Meet the Hepburns.

Sarah of Rhinestones and Telephones is hosting a sew-along, and as I have become addicted to sew-alongs these past couple of months, I joined her! Thanks, Sarah!

The project is to sew up some items this autumn with the inspiration from Audrey and Katharine Hepburn.
I´ve always been a huge Katharine Hepburn fan, and I love her style, so that´s an easy style icon to follow for me. And Audrey isn´t bad either;-). My favorite Katharine Hepburn movie of all time is Woman of the Year, from 1942. It´s (apparently) the first movie where Hepburn plays together with Spencer Tracy, but certainly not the last – they teamed up plenty of times after this. I love how they made movies back in the old days, and the little jokes and the plot, and off course, the fashion.

The most fun thing about movies from the 1940 is how, on a close up of a woman, the image is dozy, like she is in the middle of a shiny cloud (using back light, I suspect), but when the camera closes in on men, it´s a more natural light. LIke in the trailer here:

Fantastic. Anyhow. The film´s great, and I recommend it. Not only is there a great plot (we always hear about the feminists of the 1970´s, but what then about this gang from the 1940´s, or even those who came before and gave us the right to vote?), it off course also have some scandalous fashion items in it!

So, the items I have chosen for this sew-along are supposed to reflect what I need for the autumn/winter. I´ve been sewing summer dresses for so long now, that I´m not sure I even know how to make anything else…

And here are the nominees:

1. Audrey in Unst. This is actually a knitting project, I really need a black knitted cotton cardi, and this retro-inspired model designed by  the talented Gudrun Johnson met all my criterias. AND it´s called Audrey. How cool is that? I have come this far with that project:
   
2. A refashion of a mans shirt. My darling cleaned in his closets recently (literally, not symbolically;-), and all of a sudden, I had a bunch of mens t-shirts and shirts at hand. Yay! So I´m taking this classic blue shirt,
   and I will try to make it look a little like this:
   
3. The trousers.
   

   I can´t be part of a tribute sew-along to Katharine Hepburn without making a pair of wide-legged trousers. These are from the june issue of Burda, and are made in tall gal´s sizes.
   
   Perfect for me, as I always have to add an inch or two at pants patterns.

4. The 60´s dress.
   

   This is to Audrey. I´m making this dress right now, but I just need a zipper. I am making the jacket as well, if I get the time.

5. Then theres the Christmas dress.
   

   This is a Burda retro pattern, and I love it.
   

   It has been laying around in my sewing room, cut and ready for, I think, nearly two years (or is it three?). You see, the sleeves are a bit intimidating, as you might see from the technical drawing. But I figure, someone must have sewn this at one point, and as always, I will ask google to help me. Or have some of you good people stitched it up?

   
   The blue is actually much darker than what this pic shows you.
   

   About time to finish it you say? Alright then!

6. Sencha. My first attempt at this didn´t go so well as I used a blue marker. On white rayon. Did it go off you think? … I havn´t desided in what material I´m making it in, but these are the candidates:
   
   Any suggestions?
7. A coat. I don´t know which one yet, though. Gertie is hosting a sew-along for Colette Patterns Lady Gray, but all though that is a beautiful coat, here in Sweden I need something warmer, something that closes with a zipper AND buttons, that´s lined with something warm, and has full sleeves. So I´ll be looking! Any retro suggestions on coat/jacket-patterns is greatly appreciated! 🙂

There you have it, my plan for the Hepburn Hepburn project! See you at the Flickr Pool!