks! There is no way I'm embroidering all these dots...

      Delete

Powered by Blogger.