Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Blue Florals


The wearable muslin returns . . .

I paired my blue floral cotton with this vintage pattern over a year ago, was promptly distracted by something else, and the fabric and pattern were set aside (thankfully I kept the two together).  Well, I finally got around to making my standard alterations to the design a few months ago.

I have no issue adding length to the torso of a contemporary pattern, but slicing into a vintage pattern gives me a bit of pause.  So those changes get made to the traced version made of fabric for my older and more delicate patterns.

I washed the cotton yardage and hung it out to dry one sunny afternoon.

I didn't have very much of it, but this pattern isn't a fabric hog, so everything fit nicely.  And, in fact, it turns out that I could have shortened the skirt length a bit to save on fabric.

Looking at the pattern illustration, this dress is supposed to sit just below the knee, but since it's a sixties silhouette, I decided to hem mine slightly above that point.

The pattern gives the option of adding two little bows to both princess seams at the front waist made from self-fabric.  I thought that would get lost in the print, and a black ribbon would work better.  Well, I found a satin faced ribbon with silver edging that helped the detail stand out, but I really didn't like how it looked.

So off came the bows.  And honestly, I don't think this version needs them.  Which is fine, because I suspect I will make this pattern again, and perhaps that fabric will be more suited to a bit of embellishment.


5 comments:

  1. That dress reminds me of the red dress Eva Marie Saint wore in North By Northwest. Though her dress had a boat neckline, and a deep V in the back. Your version is more practical.

    Would enjoy hearing about the fabrics origin (unless it's from JoAnn's, because that would be unfair - your JoAnn's is as much a unicorn as you are). Do you choose fabrics that catch your eye, or do you already have a vision of what they can be? Your fabric-to-garment batting average is decidedly above average.

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    1. I'm afraid it is a quilting cotton from JoAnns that I have had for quite a while. I didn't know what it was supposed to be back then, but it was at the top of a pile when I came across the pattern while looking for something else at the time. And that's usually how it happens around these parts, at least for the older stashed fabrics/patterns.

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  2. I love this dress, fabric included. Last summer I used a favorite blouse pattern to make a dress. The fabric I used was very similar to this but a little bit smaller print. I suspect you will probably get many compliments on this beautiful dress.

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