Mad Men dress; jodhpurs

MegaCon is coming up soon, and last year, I did a "steampunk" inspired outfit, but this year I want to change it up. I recently finished watching all four seasons of Mad Men and I want to do something in that era. I've been sitting on a bunch of old Butterick retro patterns and I pulled this one:

I don't know what's gotten into me, because this really isn't my style, but maybe that's why I'm drawn to it. Now I have to go shopping for a girdle, or I might put some boning in the bodice, otherwise, I can't do this waistline. 

For another costume, I threw together a pair of jodhpurs using this pattern:

This was a very good pattern! Easy to use, easy to adjust and has the look I was going for. Now I have the bottom half of my Star Wars Imperial Officer uniform!

Pattern Roundup: Burda Plus Mode - Belle Epoque

One of the patterns that I used from Burda magazine 01/2012, is available now on burdastyle.de: 

NO. 133A-012 012-DL

 

I love how it drapes. I made two of them, one for mom (size 52) and one for me (size 46):

  

I still need an occasion to wear it. 

Here is the other one - described in this article.

  

My version (in size 46):

Not sure if I would wear it out, as article suggests. It does make a luxurious bathrobe, though.

Waste Not Fanny Pack

If you read this blog, then you've seen what I can do with an old pair of cargo pants. I try to use as much of the material as possible, and when I make a tote bag, I usually end up with these pieces left over:

These are the side pockets. I already added the zipper to the one on the right. Well, after staring at them for a while, and thinking about ways to make some kind of tool belt or fannie pack, first I tried this:

...and did not like how it looked. And then, I tried joining the side pockets together, like this:

...and I still don't really like how it looks. But this is an iterative process. Stay tuned.