Pink 60's Dress

This is the pattern I used to make my pink dress. The pattern has a round neck but on me it was way too tight, it felt constricting and way to much fabric across the chest so I converted it to a V-neck a much better look for those of us with fuller busts. Esmerelda, my dress form, doesn't quite fill out the dress the way I do hence the wrinkles on the front and the dress isn't hemmed yet which is why you can see tiny strands of thread hanging off the bottom of the dress.

The dress was underlined with a fine pink voile meaning I could stitch the dress pieces as one rather than worrying about a lining. The fabric has a lot of body to it, I actually think there may be some wool content.

I top-stitched all the seams and the V-neck including either side of the invisible zip on the back and used facings for the armholes and neck edge.

Overall I enjoyed the experience of sewing a vintage dress and will definitely be sewing some more.
I'm enjoying  seeing what other people are sewing from vintage patterns too and being able to post all our progress to one blog is an excellent idea.

Finished - Sixties Shift Dress

I've finished my project too!  Here's the original pattern as a reminder:

I used embroidery floss for the decorative stitching:

which added another couple of hours to the project!

There's a bit more on my blog pattern~scissors~cloth

Thanks JoanneM and Lindsay T for hosting the sewalong!

Where I'm At

My original pattern was this princess-style by Marian Martin.  The neckline was very high, too high for me so I've changed it to a v-neck.  Hopefully this won't change the character of the dress too much but it's way more comfortable and flattering on me.

I ended up having to make a FBA adjustment on the dress, only a 2cm one which was good, it's easier than having to try and manipulate bigger adjustments. I followed the princess seam FBA method from the Fit For Real People book. I also moved the bust point down by 2.5cm.

Cutting out muslin #4 of the bodice of the dress. That's the only part of the dress that is fitted and amazingly, I did not have to alter the back except to skim a small amount off the back armhole. The final, fitted 4th muslin.

All that's left is to alter the shoulder length by about 1cm but I will wait until I've got the dress together in 'real' fabric and see.

This is my thrifty year and I'm limiting my fabric purchases and using stash fabrics. I can't remember what this fabric is but it doesn't wrinkle and it's so soft and drapey. Perfect! It's a natural fibre, possibly cotton and something else - I bought it from Mood Fabrics last year. I have some pink cotton batiste which I'll line the dress with as well. I've prewashed the fabric, it's on the clothes line as I speak type.
This is the first dress that I've been really happy with my pattern adjustments and not stressing too much. It's also my first vintage pattern I've ever sewn.