As you know, I am always inspired by the show Mad Men and the wonderful fashions and period details. A few months ago I found a fabric that really got me excited. It is a quilting cotton, but has an almost heathered appearance, like a tweed. It comes in a variety of great colors and I immediately thought of a dress that Joan wears on Mad Men made from a similar fabric.

I first made the dress in the original green. It has a split neckline and a self belt with buckle. I placed the belt a bit higher than on the original; just under the bustline. I decided to use a metal buckle for contrast, but I did make tiny covered buttons. I limited them to two, not wanting to overwhelm the miniature version with too much detail.

When the new Agnes arrived last week, I made her a version of the dress in purple with red details. I used red for the belt and buttons because I thought that they disappeared a bit on the green dress. I think this dress, though very simple in design, has a real vintage flair.

An inspirational dress! I found this vintage dress while browsing the web for 60s fashions. I wanted to try something similar, and this is what I came up with. I decided to use tulle for the wrap instead of lined fabric, thinking the lined wrap would be too heavy in miniature. Then I added beading to the shoulder strap and figure I might as well add beading to the belt as well. I quite like the result and I am curious to see how it looks in other dramatic color combinations.

Va Va Voom! Peggy Harcourt has been here for about 2 weeks. I can't remember the last time I was this excited to receive a new doll! My first impression of her was that she is enormous! And she is absolutely gorgeous! What a diva. As soon as I unpacked her I couldn't wait to make her a dress. I decided to try the basic Wiggle dress in bright red silk noil. She has the perfect body for 1960s fashions! I was so thrilled with how it came out!

Not long after she arrived, life got busy and I had to put her away for a while. But I can't wait to make her something new and have already found a vintage floral dotted swiss cotton. I am envisioning a full skirted dress for spring.

OK, OK...I know...I have been seriously neglecting my blog. But a lot of things have been happening in my other life.

So what's new in the world of Bellissima Couture, you say? Well, I was so excited to receive my long awaited Blue Chip Monogram yesterday. I was thrilled to win the chance to buy one and as soon as she was out of the box I designed and made a new dress for her. I found this cool satin last week. I like the print. It seems retro to me. And the colors were so perfect for Blue Chip's hair! I wanted to bring in some blue to bring out her distinctive eye shadow color, so I used this glorious teal silk noil.

I tried something new for the bodice; instead of the usual vertical darts I gathered the front. I believe Randall Craig published a Gene pattern last year with a similar bodice. I like how it came out, but it is a bit subtle. I may need to pleat the fabric, or add extra fullness. The print of the fabric might be the reason why it is hard to see.