80s Does 40s

This is a more recent vintage reproduction from Butterick.  It is one of those 1980s designs that clearly draws inspiration from a 1940s silhouette and what immediately caught my attention, especially View D.

I purchased this rayon challis a couple of years ago, and it gives me vibes that channel both the 1940s and 1980s, so it seemed like the perfect choice for the pattern.

It's a fairly simple design that uses pleats at the waistline and the shoulders to shape the bodice.

But I will say that this pattern did make me stop in my tracks when I first pulled out the pattern tissue.

Taking inspiration from vintage patterns that were often single sized, this reproduction pattern has a printed zipper pull and teeth notated right on the pattern tissue as I have seen on quite a few 1970s and 80s patterns.  But to my surprise, the zipper was printed on the center front of the skirt piece.  My immediate thought was "that can't be right."

Most people would probably have noticed that the pattern includes a jumpsuit version.  To my credit, I did notice the jumpsuit - it is just not something that I was planning to make, so my brain wasn't focused on where the zipper opening for that particular version would have to be placed.  And obviously, the most common way to get in and out of a pair of pants is a front fly . . . and there you have the front zipper opening.

Once I had made that discovery, I also realized that the front bodice was left open (another detail that had escaped me on my initial inspection of the pattern illustrations).  So you have a short zipper from waist down a few inches into the skirt/pants, and that's as far as the closure takes you.  To be fair to the pattern, there is plenty of ease created with the numerous pleats drafted into the bodice, so the garment would definitely be wearable as-is, but since I was planning to insert a side zipper into my dress, I thought closing up that center front bodice seam for at least a few inches would make the garment much more wearable.

I used a bunch of different seam finishes on this dress.  For the side zipper seam, shoulder seams, and the front skirt seam that opens into a shaped hemline, I used a standard seam that was pressed open, and finished the raw edges with seam binding.  And I used French seams anywhere I could get away with them.  The enclosed seams are fantastic on a lightweight fabric like this challis.

The front facings were finished with seam binding and constructed as shown in the instructions.

I did want to close up that front bodice slightly, and I contemplated using a snap as a closure, but in the end, just hand stitched the finished facing with a ladder stitch after trying the dress on and figuring out how far I wanted that center seam closed.

The hemline and armholes were finished with a narrow hem and stitched into place by hand.

The left side seam was reinforced with a strip of interfacing before inserting a zipper with a hand pick-stitch.

Side openings are not my favorite technique, but this dress has plenty of ease so getting in and out isn't nearly as painful as other side zippers can be.

And I opted out of adding shoulder pads because I didn't feel like the dress needed them.

The sleeve length slightly extended, and obviously, I went for the longer skirt length.  I had enough yardage for the full length version of the dress, and it seemed silly not to use it and be left with an unusable amount of leftover yardage.

The finishing touch is a self-fabric belt.

The belt really finishes this silhouette nicely.

And I really do think that this dress and fabric combination was mean to be full length now that it's finished.  I just love when I find the perfect fabric to pair with a pattern, even if I had no idea of the combination when the fabric and pattern were initially purchased!

A Basque Waist

I will confess, I have a lot of fabric living in my sewing room and, if I'm being honest, some has migrated beyond the confines of the sewing room.  And much of it has been with me for quite a few years.  I feel like I have a pretty good working knowledge of what particular fabric should be paired with a pattern (even if it may not be the most "correct" sort of textile for dressmaking - I'm looking at you quilting cotton and upholstery fabrics).

This means that while I may not have the exact project in mind for a particular textile, if the print is tempting, or if it seems like it has possibilities, I will hold onto it until the right project appears.  And rediscovering a fabric that is perfectly suited to a great pattern is so much fun.

But for whatever reason, the fabrics that I picked up from the JoAnn closing sale not too long ago keep finding their way into my hands when I go to start another sewing project.

Case in point, this vibrant printed quilting cotton.

I did have to make a few changes to the given pattern to fit everything onto the yardage that I was working with, but as soon as I rediscovered this 1980s pattern I knew that this print was a perfect match.

And I'm not mad about using my most recent fabric purchases.  It means that they will not end up stashed away for years, waiting for their turn on the sewing table.

Then again, I know that there are some great bits of fabric just waiting for the right project.

So it would probably be wise to do a deep dive into those forgotten fabrics and reorganize everything to see if inspiration strikes.

Then again, it's so much more fun to just dive right into the next sewing project!

Dress:  Made by me, Vogue 7083
Shoes:  Nine West

Hashtag "Repurposed"

This dress has been living in my closet for a long time.  The label is Eileen West, and the style screams 1980s.  I believe my Mom purchased this at a garage sale years ago and it ended up in my closet.

I sometimes feel guilty about altering clothing (in twenty years will vintage enthusiasts curse me for destroying originals?), but the shoulders of the dress had considerable sun damage – I would not have felt comfortable wearing the dress as it was.  Also, the gray color was not doing me any favors.  The silky cotton twill, however, was just too lovely to ignore.

My original intent was to dye the fabric, seam rip the dress, and use the yardage to make myself a new dress (because the design is rather voluminous, there is plenty to work with).

But it only seemed fair to wear the dress out and take a few pictures to memorialize the original before cutting into anything.

Part of the reason the dress looked so frumpy on the hanger was the waist closure.  There was one button, two buttonholes, and a bent hook & eye.  My best guess is someone needed more room in the waist, so they moved one button, eliminated the second altogether, and added a small hook & eye that was sewn on for dear life (it took me five minutes to remove the darn thing).

Since Tulip Liquid Dye worked so well on the gloves for my gala gown, I purchased a bottle of navy blue for this project.  It is always hard to tell exactly how a dye job is going to come out, especially when working with a colored fabric.  And it was not clear if the hashtag/pound symbol/number sign print would be lost in the darker dye, but it seemed worth a try.  And it worked!

Then I had to find two buttons that fit the existing buttonholes.  As you might imagine, I have quite a few lying about.  But the size needed was absent from my collection of orphaned buttons.  I finally found the two remaining buttons from this project - perfect!  The sleeves are a very awkward length, but if I am going to harvest the piece for fabric in the future, I do not want to cut anything off, so I just rolled them up for the day (pegged pants were popular in the 80s, so why not pegged sleeves?!).

The dress is so easy to wear that I am having second thoughts about its destruction.  So for the moment, I am not sure what will become of this dress.  But it feels good to rework a piece that, for me, was unwearable in its original condition – all thanks to a bottle of fabric dye.

Dress:  Eileen West, repurposed by me

Shoes:  Hinge

Coat:  Banana Republic

Earrings:  1928

Bracelet:  Borrowed from mom