Had ONE Week to Sew a Vintage Outfit for a Paris Parade 🇫🇷

So I only have one week to make this outfit to wear in front of thousands of people, but I have never sewn a single thing in my entire life. I feel like it looks not right. I can make her a matching one for the parade. Maybe don't get carried away. There's no other way to do this. There's not any room. I really hope I'm able to get this done by Sunday. So a few weeks ago, I got a rather unexpected email. I'd actually been invited to take part in the Fête de Paris, which is a huge annual parade throughout the city that celebrates Paris. And they asked if I wanted to join as one of the suffragettes. And obviously, I said yes. And they offered to provide the entire outfit and all the accessories, but then I had what, in hindsight, was a slightly questionable idea. I thought, what if I just made the whole thing myself? I mean, I did just get a sewing machine, and I've been wanting to learn how to sew and make my own clothes, so I thought maybe this is the perfect opportunity to make my sewing machine not collect dust anymore. But there's just one small, tiny problem. I have never sewn before, and I, of course, put this off till the very last moment to do all this. But like most things in my life, the first thing I did, I went to the Paris flea markets, and by some sort of divine intervention, I found the perfect vintage pattern from the 1940s. I also found gloves, by a miracle, shoes that were in my size, and a Delvaux vintage handbag. But for the fabric, I went up to Montmartre, the main fabric area where I started to realize this was a completely insane endeavor. Well, it's time to finally dust off the sewing machine. Do you have faith in me? Do you really? I'm not so sure, but do you believe in me? You just want me to make you cute outfits, don't you? So I think I'm gonna do style... I'm gonna do style one. And originally, I wanted it in a light wool or tweed, but we went all over in the months, but I didn't really find anything that I really liked that much, and I wanted it some type of red. Then I found this taffeta, which I thought might be a better option. I want it to be a bit structured and thicker. I don't want it to be too light or loose, which might be nice. And then I called my mom. She said I needed to get thread that matched. Again, I have no idea what I'm doing. I have never done this before. I think the only thing I've ever done... I think maybe when I was younger, I might have practiced like one or two times the thread. To match. I bought some buttons. I bought ones to match in case I wanted to do that. I'm gonna go back to the market and see if I can find vintage ones, but if I can't, I found these. Then as we were in this store, I found this kind of a fabric that I was looking for. It's kind of an orangey... I don't know if it's the best color. Again, I wanted something red, but it has a bit of red tones in it. And I thought maybe I would make the jacket out of this and the skirt out of this. And I got the thread to match that as well. But I think this will be... If anything, it'll be a good experiment because I do want to make my own clothes. So I think what I'll do first is I'll call my mom, figure out how to turn it on, and relearn how to thread the machine. She made all my clothes and my brother's clothes and her own clothes growing up. All right, let's call my mom. Sewing in a small apartment as I don't really have all the space, but I think the floor is the only option. So hopefully it works. After a very long conversation with my mother, I think for the jacket... I think I have enough fabric. I just need to pin this down and cut it. I think I need extra space here. I don't think I have exactly the right size, so I'm going to give myself a little bit extra room. Depending on how many quests once I eat. But again, I'm using two different fabrics, so I'm going to do this for the jacket. Then I only need this and this and this for the skirt. So I have way too much of the taffeta, but I think I will start there. I can make her a matching one for the parade. Maybe don't get carried away. Like, let's do yours first and then... Oh, that's perfect. Way too much fabric, but I just need to cut out the skirt. And then I will have everything cut and ready. And then I think I might actually have enough scraps to make something for Lola to match. Yeah, are you gonna match me? Because I have this as one of her outfits. So I'll kind of use this as a template to make a matching outfit. Or I might actually use this as a template since it opens up. Are you gonna help me? I hope. Size-wise, it's good. We'll see. Pretty strong for three pieces. Step step one. We're gonna stitch that together. There you go. You just made your first sewing seam. That's cute. Yeah, looks good. So you have successfully made a skirt. So it's the next day. And yesterday I did manage, with my mother's help, to finish the skirt. But the instructions are, again, from the 40s. And they are, as my mom said, she's been sewing for what? Over 40 years now. And she said she didn't understand the instructions. She said they were very confusing. They didn't make sense. If it weren't for my mom, I don't know if I would have been able to do this. But we were able to manage to get it done for the most part. So all I did is I stitched the four panels together. And then for the top, for the band, I did what she said. You stitch in the ditch. So after I turned it over, I stitched it in right here. And then the hem, I wanted a blind hem. But she also said that that would have been too confusing. And I would have had to do it by hand. I don't know how to do it by hand. So I just hemmed it with a stitch. But you really can't see it in person. Also, another thing is, I didn't realize that this pattern, there's like three sizes. And you can kind of choose between your sizes. But this one, there was really no wiggle room. So I had to cut a little bit more than what they told me to. Because it is a bit of a snug fit. But I think it'll be fine. Again, I'm making this outfit not to wear for every day. It's mainly just for this one thing. And kind of it's just trying to learn how to do it. I really need to finish the jacket today. I need to put a button on the skirt. I need to finish the jacket. And then I couldn't find a hat. So I thought I would make it. Fingers crossed that'll actually happen. And it'll manage to look somewhat good. And then I also had the idea of making Lola's outfit. So one thing at a time. So I will start on jackets. Also, I did underestimate how much space you need to make stuff like this. I've had to kind of push the tables back. Sewing in a tiny Parisian apartment is also a struggle. So not only do I not know what I'm doing, also I have no space to do it. So yesterday it took forever to figure out how to thread the machine with the bobbin and the upper thread. And it kept getting jammed. So we were trying to figure out because it's obviously a different machine than what my mom has or what she's used before. So we were trying to figure it out. So that just took a long time. And then it kept jamming sometimes. So now I think I've had quite a bit of experience from yesterday. I kind of know when something wrong happens, like how to fix it. Just to have my helper today. So let's start on the jacket. I guess that's right. Why does it not feel right? I don't know. I'm not actually quite sure how this works. I'm huckering through this. I hope it doesn't line up. It's not going to fall apart. I'm going to make it work. Um, that's going to be, that's not going to be enough. Turn it back. So then I did that wrong. Is it too big? Oh no, you just, you totally undid it. You did that, Ainsley. You did that. It's a couple days later. It's now Friday. I'm feeling a bit stressed. The event is on Sunday. But I was crazy busy with stuff. So I wasn't able to work on things. But I did manage to finish, well almost finish the jacket. I stayed up till, I think it was 2am on the phone with my mom. Trying to, trying to get it finished. And I'll show you. I'm, I'm actually quite, I don't know. I'm quite shocked that I actually managed to make something that looks like a jacket. And I think that will work for what I need. Like the vision that I had is kind of how it's turning out to be. I just have to make, I think I have to finish the buttons. And just kind of clean it up a bit. My mom is completely fed up with this pattern. Nothing is as it should be. Nothing makes sense. It was supposed to be box pleats for the pebblum. But the amount of fabric that they told me to cut out did not allow for any box pleats. I also made a big mistake when I was doing the collar. And then the final stitch I did around it on the outside. So it would lay flat or flatter. But when I was stitching it, some of the fabric got caught in it. So it was just, it was such a mess. Again, this isn't a jacket that I'm going to wear probably that often. It's just, I'm just trying to make sure that this jacket looks somewhat like a 1940s jacket. And that it is able to stay on my body during the parade. That it doesn't fall apart. Because I was just emailing the coordinator of the event. And she said, I have to get there at 11 to get my hair done. Because I'll do my makeup myself. They're going to do like a 1940s updo for me. So I get there at 11 to do that. And then the parade doesn't start till 2. If you start at the Pantheon. Then you walk all the way around the Jardin de Luxembourg. And kind of come up towards the back. So it's quite a big walk. So hopefully everything makes it. Hopefully my shoes make it. Hopefully I make it. Hopefully it's not too hot. But I am excited. Because I almost did throw it all away the other day. Because I got so frustrated with the collar thing. I'm quite proud of myself that I was able to do all of this. Saying that, I would not have been able to do this without my mom. She has been able to guide me through the whole thing. Again, I didn't even know how to thread the sewing machine. But now when something doesn't work on my sewing machine. I kind of know, oh I need to re-thread this. Or the bobbin isn't this. Or this needs to be like this. So it's kind of cool how I'm able to problem solve with the sewing machine. But today I want to try to make my hat. I did buy a hat. It's not vintage. I bought it online. And I just in case. But I'm going to make the hat. I want to make Lola's outfit. I hope that I have enough. I have so much taffeta left. I bought way too much taffeta. So I need to make something out of that. So if you have any suggestions for the red taffeta. Definitely let me know. I'm thinking a Christmas dress would be nice. But I need to make her outfit. And I need to finish the skirt with the button. And I need to finish the jacket button. And just kind of clean it up. I'll try to work on that today. See how far we get. If I have today. Really we have to be somewhere in like two hours. There's no way I can finish all of this. And then tomorrow. I'm so busy tomorrow with other things. I do better under pressure. But I'm really pushing my limits here. I just time is runs out so easily. And I've been so busy lately. And things just keep popping up last minute. So it's just been really hard to. And also the time difference with my mom. Like I really can't call her till three. Anyways okay. I need I need to start working. So hat. Hat first. So if you're wondering how I'm making this hat. I too am wondering how I make this hat. I have no idea. So I couldn't find anything that I liked online. Nor was it in the right color. I couldn't find anything at the market that matched. So I just decided I'll make it. So I looked up a couple of tutorials online. And they said I needed brimming. Or interface it was called. But apparently I can just use cardboard. I think this is 2.5 millimeter. So what they were saying is I cut out the circle for the top. And then I cut out the strip for the band that goes around the crown. And then for the brim of the hat. Cut a bigger circle than the crown. And then I do want the hat. I don't want it to be flat the brim. I want it to have a little bit of a curve. So I'm going to cut in. And then fold it. So I glue all of that together. And then I add the fabric on top. Which is fabric glue I think. Got some netting. Maybe I'll add a bow or something. Again if this just looks ridiculous. I do have a backup. Anyways I'm going to cut this stuff out. And I'll start gluing in and seeing where things take me. Okay so I made this. I don't know if it's too big or not. I think it's okay. And I have this for the brim. I want it to be like a curve. It's just kind of hard to. Oh no my feet too big. Oh it's hard. I'm just I'm just attaching it with tape. And then for the brim. I just cut a circle. And then made some little indentions. So I can kind of flex it up. And then I'll attach it with tape as well. Because this is the one that I got online. And I don't like all of them. Where's this one better? I like this one though. What's your thought? I like this one better. But I made this one. Now comes the tricky part of adding the fabric to it. I think what I'll do is I will cover the top first. Then I'll make a band. And I'll fold it. And the folded part will go along the top. And I'll kind of do the same thing around the side. I don't know it's gonna be tricky. To make it not look so pleated. And make it more smooth looking. But we'll see. We'll try. All else fails. I have my other hat that I bought. So we'll see. I'm pretty. So I forgot to buy the clamps. Usually go on dog's outfits. Just cut it off one of yours. So I hope that works. I've done my makeup. And I am headed to the city hall. Which is where they're going to do my hair. And I brought my everything. So I think I'll change there. With all my accessories. My grandmother's earrings and her watch. My purse. My shoes. My stockings. My hat. Which I'm not too sure about. But we'll see. I'm excited. A little nervous. Hopefully it doesn't rain. It's a bit overcast. But that's good. Because it's not too hot. So I think it'll be good. I have to be on stage. Look at that cake. That was a lot. I'm now reunited with Lola. I decided not to bring her. I thought it would be too much for her. Because it was quite a bit of a walk. Walked for an hour and a half. Yeah, I walked for an hour and a half. So my feet are completely wrecked in these shoes. Although the shoes are still good. If I was walking in a normal distance, they would be fine. But my feet are... I'm gonna have to get a foot rub, right? Maybe. But it was really fun. It was a lot more people than I expected. But it was really fun. And I didn't expect to be on stage. I did not expect that. But that was also fun. It was really nice. I had a good time. I think Lev... But you said that you wanted to be... Next year we'll build a costume for me as well. I think all the family will be in it. We'll get a stroller for Lola. She got her costume. She has her costume. She doesn't like to walk in it. She's a true diva. But I'm quite happy. It was fun. And I met a lot of good people. And I had a lot of pictures. And a lot of videos as well. A lot of videos. So you'll probably have seen me somewhere. But I'm also proud that the costume actually managed to stay. I try to be as true to vintage fashion as possible. So I have the stockings with the line in the back. The shoes. Everything. So I'm quite proud that I managed to make something that held up. It lasted. I also wasn't sure about my hat. But I think... I don't know. I like it now. It's beautiful. And I didn't take videos of my hair. But the lady that did my hair did an unbelievable job. But I wish I could keep it. Yeah, you look beautiful. I love this. So we'll do this again next year, right? We will. With Lola. I hope you enjoyed this video. And it gives you a bit of inspiration to try something new. I think I will now make all of our outfits. I have a lot of fabric still. So what's next? I want to put my feet up. And because I only got what? Three hours of sleep last night? So I think we'll go eat. Put our feet up. And until the next sewing lesson.