My 1932 gown...

I am super, super excited about this latest sewing project for the television theme over at the Sew Weekly.  I knew right away that I wanted to make an outfit inspired by my absolute favorite TV show--Firefly.  Firefly is what is called a Space Western--part Sci Fi, part Western.  It aired in 2002 for 10 of 14 episodes but was cancelled.  Due to the huge fan outcry because of the canceling of the show, a movie with the same characters was made called 'Serenity'. The TV show has almost reached cult status because there is still a huge fan following and the DVD sales of the show are still going strong.

David and I are big fans, we are part of the 'Edinburgh Browncoats' fanclub (there are similar fanclubs around the world).  The TV show is fantastic.  It features an amazing ensemble cast and you really feel connected to all the characters. Definitely check it out if you haven't already!  I believe the Science Channel has been airing the episodes since March.

My outfit inspiration came from one of the characters named Inara Serra.  She's always very regally dressed. Here are a few photos:

I decided to use the Vintage Fashion Library's reproduction pattern of the 1932 DuBarry 1082B pattern:

Isn't it dreamy?  I absolutely love the shape of the back and the lines of the dress!!  The character, Inara, dresses quite a bit in lovely shades of red and gold and uses Chinese and Indian print fabric and I thought that would be perfect for this gown.  I found this amazing medium-weight Chinese silk at Edinburgh Fabrics and knew it would be a match made in heaven:

I love this fabric. It's a dream to sew with and I love the different colors reflected within the fabric itself.  I used a gold crepe back satin for the border of the bodice.

I am quite happy with how it turned out:

I made a belt to match and found an amazing belt buckle (at the last moment) on Etsy from UK seller jemimajay on Etsy that I think goes perfectly with the fabric:

 

David took some photos of me wearing the dress at St. Mary's Cathedral, which is apparently the largest ecclesiastical building in Scotland the only place that still maintains the daily choral tradition!

 The building is beautiful! Check out the doors:

And of course, the back of the dress is my absolute favorite part:

This dress is pretty easy to put together! The bodice front actually reminds me a bit of the 1934 Wearing History gown I made for Valentine's Day.  Both patterns have a gathered front bodice.  The instructions for the border of the bodice have you sew it on the inside and then slipstitch to the outside (almost like the opposite of facing)!

There is no interfacing at all in the border and it stays put fairly well.  You'll notice the pattern cover shows the dress with two dress clips--which would also look fantastic.

I'm going to try and make this pattern up as a blouse as well for the 1932 spot in my Sewing through the Decades Challenge goal and see how it works.  I think for the blouse version I might use interfacing in the back 'v' section because I plan to use crepe back satin for both the main body of the blouse and for the contrast material.  Don't you think it would look cute as a tuck-in blouse?  I'll let you know how I get on with that!

It has been unseasonably warm in Scotland--the weather was actually perfect for wearing this dress outside.  I'm planning to wear it tomorrow for David's birthday!  We were thinking of revisiting the place we went on Valentine's day :)

 

The flowers are all in bloom and Edinburgh looks so lovely! Check out this amazing photo David took of the flowers:

And this amazing photo of the church:

And I just have to share this last photo so that you can see how sunny it was in Edinburgh! This is a photo from the Prince's Street Gardens with the fountain and the castle in the background--one of my absolute favorite views in the city!