Thursday, May 28, 2015

Buttons & Loops


My Memorial Day Weekend was not nearly as productive as I had hoped, but I did manage to get some sewing done.  Recently at a Bay Area Sewists pattern swap, I picked up this sewing pattern.  Time to try something a bit different!  


The Vintage Patterns Wikia gives this design a 1969/1970 copyright.  That makes this my first 1970s vintage pattern, complete with some funny tissue markings of tiny scissors and sewing machine parts.  


My plan was to make this version in a woven fabric to make sure of the fit and then have some fun with an Alabama Chanin inspired cotton jersey version.  I expected that the dress would have bodice pieces, skirt pieces, and a channel connecting the two with an inserted drawstring.  Turns out, the dress front and back are a solid mass of fabric from shoulder to hem.


The construction is very straightforward.  The most time consuming part was constructing the cuffs and covering the buttons.


A trip to the fabric store did not produce any suitable buttons which meant the project was going to have to go in the UFO pile.  


But then I rummaged around and found that I had enough button forms to cover.  Since they were slightly bigger than the pattern called for, I eliminated one of the buttons on each of the cuffs. 


The pattern also uses a length of purchased bias binding for the drawstring channel, which I do not have . . . so I made my own (which I think looks much prettier than the polyester stuff you can buy ready-made).


The most irritating part of the process?  Turning the button loops right side out.  I have a loop turner, and I even tried the old needle and thread trick . . . getting that first section pulled through drives me crazy!!


Hook & eyes, on the other hand, are a piece of cake!

16 comments:

  1. Lovely dress! There is a great little trick going around that uses a bobby pin/hair pin to turn a loop - its MUCH easier than using a needle and thread. I'd link you but i'm in a rush! Hope that helps :-D

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    1. Yes! Shams of Communing with Fabric has a tutorial on her blog showing the bobby pin technique

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  2. Wow that's really different, would love to see it on you. I like the fabric choice. I can see it at a pool party with a cocktail a la Madmen!

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    1. Or if "Valley of the Dolls" had been filmed 2 years later.

      Warm weather get-togethers are on the horizon. Sipping chablis, sporting tendrils, and solving the world's problems while mingling...will this dress debut a new Laura Mae? Modern living Laura Mae? Or is this the gateway dress to "very 80s Laura Mae"?

      Everyone has their theories (and a side bet on the line).

      Time will tell.

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  3. Looking lovely. Beautiful details. I think I made a dress out of that fabric. McCalls 6740. Very pretty linen-y texture. :-)

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  4. Looking good! Can't wait to see the finished dress!

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  5. Beautiful workmanship and I love the fabric.

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  6. I have that pattern!!! I'm so excited to see your version modeled as I haven't even started planning mine. I don't think I could do anything other than covered buttons now though, those look so fantastic.

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  7. That is very lush looking. Can't wait to see it modelled. I just turned a loop for the first time using needle & thread, and was starting to wonder if I'd missed something, it was such a pain!! Can't imagine making 10 at once ;)

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  8. Love it! And I purchased the exact same fabric for a Party Muu (google Polynesian Patterns Party Muu if you're curious).

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  9. I do like that the bias tubes will stretch and slender right down. Please tell me you make a couple of long tubes and not ten short ones.

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    1. No, just two! I usually make a longer strip and cut it into pieces. This time around I followed the instructions and manipulated a single piece into the loops (not sure which is more time consuming!).

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  10. Do you have a trip to the beach or pool party planned? If so, you will be the best dressed by far!!! Of course you will also be the best dressed if you are simply wearing it to run errands! :o)
    JJ
    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

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    1. No pool party planned . . . just wanted to try something different!

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  11. I have this pattern and 2 more Vogue patterns with low necklines that I hesitate to make because I don't know what kind of bra to wear or how to construct support for plunging necklines.

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    1. I have a plunge bra that has a u-shaped cutout that works nicely. Although, with the empire line of this dress, I would be comfortable without.

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