1940s Seamstress magic with The Black Pinafore

As a small business owner, I know the amount of effort that goes into running a small business. So when I can, I try and support other small business owners as I’ve been so fortunate to be supported in my own business endeavours.  Seamstresses in particular are a group of women I admire. I’ve been wanting to learn to sew forever but can never seem to find the time to do. I feel like learning to sew would be especially helpful with my love of the 1940s, as my hips are a constant hurdle for this era. So I recently took the plunge and ordered a commission of a 1940s style dress I adore from Italian Seamstress The Black Pinafore.

Flowers ~ Black Rose Double from Daisy Jean
Necklace ~ Black Beads from Debstar Designs
Brooch ~ Peggy Carter Brooch from Miss Lady A Broad
Dress ~ Custom 1940s dress made from a Vintage Pattern by The Black Pinafore
Shoes ~ Marilyn pumps in red from Royal Vintage Shoes

The Black Pinafore is a small one woman seamstress store I found while hunting for 1940s goodies on etsy. I followed them on Instagram for what felt like forever before I got up the courage to contact owner Deborah to make a purchase. With the Australian dollar not being as strong as the Euro, I contacted Deborah about paying a purchase off in instalments. Thankfully Deborah was super understanding and the instalments were easily broken up into individual listings for me, so I could pay them with ease when I was ready. 

Once my custom dress was paid in full, the fun really started.  Deborah, the owner and Seamstress of the Black Pinafore was great in keeping in touch and keeping me upto date. I selected my fabric from a variety she sent me to choose from and the construction began. Her attention to detail during this construction period was wonderful as she also contacted me to choose my button and matching belt buckle detail. Once construction started it only took a couple of weeks to complete. Shipping from Italy was around 3 weeks and it was tracked, which was wonderful for helping me keep upto date with where my parcel was. My dress arrived well packaged with a gorgeous set of matching earrings. 

As this was my first ever made to order item, I must admit I was a bit nervous. My body shape doesn’t fit the standard ‘form’ for clothing (I’m quite short in the torso but with small rounded shoulders but big in the hips) so I was unsure if it would fit despite measuring myself a couple of times. I was delighted to find this dress fits beautifully with or without foundation garments! The belt is the perfect size and I love the touches of the vintage buckle and matching button. To get this garment on I simply unbutton the front and pull over my head. Having been made from a vintage pattern this dress has such a wonderful true vintage feel. And the fabric colour is currently one of my favorites in my wardrobe as well! The construction has been beautifully done and I noticed there has also been some hand sewing done too, which is a beautiful touch to a handmade garment. The only thing I'd change would be to make the dress a few inches longer. Otherwise its perfect.

The perfect brooch for this gorgeous dress was my PeggyCarter brooch from Miss Lady A Broad! A gorgeously made piece designed and made here in Australia, it’s a subtle way of paying homage to one 1940s woman I adore. You can also match her with Captain America, who is also in the Lady A Broad store. 

My custom made commission from The Black Pinafore cost me $158.05AU split over 3 payments and $48AU for tracked postage to Australia. Being able to break the payments down made this a manageable purchase for me and I have absolutely no regrets about adding a beautifully made custom piece from a Seamstress into my wardrobe. I’m hoping it won’t be my last custom made piece! While her commissions list is currently full til October 2017 (she is definitely worth the wait though people!) she also has a small selection of ready made goodies in her etsy store as well!

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this review darlings!

Til next time