Some of my projects unintentionally get passed up under my radar of “things to be posted”. This lovely staple in my summer wardrobe of vintage garments is one of them.
At first, this dress was an “Un-Finished-Object” (often dubbed as U.F.O.’s) for quite a while ‘til I eventually conquered its problems and finished it, then it became a “Un-Blogged-Object”. No longer! I am proud at how I saved a potential failure here to make another ‘favorite’ frock. I know the pattern I used is still published (and seemingly popular), so I hope you like my sundress, too, and find both my review and my way of making the dress helpful. The bolero jacket, part of the pattern, too, is something I have plans to make in the near future, so that review will have to be in a different post.
THE FACTS:
FABRIC: My dress’ fabric is a loosely woven-style polyester blend in blue/tan/white plaid; the lining is a poly pongee in white
NOTIONS: The thread, zipper, and hook-and-eyes came from on hand.
PATTERN: a year 1940 reprint, Vintage Vogue #8812
THE INSIDES: bias bound seams are in the skirt but everywhere else is fully lined.
TIME TO COMPLETE: Well…this is a story in itself. It was first made in spring 2013 for Lucky Lucille’s 1940’s “Sew for Victory”, yet finally finished on May 5, 2014.
TOTAL COST: This fabric came from something my parents found in their basement and gave to me. I know it’s not like vintage kind of old, just something from awhile back. No one remembers when it was bought, so I’m counting it as free. The lining was from my stash, so I’ll count that as free, too. Yay!
In general, I have never had a Vintage Vogue re-print that I didn’t like, didn’t have great fit, nor have I had one that did not turn out successfully. When this 1940 sundress didn’t seem like it was working for me I was so sad to break this record, so I was elated I could easily make it turn out well. It was really easy to make, super quick to put together, and does fit very well – I will say that. But I really think my change improved on the design and also places my dress more on the emphasis of the late 1930’s side of the year 1940. Yet, at the same time, it seems (from the compliments I’ve received) that either this sundress is deceptively modern looking or this vintage style is quite appealing…maybe both. It’s great to wear, that’s all I know.
My main problem was with the bust gathering of the dress, but I also had random problems everywhere else. To start with the smaller problems, the skirt length was extremely long and needed to be shortened by about 3 or 4 inches for my taste. Also, I did not see the back closure working with buttons – I do not relish the idea of “blind” buttoning on myself contorting my arms behind me. Besides, I wanted a snug smooth fit and (rightly or wrongly) imagined puckering if I added buttons and buttonholes. So, long story short, I sewed a zipper into the back placket in the same method as a pant or trouser front fly. I added in hook-and-eyes to the back placket flap edge at both the waist and the top for extra smoothness. Finally, I changed up the placement of the straps to criss-cross rather than simply going over the shoulders. I didn’t want to have a dress with straps that droop, always needing attention to be picked up over the shoulders much like many lingerie slips. With the straps forming an X between my shoulder blades adds added interest but especially gives the bodice more support and just plain stays up properly.
Now the bodice…well, perhaps part of the problem was the stiffness of my chosen fabric. I can possibly see this working out “as-is” if the fabric was a lovely jersey knit or a handkerchief weight cotton (something loose and flowing), but even still, I’m doubtful. I did raise up the neckline of the front of the dress’ ‘bra-like’ portion higher by a few inches to make it less revealing, as well as leaving out the “window” opening through the middle. This added a bit of a challenge to cutting out the pattern and perhaps the more gathering that I ended up with made it overwhelming. Either way, how it turned out, I could not stand the way the bust drooped a puffed out all at once – so awful! I was so upset, and for a long time all I could figure for a fix was to cut off the gathered part and top-stitch something on instead. However I had done a good job (not to boast) and the points of the bodice under the ‘bra’ part turned out very well and I hated to give up on all of that. Finally, it occurred to me to merely control the gathers by the then (1940/late 1930’s times) popular method of shirring or ruching.
Well, I couldn’t start from scratch to make real shirring, so my stitching sewn on the top of the bust gathers are a fake look-alike but just as beautiful and effective. I maxed out my supply of straight pins to tack down all the gathers. Seeing all those pins really put my hubby off when he saw it – I suppose he was picturing it on myself like that, making me like a prickly sharp porcupine in the wrong place. Anyway, I stitched across on top in as straight lines as possible starting from one back side going horizontally all the way around to the other back. This mock-shirring almost feels like quilting in reality and ends up giving the bust part semi-firm, yet supple, needed support better than some good interfacing.
I felt such relief to see how this mock-shirring was the perfect solution. It can be so hard to happen to have to right idea for amending sewing projects that just don’t fit the bill of
approval on oneself. I find such ideas can’t really be forced, and I have to relax and let the solution come to me after (calming down, first) and be alright with the idea going on a “back burner”. If I regard it as a failure (easily done), the thought is too crushing and kind of defeats the goal of re-purposing my project into something I’ll eventually like.
So, this is part of the reason why I waited so long between when my dress was first made and when I was finally happy with how it fit and turned out. Maybe, this is also why I get so many good ideas in the evening…when I get relaxed with a happy tummy my mind also gets happy! Now, why it took me so long to get to posting about this, well I’ve got no excuse except that when I wear something I’ve made often enough it doesn’t seem ‘new and excitably blog-worthy’ anymore. Silly me!
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