I found this vintage pattern at a pattern swap a few years ago and in the same period of time I also found some fabric yardage at an estate sale. I immediately had an idea to pair one of those fabrics with the pattern. Unfortunately, the fabric was definitely a polyester blend, and somewhere in the middle of working through the dress, I became disillusioned with the polyester and ditched the project entirely.
When I came across this bright cotton at the JoAnn Fabrics closing sale, I remembered the pattern and thought it would be a nice option for the dress design.
Unfortunately, I didn't have quite enough yardage. But I wasn't going to let that stop me.
Instead of cutting out the midi-length skirt as I initially had hoped, I figured that I could make the shorter version. I was still going to be slightly short on yardage, and since the skirt pieces are drafted quite generously, I was able to cut them out even shorter than the short length cut line and still have a knee-length dress. Hooray!
There may not have been any black solid cotton in my stash, but I did find a deep green that matched nicely to one of the green tones in the print.
And I do like using fabric scraps that I already have on hand!
I love a basque waist bodice, and wish more contemporary patterns would pick up on the trend.
It's a classic and very flattering line and I am pleased to see some ready to wear brands are bringing it back. Perhaps it will crop up in one or two patterns in the next year. But if you are looking for existing options, do a search for 1980s vintage patterns and quite a few will come up.
For the zipper, I went with my standard hand application after basting it into place.
It is so satisfying to cover up all of those raw edges with a crisp lining!
The skirt is cut very full, and for whatever reason, this quilting cotton dropped on the bias quite a bit. This is totally fixable, but not my favorite thing to do since it involves sitting on the ground with a ruler and a bunch of pins.
And so that I could save as much of the skirt length as possible, I used my remaining scraps to cut out a bias binding for the hemline edge.
This technique works great with a curved edge, so that was an added bonus.
I also understitched the bias facing, although it probably wasn't completely necessary since I was working with self-fabric.
The hem was hand-stitched into place.
(With a bit of help from a snoozing Archie.)
While the pattern is fairly basic, the added interest from the basque waist and the raglan sleeves added enough detail to keep my interest.
And the print was just begging to be part of a 1980s silhouette.
So although it took a while to get here (and I should have known that a polyester fabric was not something I should be wasting time with) I am very excited to wear my new dress.
