A few weeks ago I ran across some information for a very interesting sewing project called the The 1912 Project: Sewing the La Mode. This website is dedicated to test sewing and producing for public use a series of period clothing patterns taken from the 1912 issues of La Mode Illustrée, which was one of the premier fashion magazines of its era. 1912 was particularly chosen by the project founders to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. These are the same the folks who run the Vintage Pattern Lending Library, a wonderful repository of vintage patterns available for checkout to the public for a modest fee; if you love to sew and love vintage/historical, and have never been to the VPLL, I highly suggest a visit. In any case, I felt some new enthusiasm for taking on another costuming project after reading about the group, so I contacted these folks to become involved. Well, things went from here to there, and now suddenly I discover myself to not only be sewing test patterns, but also to be one of a small group of Blog Editors for the site. One of my first tasks has been to create a set of paper dolls and blog badges based on the patterns being tested by site participants. I plan to start with the picture below, which is one of the test patterns currently available to project participants, as a base for the drawing of the female doll. I think she already has a PERFECT paper doll pose and not only that, she is a very sweet and attractive representation of the period. As I progress with the doll artwork, I will post updates to this blog.

The base for the upcoming paper doll project