Vintage Patterns!

I ordered some vintage patterns and they arrived today!
Maybe it is watching too much Mad Men, maybe it is just because these kinds of dresses are super-flattering for my figure, but I can't wait to sew them.

Vogue 2902

Vogue 2961

Vogue 2960

I have tried to find dresses like this in stores, but I can't.  I find one of two things instead.  Either the top half of the dress like these, but then the skirt is above the knee, which looks terrible on me.  OR I do find something like this at a store like Anthropologie, but the dress is about $250.00 and it isn't quite what I want because they have made it more modern.

Next up: All vintage all the time.  Look at the poof on Betty's skirt.  I love that.  It is completely impractical for wearing to the office, but I like it just the same.

These dresses are fantastic!

An Easy Summer Dress - New Look 6557

New Plan.  Start Easy.

 I searched through the patterns and found a nice summer dress on a pattern marked *easy.  New Look 6557.   I figure following the instructions will help me to learn what order to do things in to get a better result.


After several weekends... this is it.  I am pretty happy with it.  It fits more or less correctly.  I have a little gaping at the bust on the shoulder straps that isn't great, but otherwise, not bad. 

 The only change that I made was that the instructions said to line the bodice, but I lined the entire dress since I don't like to wear slips.

The dress material is a cotton I found in the quilting section.  (You may recognize it from a quilt you have made?)  The lining is a synthetic satiny material I found in the bargain bin ($1 a yard).

I only had two main issues:
One. Getting the zipper in correctly. I had to watch several you tube videos on zipper.

One video showed sewing the vertical  back pieces together completely and then installing the zipper and using a seam ripper to expose it.  Another method showed sewing the ends of the fabric over (like two vertical hems), then attaching the zipper.  I didn't have perfect luck with either method and ended up ripping out and putting in the zipper four times before calling it good enough. I used a mix of both methods.... somehow.

Zipper/Lining/Fabric War.  Everyone Lost.

Two: I also learned what the dots on patterns mean.  Gather.  I had trouble matching up the pieces on the bodice, then spent hours figuring out what they meant in the instructions.  It turns out that the gather calls for you bunch up the fabric on one piece (the bust) and sew it to a flat piece (the waist).  This makes a 3-D structure on the bust - the part just above the waist piece - that if I had a much of a bosom, it would be cradled in.


Everything is fine and I can wear it, but on the inside of the dress, I have less than professional results.  It looks like there was some kind of fight inside the dress and the fabric lost.  I didn't know how to deal with the lining and the zipper.