The 40's Dress is Done!

Lots more pictures over on my blog! Come check it out.

One sleeve down...

Another update and I've made some progress. Including button holes. But now I'm feeling sort of MEH abound the whole project. More here.

Cross Post - Interlining

Well, I'm almost there. I did an informational post on interlining here.

B4919 modeled

So here is the dress on me:

This reinforces the idea that a defined waist style is not the most flattering on my figure. Also, that I need to be more careful about not creating boob flowers (though they are much more prominent in the photo than IRL, for some reason). But making this was an interesting project.

I had 5 yards of this 50-inch wide cotton lawn, which wasn't enough to make this dress. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I did not use the skirt pieces in this pattern because I didn't have enough fabric for the circle skirt; instead I used a different 6-gore skirt pattern.  For the same reason, I cut the bodice facing (really a full lining) out of black broadcloth, and I pieced the ties, which take a lot of fabric because they are cut on the bias. Joining the skirt to the bodice was a little fiddly, and I ended up hand stitching the edges in place to cover raw edges. However, the attached ties cover the waist up completely anyway.

The pattern provides no alteration lines on the bodice, but I  made many: an FBA, added side darts, added several inches in length. I made no adjustments to the back except that I didn't sew the waist darts. I added about 6 inches to the waist. I also sewed the center front seam a bit higher, and I curved it in so that it wouldn't gape open.

I don't know if I'll ever wear this dress, but it might be appealing on a hot summer day. The fabric feels very nice.

 Envelope art:

It's a Mad, Mad, Madmen World

Hi Darlings!
Good news on the home front - my vintage jacket is done! I love it and will definitely make it again! I love the quirky design and it was easy peasy to construct! This go around the "pop" is on the inside of the garment - take a peek at the lining! For the jacket I used yardage from my stash that I have been itching to use for years so I'm happy to have it put to good use but I think the quirkiness of the design deserves a little more life! Whereas I like the fabric (I wore it with an ivory pencil skirt to work) I know that I will definitely be less conservative with my next iteration of this garment! And - - I've included a photo of the infamous drunken, kidney donor bound buttonhole (see Facebook post below) - not my best work but you'll understand why, in my view, it's just perfect!!

I love love love the sleeves on this jacket! Perhaps it's best design feature!

Pop!

Vintage button - I love that the geometry of the button matches the weave of the fabric!

The drunken, kidney donor Facebook post:
"Just in case anyone was wondering - bound buttonholes and drinking do not mix!! Here's the backstory.... my good friend, Jack, recently donated one of his kidneys to a neighbor (I know - how insignificant do YOU feel right now??) - anyway he had a HORRIBLE post-op course but he turned the corner this weekend. So yesterday my friend Ava and I were having a sewing marathon and we decided to take a bottle of wine to the hospital to toast Jack's road to recovery with his wife, Julie! Well we did that and I apparently am now a light-weight because when we came back and resumed our sewing the resulting bound buttonhole was not pretty (not awful but not pretty)! I thought about taking it out and trying again - but ya know, I am leaving it there with all of its imperfections so that I will remember the night we toasted my friend Jack, the hero!"

Thanks to Joanne and Meg for organizing and hosting the sew-along! What's next up on the sew-along queue??

Heads, Tails, or Sleeve Cuffs?

Hey Ya'll! So I've been tweaking my muslin. Since I'm trying to mimic the piping in this Ralph Lauren Dress, I'm trying to make heads or tails of these cuff instructions. Any tips, cause I'm really lost. I'm doing sort of a "cuff interfacing" which is really just sandwiching two together with piping... and does this make any sense? Still, the instructions look like the cuff is the wrong side out in the 'how to' but the main illustration seems right.

B4919 almost done

Here it is on the dress form (sorry the picture is so blurry):

I still need to sew on the hooks and eyes and hem it.