Agent Carter's Gold Dress

Hello all! I first have to start this post out with a plug for Agent Carter. It's an amazing show, which combines the costumes and style of a 1940's period piece with the fantastic humor and plot of a typical hero/ secret agent show, with a smart, strong, and sassy female lead, complete with a British butler as a sidekick!

Peggy Carter has the distinction of being Captain America's love interest, as well as the original founder of SHIELD. The show follows her adventures post WWII, where she has to help Howard Stark recover his stolen inventions, with help from Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis. Season 1 only has eight episodes, and you can watch the back half of them on Hulu here. It's been renewed for Season 2, which will air sometime later this year.

In the pilot episode, Agent Peggy Carter goes undercover at a nightclub and wears a stunning gold gown for distraction purposes (plus a blonde wig, for disguising purposes). I saw it and immediately wanted to make it, so I gave myself a deadline - make this fabulous gown for our upcoming anniversary!

 

 

Reference Photos:

The designer, Giovanna "Gigi" Ottobre-Melton, created this dress to have a very Veronica Lake feel to it. From her interview on the ABC Agent Carter website, she says "For her undercover work, the design of evening dresses from the 1930s and 1940s are mysterious and alluring, yet not overly revealing. The slim cut dresses glide over the body. When a woman walks around in one of these dresses, the fabric moves around her with a graceful fluidity. In her undercover mission in the first episode, the script called for a Veronica Lake look. We got to make Peggy into the classic femme fatale, with the blonde waves and gold matelassé fabric. Her cape was made with off white silk Panne velvet."

Photos were hard to come by, simply because she wears the dress primarily in a dark office, and later in her dark apartment. I lightened up several of the screenshots from here, and also have a few display photos (which is why there's some discrepancy between the colors).

Front:

     

 The fabric looks like a metallic gold lamé, and the dress has two dropped sleeves, and some serious support as part of the bodice. There is also an attached sash that creates the illusion of one piece, but is split in the back, with the left side coming around, being tacked in the center, then allowed to drop to the full length of the dress. The right hand piece of the sash likely only comes around to several inches past the center.

Back:

  

Her sleeves are slightly gathered at the top, and the ruched sash looks to be spread out to about six inches wide, then separated by a lapped zipper. The back itself comes up to just below her shoulder blades.

You can see the front and inside of the dress briefly in the video Marvel's Agent Carter - Dress For Success, Part 1, where the designer talks about the undercover dress after the 1:28 mark.

 

The dress and styling, as mentioned, was inspired by Veronica Lake, who was known for playing several femme fatale roles in the 1940's.

Veronica Lake in a gold dress 

 

Gigi Ottobre-Melton shows her inspiration board on a set tour

Pattern:

After looking at several different options, I found Vogue 8470, a pattern that matched nearly exactly with the shape of the dress.

Option B has the ideal shape, minus the attached sash and the detached sleeves, all very easy modifications to make.

Dress:

I looked at both a metallic knit and a gold lame for the fabric, then decided to go with the gold crepe lame fabric from Joann's that I thought matched really well.

 

I also chose a pretty gold lining to go with it and to add some weight to the dress.

While I followed the instructions for the pattern, I honestly would have made the bodice the same way I made my Cinderella one. It avoids adding the armhole facing, has clean and finished edges, and (I think) is much more intuitive. You don't need to make the "midriff section" (pattern piece #5), since it's the modesty panel that goes in front unless you want to.

After hosting my computer hostage in my craft room for a week or so to incentivize me to keep sewing, I finished the base dress just 30 minutes before we left for our anniversary date. I had Jim take a few pictures so I could have proof that I sort of mostly finished it.

I was also super excited about wearing her screen-accurate lip color, Besame's 1946 - Red Velvet Lipstick. I still need to add the dropped sleeves and the sash, so I'll update here when I finally finish those. Thanks for reading, and feel free to ask questions in the comments!

Things I Made in 2014

We're only halfway through January, so it's not too late to do a 2014 review post right?

Right.

Crafts are split up into the following categories (click to jump to that section):

Personal Projects
Costumes
Gifts

I craft a variety of different things for different purposes, but let's start with the one that took me the longest.

Personal Projects:

Tardis Blanket:

Pattern: Blue Police Box Pattern from Ravelry by Sandra Petit

Materials: So many skeins of blue yarn. So. Many. If I had to guess, I'd say 8, maybe more.
1 skein of white yarn (for box and lantern)
1 skein of gray yarn (for windows)
2 skeins of black yarn (for outlines)

Time: 2 years, off and on. (Started November 4, 2012, finished May 18, 2014)

Measuring over six feet tall, I started this way back in November of 2012 and crocheted it off and on ever since. It was my fist big crochet project and established my habit of needing something to work on while watching tv. I might still embroider 'Police Box' and the 'Pull to Open' sign, but I consider it pretty much done.

The finished product!

Book Tree:

Pattern: How to Make a Christmas Tree Out of Your Favorite Books by SamanthaHaeli

Materials: I used a lot of books, so it really depends on how tall you want it. I think I used about 100-150 books and mine was about five feet tall.

Time: 2.5 hours.

We wanted a tree for the Christmas season, but since we were going to be gone, and our cat was going to be by herself, we needed a tree that didn't require watering and that Pepper couldn't knock over.

Voila! The most geeky solution!

Bonus points for adding geeky ornaments!

Costumes:

Steampunk Fem!Indiana Jones:

Pattern: Duct tape whip tutorial from Skip to My Lou

Materials: All thrifted items; Hat, jacket, two brown skirts, my Frankenshirt, whip made of brown duct tape braided over a jump rope, leather bag, plus goggles!

Time: As long as it took to find all the items at thrift stores and con my friend Carissa into braiding the whip for me

Made for the first day of AnomalyCon 2014, I had a lot of fun putting this outfit together.

Steampunk Tinkerbell:

Pattern: Simplicity 1819 for the skirt

Materials: Corset from Corset-Story, 5 yards of green satin for the skirt, 2 yards of bronze contrast fabric, thrifted shirt, belt, boots, and homemade flight pack!

Time: 2 months

My main costume for AnomalyCon 2014 (hosted at the end of March), I started this costume in the beginning of February, although I had been keeping my eye out for steampunk items at thrift stores for quite a while. I made my own wings and flight pack, and collected things to hang on my belt (tinker's tools, a genie's lamp, a spyglass, etc). One of my favorite steampunk outfits. Read the full tutorial here.

 

 Photo Credit for the good pictures goes to tofuSnow Photography

Steampunk Riker:

Pattern: Simplicity 2333 (Mad Hatter, Captian Hook jacket), inspired by citizenkanev on Deviantart

Materials: 4 yards of red wool, 1 yard of black wool

Time: 1 month

Made for Jim to wear for AnomalyCon 2014, I saw citizenkanev's amazing costume on Deviantart and convinced Jim to come with me if I made it for him. I learned a lot about construction and using a muslin, and how evil sleeves are during this project, but enjoyed creating this all the same. You can read the full tutorial here.

   

Pictures from JimtheCactus on Flickr

Eowyn (Lord of the Rings):

Pattern: Simplicity 4940

Material: 7 3/4 yrds of white crepe suiting, 7/8 yrd of brown suede

Time: 4 weeks, more or less

One of my favorite characters from Lord of the Rings, I decided to make Eowyn's iconic dress for the 2014 Denver Comic Con in June. You can read the full tutorial here. I also got to wear it again for a post-Christmas photo shoot with my two nerdiest friends!

Beautiful pictures by Bruce Jenkins Photography

Rose Tyler (Doctor Who):

Pattern: None

Materials: Thrifted blue jacket, shirt, pants, and boots. Nerf Longshot borrowed from my brother Luke and painted by my friend Ian.

Time: However long it took me to find the blue bomber jacket at a thrift store. All the other pieces came together pretty quickly.

Rose Tyler is my favorite companion from Doctor Who, and I knew that I had to dress up as her for the 2014 Denver Comic Con. I must say, I felt pretty awesome! Full costume write up here.

Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish (Game of Thrones):

Pattern: Simplicity 5386 (Matrix Coat pattern, can also use Butterick 6844)

Materials: 5 yards of a jaquard-like fabric, 1 yard of a heavy woven fabric

Time: 3 weeks

A friend of mine commissioned me to make him a Littlefinger costume for a Game of Thrones party we were going to on Halloween. You can read the full costume tutorial here.

Jon Snow (Game of Thrones):

Pattern: None

Materials: Thrifted faux fur sewn on to a robe that was remade into a cape, with a cut up belt going across the chest.

Time: 1 day

Made for the same Game of Thrones party as the Petyr Baelish costume, this was much more haphazard simply done. Jim wore his dwarven shirt (minus the chainmail), and I wore a borrowed Daenerys dress. Overall, I think we look pretty good!

Galadriel (Lord of the Rings):

Pattern: Simplicity 1551

Materials: 3 3/4 yards of white satin, and lots of thrifted sheer fabric (5 yards-ish?)

Time: 2 weeks

Made for our Christmas Lord of the Rings photoshoot for my friend Melaine, I bought a lot of the sheer fabric that hangs behind curtains from thrift stores for $2 a pair, then bought 3.5 yards of white satin and realized it was just short of how much I needed. Nevertheless, I made it work, and I must say it turned out amazing for the amount of time I had! (Mostly due to the fact that Melaine is basically an elf already)

Beautiful pictures by Bruce Jenkins Photography

Gifts:

Fleece Football Pillow:

Pattern: Sporty Pillows from Parents.com

Materials: 1/2 yd of brown fleece, white shoelace

Time: 3 hours

Made for my friend's son's first birthday, I go to experiment with my embroidery machine for the first time! On a related note; always use stabilizer when trying to embroider fleece, or else it will chew right through it. Also, don't bother downloading the template from the website. Just cut out approximate football shapes, measure how long you'd like the laces to be, then make holes where it starts and ends.

Crochet Mr. and Mrs. Octopi:

Pattern: Octopode Pandemonium! from PepperKitty on Craftster

Materials: Less than 1 skein for each color

Time: 3 hours each

Made for a friend's baby shower, I knew they were decorating their baby girl's room in pink and brown, so I decided to make a pair of octopi! Mr. Octopus has a blue bowtie hot-glued to the front, and Mrs. Octopus has a matching hairbow.

Hobbit Meal Clock:

Pattern: Hobbit Clock on Imgur

Materials: $5 Clock from Target, gold leaf pen, Map of the Shire, Aniron Font

Time: 4 hours (it took me a while to realize the face of the clock was attached with two prongs on the top and bottom and to pop it off)

A Christmas gift for my friend Amanda who loves making delicious food. Now, it's always mealtime! (Click here if you'd like to see Pippin recounting the different meals Hobbits observe.)

Baby Groot:

Pattern: A modified version of this stencil from MyRecipes.com

Materials: 1/3 yrd tan fleece, scraps of white fleece for the flowerpot, brown fleece for the 'dirt', green felt for the leaves, plus wire and safety eyes.

Time: 2 days

This was one of my favorite projects, mostly because it's first posable plushie I have ever created, plus when Groot posed next to the Hobbit Meal Clock, my heart nearly exploded with geeky happiness. If you'd like to create your own baby Groot, see the full tutorial here.

TARDIS Baby Blanket:

Pattern: A modified version of Blue Police Box Pattern from Ravelry by Sandra Petit

Materials: 2 skeins of blue, 1 skein of black, less than one skein of white yarn

Time: Around 6 months, off and on

Once I heard that some good friends of mine were having a baby girl named Clara, I knew that the baby needed her own Tardis blanket, until the Doctor could come sweep her away. I was so familiar with Sandra's pattern that I really did this one from memory. I added a black background to make it wider, then embroidered Clara's name on the top left corner.

Ellie-Saurus:

Pattern: T-Rex Softie Tutorial and Pattern by Made by Enginerds

Materials: 1/4 yd argyle fabric, scrap of minky fabric, ric rac, and safety eyes

Time: 5-6 hours

Made for a good friend's daughter's first birthday, I was inspired when Ellie kept roaring at things, and quickly realized she needed her own Ellie-saurus to play with. I modified the pattern slightly to move the arms on the sides of the belly, instead of up by the neck, and used safety eyes for a more complete look.