Weekend Review: The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

 

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle / Jennifer Ryan
NY: Ballantine Books, c2022.
411 p.

This was a very enjoyable novel, set on the home front in England, mid-WWII. It follows the fortunes of three women as they adjust to the new patterns of life in their small village. 

Grace Carlisle is the vicar's daughter, and she's trying to fix her deceased mother's wedding dress for her upcoming nuptials. But she's as uncertain about the wedding as she is about the repairs, especially after she runs into Hugh Westcott, a childhood friend and member of the local aristocracy who she hasn't seen in years.

Cressida Westcott is a successful, London based fashion designer who left the village when she was young and had no intentions ever to return. But her fashion house and her home have both just been destroyed in the Blitz -- she had a narrow escape. She has nowhere left to turn other than her old home. Her nephew Hugh is now in charge, and she can only hope that both Hugh and her niece Violet are more welcoming than her late brother was. 

Meanwhile, Violet is excited by the idea of her famous aunt coming to live with them -- but shortly after Cressida arrives, spoiled Violet receives a conscription letter. She's off to train for a position in the women's corps, but doesn't know what she will end up doing. 

The three women learn to be more empathetic, build their relationships, create meaningful activity that draws the women of the village together, and of course, find true love. 

It was a straightforward story with not too many surprises. It was pretty easy to see the direction that the story was taking as it went along, but it was an enjoyable read with interesting characters. When they start the Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, spurred on by Cressida's arrival and Grace's need for help from the ladies of the already existing sewing group, it livens up the village and allows for some great sewing talk. As mentioned in the notes to this book, and in the last book I read, Fashion on the Ration,  a Wedding Dress lending circle was actually a real thing in the war, started by Barbara Cartland (yes, the romance novelist) who was upset to think that women in the services would have to marry in their ugly uniforms. There is a lot of fascinating historical content in this book, which was so intriguing. 

The parts I was most drawn to were the fashion bits; I thought they were the most unique parts of the story, and of course the whole idea of clothing availability and design in wartime is of interest to me -- I just read a whole book about it! There is info about the clothes rationing schemes rolled into the story quite naturally, and Cressida, as a designer, is asked to participate in the (real life) design challenge given to a handful of fashion designers by the British government when they were trying to figure out how to make Utility clothing more appealing. The scenes at the challenge event were fun to read, especially since Grace was one of Cressida's models -- it was entertaining to see our characters inserted into an historical moment. 

And there was also a bit of historical detail shared at the top of each chapter; the explanation of the design requirements for a piece of Utility clothing was my favourite bit.

If you enjoy a sweet historical romance with a Happy Ever After and lots of period colour, as well as a lot of fascinating fashion tidbits, I'd recommend this read. 

Weekend Review: The Grace Kelly Dress

 

The Grace Kelly Dress / Brenda Janowitz
NY: Graydon House, c2020
336 p.

I've never read Brenda Janowitz before, and the blurb by Emily Giffin on the front didn't bode well since I don't usually like her books. But the dress element of this book convinced me to pick it up. And I am glad I did! It was a poignant and enjoyable story of three generations of women, and one dress. 

The story moves between three women: Rose in 1958 who is creating The Dress, Joanie in 1982 who wore it after her mother did, and Rocky in 2020 who is getting married but doesn't want to wear her mother's dress. 

The chapters are all short, and each woman is quite different so it's easy to keep them sorted. Also, Rose is a seamstress in Paris, Joanie is a college student, and Rocky is a contemporary software developer, so they're distinct in their interests, surroundings and behaviours, too. 

Of course I loved Rose and all the time spent in Madame Michel's Parisien atelier, where she works. Rose is very skilled, she loves sewing and designing; her focus and her sketches catch the eye of Julian, Madame Michel's assistant, and is called upon to assist him in keeping the atelier running after the unexpected death of Madame Michel, which he is trying to keep a secret. Lots of drama! 

Joan is a young college student, a sorority member and recently engaged to a fraternity dude, but she's starting to question a lot about her life. She tries very, very hard to be 'good' to make up for the loss of her older sister, who died at age twenty. This character was a little weak to me, because in parts it felt like she was living more in the late 60s than the early 80s, with her sorority and her pearls and her innocence. But she certainly experiences some of the early 80s when she leaves campus in search of the truth about her sister. 

Rocky is a bit rough around the edges, unlike her sultry sister Amanda. She likes logic and order and things being straightforward. She wants a simple wedding, and isn't thrilled about wearing the elaborate Grace Kelly dress from her mother -- but doesn't want to hurt her mother by turning it down, either. There are a bunch more side stories in Rocky's chapters; Amanda is gay and longing for the last girlfriend she ditched, Rocky's fiancé is South Korean but was adopted by a Jewish family and he's now searching for his birth mother, there are mother issues between Rocky and Joan. 

But through all three of the stories, the dress, and all the details of making it, shine through. I loved how Rose takes the inspiration from the Grace Kelly wedding dress that was the ideal in 1958 and updates it for a younger client. She talks about details like shortening sleeves, updating necklines, adding lace motifs, and about how to construct a dress like this (in separate parts, skirt held up with underpinnings and cummerbund to cover the bodice and skirt join. As a sewist, a reader can picture this and understand how it makes a gown like this work on the body).

Joanie adapts the dress to her taste in the 80s (think poofy Princess Diana sleeves) and Rocky eventually comes to see how she can make it work for her, too. (no spoilers...) It ends with a fairytale-like omniscient narrator telling the story of the dress' future, and it works, and it's touching and sweet. 

If you like stories that move between characters, and don't mind the sentimentality of a book centred around love and weddings, and of course you like to read about sewing, give this one a try. You can't go into it cynically or it just won't work, but if you're looking for a gentle read with some great sewing content and an interesting set-up, you might just find it's exactly what you need. 

A Wedding Guest Cambie/Hollyburn

I was at my niece's wedding last weekend -- and how do they so quickly grow old enough to be married? It was a lovely wedding, held at a hall alongside the Lachine Canal in Montreal, with many outdoor areas to enjoy. Beautiful setting, and a very beautiful bride.

Since it was a more casual setting, I thought that a new Cambie in a light summery print would be a great idea for my wedding guest apparel. When my husband picked up a new summer weight jacket in a light blue/grey/white colour palette, I had the perfect match for it.

Inspired by his jacket, as well as this dress on the cover of July 2015's InStyle magazine, I had been looking around for a fabric with a similar blue china-tile print. No luck. I was about to give in and just wear something I'd already made, when I came across the perfect fabric -- a very light-weight cotton-poly sheet in just the kind of blue print I'd been looking for. It was a light blue on a greyish white ground, and because the Cambie is fully lined, I knew I could use this for the fashion fabric and it would be perfectly non-see-through once the lining was in. 

I thought about using View B, with the full skirt, for this version, but as I was looking at so many reviews on PatternReview and elsewhere online, I realized I didn't really want that much fullness...so I used the Hollyburn skirt instead, inspired by CameoOfKarina's latest version. It was the first time I used the Hollyburn, but it won't be the last -- I loved it and want a couple of skirts for fall in a nice warm drapey fabric...so many ideas!

with the Canal behind us

In any case -- being the second time I've made the Cambie, the process was easier. I made more adjustments to the bodice to get it to fit more closely (though forgetting that this fabric had zero stretch in it, unlike the cotton I used for my first version, I did have to sit with very good posture all night long, haha). I took another half-inch out of the front bodice, and cut it with the square neckline rather than the sweetheart, which is usually my preference. I might go crazy and try the sweetheart option someday...but this was not the day ;)

The print was a little crooked on the sheet so despite trying to cut around that, the bodice does have some slant to it. I was really disappointed when I realized it but once it was all together and the swirly skirt pattern counterbalanced it, it wasn't actually that noticeable or annoying any longer. I carefully measured the waistband and the top of the Hollyburn to make sure they'd meet up. Since they are both Sewaholic patterns it wasn't that hard to fit them together, only needing minimal adjustment.

Hollyburn skirt with such nice cut-on pockets

I used another really, really soft white cotton sheet (also quite lightweight) for the lining, and it is so luxurious against the skin. It gave the dress just enough heft to fit smoothly, but kept the light flowy feel of both fabrics. It was quite a warm afternoon and evening on the wedding day, so the airiness of this dress was perfection. I was reminded how fantastic the technique is for installing the lining in the Cambie; so easy and so quick. The only real change I made was to gather the sleeves a little bit less and leave them a little bit wider, for more underarm area coverage, which I noticed I would like from the first version I made.

Otherwise it was a relatively fast make -- good thing, since I'd decided to start it on Monday night and had to have it done by Friday night -- while working all week. I am not a fast sewer, so that was a challenge for me! But I got it done and I loved wearing it. Felt like a perfect fit for a beautiful August wedding. 

A fun photo on the staircase...

especially when photobombed by a charming co-guest :)