Creating the new Autumn Collection Part 5: The Olive Silk and Antique Lace Mermaids Dress

Once upon a time, a young TAFE fashion student (me!) stumbled across a vintage and retro store. Inside that store were many pieces of beautiful lace and fabrics, although none were as beautiful as one piece of lace.



This lace was so delicate, so fine; the label read: Antique 1930's lace. She bought it knowing that one day, when the time is right, this lace will become something beautiful!


Fast forward more than 10 years later, and I have finally used this lace!

Each time I thought about using this lace, I chickened out of it- I didn't want to create something from it that I wasn't going to be happy with. I am very proud to show you my Olive Silk and Antique Lace Mermaids Dress- and here is the step by step creation of this dress...


Above, starting to sew the olive green silk together to make the outer layer. I added interfacing to the bust and shoulder area, to make the pieces sit well around the body.

Below, I have added a tape around the neckline and sleeves to prevent stretching. In this design I cut the selvedge of the fabric off, and use this as tape- doing this will make the seam thickness less.



Above and below, where needed, the seams are trimmed and clipped to help the seam sit flat.




Sewing the lining together. The lining is 100% silk too.



The centre back has an invisible zip. I always like to make sure the seams match at each junction- sometimes very tricky when using a zip, but worth the fuss!




Above and below, the dress before the lace has been attached.




Above and below, I had to position the brown antique lace carefully around the bodice, using lots of pins, and clipping the lace away gradually. I am not an expert on deciding how old fabrics and laces are, so I can only guess how old this lace is judging from the label it had on it (when I bought the piece over 10 years ago), but I can tell you that it is very delicate, very fine, and they don't make lace like this these days!




Just pinning the lace around the bodice takes a lot of time; making sure that the lace is flat and not puckering the olive silk. I decide to follow the design lines of the dress, and have less lace at the back.


I have enough lace to create about 4 of these dresses. Perhaps I may run out of olive green silk (as it is a vintage fabric as well), but a beautiful cream or ivory would look perfect with this lace too!


I can't wait to show you all the professional photos of this dress! Stay tuned for more.

The Environment and Penelope Red

This is just a quick note... Most of the customers that I speak to at the markets will quickly understand that I use a lot of vintage fabrics and trims. I wanted to share with you a few reasons why...

1. I believe in today's world we need to be innovative with what materials we use, and what we choose to discard. It is always important to think of the environment, and do your part. I like to think that instead of irresponsible landfill, I am making something beautiful!


The Venus Floral Bolero, made from two vintage fabrics.

2. I like using vintage and recycled because it gives me access to hard to find prints, and the trims are usually better quality.

I source my materials and trims from many places...If you take a close look at my designs, you will notice a mix of vintage, recycled and new.

The pieces I recycle is either fabric that hasn't been used yet (and doesn't fall under the "vintage" category), or sometimes I find an old garment that has beautiful fabric; I simply wash it, cut it up, and make a Penelope Red design from it.


The Venus Corset, uses two vintage fabrics.

3. I receive a lot of my vintage fabrics and trims from my Mum's friends and my family -so I think it is nice for them to see what I have done with it all.

The new fabrics are purchased from a local Australian supplier.



The Mint Regency Blouse uses a vintage fabric and a vintage trim.

And a Greener Penelope Red:

I have always recycled my patternmaking cardboard and paper (which amounts to quite a lot!), but I have been wanting to find ways to reuse the fabric scraps I have lying around.

I have now found an accessories designer who will collect my off cuts, and use them in her production. Melissa Tan, who makes cute ipod covers, and handbag organisers, will be using these pieces, and I think that all of these small steps will amount to a better Penelope Red!