Grumpy Cat Sundress

I'm a huge Grumpy Cat fan. I can't look at her picture without smiling. She'd hate that! So when we decided to go to the Huntington before Costume College this year without dressing up (it would be my third trip to the Huntington--I wanted to see it this time!) I needed something that wasn't dressing up, but was dressing up. The idea for the Grumpy Cat sundress was born.


The dress is made from cotton poplin from Spoonflower. It's lined with blue China silk that I dyed with my 1920s beaded dress, but ended up not using for that project (yay for repurposing!). The bodice is a 1950s McCall's, I think, pattern that I've used several times before. I loaned it out a few years ago, but still have the me sized pattern. I made slight adjustments to the neckline and readded the bust darts. The skirt is a 1951 McCall's pattern that thankfully fit perfectly with no alterations, well, other than shortening it about six inches, so that doesn't count. I had originally planned to use a 1950s Vogue juniors pattern, but the seven inches of ease made me not want to deal with it. It also had a center front skirt seam and I didn't think half Tardar Sauces would look very good up the front of the skirt!


Construction is very straightforward. Everything is sewn right sides together. The silk lining was sewn separately and then put wrong sides together and bound at the neckline and armscyes. I then added a waistband (hidden by the belt) in cotton, sewed the skirt on, sewed the skirt lining on, and finished the interior with a piece of seam binding. The zipper is set by hand, and I will never set one by machine again. It was so easy, and I love the little spaced backstitches. The skirt is hemmed with seam binding, as this is one of those fabrics that gets visible creases from the iron.

The front of the skirt is one piece, the back is three slightly gored panels. I have to say, I'm very proud of my fabric positioning on this dress!


And accessories! I have a Pokey the Cat tote (Grumpy Cat's brother) from Society 6, and a No necklace from Etsy. The sunglasses are also from Etsy, and bought for my 1950s faire dress. And what to read while wearing a Grumpy Cat dress! A Grumpy Book, of course!

Then and Now!

I was very disappointed that last time I used my Brownie, we only took one--one!!!--picture with a modern camera at the same time. This time, with the help of Amy and Aubry, this has been fixed!

I thought I'd share a few of the better matched pictures. I did crop the modern ones, but other than that, no editing!


My dress from faire. Complete with the Kennedy, the Man for the 60s button that I sadly forgot to wear before!


Slightly different angles, but still a good comparison!


I just love the fluff :)


Yes, that's my Grumpy Cat dress. There will be a full post! It is from 50s patterns, and they did use novelty prints in the 50s :)


And what else should you read when you're wearing a Grumpy Cat dress?

For all the pictures, go to the Flickr photoset!

What I've been up to...

While this blog is more of a place for finished projects and tutorials than daily ramblings (for which you should be grateful for), the complete silence of the moment isn't what I want for it either! I do have a few more Williamsburg projects to share (two jackets, a banyan thing and a shortgown of questionable authenticity (linen lined in wool!) but it was for just around the house...), but I've been so engrossed in current projects that I haven't updated.

First--and this project is actually finished--a beaded 1920s dress. Here's a preview of some of the beading on the bodice


It's tambour beading with size 15/0 beads on silk chiffon with a yellow China silk slip. I'll be wearing it at the Costume College Gala.

Next, the very close to being finished apron front plaid 1820s gown.


It just needs the skirt trimmed and attached and a belt. Not bad! I'm happy with how it's turning out, but at the same time, I'm not devoting as much to it as I wanted to with this fabric. I blame one of the worst coughs in the history of the world (see also, reasons for not updating blogs--especially the antique one). Seriously. It should be a good dress though!

And next we have the Grumpy Cat sundress. Yes, you read that right!


I'll be wearing this the day before Costume College. We decided against dressing up dressing up, but...

This will have a narrow skirt from a 1951 pattern. The bodice is from another 1950s pattern that I have. I loaned it out a few years ago, so I'm not sure of the date--I had the my size pattern from it though! I initially had a 1950s Vogue juniors pattern that matched my measurements for this dress, but it had almost seven inches of ease. Even pretending I was wearing a bullet bra, it seriously didn't work! I was going to use the skirt from that pattern, but it had a center front seam, which really wouldn't work too well!

Oh, and my No necklace should be here shortly...