When my kids excitedly came home from work at Chick-fil-A, they had news that there was going to be a Sock Hop in two weeks and there would be a costume contest!
Wow! We were ready to take our newly found love of Swing Dancing for a spin!
SOCK HOP DANCE AND COSTUME CONTEST!
While my son could work with what had by cuffing blue jeans and a short sleeve buttoned shirt, I set to sewing 1950s circle skirts for me and my daughter.
VINTAGE 1950S CIRCLE SKIRT PATTERN
For the circle skirt, I wanted to use a vintage pattern, Simplicity 4884, that I had bought in Vermont at an antique shop a couple of years ago.
Later I want to take more time to recreate the pattern’s felt skirt with appliqued birds.
GERTIE’S 1950S REPRODUCTION FABRIC
After perusing the fabric selections, I settled on a couple of Gertie reproduction fabrics for the skirts.
SEWING 1950S FOR MY DAUGHTER IN PINKS, ROSES, AND CREAMY YELLOW
Beginning my sewing my daughter’s outfit, I wanted to ensure she’d have something fun to wear.
I was glad to start with her skirt, because that was a snap to sew.
The blouse, however, was quite complicated, but eventually came out correctly!
Then my sewing machine’s buttonholer attachment acted persnickety, which was annoying.
I adore that back collar detail. So cute!
I was elated that it came out so well considering how difficult it was to figure out.
The modern buttons were from my stash, to create a bridge to contemporary Vintage Flair for my daughter to wear anytime she wants.
SEWING MY 1950S OUTFIT IN BLACK AND WHITE WITH POLKA DOTS
With time to spare, I whipped up my circle skirt. I love this fabric. The circles are three dimensional and a tad crinkly which is fun!
The inside of the fabric is quite comfortable against the skin and has a nice drape.
The skirt came out like a charm.
On the morning of the sock hop, I began sewing the blouse.
Now that I figured out the difficulties, could I whip it out before the evening’s dance?
Ugh. The difficulties!
They caused so much grief.
At the last minute everything was sewn together and it was time to get dressed!
FUTURE SEWING AND SHOPPING LIST
Never mind that I had wanted to sew new crinolines that would pouf more than our other crinolines.
Since I had saddle shoes to wear when I was little, I assumed some might be easily found in the stores, but I never got to that.
RAINED OUT
Nevertheless we dressed up and drove to Chick-fil-A, where we were the only ones dressed and ready to go.
With our eyes on the sky all day for possible rain, when my son got off work earlier nothing had been decided.
The dance was going to be outdoors with professional dance instructors and expensive music equipment.
It ended up being a good call, since would have drenched us a few hours after the sock hop would have started.
MY DAUGHTER’S NEW VINTAGE FLAIR OUTFIT
Loving her new outfit, my daughter wore it to church the next Sunday, with her pretty red suede flat shoes.
