Edelweiss Patterns 
Happy Easter!
Back in the days of vintage clothing, a lady’s Easter dress and corresponding accessories were some of her most thought-out and anticipated outfits of the year! No one went to church on Easter Sunday without a new dress, flowery hat, high heel shoes, and white gloves. So since this yearly spring outfit played such a huge role in a 1940s woman’s wardrobe, it just wouldn’t seem right to be a vintage dress enthusiast without acquiring and new outfit for the occasion!
As I was planning to sew for my own Easter ensemble this year, I realized that I far prefer projects where I’m actually reproducing a film costume as closely as possible. I wanted the outfit to be have a definite vintage feel to it, but not be as “party dress” looking as most of the Hollywood movie costumes from that era were designed. So without a moment’s hesitation I decided upon recreating Catherine Marshall’s church dress from the 1955 classic movie, A Man Called Peter.
A Man Called Peter Movie
This outstanding film was based on the real-life story of Peter Marshall and Catherine Wood, and is one of Hollywood’s finest motion pictures (besides being my favorite movie from the 1950s!). With all the huge musical arrangements and 1940s fashion, this stirring tale is masterfully woven together with the stellar performances of Richard Todd and Jean Peters. It was Twentieth Century Fox’s highest grossing motion picture of the entire year and quickly became a family classic.
Miss Peter’s portrayal of Catherine Wood/Marshall was so convincing in showing her transition from young college girl to a devoted mother and pastor’s wife. Richard Todd’s own acting as the warm-hearted Peter Marshall was fabulous. Marshall’s rise from Scottish mill-worker to chaplain of the United States Senate is equally thrilling, but if you can watch the last few minutes of the film without sobbing you have to be a close relative of Mr. Scrooge, the Grinch that Stole Christmas, or Oscar the Grouch!
But best of all, her dresses and hairstyles are FABULOUS! I’ll be posting a huge study of her movie costumes next week, but for now I will show the details of the dress which I recreated.
So if you’ve never seen the movie, you’re probably wondering what Jean Peter’s film costume actually looked like! It had feminine but conservative styling, with more 1940s tailoring to the bodice than the year it was supposed to be set in (1936). The bodice has a stiff collar and turn-back cuffs made of white contrasting fabric, and the rest of the dress was constructed from a cream colored cotton broadcloth. Wide tucks line the upper bodice to below the bust in the front only, and in the back the bodice is completely fitted and straight. The main point which gives this dress away for pre-WWII era is the apparently bias-cut skirt with an almost circular look to it. Since I made my entire dress from 1.5 yards of 108″ wide material I wasn’t able to make the skirt quite as full as the original, but this slightly slimmer look only adds to the 1940s feel of the outfit.
Let it be known that the color of cotton sateen which I used for this dress was much closer to the movie costume than these photographs show! For some reason the natural afternoon lighting made my dress look much lighter than it really is, so the contrast in my pictures between the collar/cuffs and the main dress is not how it looks when hanging in my closet.
Below are a couple more photos of Jean Peter’s film costume, which she often wore with two different cream hats or without a hat at all.
In the photograph above you can see more detail in the split sleeve cuffs and stiff neck collar, which I recreated using a heavily-interfaced silk shantung. The same weight of interfacing was also used for the stiff belt, which I unfortunately was forced to cut wider than the movie version simply because the only belt buckle I had available at the last minute was wider as well.
So with my Easter dress sewing project behind me, I’m looking forward to studying more of this movie’s costumes in detail in the upcoming week here on the blog. I will also be telling some more about the real life Catherine Marshall, who was a profilic writer until her passing. Today her granddaughter Mary Marshall carries on the family’s legacy, and she has graciously allowed me to use some photographs of the actual Marshall family from their official website. Below are pictures of Catherine Wood Marshall in her forties, during which point she was already a best-selling author. You can find her books and the “Man Called Peter” dvd for sale here.
So I hope you all had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday, and until next time, happy sewing!
Katrina
Wow you did an amazing job!
I love that dress!
I have never seen that movie or heard of it, but I really want to now!!
Thank you, Sarah!
I think this dress looks fab!!!
I would adore to have the pattern for this! It’s exactly the type of feminine dress I love wearing! Will you be putting the pattern online to download?
Hello Lianne! Thanks for the comment – Right now I’m only doing “Sound of Music” patterns, but I’ll admit that I have been thinking about designing some regular vintage patterns as well. In this case I didn’t actually even make a pattern, I just draped the fabric and sewed it as I went along. But I am definitely keeping this project in mind for future projects, and I’m so glad to hear you like the design!
Happy sewing,
Katrina
Katrina,
To me, this is more than just another pretty dress project–it’s the whole story behind it and the lives that it’s tied into. I can picture this being some sort of “living history” type of project. Inspiring!
On a much more prosaic note, where did you obtain your cotton sateen?
Krista
Hello Krista!
Thank you so much! I purchased the cotton sateen at my local fabric store, so unfortunately I don’t know where you would find the exact fabric in another area… I do know that Robert Kaufman fabrics makes a terrific cotton sateen, so perhaps you could inquire at a local or online source that carries that brand?
Happy sewing!
Katrina
Gorgeous replica!
That is just lovely! Very pretty indeed!
The style suits you so well. 🙂
I have never seen the movie, but your version looks very similar to the movie, captures that pretty feel perfectly.
I actually wore a dress for Easter and heels, but had to switch them out for boots and jeans for doing archery and running around the woods after Sunday Dinner…;)
Love the dress! That pleating is beautiful.
My husband and I recently saw that movie and LOVED it! It’s now one of our favorites 🙂
Thank you, Ladies! Brielle – that sounds like such fun. : ) And Lauren, I think we have an awful lot in common besides pattern design and a love of vintage dresses!
Happy sewing,
Katrina
Katrina, this dress is gorgeous. I love the tucks in the bodice and think the dress is quite flattering despite what you say about horizontal lines and short people – actually you look downright lovely!
Oh, thank you, Annabelle!
Oh, and I also like the idea of you creating vintage inspired dress patterns for sale. This would make a great pattern for starters 😉
Thank you, Annabelle! I am praying about the idea of making some 1950s designs in addition to the Sound of Music dress patterns I plan on making more of. If I could sew around the clock, I think I’d get a lot more of my ideas done!
[…] you saw the vintage Easter dress I recently sewed, you probably remember my promising to post pictures of all Jean Peter’s […]