I've also been following my healthier eating plan and trying to walk every day, and I've lost five of my holiday pounds; three more to go! Woo hoo! In the meantime, I made this jumper utilizing another friend to the fluctuating waistline (or hip-line, as the case may be!): the bias cut. Cutting a garment on the bias allows the fabric to flow fluidly across the lines of the body while also allowing for some stretch.
Bias-cut dresses were immensely popular in the 1930s. Here are some beautiful images, which I borrowed from here.
As we all know, Jean Harlow was a big fan of the style:
My fabric has quite a bit of stretch on the bias, which allowed me to eliminate a zipper. It is a beautiful soft wool that I got on clearance at Hancock. The shirt was made with a cream cotton, with fabric-covered buttons, of course! I made it using this pattern:
I did make a few changes, but only to the shirt: I moved the buttons from the back to the front, and I shortened the sleeves slightly. The navy and cream crochet gloves were a recent gift from my mother. The matching buckle and button are vintage; I love the subtle plaid print impressed on them.
Jumpers were also a staple of 1930s fashions. This post from Baroness Von Vintage has some lovely images of jumper patterns, along with a link to a very cute one sewn by SuperHeidi. Below are some patterns from my own collection, at least a few of which I hope to make up someday!
The jabot came to be after I attempted to make a tie while following the print of the plaid. It turned out to be much too large; the ends overlapped the neckline of the jumper, which made the entire outfit look messy to me. So I chopped off the ends, made a loop at the top, and ran a grosgrain ribbon through the loop. The button is purely decorative.
See all of that stretch? I'm thinking that I can skip my walk tomorrow....thank you, bias-cut dresses!
